For my wife, Karen. Be good.

*BREAKING NEWS* TERRORIST ATTACK KILLS 300 IN EMBASSY BOMBING

By Joseph Scott An explosion at the United North American Embassies has claimed the lives of

198 United North American Citizens along with several citizens from neighboring countries and their dignitaries Early Friday, the 13th of March.

From what officials can determine seven bombs were placed throughout the embassy at key staging areas. “These bombs were placed for the highest lethality possible,” one expert claims. Their target is unknown but its no coincidence that the bombing took place the same time the first counsel meeting with the Zintoniean ambassadors was scheduled. The Zintonieans were unharmed in the attack.

Two years ago a UNA Science Corps ship discovered a Zintoniean science vessel on Titan, Saturn’s Moon. The Zintonieans are an advanced alien race that has an empire long predating our own. After first contact, UNA diplomats worked alongside Zintonieans to create a new peace between our two species. Recently, the Zintonieans have offered the human race the opportunity to join their empire. The newly founded colony on Mars established a relative peace on Earth but now with the Zintoniean’s offer on the table many nations have refused the Zintoniean’s, threating to send us back into war.

“The Zintoniean’s have so much to offer our race,” Chief Science officer Marcus Reynolds of the UNA Science Corps said in a press release to the public last Wednesday. “They have the ability to offer us great leaps in science, technology, and interstellar flight.”

It’s still too early to tell who is responsible for the attack but sources believe that it could be one of the nations that stood against the unification process. Officials from the Eastern Asian Alliance, The United African States, and Brazil have denounced responsibility for the attacks, claiming it to “be an act of terror perpetrated by their [UNA’s] Citizens.”

“I want those Zintoniean bastards to stay on their own planet,” one protester was quoted just after the attack. “I’m sorry humans had to die but if it gets rid of those alien freaks then all the better.” This was the sentiment shared with numerous citizen’s online. The Police request that if anyone has any information on the attacks to please contact them as soon as possible. A large reward is being issued for information leading to the capture of the individuals in question involved with the attack.

Prologue The City March 13, 2050- Friday 9:00pm

The street hummed and buzzed with the feeling of life. Everyday pedestrians moved through the hustle and bustle of the busy city just trying to get to their destinations unmolested. Some were successful, some weren’t. That was life in The City. Every night a little blood must be spilled just for the opportunity to stay close to her. Tonight, someone else is going to pay that price for you. You try not to be in the earlier category but sometimes fate isn’t on your side. Earlier that day the United North American emissaries were attacked while visiting The City, bombing in our own embassy. Ugly work, bombing. A coward’s attack, but The City craves more.

Tensions run high across the country. The word “war” is whispered in hushed tones. Everyone has an opinion. All of them willing to condemn the other side but none of them willing to pull the trigger and set events in motion.

The smell of hot wet garbage fills his lungs as he runs. The rain soaks into his shoes, weighing him down. The first rain in almost 6 months, just his luck. His pursuers are hot on his trail and all he can do to fight off the burn in his chest is to pull others into their path; women, children, and inanimate objects. Whatever he can get ahold of to slow them down.

This man is Michael Alonso, brown hair, brown eyes, and average build. On the outside an average man but tonight he’s potentially the most important man in the world.

Three men dog his heels as he runs. Michael can feel the thump of their boots as they close in on him. He quickly ducks into an alley as he feels fingers pass over his collar. The brick wall greets his face as his attackers drive Michael into it. The taste of iron fills his mouth.

They hold him there as they catch their breath. Michael knows he has to move but with his neck firmly pinned between the wall and the attackers cold strong hands, all he can do is shiver in the rain.

“God damn it Michael!” the first attacker says through panting breaths. “Did you really think you’d get away from us? US?” The second attacker joins in. A sharp pain explodes in his left kidney as the second attacker lays a hard right into him. Michael is released and immediately crumples to the floor. The water and run off from the trash soak into his jeans.

“Oh god, don’t kill me.” Michael sobbed “Sorry Michael that’s not up to us.” The first attacker says. “I gave you what you needed.” “Yeah you did, but we didn’t say we were done with you.” “Please I’m begging you. Just let me go!” “You had such great potential. Now…” The first attacker lets his sentence

trail off as the third man grabs Michael by the root of his hair. A needle slides

into Michael’s throat. A warm fluid courses into him. Slowly the lights fade. The last thing he hears is the squeal of tires. Then, darkness.

Chapter 1 Mars- Our Father’s Light Catholic Church March 15, 2050- Sunday

For a very long time Mars was an uninhabitable rock just sitting in the distance. Sure we sent rovers and probes over, not expecting much to change because of it. We thought it was just a stepping-stone to finding new worlds beyond the stars. Little did we know our next home was right next-door.

I can’t attest to the science or how it happened but it wasn’t long before we colonized Mars and were living here. The domes are a little disorienting but once again, you get use to it.

My name is Gabriel Alonso; I’m a priest… on Mars. It’s an odd concept but the Lord works in mysterious ways. Where there are people there’s religion and that’s why I’m here. As soon as the church knew life could be sustained on Mars we were on the next shuttle out. Thankfully I wasn’t on the literal “next” shuttle out. I’m the twenty seventh priest here but Monsignor Thomas Rose has been here since the beginning.

Mass is unusually full today. It could have something to do with the bombing back on Earth. Being here makes the earth and its problem feel so distant. Like it’s happening on a different planet. Well it is, but you get what I mean. Granted it’s my home but it’s the ‘out of sight out of mind’ saying. Sorry, The Monsignor is getting to my favorite part.

The Monsignor stands before the congregation. There are at least two hundred parishioners, each one locked onto the Monsignor’s every word. He’s a salt and pepper haired man in his late sixties. He’s nonthreatening but still commanding of respect. His piercing blue eyes draw the attention of all there as he begins to speak again.

“Oh Prince of Peace, we humbly ask your protection for all our men and women in military service,” The Monsignor says. His voice commanding but gentle. “Give them unflinching courage to defend with honor, dignity and devotion, the rights of all who are imperiled by injustice and evil. Be their rock, their shield, and their stronghold and let them draw their strength from you. For you are God, forever and ever. ”

Bam! He stuck it. He is a true master of the scripture. I can only hope to someday be half the man he is. Yeah, I still get excited for church. I can’t help it. It’s part of why I’m here. The scripture always seemed to speak to me. I’m here, thanks, in large part, to my mom. She nudged me into the service of the Lord when she noticed how fired up I got about church. When she heard I would be moved to Mars, she quickly followed to show support.

The rest of mass flies by in the blink of an eye. Before I know it I’m shaking hands and being thanked. My mother stands out in the crowd. I’m sure every son says that but my mom’s stout figure and flaming red hair makes her hard to miss even to those not acquainted with her. She’s standing off to the side today and being uncharacteristically quiet.

It doesn’t take long for the crowd to thin out so she can approach. “Gabriel” she says, “I need to talk to you… In private.” Now that’s odd. Normally she has no problem speaking, and at great lengths, in public. Something must be wrong.

I take her outside into the church garden. The roses are beautiful out there. Who knew they would bloom on Mars but sure enough here they are. The Church doesn’t have a large plot for the garden but its large enough for our needs. We walk for a bit before taking a seat on a bench with a tasteful stone statue of two cherubs in flight.

“It’s your brother. I think he’s in trouble,” she blurts out. I’m stunned at the mention of him. He and I had a falling out a long time ago. He was an atheist and I felt it was my job to save him. The more I tried to convert him the further I pushed him away. Since then I haven’t seen him in nearly ten years. I’ve tried to reach out to him every Easter but he stopped answering my calls or messages. “What has Michael gotten himself into now?” I reply.

“I got this letter from him this morning,” she says as she produces a print out of email and hands it to me. “He sent it a few days ago but it was somehow filed under my ‘spam folder.’ The odd thing is that it didn’t come from his normal email. Read it.”

‘Mom, I don’t know what I’ve done but I had no choice. These are bad people and I

don’t want anything to happen to you. Know that I love you and I’m doing what needs to be done to keep you safe. I love you and I won’t be around for too much longer so I really just wanted to say… good-bye and don’t believe anything you read in the papers.

-Michael “Don’t believe anything you read in the papers…” I read aloud “Do you

think it has to do with the bombing in The City?” she asks. “It could be but what am I suppose to do? I’m here!” “Go back to Earth and bring him back.” “What?! Mom you know I can’t do that.” “Please, I need to know if he’s alright. I don’t have anyone else to help and

I can’t make the trip myself because my body can’t handle it.” And there it is ladies and gentlemen, a Catholic mom using her strongest

weapon… Catholic guilt. “Okay” I give in. “I’ll talk to the Monsignor. Maybe there’s something we

can work out.” “Oh thank you Gabriel. You’re a good son. Here’s his address in the city,”

she says beaming, planting a wet kiss on my cheek. I fold up the letter and put it in my breast pocket. “It’s nothing Ma. As soon as I get the word from Monsignor Rose I’ll head straight for Michael’s place.”

We get up and I walk her back through the church and out the front door. She tells me about the new neighbors on her block and how loud they are. I nod attentively until we need to part ways. She’s the one who encouraged me to

become a priest so for her to ask me to leave the church means she’s more worried then she’s letting on.

She walks across the parking area with renewed hope in her heart. Hopefully she’ll sleep well tonight. Now comes the hard part for me, convincing the Monsignor to let me go back to Earth. This should be an interesting talk.

Chapter 2 Mars- Our Father’s Light Catholic Church March 15, 2050- Sunday

As I walk down the halls of the church I mull over everything that has been laid at my feet. The smell of incense still wafts through the air. It’s quiet in the church. The only noise to be heard is the clop clop of my shoes against the tile floor.

I know I promised my mom I’d help go after my brother but doing so may cost me my collar. I’ve been assigned to a church it looks real bad if I abandon my post, so to speak. Something needed to be done for my mother’s sake. I wonder if it’s worth it. Michael could be in serious trouble, but then again it could be another one of his pleas for attention.

At times like these I normally turn to the bible for guidance. John 4:20 says “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” So I feel like I should go.

What am I even thinking? This is my brother and I need to go after him. If it is a ruse I cant be held accountable for him tricking me, but if he needs real help then I have to be there for him.

As I approach my Monsignor’s office I can hear the soft music of from Earth’s past, Bach I believe. I knock softly on his door and wait for his permission to enter.

“Come in.” A voice calls out and I enter. The Monsignor’s room is decorated with a red walls punctuated only by portraits of the Lord. A large cross hangs high against the wall behind him. Beneath the cross is a high window that casts a bright light behind the Monsignor, giving him the semblance of a holy aura. The small man looks out of place behind the large oak desk. He stops the music and looks up at me with his hands crossed. “Ah, Gabriel. What can I help you with?”

