Laetissimus Trilogy

Book 1: Chapter 12

The Highway Encounter

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Back in the bus, Lae saw the white haired man who stood by the sporty car, walk over to one of the military officer and whispered something after which he got into the passenger seat of the white car. Apparently they assumed the car was not going to stop.

The other man, the bald one in the white suit, who had been smoking took the cigarette out of his mouth and tossed it towards the road. Lae never saw the cigarette hit the ground as the bus leveled with the white car just as the bald headed man stepped into the driver's seat. The way he moved, the way he was dressed, there was something sophisticated about him.

The bus had already arrived at the checkpoint and surprisingly, the military men jumped away to the side. Lae wondered why they never went into their car. But something else stole Lae's attention.

Those two in the white fancy car, had to be something else. They both had special presence about them. It was not as menacing as Master's but there was something so tremendous about their aura.

As the bus zoomed past, the white car, with the two men, followed the bus.

Master had his eyes on the side mirror and Lae could clearly see the car convening.

"Glacialis!" Master breathed. "Isn't it my lucky day."

Master had an arm rested on the head of the chair of the driver; he turned to the frightened man,

"Chike,"

"Yes Oga," Chike looked like someone about to pee himself.

"I am going to give you a signal," Master kept looking into the side mirror, the speeding car did not trouble his composure at all. "When I say, 'now' I want you to take your leg off the accelerator and slowly ease on the break. No fool! Not now!"

"Yes...yes Oga!"

"You," Master turned around to look at Lae. "Take your head down for now."

Master sounded surprisingly calm. His calmness seemed to have rubbed off on Lae and he did as he was instructed. Even the cat sat calmly throughout the ordeal, it may have been napping for all the care it had.

Master resumed watching the approaching sports car from the mirror.

The distance between both cars was reducing. A few seconds elapsed and soon the white sports car was just a hair's breadth behind the bus. Master put his hands on his skull. Lae raised his head a quarter of an inch and looked at the side mirror. He could see the passenger seat of the other vehicle and he had been mistaken. The person with the white hair, who had an eye patch on, was actually a boy roughly Lae's age. Lae was momentarily stunned but then, he suddenly felt an overwhelming presence. But this was coming from Master. Lae groaned. He saw the other boy grab his head in pain, and the driver, the bald head man tried to reach out to the boy, just then Master said rather urgently.

"Now!"

Captain Chike pressed on the brake and then Master exhibiting inhuman control in wake of a rapidly decelerating car surged to the driver seat and turned the wheel to right. The car spun violently to the right and crashed into the white sport car. Lae then understood the plan.

The driver in the other seat had been distracted by attending to the boy and he had not anticipated the reduction in speed of the other vehicle, now the laws of relative motion was at work as it seemed that the small white car sped forward, though its velocity had never changed. But just as it came level with the decelerating bus, Master had turned the wheel of the bus to the right.

The split second before which the car reacted was enough time for the other white vehicle to begin an overtaking of the bus and then the front of the bus, in response to Master's spontaneous move, rammed into the side of the trunk of the small sports car. The car lost control and swerved off the road into the forest spinning wildly.

Lae gasped.

He looked up, but Master's hand came crashing on his skull and then it was all black.