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Once again they
were back in reasonable luxury - nice soft seats and quiet enough
to talk without shouting.

‘You can’t come
with me, you know,’ said Madeline softly.

‘I’m coming as
far as the first base camp, it’s only four miles to the summit from
there.’

‘And two and a
half miles up! … You’ll need a tent – two berth,’ said
Madeline.’

‘Naturally,’
said Adam

‘Actually,
there’s a problem, quite a big one. I doubt if my power reserves
will do the forty odd miles from Lukla to Base camp, let alone the
rest of the way to the top.’

‘I know, worked
that out myself, hang on a second.’

Adam left his
seat and went in to the cockpit. He returned with a smile.

‘Zol’s going to
sort something out.’

‘He’s a saint.
I’ll have to make sure I’m fully charged.’

‘There’s now
another quite serious problem – it doesn’t look like we’ll need a
tent now, after all,’ said Adam.

‘Damn! Never
mind, perhaps there’s a power socket in the back, shall we go and
have a look?’

Chapter 49:
The reunion

Madeline never
failed to overlook the fact than Nuttall could easily listen in
when ever he so desired, particularly when they made love and when
they had small talk. There could be no secrets, no private
conversations and because of what he heard, he could throw up
obstacles at any time without warning. He had been suspiciously
quiet now for a while, this was a relief to some extent but
disconcerting all the same.

Thanks to Zol’s
piloting skills, he managed to land the plane on the ridiculously
short and perilous runway at Lukla. Strictly speaking, the plane
was much too big for the small single runway gouged into the rocky
mountain side. He shouldn’t have attempted to land - but it had and
that was that.

Yes, they
managed to find a power socket, Madeline was now fully charged and
Adam was fully discharged - It may well have been their last
time.

Finally her
destination was almost in sight. She was on the other side of the
Earth since the last time she was up a mountain. They disembarked
to a waiting helicopter. Finally Zol and Grayling could rest and
recover from their epic journey. This was the end of the line for
both of them mainly because a helicopter was one thing neither of
them could fly. Madeline hugged Zol and shook Grayling’s enormous
hand, both of them and made a point of saying farewell and not
goodbye.

Madeline and
Adam boarded the small helicopter for the short flight to base
camp.

The pilot
appeared to be in a hurry, rapidly rising from the small airstrip.
The entire proportions of the commuter aircraft could now be seen
clearly hogging the small purpose built airport. The reality of the
situation was that the airstrip was far too short for such a big
aircraft to take off – it would be there for a while if not
forever. The helicopter was soon dashing across the rocky
appendages and encrusted snow of the Himalayas. It was a thrilling
flight with views to die for but Madeline never noticed. Many
things were bothering now. She was on her way hopefully to another
world but she was about to end the lease on the one she was in now.
The pilot really was in a hurry.

‘Heh, Mr Pilot,
what’s the hurry?’ asked Madeline.

The pilot
ignored her.

‘I said…’
Madeline was about to repeat herself.

The pilot
slowly turned to them and removed his overly large sunglasses - he
was familiar, too familiar.

‘So near but so
far. All credit to Zol for getting you this far,’ said Nuttall.

Madeline was
speechless and mortified, seeing Nuttall was like a heavy blow to
her chest.

‘Nothing to
say?’ said Nuttall with a big grin across his face.

‘Please take me
to base camp?’ said Madeline with misplaced hope.

‘Okay, I
suppose so,’ said Nuttall cockily.

‘Pardon, you
will?’

‘No choice,
things have changed. Let’s say, there’s been a development,’ said
Nuttall seriously.

‘What kind of
development?’ she asked curiously.

‘We’ve noticed
a serious anomaly in this world of yours.’

Nuttall said no
more, he’d already said too much. Twenty minutes later Nuttall
manoeuvred the stick and slowly descended on to the loose shale of
Base camp. Ideally he could have flown Madeline to the top but it
was much too high for this type of helicopter – she would have to
do the last bit on her own – that was always the way it had to
be.