I sputter for a minute before swallowing hard and setting my jaw. “Monsignor, I think I have to go back to Earth... it’s my brother. I think he may have been involved in the attack.” I reach into my pocket and hand him the letter I received from my mother. The Monsignor takes it, reads, and rereads it for a few minutes before handing it back to me. “Are you sure this warrants you leaving? You know how hard it is on the church to get new priest on Mars.” He asks with a bit of an edge in his voice. “I know, but if my brother is in trouble I have to go. My mom only has me and my brother left, and she cant make the trip herself. Her heart is weak and I’m afraid reentry would kill her.”

“I’m sorry Gabriel. I can’t let you go. We don’t have the resources to send you and even if we did, remember, you made a commitment to the church ‘above all others.’ Or did you forget that?”

“No I didn’t. but-“

“Do not think that I came to bring peace on Earth” Monsignor Rose starts to quote. “I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother; and a man's enemies will be the members of his household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it. Matthew 10:34–39” I hang my head low in disappointment. That sounds pretty final as far as he’s concerned. I raise my head slightly and speak clearly. “I think I understand.” As I step towards his desk he smiles and beams at me. “I’m glad you see it my way my son. Now lets hear no more of this okay.” The Monsignor says with a triumphant glint in his eye. The look of triumph quickly fades to shock as I lay my collar on his desk begin to walk out of his office. “You don’t know what you’re doing!” he shouts after me. “Don’t be a fool Gabriel!!!” The Monsignor’s voice echoed down the halls after me. I failed to listen to him. My mind was made up and I am going to Earth to find my brother with or without his blessings. Damn it Michael, this better not be a hoax I thought. Thankfully one of the good things about being a priest was that there wasn’t much to pack. My small bedroom consisted of a single dresser, a twin bed, and my side table. I disrobed from my priestly garbs and dawned my street clothes. After wearing priest robes for so long the fit of the street clothes was odd. It’s the same feeling you get when you put on a sweater that has sat in the bottom drawer for two years. A little itchy and dusty but still clean none the less. I placed the remainders of my effects in a brown paper bag. Just as I’m about finished packing there is a knock at the door. A tall thin haired man is standing on the other side of the door dressed in identical robes I was wearing not a minute earlier.

“Yes Thomas?” I ask. “I heard you’re leaving.” He says eyeing my street clothes. “Why do you

want to go? Don’t you know this will mean Laicization for you?” “Thomas, you’re a good man but there is something I have to do back on

Earth. It concerns my brother.” “I’m sure if you talk to the Monsignor and wait a bit you can leave with

his blessing in a few months.” “I’m sorry I cant do that. I have to leave now.” I say as I try and push past

him. Thomas Malcolm is thinner than me but he has a good six inches on me. I’m no slouch at 5’10. Thomas could have been a basketball player with his height but he’s had bad knees since he was a child.

“Is this the same brother that has rejected you and our Lord several times, once while in the church itself? How can you trust a man who won’t let God into his heart?” Thomas said.

Thomas was right and I knew it, but I can’t risk it. If he was in trouble and there was something I could do to help him then I would have to go or else live with this guilt on my shoulders. I didn’t even want to think about what this would do to my mother. I can’t leave her in this state of limbo. I have to find out what happened to him, to give our mom some closure at least. I said nothing as I pushed my way past Thomas. He stepped aside and just stared at me. Every nun I past refused to look up at me. The Church seemed so large and lonely. It was all in my head but the halls seemed to stretch out before me. Before I knew it I was on the doorstep of a large apartment complex, The Red Line Apartments to be precise. After ascending to the seventh floor via the elevator I was finally at my mother’s apartment. Most of the doors were grey, plain, with the assorted generic welcome mats. My mom’s door, on the other hand, was adorn with little painted characters she had made herself. “What good is a home if you can make it yours?” I remember her saying. I rang the buzzer and waited.

Chapter 3 The Red Line Apartments #712 March 15, 2050- Sunday My mother’s apartment was small but she did what she could to make it cozy. With only one bed and one bath it was perfect for a widow her age. I couldn’t tell you what color her walls are because almost every available inch was covered with pictures of friends and family long sense past. Now it was just her, I, and my brother remaining. The room we were sitting in had a large sofa against one wall while the TV hung across from it on the opposite wall. A small coffee table layered in magazines and doilies stood between the TV and us. “What do you mean you left the church?” my mother said starting in on me while simultaneously pouring me a cup of tea. I took the tea from her and drank before answering. Finally after enough time passed I spoke up. “We needed to find out what happened to Michael and since the church wouldn’t help us, I did what was necessary.” “I’m sorry baby.” She said as she placed a hand on mine. “I never meant for you to leave the church.

“I know,” I replied. “I did what I thought was right but now I’m going to need your help. Life as a priest hasn’t left me much money.” She slapped her head in realization. “I’m sorry of course,” she said as she reached for her purse, pulling out her credit card. “Here sweetie, take this. It only has a few thousand on it but it should be enough to get you a round trip ticket to Earth and enough cash for a few weeks.” “Mom I can’t-” I started to say before she cut me off. “You need this to find your brother. You wouldn’t even be in this mess if I hadn’t asked. You’d be back at the church, praying, and helping people,” she said as she thrust the card into my hand.

“Thank you mom,” was all I could muster. Nobody feels good needing to take money from their mother. A long silence past before I spoke again. “Do you know where I should start looking?” I asked. “From last I heard your brother was working at the UN embassy in the City... Or at least he was before the bombing,” a pained look flashed for a second across her face before she retook control and began speaking again. “I also have his address, maybe someone in the area knows something.” I took the address from her as well. “Okay, I probably wont be able to get to the embassy. The cops will probably have the site under tight security but I’ll try to at least take a look around. I’ll go to his apartment first,” I said. She nodded in agreement. “Mom I have one more question. Do you have any of dad’s old clothes left?” She sat thinking for a minute before getting up and walking into her bedroom. I followed her. She knelt down by the bed reaching beneath it and before long she produced an old trunk. It was brown with golden buckles and hinges.

As she swung it open there laid an old grey overcoat. She reached down and pulled the coat out and laid it on the bed along with two pairs of black slacks and three white long sleeve button-up shirts. The coat was grey with large black buttons; it came all the way down to mid thigh. She got up and walked over to her closet and pulled out a brown leather bag. “You’re welcome to any of these,” she said as she handed me the bag. I began to pick up the shirts and slacks and fold them up to put them in the bag. She left me alone in the room for a bit while I packed. When I was done I left her bedroom and went back into the living room. I entered the living room and saw she was on the phone. “Yes, just one… And that’ll be how much? ...Okay, that’ll be fine. His name is Gabriel Alonso… okay, thank you. Bye bye now,” she hung up the phone handing me a piece of paper. “Your flight is in four hours. You will be taking an orbital shuttle from Mars to Earth. It will be a week’s trip and it will pass through the Defense Grid. Here is the confirmation code to get your ticket. I pray you have a safe trip. I’ve heard reports of attacks on orbital shuttles. Please be careful.” I placed a kiss on my mom’s forehead and gave her a hug.

“Thank you mom,” I said as I gave her an extra squeeze. “No problem sweetie. I just hope you’ll be able to find your brother.” “Me too ma. Me too.”

Chapter 4 Mars Dome Interstellar Flightport [MDIF] March 15, 2050- Sunday It wasn’t long before I was on my way to the shuttle back to Earth. Security had heightened up due to the bombing. As I walked through the terminal a newspaper caught my attention. The title read:

IMPENDING WAR By Joseph Scott.

This is both an exciting and terrifying time for the world. Contact with an alien

race, The Zintonieans, has shaken the foundation of our society. While some have chosen to embrace our new neighbors more have chosen isolation above all else. One such group is the Light of the Human Genome or the LHG as they’re more commonly known.

‘Who is the LHG?’ you may ask. They are the group that has claimed responsibility for the attack on the UNA Embassy on Earth. The attack was meant to kill the Zintoniean ambassadors. Thankfully the bomb went off prematurely, sparing the ambassadors life. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the three hundred others lost in the attack.

The LHG is lead by a Mathew Auger, an educated man whose message of human isolation and hatred for alien races has spread like wild fire in the months since first contact. So much so that he has started civil unrest in much of North America.

In a recent tape released by the LHG Mathew was quoted as saying “All great movements are popular movements. They are the volcanic eruptions of human passions and emotions, stirred into activity by the ruthless Goddess of Distress or by the torch of the spoken word cast into the midst of the people. As a Christian I have no duty to allow myself to be cheated, but I have the duty to be a fighter for truth and justice.”

To combat the actions of Mathew Auger the president has enacted the ‘Brave Act’. This act would allow search and seizure of UNA citizens without a trial or release date. The Government would also be allowed to tap any and all data lines within the UNA for surveillance purposes.

In response to the ‘Brave Act’ Citizens have been protesting since early Saturday morning. Most protest were peaceful in nature, or at least they started out that way. Immediately police in riot gear were dispatched to most protest sites where it quickly devolved into skirmishes. Now many cities have erupted into full scale rioting and the question is left to ask, who is responsible? While most of the larger cities riot the smaller towns are the ones to pay the price. The rioting has shut down much of the transportation of goods to these small towns, cutting off essential commodities like food or medicine. For now most places are surviving but if order isn’t restored soon then some towns may risk starvation.

The article went on to talk about the instability of our current economy. The civil unrest created by the food shortages in parts of the country were just fuel for the fire. The civil liberties that were being trampled in the name of safety and security were the final straw. All of it was a mounting powder keg. The real question is ‘Where is the fuse?’ and ‘Who’s holding the match?’ Outside the window sat a very large white shuttle. We could see the boarding ramps and other ships out side as well. People ran around the outside of the ships doing checks and repairs. They all wore form fitted space suits that looked like scuba suits. Heaven help the man who confused the two. Over their heads they wore an egg shaped dome, which supplied the oxygen and helped seal the space suit together. Some wore utility belts with flashlights attached to their shoulders. The white shuttle was mine. Well mine and five hundred other passengers. Emblazoned along the side was a giant killer whale and the name ‘Serial Air’ above it. I had hoped the travel companies had stopped the practice of painting giant animals on ships and planes a while ago, but unfortunately they had not. Now I was off to rescue my brother riding a giant killer whale through space. God sure has a sense of humor. Once safely aboard we are told to turn all electronic devices off by a wafer thin women with coffee stains on her left thigh. The stains are probably from an inattentive passenger or a bumpy flight. She smiles at me with the fake smile she has rigorously trained to keep in place. Her name is Diana. Most people don’t pay attention to her and do as they please forcing her to come by one by one repeating the warning.

The flight from Earth to Mars, and vice versa, takes a full week to make. A heavyset couple takes shelter in the seats in front of me. The man looks sweaty and out of breathe. The women is fairing better by far. He sits in his seat with the grace of an avalanche, parts of him spilling everywhere. Once he catches his breath he practically shouts as he talks to his wife. “Not much has changed with flight service in almost a hundred years except for the speed,” he blusters. “Humans can get anywhere we want in a matter of minutes but with the damn terrorists everywhere only safe place to go is Mars. I don’t want to be captured by some spook and sold back to my country… I think they’ll have over paid,” he finishes with a loud obnoxious laugh. His wife puts on a smile just as fake as the stewardess and turns to her knitting. This was going to be a long flight.

