listening to 'diamond dogs' in quadraphonic we entered the city centre. smoke still rose from the corpses and cars, technology and me were no longer on speaking terms, a cloud of black thick heavy tar hung in the air slowly trickling down like black strap molasses. i maneuvered my way through the strange elongated drops as they followed the gravity, one eye on Natasha the other on the target of our movements, the old observatory. in the distance i could make out the form that once was a bridge. it was now twisted metal, a cathedral of iron girders blasted away at strange angles, melting and semi frozen. there was no wind, and no sound. i attempted to look beyond at the water, but there was just a thick cloud of smoke and a few dancing flames shooting up to heaven. Natasha moved carefully with me, caution had saved us once before. i slipped my hand away from hers as she pulled out her phaze weapon.
I recalled once gazing through the telescope, staring at the horseshoe nebula. those purple cloud giants towered through light years, the cosmos had held me in wonder ever since. i was secretly holding hope that the actual telescope was undamaged, then i could show Natasha the object of my fascination. But the truth was the telescope structure was no longer even resembling anything but a melted tube of cold metal. even the glass lenses was a pile of empty dust like sand. everything had been reduced to its lowest common denominator.
there was a large hole in the ceiling and a small pocket of space unobscured, stood revealed. a scattering of stars, infinitely far above us, dead light. i stood there momentarily until Natasha tugged at me and led me to the trapdoor.
we were close now. we both pulled at the handle. it took a certain amount of effort, the door was stiff and heavy but with the both of us working together the door opened with a consistent creaking sound. we stood looking at the black hole and the steps leading into it, shared a nod and then descended. 10 steps down we walked along a narrow and dark corridor, at the end stood a massive silver door. the entrance was shut tightly and must have been designed by giants, it stood three metres tall and two wide. both of us searched for a way through, four hands felt the surface for some sort of trigger, there must be an opening device.
it was natashia who found the sleek flush panel that opened the door, it hummed gently and then began to rise, an ever expanding band of light spilled out from below as the chamber revealled itself. natashia immediately stepped inside and set to work on the computer terminal, my instincts were to smash the dammed thing but it was our only means of exiting this planet.
i looked at the mainframes crystalline structure, a paradox of emotions swept over me. here i was on the run with the beautiful yet deadly alien girl that had destroyed most of my planet. she had left a trail of destruction and devastation, killed millions and set the human race back to the dark ages and at the same time she had stolen my heart. i watched her interface with the panels and make some adjustments. We stepped into the transporter chamber. In a matter of seconds i would be on another world while this one burns.