The base camp
site was noticeably colder and the air thinner than Lukla. Adam was
inevitably suffering from the low air pressure and oxygen
deprivation but he had to see Madeline off on her final journey. He
wasn’t at all dressed for the climate, neither was Madeline but she
didn’t feel the cold. Her long cosy woolly jumper and white high
heeled leather boots would do just fine.

Whilst she was
giving Adam a long farewell hug and kiss, the array of tents behind
her unzipped their flaps and all the occupants spilled out. She
sensed a presence of many people and slowly turned around.

To her
bewilderment, dozens of people were standing there, quietly smiling
and waving. - Almost every single person she had met in this world
of hers: Zol, Gemma Bream, Coley, Grayling, Alfonsino, Professor
Braugenhau, The President, The Vice President, The defence
secretary, the team from Vixen News and many, many more. A man
emerged from the crowd, he walked over to Madeline, removed his
furry hood and sunglasses.

‘Barton!! What
are you doing here?’

‘Sending you
off, of course!’

They hugged
each other, she thanked him for everything and then he walked back
into the crowd. Nuttall approached and gave her an unexpected hug,
wished her luck and then climbed back in the helicopter. It was all
up to her now. For some reason she had to stay professional and in
control but she couldn’t keep all her tears contained, some escaped
and flowed down her beautiful cheeks. Adam found himself in a
similar state but he couldn’t possibly cry in front of all these
people around him. He knew he would never see her again and his
heart was now breaking but the pain would soon be over as would
this world of his.

Chapter 50:
Putting on a new face

Madeline set
off slowly at first but soon got into a steady pace, she decided
not to engage explosive motion until the base camp was completely
out of sight. Every so often she turned around and waved, they were
all still there. Adam was shivering uncontrollably but never took
his eyes off her… and then suddenly she turned a corner and they
were all gone. She was on her own, completely ill equipped to climb
the tallest mountain in the world but she was an android with super
powers. Now it was time to select explosive motion level 3. Her
power reserves were on maximum – she began to run. It was going to
be the fastest ascent ever. Her white high heeled boots landed
deeply in the soft snow but this didn’t deter her pace. The snow
gave way to ice and rocks but still her pace increased. It wasn’t
long before the inevitable happed, one of her heels snapped. She
sat for a while, removed both her boots and took a long look at the
view. She was above the clouds, above everything, she could see for
miles in every direction. She gazed in awe at the mountain range
she had recently flown over - it was an outstandingly beautiful
sight. She was so comfortable despite having bare feet and lacking
proper clothing.

The ascent was
getting harder now, more up than along. The ascent had become a
proper mountaineering climb. Her fingers pulled her, her feet
pushed her until finally she reached a ridge with steep slopes
either side. No longer could she run, every footstep now had to be
carefully planned. She went down on all fours – perhaps she could
gallop along like a horse, she thought but she wouldn’t risk it.
Her baggy jumper had absorbed so much snow and ice that it had
become wet and heavy – certainly not warm and cosy anymore - she
discarded it. Now she was completely naked and icy cold but still
sexy and gorgeous. Once again she had forgotten to put on any
underwear - she really was impossibly promiscuous.

With still two
miles from the summit, she checked her energy reserves, 15%, she
wasn’t going to make it. Most of her power was being used to
maintain her core temperature. There was nothing else for it - she
turned her heating circuits off. She had survived at the south
poles with no adverse effects so surely she would cope with the
relatively mild temperature of minus 30 degrees. This didn’t mean
to say she could take her time - the low temperature would almost
certainly affect the functioning of her artificial body. She had to
get to the summit as quickly as possible.

Unlike a
typical ascent to Everest where it can get quite crowded with
mountaineers, in Madeline’s world, the path was deserted. This was
fortunate considering her complete lack of attire. One mile to go
and 10% energy reserves remaining

‘Yes, yes, yes,
I’m going to make it,’ she cheered.