Seven painful days later we can finally see Earth clearly. It’s still going to be another five hours before we can land. Crisscrossing the atmosphere above our country are thin blue lines. That is the defense grid. It was installed twenty years ago to help defend against incoming attack. Be it missile; drop ship, or falling asteroid. If we were to keep flying without the proper codes the blue lasers would zero in on us and obliterate us.

For the past twenty years those blue lines have kept us safe from outside attack. Now all we have to worry about is internal attack. The captain’s voice comes over the intercom “Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, we’re about to enter

Earth’s atmosphere. Once we break the exosphere it’ll start to get a bit bumpy. It’ll get progressively worse from there but don’t worry this is all perfectly normal.” The stewardess stands up and goes over emergency procedures one last time before calling up to the captain to give him the all clear sign.

While sitting waiting for clearance something rocks the side of the ship as flashes of red strafe the hull. People cry out in panic. Others looked around in confusion. Suddenly our cabin is lit up with red light. One man shouts, “Oh god we’re under attack.”

Without warning the captain puts on the thrusters. People are flung into their seats by the inertia. Another set of bolts pepper the back of the ship. Looking out the window I can see four small skiffs are following behind us. Each one of the ships stands out as white triangles against the starry sky. I begin to pray.

The captain takes us into a barrel roll towards the defense grid and pulls hard to the right taking cover behind a satellite. Two of the skiffs break off pursuit and I lose sight as they get ahead of us. The two remaining follow tight on our tail, peppering us with more shots. The satellite we used for cover explodes into pieces. There was no fire from the explosion, just a shower of glass and metal as the solar panels shattered.

“Why isn’t the defense grid working!” the heavyset wife in front of me shouts. The husband reaches over to reassure her.

“It can’t hit them while they’re this close to us. The sensors have a hard time picking them out from us. All we can do is hope that this ship is faster than theirs. If not the sensors are going to have to take both of us out,” that last bit sets the wife off.

“We’re going to die! Oh God!” she shouts. Diana, the stewardess, shouts in her most calming tone.

“We’re not going to die ma’am. Please relax. REELAX! The pilot has it under control.” Just then the two skiffs we lost sight of appear ahead of us. As the pair of skiffs in front of us close in I shut my eyes and continue to pray. Come and embrace me Lord. Hold me secure. Hold me strong. Hold me forever. In Your everlasting arms, amen.

A blossom of fire erupts behind us, a blue light quickly overpowers it. First one ball of fire, then two, then three, finally four. Each one of the skiffs destroyed by the Defense Grid. It’s company policy to not arm these types of shuttles. Gives them a ‘none combative’ stance to stick by.

The captain’s voice comes over the intercom once more “So, ahh, sorry for the excitement folks. Please remain in your seats for the remainder of the flight. We’re now safely within the Defense Grid. I have also just been informed that your next flight of three thousand miles or less will be free courtesy of Serial Air.” The wife’s sobs can still be heard between the captain’s words. She stays that way even after we disembark.

Chapter 5 The City-Interstellarport 1145 March 23, 2050- Monday 3:45am

Everyone is quiet as they exit the shuttle. Each one of the passengers splits off to their own destination. It’s early in The City, 3:45AM. The City stands tall with numerous skyscrapers each one like fingers reaching for the sky. The lights of The City do little to illuminate the actual streets but instead make the shadow areas that much darker. The light offers no protections form the vultures skulking on the edge of darkness. They’re waiting for their chance to swoop in. I’ll have to wait till daybreak to go to my brother’s apartment.

I make my way to the nearest hotel and check into a room. The sleepy eyed clerk hands me the key before returning to his coffee and late night infomercials. My room is on the second floor, farthest from the check out station. The room is furnished with a single bed, a coffee maker, a bathroom, and a side table containing the Holy Bible.

I step in and close the door behind me, testing out the bed. It’s as stiff as the concrete outside. I lower my head and give a quick prayer in thanks for the blessings bestowed upon me and ask for the clarity to find my brother and the strength to reach him.

I lean over to the phone and give my mother a call. The rates for the call are ridiculous but if it’ll give her a piece of mind then it’s worth it. It’s noon back on Mars. She answers it on the first ring. I let her know I got here safely but I omitted the part about the attack, all she needed to know was that I was here and safe. Barely an hour in atmosphere and I’ve come under fire, maybe the system isn’t as safe as I thought. I still have several hours to kill before daybreak. I should get some rest but I’ve doe nothing but rest since I got on the shuttle. Getting up I place my bag on the bed and begin unpacking it into the drawers.

Once I’m done I pick up the phone again and dial my brother. I know my mom has tried him everyday since she got the message but maybe I’ll get lucky. It rings and rings for several seconds before his voice mail kicks in. “Hey this is Michael, you know what to do.” I take a breath.

“Hey Michael, its Gabe. I’m in town for a few days. Give me a call, I want to talk to you about the email.” I leave the phone number to the room I’m staying before hanging up. With little else for me to do I lower my head and pray for his safety and return.

When I open my eyes again it’s daylight. I shower and get ready to hunt for my brother. I put on the black slacks, button up white shirt along with dad’s old grey overcoat, and head out into the city. The only lead I have is my brother’s place, so that’s my first stop.

Chapter 6 The City March 23, 2050- Monday 4:37pm The air is surprisingly crisp at this time. The streets are already flooded with cars and pedestrians. Some running home, others are running for the sake of running. Homeless litter the streets. They come out of the cracks and crevasse in The City like slugs after the rain, harassing the runners for change. If I had the time or a place to take them I would gather the lot up and give them warmth and shelter in the church. Today my mission is set for me. I grab a cup of coffee and a bagel on my way to my brothers. Thankfully he doesn’t live to far from my hotel. It feels good to get something in me that isn’t pre packaged shuttle food. I take the change from my meal and give it to a poor man sitting huddled in a corner as I pass. What I though was a kind gesture only ended in the man getting into a fight with another man over a stray coin that slipped his grasp. Every few feet someone would call to me, “got some change mister?” I had to turn them down repeatedly but before long I was forced to ignore them all together as I walked. Is this what the city does? I thought. Does it numb you to the plight of others? I quickened my step and in no time I was at my brother’s apartment building. It stood four stories tall with a fire escape zigzagging along both sides of the building. The first floor was covered in brick. It quickly changed to a bland plaster type of material for the next three floors. There were seven windows for each floor looking out on the street. A green awning jut out from the building to the sidewalk. Atop is the apartment buildings name ‘Long Tree.’ An electronic pad bars my passage. The door is glass and I can see into it. It does me little good because the only thing I can make out is the elevator across from the plaza. I find my brothers apartment on the communication board next to the door and buzz him. A chill wind begins to pick up as I wait. No response. I try again. Looking through the index on the communication board I find the landlord lives on premises. I buzz him. A deep throaty voice croaks through the speakers. “Hello? Who is this?” I clear my throat.

“Hi, I’m Father- err I’m Gabriel Alonso. My brother is renting an apartment from you and he hasn’t been answering his phone for the past week so I wanted to check on him. His name is Michael Alonso. He’s in apartment number two eleven.” The words hang there in the breeze before the communication board buzzes again.

“Hold on, Ill be right there.” He says. A short time later the elevator across the plaza opens. A squat man in his mid sixties waddles over to the glass door. He makes no attempt to cover his baldness but judging by the way he moves there’s is firm muscle just under a layer of fat.

He depresses the door panel and slides it open. He still holds onto the door none-the-less, ready to shut it if I’m not who I claim to be. “You got any ID?” he says. I fumble in my pocket and produce my wallet with my priest ID as well as my Mars Citizenship card. “It’s not everyday I get a priest from Mars knocking on my door,” he says with a little chuff. “I can’t let you into his apartment alone. If you want to go in and take a look around that’s fine.” I can almost hear the words he doesn’t speak, last thing I want to do is clean up a dead body. Then again, it could just be my imagination.

We get to Michael’s apartment, the landlord knocks, and call into the room a few times… no answer. He unlocks the door and swings it open. “Don’t touch anything while you’re in here,” the landlord exclaims as I enter the apartment. The apartment looks like it has been turned upside down. “Oh God damn it! Did he paint the walls?” the landlord exclaims as he moves room to room surveying the once white walls now painted a light blue color.

I moved into his bedroom as debris from over turned drawers met my feet. I shifted some stuff around with my foot. I found his cell phone and a book of matches from a club called Chimera with the name ‘Eve’ written on the inside. My brother didn’t smoke. Without warning something jumped from the closet behind me. It was a lot faster than me. I felt the gentle caress of a baseball bat to the side of my neck before I hit the ground. The room spun around me as I tried to regain my senses. A woman stood over me and I could hear the sound of the Landlord shouting from the next room. A swirling blackness overtook me as I passed out. My head felt like it had been flushed down the toilet and I’m still circling the drain. Two forms stand over me. One of them is talking at me. It’s really hard to make out. The taller of the two forms is holding a wet washcloth across my forehead. As my vision begins to clear I can finally make out the people. The tall one is a pretty girl with blonde hair and green eyes. The Landlord is shouting at me, then at the woman. His voice comes across like a muffled trumpet. I try to sit up and off the room goes. Spinning faster than it did before. The girl puts a hand on my chest and lays me back down.

“You really did a number on him,” The Landlord says. “Shut up, I didn’t mean to.” “What are you even doing here? I should have you arrested for

trespassing.” “No! Please don’t. I’m Michael’s girlfriend. He gave me a key.” “If you had a key then why were you hiding?” I try and join the conversation but no one listens. The only thing they hear

from me is a light rasp. “I hadn’t heard from him in almost a week and when I came over I found

his place trashed. I knew something happened to him. Next thing I know I hear someone come into the apartment. So I hid in the closet with the bat. I wasn’t going to let you take me like you did Michael,” she continued.

“We aren’t going to take you anywhere. The guy you just knocked out is Michael’s brother. He’s a priest from Mars, no less,” The Landlord responds. I give her a weak wave and smile from the floor. “Brother?” She paused “Michael never said anything about a brother.” The two turn to me with suspicious glances. I could tell if I don’t explain myself, I’ll be going for round two with that bat.

“We’re brothers, alright. Like I said I’m a priest and awhile back, in my more zealot days, Michael and I had a falling out. I didn’t think the stubborn prick would go so far as to cut me out entirely. Oooh-” I may have over did it that time. As I roll over I can feel the coffee and bagel coming up. I reach for the nearest bucket. Michael’s baseball cap is going to have to do.

The two turn away from me, granting me a little bit of privacy. I can just imagine Monsignor Rose laughing at me if he could only see me now. I finish and wipe my face on the brim, forcing myself to my feet. So far so good. I’m able to make it to a chair seated in front of Michael’s computer desk. I spot the trashcan to my left a little too late to save Michael’s hat. As I toss the soggy cap into the can I bump the table. His computer springs to life.

