Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Riders of the Wind
    Riders of the Wind
    Riders of the Wind
    Ebook43 pages40 minutes

    Riders of the Wind

    By Lee Penney

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    A warmer climate has seen an explosion of destructive typhoons, more powerful than any in history. The biggest of them ceaselessly circles the globe, flattening everything in its path, and now it’s headed for New Tokyo.

    As the continent-sized storm bears down on the city, Major Tanaka must lead his squadron on another mission many of them won’t survive. The alternative is to watch his city literally be blown away.

    The fabled riders are the only pilots skilled enough to fly their massively heavy aircraft into the storm with any hope of finding clear skies again, the last line of defence and the last weapon in the fight to sap the storm’s power or divert its course.

    The is a novelette of ~11,000 words (31 pages)

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLee Penney
    Release dateMay 7, 2013
    ISBN9781301341610
    Riders of the Wind
    Author

    Lee Penney

    Lee can generally be found staring at a screen from behind a keyboard, either writing, coding or attempting to read all of the interesting parts of the internet before someone adds a new bit. He has a fascination with stories in all forms, especially film, and enjoys spending as much time as possible in a world other than this one.

    Read more from Lee Penney

    Related to Riders of the Wind

    Related ebooks

    Science Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      In Search Of ...

      Apr 1, 2019

      Fifteen-year-old Tay lives on Rannoch, a distant planet covered with water, where undersea pods or living chambers provide life support for up to three people—usually two adults and one child. Tay learns that her parents are expecting another child a

      8 min read

    • Article

      In Search Of . . .

      Mar 1, 2019

      In Search Of . . .
      7 min read

    • Article

      In Search Of . . .

      Feb 1, 2019

      In Search Of . . .
      7 min read

    • Article

      Rent Arlington Hall’s Brain: The implant would make him a brilliant pianist for 24 hours.

      Jan 15, 2015

      Eight Hours To Go Thorne hesitated. The clinic’s storefront consisted of a glass elevator that went only down. Below the earth, into the unknown. A sign on its door read in elegant silver script: “Rent a Brain Today, Genius Guaranteed.” Thorne could

      14 min read

    • Article

      Shaka, When the Walls Fell

      Jun 18, 2014

      In one fascinating episode, Star Trek: The Next Generation traced the limits of human communication as we know it—and suggested a new, truer way of talking about the universe.

      17 min read

    • Article

      Good Vibrations

      Mar 4, 2024

      Good Vibrations
      6 min read

    • Article

      One In Ten

      Mar 27, 2018

      One In Ten
      4 min read

    • Article

      Artificial Paradise

      Sep 14, 2020

      Artificial Paradise
      2 min read

    • Article

      Recorded Lightning

      Mar 29, 2021

      Recorded Lightning
      10 min read

    • Article

      Lungs Of The Earth

      May 7, 2020

      Lungs Of The Earth
      10 min read

    • Article

      On the Reef

      Nov 9, 2017

      On the Reef
      12 min read

    • Article

      How a Nuclear Submarine Officer Learned to Live in Tight Quarters

      Dec 30, 2020

      Happy Holidays. This week we are reprinting our top stories of 2020. This article first appeared online in our “Outbreak” issue in April, 2020. I’m no stranger to forced isolation. For the better part of my 20s, I served as a nuclear submarine office

      7 min read

    • Article

      A Dragon’s Perspective

      Jun 10, 2022

      There once lived a dragon named Deathwing. Well, at least that’s what they called him. Deathwing was growing old, far too old for his liking. The joints of his claws ached and groaned under his ever-growing weight and his scales were beginning to los

      18 min read

    • Article

      There Is No Safe Place to Hide

      Jul 31, 2017

      There Is No Safe Place to Hide
      11 min read

    • Article

      Gunsapalooza!

      Apr 13, 2023

      Gunsapalooza!
      21 min read

    • Article

      In Search Of . . .

      Jan 1, 2019

      In Search Of . . .
      7 min read

    • Article

      Shark’s Eye

      Nov 16, 2021

      Shark’s Eye
      20 min read

    • Article

      The Bargain

      Dec 10, 2022

      “Which one of you owns G2V3889?” Cygnus glided through a luminescent star field suspended in the center of an otherwise dark, oblong studio, then turned in a slow circle to survey the twenty Agents surrounding him. “Come on, speak up.” Vega shuddered

      16 min read

    • Article

      Campbell McGrath

      Mar 9, 2021

      1. A storm of buzzards is circling outside the windowof my hospital room, looking south and east across the rivertoward the high-rise construction cranes downtown.They are a regular sight in December, buzzards migratingin particulate vortices, slow-m

      10 min read

    • Article

      Tesla’s Pigeon

      Dec 6, 2023

      On a February morning in 1935, a disoriented homing pigeon flew into the open window of an unoccupied room at the Hotel New Yorker. It had a band around its leg, but where it came from, or was meant to be headed, no one could say. While management de

      17 min read

    • Article

      Storm WARNING

      Jul 18, 2017

      Storm WARNING
      5 min read

    • Article

      Roger’s PROFANISAURUS

      Jan 5, 2022

      Roger’s PROFANISAURUS
      5 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Riders of the Wind

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Riders of the Wind - Lee Penney

      RIDERS OF THE WIND

      Copyright © 2013 by Lee Penney

      All rights reserved.

      No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the author.

      Lee Penney has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

      This work is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

      Clouds cover image courtesy of Scott Anderson

      (Flickr user guruscotty)

      Smashwords Edition

      Never… was so much owed by so many to so few.

      — Winston Churchill

      Tanaka jerked up onto one arm as the piercing screech of the siren wrenched him awake. His eyes remained shut as his sleep-addled mind fought to make sense of the noise. The familiar flash of the emergency beacon brushing across his eyelids provided the answer.

      Cautiously, he peeled open his eyes. The red pulse from the wall-mounted lamp lit the room, overwhelming the weak glow from the floor level strip of emergency lighting and the bar of light spilling under the door. The clash made Tanaka feel sick.

      Pushing back the thin duvet, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat up. Kaijou-bushi pilots, riders as they were known, got a bed, while the other pilots and junior ratings had to settle for a cot. Tanaka’s rank also secured him his own room rather than a dorm, so at least he was saved the commotion of other bodies racing around.

      He rubbed his face, then pushed himself to his feet with a sharp thrust. He swayed for a second as his body figured out what was going on.

      The siren’s shriek was enough to cause an adrenaline surge in most people, panic in some, but Tanaka had been known to sleep through it. It felt like most of him still was.

      His bare feet slapped against the equally bare floor as he covered the few paces to the sink in the corner of the room. Pulling the light cord, he watched his strobing reflection as the tube flickered and caught, bathing him in an intense glow.

      The sudden brightness caused him to squint as needles of pain stabbed the back of his eyes. As they acclimatised he looked at the man facing him. Zoning out the beacon, it became just the two of them, glaring at each other.

      Tanaka searched his reflection, not sure whether to pity the man he saw or shout at him. The face was weary, caused by more than a lack of sleep. The fleshy pouches below his sunken eyes were a different story, the result of too many nights on the bottle.

      His mind turned to today’s mission.

      Some of the riders said they didn't feel fear. Tanaka knew only a fool didn't fear death and flying into a super typhoon had odds that made Russian roulette look like a safe bet. Today’s foe was something far worse: the Udai Musaborikuu, the world eater.

      Super typhoons were the least they had to deal with these days. They’d almost run out of superlatives to cover

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1