The clear sky
above her was beginning to alter, turning from deep blue to
brilliant white. She could feel the other world beckoning her just
like it was in Ecuador. She could now see the summit clearly but
her body was becoming sluggish. The low temperature was affecting
her soft pneumatic muscles. It was an effort to move but she had
come too far to give up now. Two hundred yards to go and every step
was like walking through porridge perhaps even worse - wet concrete
but… it was in the bag.

She decided for
no apparent reason that she wanted to be as presentable as possible
before she transcended. With the beautiful body she was fashioned
with, she couldn’t be more presentable than being naked however she
did have a facility that she hadn’t used in this world. There
hadn’t been any particular call for it but she always had the
ability to change her facial appearance. She examined her menu as
best as she could with her frozen finger and thumb. Many options
were available: Ugly, old, simple, face 1, face 2, face 3 and…
‘Poppy’! She selected ‘Poppy’. Instantly her face began to contort,
expand and contract until she looked exactly like her real self.
Oddly the process didn’t stop there, her tiny waist expanded out a
few inches, her thighs slightly bulged and small flabby wings
appeared under her arms. Not only did her face now look exactly
like Poppy’s, her body apparently looked exactly like Poppy’s
too.

‘Christ, I’ve
put on a few pounds!’ she moaned.

Twenty yards to
go, ten yards to go, she could see shapes of several people – all
white within an even whiter background. The light was dazzling, too
bright, it was drawing her. And then she was standing at the
summit. The white light engulfed her, warmed her, lifted her and
swaddled her. The mountain disappeared beneath her bear feet,
beneath her naked body. The world she had fashioned and become to
love, dissolved quickly away and a room formed around her.

She was lying
on a bed – definitely a bed and people were standing over her. The
people were all smiling and one particular person had tears running
down his cheeks.

It was another
Adam – the real Adam.

Chapter 51:
Vital signs okay

‘Welcome to our
world!’ said someone – probably a doctor.

She was still
dazzled but her eyes were slowly adjusting.

‘Vital signs
okay?’ said someone else – probably also a doctor.

‘Yes steady and
climbing,’ said probably a nurse this time.

Then suddenly a
new, wonderful world came into view. Yes, she was in a bed in a
hospital room, Ward 8, no doubt. She eased herself up, outside she
could see trees and birds flying past and clouds in the sky. Inside
she could see many happy white coated people and then she saw Adam.
This was reality – now she could tell, without any doubt. Adam
looked older and greyer, he broadly smiled at her. She loved him
with all her heart. The Adam she’d left at base camp was purely a
figment of her imagination but it would take a while to become
entirely dismissive of her fantasy lover. He had been absolutely
real for such a long time, saved her several times and above all,
failed to hide his deep feelings for her as she began her
ascent.

‘Hello sleepy
head… how are you feeling?’ asked Adam softly.

‘A little
weird…What happened?’

‘You had a
relapse.’

‘You’ve grown a
beard, don’t like it… how long?’

‘Two months,
the beard, four months in a coma.’

‘Four months!!
Is it going to happen again?’

‘They don’t
think so. There was a build up of toxins in your brain, they’ve
cleared now,’ explained Adam.

‘Twenty seven
toxins by any chance?’ asked Poppy.

‘Probably,
anyway… I’ll ask you again and this time I want you to concentrate…
how are
we
feeling?’

‘Hungry?’

‘Yes… anything
else?’

‘A bit of
heartburn?’

‘Yes… ’

‘Oh my God! Oh
my God! OH MY GOD!!

Madeline lifted
the bed cover and looked at her stomach. She wasn’t fat at all, her
extra few inches was a baby bump. She felt her baby, it kicked her
hand

‘Started
kicking this morning,’ said Adam proudly.

‘But, but, I’m
pregnant? How… but… when? You?’

‘You’re four
months preggers. Something to do with what happened four months ago
in the grass next to that trickling stream… remember?’

‘I’m pregnant!
I’m going to have a baby!’ Poppy screamed with delight.

‘Yes, that’s
what usually happens.’

‘Adam Manning,
I love you… with all my heart.’

‘Poppy Cock… we
better get that name changed.’