An email sits open on his desktop from a John.Cryer@Embay.com sent March 13, 2050 at 5:48am:

‘M, Please for the love of God, stay out of the embassy today. You did your part. Let the LHG do the rest. STAY OUT!

-J’ “Who is John Cryer?” I ask the pair, “and for that fact, what are your

names?” “Oh, I’m Samantha Deeds. I go by Sam for short,” the pretty girl chimes

in. “And I’m Saul,” The Landlord adds. “Cryer… Cryer… I know that name,” Sam says. “Who is he?” I ask. Saul shrugs and looks bewildered. His cell phone begins to ring, as if that

was our cue to leave. “I don’t know and I don’t care. Neither one of you pay rent here and now that I know you can move, it’s time to go,” Saul says as he begins to usher us to the door.

Sam looks like she’s still deep in thought as we’re moved out of the room. As soon as there’s enough space between the door and us Saul closed and locked it tight. “I hope you guys got what you were looking for and I’d love to help but you gots to go,” Saul says definitively.

I nod, thank him, and begin walking away. Saul heads off in the opposite direction finally answering his phone. “Yeah Ma?” Saul says into the phone.

Sam and I walk in silence towards the elevator. She really is quite pretty. I normally don’t think about things like this but ever since this adventure started

I’ve been looking at things different. If I could leave Mars and the church who knows what else I could do.

“I know who it is!” Sam exclaims. “Me and Michael went over to his house for the a dinner party a few months back.”

“Do you remember where he lives?” “Yeah.” “Can you show me?” “On one condition.” “Sure anything.” “I get to help you find Michael.” “Huh?” “I care about him just as much as you do and I want to help find him.” “Sure, I guess. So what’s his address?” “It’s on my phone,” She says confidently as she pads herself down. She

suddenly looks crestfallen as she exclaims. “Back at my house… I’m sorry. My place is on the other side of The City, off of Remington drive.”

“Okay, we’ll head over there after.” “After what?” “We go to Chimera,” I say as I hold up the matchbook.

Chapter 7 The City March 23, 2050- Monday 5:40pm

We walk for a while down the streets. This part of the City looks nicer than the areas near the shuttle port. There are more cops around here for one thing. There aren’t any broken streetlights, the homeless are almost nowhere to be seen, and all the shops have smiling merchants in them. A young couple sits down to eat at a bistro down the street. I think it’s their first date. The young man is shaking like a leaf but the girl he’s with is calm and supportive. I like that, the quiet strength in her, it reminds me of my mom. She was strong enough to raise two boys and support us all.

Sam is turning the matchbook over and over in her hands. “I don’t get it, why is this important again?” She asks, holding up the matchbook.

“Firstly, my brother doesn’t smoke. Our father died of lung cancer when we were kids.” I say

“I’m sorry.” “Don’t worry about it. It was a long time ago. We barely remember him.”

That’s a lie. Of course I remember him. I remember the smell of tobacco on his clothes and breath, and then the smell of antiseptic towards the end. He died when we were five after a three-year battle with cancer. Most kids remember playing tag with their dad and going camping. I remember going in and out of the hospital to get him treated. Our mom used to show us pictures of him when he was younger. He was a Marine, tall, fit, and slightly balding in the back. He dodged bullets and mortars but the one that got him was the one in his breast pocket.

Back then Michael and I were inseparable. When they don’t allow other children in the hospital it makes sense that we would bond. Michael and I are only eleven months apart, so for one month we were the same age. So for one month I couldn’t pull the ‘I’m older’ card on him. The day when he finally passed he called for us to be by his bedside. He made each one of us promise to not smoke. We both agreed and kept to the promise. So no, I don’t think my brother started smoking.

“Secondly” I continue, “It’s in his hand writing.” Sam looks at the name again. “Eve… Who is that?”

“I don’t know” I reply “But I have a feeling we’ll find out when we get there.” The smell of Jasmine crosses my path. “So how did you two meet?” I ask.

“Well its kind of a long story” She says. “We’ve got nothing but time” I assure her. “Well” she pauses thinking back “We met about six months ago. It was at

a Halloween party my friend Karen had set up. She was friends with Michael. They both worked in the embassy. That night I was dressed in a gold slave bikini and he came dressed as suave smuggler. You know from those movies back in

the twentieth century. Either way, when we met he asked me if I wanted to see his ship. Suffice to say I left with him and we’ve been together since.”

“Sounds like a perfect match.” “Well it was… The last few weeks before he disappeared he started acting

strange. He would take off at weird hours and not tell me where he went. Other times he would just seem distant, like he was off in his own little world. Then the bombing at the embassy happened. Do you think he could have been involved?”

“I hope not. Maybe this John will be able to shed some light on it.” Out of nowhere I get this feeling like someone is behind me. You know that weird pressure on the back of your head when something is close to you. You can’t see them but you know they’re there. I spin around and catch a tall man in a heavy coat looking at me. As soon as I lock eyes with him he breaks the contact and stands there stupefied.

“What?” Sam asks. “I know him.” I say, “Thomas, what are you doing here?” For some reason Thomas from the church had followed me to Earth. He

wasn’t wearing his collar but everything about him matched his clothes from church. I can only assume he took it off to tail me easier.

“I came to bring you back Gabriel,” Thomas replied. “Does the Monsignor know you left?” “Yes, he sent me.” “I ask him for permission to find my brother and he says he can’t spare

the resources but he damn well finds a way to send his lap dog after me. Like hell I’m going back now!” I practically shout.

“Gabriel you don’t know what it says about the Monsignor if one of his priest goes missing? If he loses face, the people will begin to leave the church and you know how small the flock has gotten recently.” I grab Sam by the arm and turn her away from Thomas. “Lets go.” Thomas reaches over and yanks me back by the shoulder. As I’m turned I throw my momentum into a punch. I didn’t know I had in me. It connects square with Thomas’s jaw, knocking him flat on his back. “If you think I’m coming back to the church now, you have another thing coming,” I say through clenched teeth. I squat down to meet Thomas’s eyes. “I’m here to find my brother and by God’s grace I’m going to do that.” I let the statement hang in the air for a minute. “Do you get me?” Thomas refuses to look me in the eyes. I can see him running through his choices in his head. On one hand he can’t fail the Monsignor but on the other he can’t kidnap me and drag me back to Mars. I hear a heavy deep voice speak from behind me.

“Sir, you’d do best to step away from that man right now.” The voice said with finality. I turn around and see a very lean police officer standing there.

“I’m sorry officer. It was my fault. I insulted his mother,” Thomas says. I can’t believe my ears at this. Thomas was lying to a cop… and for me no less.

“I don’t care. I don’t need people roughing each other up on my street,” the cop says, then pointing down one road then back down the opposite way. “Now you go that way and you go the other and if I see either one of you fighting again I’ll lock you up for assault, you understand me?”

“Yes, sir,” Thomas and I say in unison. Thomas stands up; dusts himself off, and proceeds to walk away from the two of us. He looks back at us once more before turning around a corner.

“Well?” the cop says looking at me. “Yeah, you got it.” My hand is throbbing. I’ve never had to hit someone before. I didn’t

expect a jaw to be that damn hard but for some reason I can’t let Sam see how much it hurts. Sam stays close to me and when we’re finally out of earshot from the cop she asks, “Who was that?”

I take a deep breath to steady myself. “That was Father Thomas Malcolm from Our Father’s Light Catholic Church back on Mars.”

“What’s he doing here?” “He must of come to ‘collect me’ and return me to Mars.” “He can’t do that… Right?” “No, he can’t do that. There’s nothing the church could do to stop me

from leaving, legally. But that doesn’t mean that they wont try and get me back. I’m beginning to think the Monsignor doesn’t want me back because he misses me. I think it shows that I can undermine his authority and he doesn’t like it. It’s now a matter of pride for him.”

“Oh man. I’ve never been hunted by priest before.” “Pft-what? Priests aren’t hunting us. At best were getting stalked by one

lonely priest and he’s doing a terrible job at it to boot!” I shout the last bit out in hopes Thomas hears it.

We both snicker at this but before long a light snicker becomes an uncontrollable laughter. The two of us stop walking entirely and just laugh. It may have been the pressure of the situation or life finally catching up with me but I need to break down a bit and just laugh. We stop laughing eventually. A slight rose tint has grown on Sam’s cheeks. I’m finding it hard not to stare at her. Damn it Gabe, snap out of it. One, she’s your brother’s girlfriend and I know we’re not that guy. Secondly, even though you had a set back with Monsignor Rose doesn’t mean I’m fully out of the church. There may still be a way to get back in.

“What’s wrong?” Sam asks. I snap out of it a little dumb founded. “Wha- nothing. I’m hungry. Do you mind if we stop to get a bite to eat around here? In case Chimera isn’t as hospitable as I’m expecting it to be?” “Yeah sure,” she replies.

“Thanks, last thing I had was some coffee a few hours ago and that didn’t exactly stay down.”

After a quick look around we find a nice little soup and sandwich shop. We settle in at a small table with a red tablecloth on the patio. A sandy blonde

hostess brings us a couple of menus. She looks like she’s been on her feet all day and her shift looks to be ending soon. There is a glassy eyed look to her as she takes our order. We order the soups of the day and half turkey sandwiches. We sit in awkward silence for a few minutes but before long I realize it’s not just us that’s quiet. Many other patrons are staring with their eyes locked onto the TV screen. A riot broke out when protestors clashed with police a few blocks west of the restaurant and it’s spreading. I hadn’t noticed it before but I could hear a dull roar a few blocks down. It wasn’t there when I ran into Thomas, but it’s there now and getting louder. Faint electricity is starting to fill the air around us. People begin to ask for their checks. I can hear a women next to us ask her boyfriend if they should get out of here too. Before he can answer a loud screech and crash rings out from the end of the block. A car had taken a nosedive into a pole. We can see what he swerved to miss now. Mobs of angry citizens were marching through the streets, each one carrying a weapon of some sort. I could see a mix of tire irons, bats, and bottles of alcohol with rags hanging out. Others held up signs that read “KEEP EARTH FOR EARTHLINGS” or “STOP THE INVASION” Some were more colorful with their slogan, “NO RAY GUNS FOR HUMANS.” The citizens marched over and around the crashed car paying little attention to the person trapped inside. Sam let out a yelp. I turned to see what got her attention. On the other end of the street looked to be a wall of cops moving to engage the crowd and halt their expansion. A lit bottle flies through the air and hits a car next to us. The fire spreads across the top of it and into the interior of the car. A man next to me lets out a yell “Oh god damn it! That’s my car you idiots!” There is maybe half a block between them when the protestors shout and charge. The cops hold fast behind their riot shields. One officer yells out to the megaphone, issuing orders to the men around him. It’s going to be a blood bath soon.

Chapter 8 The City- March 23, 2050- Monday 6:55pm Chaos erupts on all sides of us. The police officers surge forth like a black wave to meet the crowd. They are reminiscent of Roman soldiers with their clear shields held firmly in place to repel the staggering numbers of rioting citizens. What the rioters lack in tactics and organization they make up with fury, chaos, and sheer numbers. As the two armies hit a sickening crunch exploded into the night air. The first blow was struck and the Police were still standing. Now it’s their chance to turn and run if they so chose. All of this happens in the span of a breath. Most of their eyes reset back into the resolve and fury they held a second before. The protesters begin swinging like mad, grasping at any advantage they can get against their better-trained opponent. The police are not calm, no matter what they say. I can see hate in their eyes. A hate for these protestors; for endangering innocents life, for destroying public property, for ruining a nice day, and for just being in their way. Some of the police hate for having to be here, to be that thin blue line against the chaos and to have to turn their training against the people they swore to protect. Those eyes are few and far between. Yells and screams are heard from the protesters and they mix in with the shouts of orders from the police turning the noise into a stomach turning new sound. A teenager is thrown over the rail of the soup shop by a police office. The teen couldn’t be more then fifteen years old with black hair and a matching black T-shirt on as he tumbled onto our table. Sam and I leapt up. The officer leaned over the rail and with a giant hand grabbed the kid to drag him over the rail back onto the street. The teenager huddled into a ball to protect his head and neck the best he can but blow after blow from the police baton assail the teenager. “We need to get out of here NOW!” Sam shouts at me. We both turn and head into the soup and sandwich shop as fast as we can. Assessing the room quickly I see there is only one exit facing the street and the riot. “There has to be another way out!” Sam cries. Suddenly a large trashcan comes flying through the window, sending shards of glass everywhere. I clutch Sam and drag her under me as the can flies inches past my head. “Are you okay?” I ask.

“I think so,” she replies. A burning sensation stings my hands and when I look down at them I see they’re covered in blood. Several broken plates and cups, now stained red, lay at our feet and where my hands were. The noise grew louder as people from the street poured into soup and sandwich shop. I could hear the crunch pop of glass under foot as the protestors grabbed what they could to throw at the police. Chairs and tables went flying out of the shop in a mad flurry. The waitress screamed out in protest but none listened to her pleas. Soon it wasn’t just the tables and chairs they were after.

Some of the more opportunistic protestors started taking things from behind the shelf. One of them opened the register and began stealing money. The waitress screamed at him to, “Stop, just please stop!!!”

The man smiled at her and said, “Come on sweetie. Don’t be like that. It’s nothing personal.” My fist clenched up like they had a mind of their own and as the man started my way towards the exit I threw a hard right punch into his nose. I could hear and feel the scrunch of his nose as cartilage broke. Blood began to run down his mouth and throat as he toppled over.

I reached into the unconscious man’s pocket and pulled out most of the money. What I handed back to her was a bloody wad, but it was back. I walked over to the tap behind the counter and washed, my hands of the blood and the glass. I wrapped by bloody hand in a towel. I couldn’t manage to tie it and during my frustration but Sam appeared and took the towel and tied it for me. “I’ve been on Earth less then a few days and I’ve already punched a priest and broke the nose of a robber,” I say through clenched teeth, with my head down still staring at my hand. “The sad part is that I don’t think I’m done hurting people… I was- am a priest!” “I know but right now we need to leave. We have to keep moving. It’s not going to be long before they start with the tear gas and heaven forbid if someone pulls a gun. If someone starts shooting then the police will start shooting and it’ll turn into a massacre,” Sam says pulling me back into the moment and reminding me that it was more dangerous for us to stay in one place right now. “Okay… wait! Does this place have roof access?” I ask the waitress.

She thinks for a second then nods. “It’s in the back in one of the closets. There is a ladder that leads to the roof but the door is locked.” I look around the room for a broom handle or a strong bar of some kind to wedge into the door and pry it open.

“Do you have a crowbar in the back?” “I don’t know,” she replies.

When I get into the back closet with the ladder I notice it’s filled with junk. Sure enough there it is, the ladder. Then, a crowbar, sitting in the back left corner of the room. I grab it, stuff it in my belt strap, and begin climbing. The ladder leads to a square doorway in the ceiling that gives way to the roof. I wedge the crowbar between the frame and the door. It’s no good; I can’t get it deep enough. “Is there a hammer down there?” I call. A man, one of the other customers, hands me a hammer. I don’t exactly have a lot of room to maneuver but if I can get the crowbar a few inches in then it’ll be all I need. Whack! Whack! And the crowbar is in. I hand the hammer back to the man and tell everyone to step back. Once everyone is clear of the room I pull down on the hook end of the crow bar and I can hear the faint crackle as the wood begins to give. I finally put all my weight into it, pulling it down, and pop the door flies open. With my counter weight gone I fall back and hit the ground with a soft thud. Sam and the man help me to my feet. “You okay?” the man asks.

“Not till we get out of here. Then I will be,” I reply. “Come on! Lets get everyone on the roof!” All of the other patrons snap to and begin climbing up the ladder. Once everyone is up I look around and grab a case of water. “Here, take this with you! I don’t know how long we’ll be up there.”

Finally I ascend the ladder again. The roof is sparse. There’s little in the way of shade, light or heating but thankfully the buildings are connected. I take count of everyone in the group; Sam, the young couple from earlier, the man, the waitress, and myself. Most of them look shell-shocked. “Where to now?” the young man asks. “We have to keep moving atop the buildings towards the other side of the cops line. But we have to stay low and try not to be seen. If the cops see us they’ll think were rioters trying to flank them.” I take a deep breath. “As soon as were at the end of the block we can climb down and go from there away from the riot. Everyone got that?” Looking around I can see everyone in agreement. Sam is clutching tight to the crowbar I dropped. The older man has the hammer and an oversized wrench, roughly the size of my forearm. “Where did you get that?” I ask him. He tilts his head towards the hole.

“One of the rioters dropped it while they were looting.” He replies. “Remember; stay down, stay together, and keep moving.” I advise before setting out. Thankfully all these shops are connected with no alleyway between them. As we move across the roof I can see a cop get pulled down and disarmed in a crowd of protestors. The protestors begin to stomp furiously on the fallen cop, giving him nowhere to go. I hear a heavy thud… thud … thud coming from behind us. “What was that?” the girl asks. White smoke begins to drift up from the crowd as yelling and shouts turn to screams of panic.

“They fired tear gas. We have to keep moving. If the wind shifts we’ll get a whiff of it and it won’t be pretty,” the older man says. We abandon our stealth for speed and go into a full on sprint. We leap over the small ledges and duck under antennas. It’s not long before we get to the end of the block and we see it. Several cars and motorcycles with the letters ‘LHG’ emblazoned along the side come flying around the corner and towards the police. Horns are honked and some idiot is blaring the “Rise of the Valkyrie” as they charge into the police. One of the trucks further back has a man riding in the bed with a bullhorn. He has brown hair and blue eyes. His hair is parted in the middle and he has a small goatee. He couldn’t be more then thirty. “I am Mathew Auger and we are the LHG, here to help fight the tyranny of the government. Take heart brothers, we have come to your rescue!” the man says as his squad of cars plow into the police. Shots begin to ring out on both sides, from the LHG and from the police. A Molotov cocktail hits an officer square in the back and he is instantly engulfed in flames. The officer drops to the pavement trying to put himself out. The protestors leap on the opportunity and begin stomping on the officer. The kicks weren’t well placed but with his attention drawn to the fire, he never saw them coming.

Mathew’s truck doesn’t even stop as it runs down officer after officer. The few that can open fire at Mathew, but it’s hopeless. The rounds are reflected off by an invisible field.

“Kinetic shielding.” the older man says. “It’s not suppose to be legal outside of the military and even then it’s hard

to get ahold of. Eventually the shields will overload and shut down but I don’t know what kind of battery he’s got on it,” Sam and I stare at the older man in disbelief.

“How do you know all that?” I ask. He rolls up one sleeve and shows us the LHG tattoo on his bicep. “I left

them six months ago. I never knew they would do something like this though,” he says gesturing to the chaos and destruction below.

“What’s your name?” “Richard. Richard Alva,” He replies. “What do you know about those shields? How can they be shut off?” “You’d have to disconnect the battery. I doubt its running off the car, the

drain would be to much for the both of them.” Leaning over the edge of the roof I see, just behind the driver’s rear

window in the bed of the truck, a black box with cables running out of it. That had to be the battery.

“Is that it?” I ask pointing at the black box on the bed of the truck. “Yeah.” Looking around for some way to help. Suddenly it dawns on me. “How does it hold up against water?” I ask with a slight grin

Richard looks confused for a second then follows my eyes. A smile creeps across his face as well.

“Sam, I need you and the others to throw those bottles of water at him. Try and get him to move over to that corner. Shout, do what you can, but make sure to get into cover when he turns on you. Richard, come with me.”

“Where are you going?” she asks. “To help,” I say as I swing one leg over the edge of the roof. It’s a good

fifteen-foot drop to the ground. It’s going to sting a bit but as long as I don’t land on my heels I would be all right. With both legs hanging over the edge, I took a deep breath, and slid off the roof. No one noticed as Richard and I descended from the roof. We made our way towards Mathew’s truck as covertly as possible. I looked back at Sam and gave her the signal. A volley of open water bottles came flying at Mathew’s truck accompanied with screams and shouts from the rooftop. Most of the other’s land short or miss entirely. One bottle manages to hit its target and bounces off Mathew’s head drawing a surprise shout from the leader. He turns toward the source of the attack. Mathew bangs on the roof of the truck and shouts at his driver. The truck swerves around and starts heading towards Sam on the roof. Mathew drops the bullhorn and pulls out a very large handgun.

“Do it!” I shout at Richard. He pulls back on the large wrench secured to the top of the fire hydrant and a geyser of water erupts from it. Water flew up in the air a good twenty feet and came down in all directions, including on top of Mathew’s truck. We saw a slight shimmer around the truck, like a small dome, encasing it, before it disappeared entirely and a plum of smoke erupted from the bed of the truck. Mathew’s shields were down and he knew it. He turned to me with a snarl on his face and began shooting. Richard and I threw ourselves behind a near by cop car. It wasn’t long before the police realized what had happened and opened fire on Mathew and his truck. Bullets pinged all around Mathew. One caught him in the forearm. The others peppered the front end of the car. Only the windshield had been reinforced. The driver, now knowing his protection was gone, threw the truck into reverse and peeled out away from the battle. A sharp cry came from the bed of the truck “Fall back! Fall back!” One by one the LHG turned their vehicles around and flew out of the fray, like a dozen cockroaches in the kitchen light. Police grabbed the few they could while they had the chance. Most of them took off, taking care not to drive through the water.

“May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth,” I say in relief.

“What?” Richard asks “Psalm 72:6. I thought it was fitting line.” “Oh… I don’t really get into that religion stuff. It causes more fights than

it solves.” “Are the others alright?”

As we get to our feet we see Sam and the others waving at us from the rooftop. They seem fine and healthy. Looking around I can see Police making an arrest and checking the injured. Fire trucks and ambulances arrive moments later but it’s not enough to treat all the wounded.

With the appearance of the LHG much of the fighting seemed to be taken out of the rioters. The police lost numerous officers and the streets were now littered with bodies of cops and civilians alike. No one wanted this, except for the LHG. They were monsters in my mind. How they can bring themselves to hurt so many people is something I hope to never understand.

“We gotta go!” Richard says. “Why?” “Because if the police or the LHG see me here, I’m dead. The cops think

I’m part of the LHG still and the LHG will know I helped the cops.” “You’re right. Lets move.” I gesture to Sam to move to the end of the block

and stay down. I probably looked like an idiot. I hadn’t exactly worked out a signal or anything for ‘We may be an accomplice, if we stay here.’ Thank the Lord she understood what I was saying and moved down the block in the direction we were originally headed.

We kept going, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. In normal situations that may have worked, but if you see two people trying to slink away from a riot you know they’re up to something. From over our shoulder we hear a man yell out after us. “Hold up you two!”

My heart jumped up into my throat. We stop and turn around to see a very large officer moving towards us. Richard shifts his stance as if he’s about to run. I grab his arm. “Let me handle this, I’m a priest, and there’s more cops that way.” I turn to the policeman. “Yes, officer…” I read his name on his badge “Travis?”

This guy was massive. I didn’t think it was possible for a cop to be that big, but he stood there at least four inches taller then me and a good two hundred pounds heavier, and it wasn’t fat either. When he looked down on me I felt like a small child again. “I saw what you two did,” he bellowed, “and I just want to say thank you.”

I sigh with relief. “No problem.” “We were trying to get our trucks down here to do the same thing but

they got caught up in traffic on third street. You two saved a lot of lives today.” “It was really nothing.” “How did you figure out how to stop them?” “My friend here,” I gestured toward Richard who stood like a statue,

“pointed it out and we knew we had to help. Listen, I’m sorry I don’t want to be rude but I really need to get my hand taken care of,” I said as I raise my hand wrapped in a bloody wet rag.

“I’m sorry too. We have to bring you in to answer some questions and get a statement from you. We’ll take care of that hand for you too,” he says with a big smile grabbing Richard and I by the bicep. Richard tried to struggle from the cop’s grasp. As the officer looked over at Richard a black mark became more visible as his sleeve went up. Richard’s tattoo sat just below the cops grasp.

Everything froze for a minute as the cop and Richard exchanged glances. The cop opened his mouth and shouted for back up “Johnny! Give me a hand with this one.” From behind a smaller officer appeared and takes me by the wrist. Officer Travis slides his hand down Richard’s wrist and twists it. The angle of the turn forced Richard to the ground. Faster than I realize the cops have cuffs on us and we’re being hauled off to the police station.

Chapter 9 The City- 23rd Precinct Police Station March 24, 2050- Tuesday 9:00am The Twenty Third Precinct; the cops here are a lot more brutal and rough then they were back on Mars. They took Richard off to an interrogation room. He’s been in there most of the night. They never really asked me any questions. I mean they got my name and info but they didn’t grill me on anything. “Gabriel Alonso,” a voice called outside my cell. I hadn’t noticed the policeman move in front of my cage and open the door. “You’re free to go.”

“What happened?” “You’re free to go. You aren’t being charge with anything. There’s this

loud mouth girl asking for you in the front.” “Where’s Richard? The man I came in with.” The officer looked at his tablet. He tapped it a few times before looking

up. “We don’t have a record of arrest for a Richard in the last twenty four hours. Sorry.”

“That’s impossible! He came in with me.” I hadn’t realized it but I had leapt to my feet.

“Listen buddy; your pal isn’t here. And two, you step at me like that again and I have no issue detaining you for the entire twenty four hours. Do you get me?” He said in a commanding voice.

“Yeah, I get you,” I replied. The officer stepped aside and allowed me to pass. “End of the hall, make a left,” he ordered as he dogged my steps. Something wasn’t right. I could feel an uneasy tension coming off him. They did something to Richard but I have no way to prove it. I have to find some evidence. He leads me through several doors before we enter the waiting room. Sam is sitting there waiting for me. She looks tired. Her normally neat hair is mussed up. It looks like she may have slept in that seat all night.

“You okay?” she asks. “Yeah,” I reply as I walk towards the front desk. The officer behind the

window hands me my personal effects and tells me, “Have a nice day.” We step outside into the bright sunlight of the street. As soon as we’re out of earshot I ask Sam if she’d seen Richard.

“No and I was in the waiting room all night.” “I was afraid of that. I think the cops did something to him but I have no

proof. I want to help him but I don’t think I can right now. I need to find my brother.”

“Well the cops wouldn’t kill him, right?” “No I don’t think so but it’s weird. They never booked him. Come on we

need to get moving.” “Where we going?”

“To Chimera. I want some answers and I think this ‘Eve’ might be able to shed some light on my brother’s whereabouts.” I can see a hint of fear on Sam’s face. I didn’t mean for it to come out as hard as it did.

“Hey,” I say as I stop walking. “Is your place close to here?” “Yeah” “Do you mind if we stop there and freshen up? I still have the stench of

prison all over me.” She laughs. “Yeah. Lets get you cleaned up, Scarface.”

Chapter 10 The City- Chimera Night club March 24, 2050- Tuesday 1:00pm In the daylight the Chimera Club looks like a women with too much make up. Gaudy lights around the header and around the windows. The building stands a good two stories high with deep black alleys on either side. The windows themselves are tinted a dark black. Numerous other bars line the street. A heavy blue door is its only entrance from this side. I push on the door and it opens. The inside is more toned down. Tables are placed around the room filling up much of the floor. On the opposite side of the room is a half circle stage sitting three feet off the ground with old bulbs housed along the edges to light the performers. On the left side of the room sits the bar and an old man sitting on a stool wiping down glasses. There is a podium for a hostess but they are absent at the moment. Instead a sign that reads ‘Please Seat Yourself’ is in her place. There seems to be a smattering of other patrons in the joint. Regulars, by the look of them. I lead Sam to the bar and we take a seat in two vacant stools near the stage. The bar tender mossies’ over to us and places two napkins down on the bar in front of us. The old man has a comically big handle bar mustache, a thin frame, and long grey hair.

“What’ll it be?” he asks. “I’m looking for someone,” I say as I reach into my pocket and pull out a

picture of my brother. “Have you seen him before?” “Yeah. Mike. He comes in Fridays to see Eve perform. Hasn’t been here in awhile though,” the bartender replies. “Who is Eve?” “Oh she’s a performer here. She usually works Fridays and Tuesdays.” “Today is Tuesday,” Sam chimes in. “Do you think she’s here? Could we talk to her?” I ask. “Let me see.” He walks away from us and picks up a phone behind the

bar. After a few short seconds he comes back over to us. “Yeah she’ll be out to see you in a second. Can I get you guys anything while you wait?”

“A Random Jumble,” Sam says a little too fast. I look at her and wonder what kind of person orders a drink this early in the afternoon. “What?!” She says, “Its been a crazy day and I need this.”

“By all means.” “For you?” he asks gesturing at me. “Soda? Sorry I don’t drink,” I reply. Before long both drinks are produced and paid for. We take them and find

a table to sit at. We finally settle on a booth against a wall, for privacy. Eve comes out of a double door. She has long black hair and is by far the

prettiest women I’ve ever seen. Clad in what I can only guess is designer cloths and carrying a small dog in her arms. A Pomeranian I think. She looks at the

bartender and he points at us. We wave and she comes over to us taking a seat next to me and across from Sam.

“Hi, you came asking about Michael,” she says. “Um uh yeah,” I reply trying to find my tongue again. “He’s my brother

and he’s been missing since the bombing.” She winces when I mention the bombing. It’s too soon to talk about it so off handedly. “Have you seen him?” I ask.

“No I haven’t. Not since we broke up,” she says. My eyes go wide and I’m afraid to look over at the storm brewing just to my right. Two lovers of my brother on either side of me and I’m stuck in the middle. This is going to get bad.

“Broke up? Are you kidding me?” Sam chimes in from across from us. “Who are you?” Eve asks. “I’m Michael’s girlfriend,” Sam replies hotly. “Apparently not a very good one if he came to me,” Eve answers. “Okay bitch lets do this.” “I’m not gonna fight you,” Eve replies. “I let Bruno fight for me.” Before I

can ask who Bruno is a large hand grabs Sam by the shoulder and starts leading her toward the exit. The guy is a giant.

“That one too?” Bruno asks pointing at me. Eve looks at me and I can see the question in her eyes. Her eyes are saying, do I need to throw you out as well?

“Last question; do you know where my brother is?” I ask as I stand up and collect myself.

“No,” she replies and I can see it in her eyes. She hasn’t seen him either. “Okay, thank you for her time.” I turn to the big gorilla handling Sam. “Okay, paws off. We’re leaving.” His eyes and nostrils flare up. Just as

he’s about to grab me Eve speaks up. “Go ahead and let them go.”

Bruno lets Sam go. She collapses a little as he drops her. I step in between her and Bruno and look her in the eyes. “Lets go.”

I can see the fight still in her but I can also see her button it down with a force of will. She turns on her heels and begins storming out. I tip my hat to Bruno “God bless,” I say to him just before leaving. Once outside Sam lays into me. “What the hell is your problem?” she shouts.

“Listen, I know it hurts to be betrayed like that but-“ “Oh what do you know? Its not like you have a flaming love life,” she

says flippantly. Ouch. That was a low blow. “I’m sorry,” she continues. “I didn’t mean that.”

“I know,” I reply. “Honestly once she dropped that bomb on our lap I figured things were going to devolve. There was no way to get any more info after that… that and I couldn’t let that big gorilla walk you out.”

“Oh I messed up didn’t I?” she says finally realizing what she did. “Don’t worry about it. I got what I needed.” “Yeah?”

“She hasn’t seen him. This lead was a dead end.” “How do you know?” “When you listen to people confess their darkest secrets to you, you learn

to tell when someone is lying by their voice.” “Oh, what’s next then?” “We still have John’s email.” “That’s right! And now I have my phone.” “Lets get out of this place.” Poor girl I thought. My brother was two-timing her and she doesn’t even seem

fazed. How many times has she been put through something like this by him?

UNA Threatened By Brazil Missiles By Joseph Scott

MIAMI BEACH, Florida- Brazil launched 4 missiles at 5:30am EST on March 24. The missiles splashed down 20 miles off the coast of Florida in the Atlantic Ocean. Brazil quickly issued a statement that the missiles were just tests for their space program. The missiles contained non-lethal payloads and were sent off course by a computer malfunction.

“The fact that the missiles could have easily hit our front lawn scares the ever living hell out of me,” says on one Miami Local. The President addressed the public at 7:45am EST. He had this to say:

“Rest assured that we will not back down from our vigilance and that any attempt made by ANY country on UNA or Annex powers lives will be met with swift and decisive action.” Since that statement several Military vessels have been seen patrolling the coast of Florida and in the Gulf of Mexico. Locals worry if the increase of naval ships will be enough to detour any attacks made by Brazil. Thankfully the citizens of Miami Beach can sleep soundly knowing that the Defense Grid is in place and is designed to keep us safe from such attacks. Just earlier this week terrorist skiffs attacked a shuttle incoming from Mars as it entered the atmosphere. The Defense grid came online and repelled the attackers. No group has claimed responsibility of the attack and due to the effectiveness of the grid itself there were little to no remains left to evaluate. It is possible to send low flying missiles under the Defense Grid but any attack made of that nature would be repelled by the Naval presence now established off the coast of Florida and in the Gulf of Mexico.

Chapter 10 The City- West District March 24, 2050- Tuesday 3:00pm

The City is giant when you have to walk everywhere. Thankfully this gives Sam a chance to clear her head. The spring air is really nice. The trees are starting to get their color back. The West District is all residential housing. It’s for families who want to be close to the city but don’t want to be in the center of it. We cut through a back alley. Houses are on the other side of the fences lining the alley. A few more blocks and we’ll be at our destination.

I keep reading over the email from John as we walk. Please for the love of God, stay out of the embassy today. You did your part. Let the LHG do the rest. STAY OUT! If he were tied in with the LHG then why would he go to the Embassy?

Why would my brother get mixed up with cop killers and xenophobes? And why would they be after him?

Just then I notice Sam is abnormally quiet. Normally she’d be talking my head off while we walked but now she seem, I don’t know, sad. “Hey.”

“Yes, Gabe.” “I’m sorry. I know it doesn’t mean much coming from me but I mean it.

My brother is an idiot.” “Thanks.” A little blush comes to her face. Man is she pretty, I can’t help but think. I

had to mentally slap myself. What the hell are you thinking! You’re still a priest. After you get your brother back we’re heading to the monastery. It’s not fair to take advantage of her like that, when she’s like this.

“We’re here,” she says pointing to a blue house. It’s wedged between two other houses. The house is one story but it seems longer then it did tall or wide. The lawn was trimmed and a white picket fence wrapped around the edges. A tall willow tree covered the right side of the lawn. All of it looked normal, except for the doors frame had been turned to splinters.

“Wait here, Sam. I’m going to take a look around.” I said and moved through the white fence. The garage was closed. “Keep an eye out, would ya?” I added. “If you see anyone call me.”

Once inside the house I could see somebody either hated their furniture or they were looking for something. Drawers were flung across the room, tables were flipped over, and couches were ripped open.

There was no one in the living room or the kitchen. My suspicions were right, this house was long. Whoever had come after my brother could have gone after John Cryer? I hope I’m not too late.

The house was quiet as I moved through it. I got all the way to the backdoor. Still I found nothing. I let out a sigh of exasperation and begin to walk out the door when I run face to face with a slim man in his early 40’s carrying a packed suitcase.

It was John. “John?” I asked. The man looked terrified. He took the suitcase and threw it at me. The

case was heavier than I thought. It knocked the wind out of me and put me on the ground.

He flew through the house like a gazelle. I coughed and sputtered trying to get the air back in my lungs as he dashed to the front door.

“Sam!” I shouted. Rolling the case off my chest I got up and ran after him. Damn was this

guy fast. Luckily, Sam was on him. The guy darted down the street and Sam was ten feet behind him. She must have run track at some point in her life because she moved with the measured speed and grace of a panther. Her arms bent just right an each step with her long legs seemed to propel her faster and faster. Maybe it was a good idea to leave her outside.

“Stop John, it’s me Sam!” She shouted after him. John didn’t stop. He kept running. I didn’t understand it. Did something happen with Sam and him that I didn’t know about or was there someone else he was running from? Either way I wasn’t catching him. He had too much of a lead on me. It would be up to Sam to bring him down.

You know that thing that that happens in movies where a cop stops someone on the street and takes their car. Yeah, it doesn’t work so well for priest… or in the real world. I tried flagging down cars as they passed but no one stopped. Some people gave me a very un-Catholic salute with their finger and kept driving. One women hurled obscenities at me as she drove by. I finally gave up and ran after Sam.

John darted down an alley, Sam followed close behind him, and I trailed a bit behind her. Just as I turn the corner I see Sam jumping and tackling John. They both hit the ground with thud. John wasn’t trying to fight her, in fact he was actually sobbing.

Sam pinned him. “John stop! We’re your friends!” Sam shouted. Even though John was tall he didn’t seem to have a whole lot of strength. Now that I got a good look at him he reminded me of a computer programmer. His thin black hair was pulled to one side, he was wearing an older brown jacket, and severe acne plagued his face.

After he realized he wasn’t going anywhere he finally stopped fighting Sam. His crying ceased for a second. John looked up defiantly at Sam and asked, “What do you want with me?” There was a hint of fear in his voice.

“We just wanted to ask you some questions. We’re not here to hurt you,” Sam said in a reassuring tone, trying to calm John down. “Now If I get off of you will you sit still and answer them for us?”

He looked from me to her and back again keeping his eyes locked on me. “You look like him. In the eyes,” John said. “Michael? Yeah, we get that,” I replied. I laid a hand on Sam’s shoulder

and she got off of him. True to his word John didn’t run. He just sat up and patted himself down looking for something. He sniffed again trying to clear the mucus from his nose. Finally he found what he was looking for in his breast pocket; cigarettes. He pulled the crushed packet out along with a lighter. He opened the box and turned it over in his hand. Little bits of tobacco fell on his hand and along with a hand rolled cigarette. He lit it and inhaled deeply, holding it for a few seconds before exhaling and physically relaxing. I may not be a man of the world but I know the smell of weed, and I know it doesn’t work that fast. It’s probably a Pavlovian response. Smoke makes you feel better. After the first hit he holds up the joint, first to Sam then to me. Neither one of us partook.

“Comfortable?” I asked him. He nods to me in the middle of taking another hit. The tears around his eyes are starting to dry but I have a feeling the red puffiness will be there for awhile.

“Okay,” I continue, “How did you know Michael?” “We worked together at the UNA Embassy,” he replied. “The one that was attacked?” “Yeah. We were aids to Secretary of State Paul Romanoff. With the

Zintonieans landing, we were there more often then not.” “Was the LHG behind the bombing?” “Yeah.” “Were you and my brother working for the LHG?” John paused for a second before answering, “Yeah.” Sam let out a disgusted grunt from behind him. He turned on her. “Who

the hell do you think you are? You think those alien bastards deserve to just show up on our door steps and ask us to join them, like they’re intergalactic girl scouts just wanting to share cookies? No! Those sick freaks want to subjugate us, make us slaves. I don’t know about you but I will not be some little green man’s cabana boy.”

My brother wasn’t like that! There’s no way he’d climb into bed with these guys. I have to keep my cool. I need to get John back on our side or we’re not going to get any more information out of him.

“I understand,” I said. Both Sam and John turned to me. “You do?” Sam asked. “Yeah. Think about it. The bible teaches us that we are God’s favorites and

then out of nowhere aliens show up and ask us to join them. I can see why people could hate the Zintonieans.” Sam shook her head and started to walk further down the alleyway. This doesn’t mean I agree with the LHG but I could say that in front of John. I’ll explain my self after but for now, getting John on my side was all that mattered.

“See! I’m glad you understand our plight. I was worried for a bit that you’d be on their side,” John said gesturing to Sam.

“What did the LHG want from you and my brother?” I asked. “Some heavily restricted files the Secretary had access to. Since Michael

and I were close to the secretary the LHG asked us to retrieve the files for them.” “Did Michael do it because he hated aliens?” “No, they promised him a whole bunch of cash. He said he was going to

use it to get his mother out of the cramped little apartment she was forced to live in thanks to his brother. I’m assuming that’s you. What do you do?”

“I am… I was a priest.” “Was a priest? Doesn’t sound like you are anymore.” “I had to leave the priesthood to find my brother.” “Ah,” John said just before taking another hit. Whatever he was smoking

was very strong. I wouldn’t have divulged that I was a priest to him, but the weed must have brought my guard down. This explains why John suddenly be came so forthcoming with information. I decided to push my luck.

“Did the LHG say what they needed the files for?” “Something called project ‘Black Light’. They never said what it was or

what it would do, just that it would be the end of every alien loving bastard under the sun.”

“So you got the files for them?” “Yeah.” “Why did Michael go back?” John seemed to choke a bit on the words. “He found out they were going

to bomb the embassy to cover the tracks of what we did. When he found out he went back to get people out and tell the police. That was the last I saw of him. After that the explosion went off as planned. I looked for his name in the papers but I didn’t see it anywhere.” That’s smart. Cover one crime with another. Plus you get the chance to assassinate a Zintoniean diplomat. It was too good to pass up. I could hear Sam sobbing behind John. I prayed my brother was okay but I still can’t believe he helped these monsters for thirty pieces of silver.

“Where were you going?” I asked. John took the last hit from his joint and let the last little bit of it fall to the floor.

“I heard that friends of mine were being killed, friends that worked on the project, Richard Alva turned up dead this morning.”

“What? Richard is dead?!” “You knew Richard? They found his body in a dumpster near the twenty-

third precinct. Police report says he was shot during the riot and he hid in a dumpster till morning. They say his wounds were more severe then he thought.”

“That’s impossible. Richard and I were taken to the twenty third for questioning after the riots.”

“What! Aw man, The LHG’s reach is further than I knew!” John exclaimed. I have to compartmentalize, focus!

“Listen, I need one more thing.” “What’s that?” “Where are they?” John looked pensively at the ground. Finally he looked up and said. “Okay, I’ll tell you. They’re at the-“ Pop! Thwack! John’s chest explodes. Sam screams as she’s sprayed with blood. I turn

around to see a gunman ducking behind the barrels forty feet behind me. He’s bald and squat. I recognize him instantly. It’s Saul, Michael’s Landlord! My feet slip a little on the loose rocks beneath my feet. I run towards Sam grabbing her hand and moving away from him. Bang! Another shot. Saul leaves the cover of the barrels and starts running down the alley towards us. He puts one more bullet in John before chasing after us. Sam and I come out of the alleyway and the streets are deserted. If we stay in the open we’re dead. Across the street are large metal shipping containers stacked side by side. Still clutching Sam’s hand I rush across the street and begin to weave between containers.

“Gabriel!” Sam gasps. I turn back to look at her and see my left arm is completely covered in blood. “Oh Lord!” I exclaim. We stop and take cover behind a shipping container. I look Sam over. “Are you hurt?” I ask. Sam shakes her head frantically. Damn it! I chide myself for brining Sam into this. Then again how was I to know my brother had hit men after him? I took off my jacket and looked at the wound. The bullet grazed me above the elbow, along the bicep. There is a lot of blood and the arm hurts to move. I’m no doctor so it’s hard to know how bad this really is. “We need to keep moving.“ I panted. “Sam, I need you to keep heading towards the street that way,” I indicated with my hand. “I’m bleeding a lot and it’s leaving a trail for him to follow. I can’t go with you. Get to the street, flag someone down, and get help but don’t stop moving. I’ll try and lead him away from you. Wait for me to give you the signal then run like I told you. Got it?” She grabbed me by my shirt and planted a deep kiss on my lips. It was hot and salty. If I hadn’t been in so much shock I might have enjoyed it a bit more. “Thank you,” she said. I looked around the right corner and saw Saul coming down the way, following the trail of blood I was leaving for him. I ducked back and went down the left corner towards him with the shipping container between us. “Go,” I whispered to Sam. She trotted off. I made as much noise as possible and ran like hell. Saul came around the corner right in Sam’s path. “Mother of God!” I whispered. How did I mess up so bad? I asked myself. You’re a priest not a tactician I reminded myself. Bam!

Saul’s gun rang out and Sam dropped. I skidded to a stop and turned around toward the two. “Sam!” I shouted and charged Saul with everything I

had. He fired two more rounds, neither one connecting. I leapt over Sam’s body and hit Saul hard. The two of us crumpled to the floor but I didn’t let up. I was going to make him pay for hurting Sam, for hurting John, for hurting my brother, and for hurting Richard. The pain in my arm vanished, or I stopped caring, either way my fist came down on Saul’s face. He may have been stronger then me but I was faster and I didn’t have anything to lose.

I could hear the crunch of cartilage as my fist connected with his nose and I wanted more. Blood was shooting from his mouth as he tried to scream or yell out for help. I didn’t let him. My right punch connected with him, then a left, and then another right. I kept pounding at him. He swung an arm up to block my punch but I grabbed it around the wrist and drove it back down across his throat and kept at it. He was choking on his blood and all I could think was ‘good.’ I got up and kicked him in the head once for good measure and he stopped moving after that.

The smell of iron was everywhere. I went over to check on Sam. I started to walk but everything began to tilt to one side. I looked at my chest and realized he apparently hadn’t missed after all. A sick taste curled up in the back of my throat as I collapsed towards Sam.

Independence Forces Moves Ships to Brazil By Joseph Scott

PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, Florida- reports are coming in of several fleets from the Easter Asian Alliance and the United African States are mobilizing off the coast of Brazil. Where is this hostility coming from? Two years ago Zintonieans made contact with the human race and gave us the option of joining the Zintoniean Empire. The Annex of powers is made up of most of the United North America, The European Union, New Scandinavia, and The Russian Federation agree to becoming part of the Zintoniean Empire. However, The Eastern Asian Alliance, The United African States and Brazil are strongly opposed, forming the Independents. Since that day tensions have been running high between these two super powers. Neither one has fired a shot yet but with the missile testing by Brazil and the mobilization of both EAA and UAS forces, how long can peace last? Thankfully a UNA diplomat has been sent meet with the EAA and UAS leaders to get them to peacefully withdraw from our waters. Reinforcements are being sent from The European Union and other Annex members. They will be here within the week and they are asking us to “Hold tight” till they get here.

“If Brazil wants a fight we’ll give them one.” Major Edgar Lopez Of the UNA Marines shouts to his troops in a pep talk before deployment. “We are a nation founded on war. We have fought a war in every single generation of our lifetime.” He continued, “The Independence are like squirrels trying to pick a fight with a bear. It’s not going to end pretty for them[Brazil].” A smattering of chuckles slipped from soldiers around the room.

Some say that we need to keep the lines of diplomacy and communication open. They believe that when communication breaks down that is the truest sign of failed diplomacy.

UPDATE: Terrorist skiffs are delaying European Union and Annex member ships. No severe damage was done to the ship but they have pushed back their arrival timeline to next week. Seven white skiffs, coming from the direction of The United African States, attacked the ships coming from Europe. 23 European soldiers were killed in the attack. Part of the fleet has been ordered to keep investigate the source of the attack. If UAS is found guilty of launching the ships war will be declared.

Chapter 11 Unknown Unknown

The darkness melts away and I see Sam and my brother standing next to each other. They’re holding hands and staring at me with blank faces. Somehow we’re back in the alley.

“Michael, What are you doing here? Where have you been?” I ask him as I reach over to grab him. He feels stiff and cold to the touch.

“You killed us Gabriel!” Sam says. “What? No! Saul did, I didn’t think it would get this out of hand,” I

replied. “You told me where to go. You sent me to him.” “I didn’t know he would be there that fast. I thought I could draw him

away from you.” “You had to have mom all to yourself didn’t you Gabriel,” Michael says. “What are you talking about?” “You took her and ran to Mars. You knew Mom’s heart couldn’t handle

the return trip and you knew I didn’t have the money to go there. You stole her from me.”

He was right. I didn’t drag her to Mars but she did come to keep me company. She had chosen me over him.

“You said to trust you and look what happened to us,” two voices said in unison from behind me. I turned to see Richard with two bullets in his chest and John with a bullet in his; Both staring at me with cold dead angry eyes.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get you killed,” I said as I started to weep. “No! All you cared about was what you wanted, what your mission was.

You were too busy with your head in the clouds to notice the people around you. What you did to them and how you made them feel.” Just then, over Michael’s shoulder, I see Saul with his gun leveled at us. A cold hand grabs my right arm, then my left. I look to see John on my left and Richard on my right. They begin to pull me towards Saul. I fight back and try and pull away when my legs are lifted up from beneath me. Sam has my left leg and Michael has my right. They begin to walk in slow unison towards Saul. Saul’s voice was raspy and the five of them spoke in unison. “Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man…” With each sentence they moved me ever closer to Saul. No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get free. “And the righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood.” When they were done I was looking down the barrel of Saul’s gun.

“Amen.” Bang!

Chapter 12 The City- West District Hospital March 25, 2050- Wednesday 4:00pm

I come to in a hospital room. The florescent lights hurt my eyes. My head is still groggy. I can smell antiseptics and fresh sheets. The beep from the heart monitors chirps in the background, someone is talking in the room. A man and a woman.

“Shbawha…” I manage to get out. “Oh! You’re awake.” A head pops into view above me. A girl with golden

brown skin and dark black hair pulled back into a bun looks into my eyes with a penlight. She’s dressed in scrubs and her badge says ‘Jackie’. The man comes into view right next to her. It’s Thomas Malcolm, from the church on Mars.

“Where is Sam?” I ask weakly. “Try not to move Mr. Alonso. You lost a lot of blood. Your friend is fine.

She’s next door recovering as well.” “Thomas what are you doing here?” I ask. “You should be grateful he was there. He found you and called the

police.” Jackie snapped. Thomas blushed. “Yeah, I wasn’t going to leave you,” Thomas said. “I don’t know what to say man, thank you.”

Suddenly the door burst open and a large angry policeman came barreling in. “Is he awake!” He demanded, crossing from the doorway to me. The officer stood at six five and looked two hundred pounds of pure muscle. I start to push off the bed away from him when Jackie steps between us.

“Yes, he is awake but he needs to rest. He’s lost a lot of blood and he is under a lot of medication. Questioning him now may aggravate his condition. I will let you know when he’s well enough to answer your questions, Captain,” Jackie speaks with an authoritative tone. She may have been five foot two and a hundred and four soaking wet but she seemed like a mountain right now. The Captain stood there for a minute huffing.

“Now go! Mr. Alonso can’t go anywhere either. He’s still to weak from the mediation to even sit up yet. I guarantee if he tries he’ll land flat on his face and re-open all those bullet wounds,” Jackie says as she steps forward, shooing the officer out the door. She goes with and closes the door behind her. I catch something out of the corner of my eye. On the cop’s forearm is the tattoo “LHG” in subtle tan ink. It looks like someone tried to cover it up with makeup but he must have brushed it off while leaning against something. I reach over to Thomas.

“Thomas, he’s not a cop,” I whisper. “What? Of course he is.” “No! Listen. He is apart of the LHG. They’re a terrorist group that

attacked me and may have my brother,” I say as I sit up a bit more. There are four policemen in total. Two are outside my door and two are outside Sam’s. I cant tell for sure how many of them are LHG members but I can’t risk it.

“They’re going to kill me the first chance they get.” “What was in that medicine she gave you?” Thomas says jokingly. “I’m very serious Thomas. In the name of the Lord I’m telling the truth.

They are bad men and you have to get me out of here,” I beg. Thomas looks focused as he tries to decide if I’m telling the truth or not.

“Do you think I did this to myself? The LHG did this and they’re trying to kill me because I know about Project ‘Black Light’.”

“What is project ‘Black Light’?” Thomas asks. “I’m not sure but its bad. So bad that they used the bombing at the UNA

embassy to cover their tracks.” That seemed to connect. “Okay, say I do believe you. What’s your next move?” Thomas asks “I have to get out of here, first. Then find their hideout or headquarters.” “And how do you plan to do that?” he asks “I’m not sure. I’ve exhausted my leads. The only one I have left is to

follow the captain out there or go back to John’s house, maybe there is something I missed,” I say. The room falls into silence as we both think.

“Hey Rodriguez you taking off?” says a voice outside the door. Looking up I see the captain is getting ready to leave.

“Yeah, I got a thing I have to do. Give me a call when we got the okay to ‘question’ the witness,” Captain Rodriguez says. The captain turns to leave but locks eyes with me until he’s out of site.

“I have an idea. Take a large rubber glove from the box and the fire extinguisher that’s at the end of the hall. I want you to tie down the handle on the fire extinguisher, pull the fire alarm, and pull the pin from the extinguisher. Police will check it out. We slip out and follow Captain Rodriguez. You have to be quick, we don’t have much time.” Thomas takes a hard breath but gets up, grabs an extra large glove, and walks out of the room. Once he’s out I pull out my I.V. line and wait. Suddenly the fire alarm starts to ring, and, from the left side of the window, a giant red extinguisher comes flying at the cops, spraying white foam everywhere. It connects with one officer, knocking him over. Orderlies and nurses appear and are scrambling to get to their post in case an evac is called. I sprang up; detaching any cords still clinging to me from the heart monitors, grabbed my freshly washed clothes and ran out the door.

As I opened the door a cacophony of noise filled my ears. I leapt over the downed officer and sprinted down the hall to a waiting elevator. Thomas was already inside. He pushed the ground floor and the door close button at the same time. It was a trick he learned to go straight to a floor without stopping. The alarm stopped as we descended. I took off my hospital robe and began to dress in my regular clothes. I start chuckling as I put my pants on.

“What?” Thomas asks. “Why did you throw the extinguisher at the cop’s head?” I asked. “I didn’t mean too. I just threw it and he stepped into its path.” He said as

innocently as he could.

“He was standing still.” I laughed as I pulling my shirt on. I don’t know what they treated my injuries with but I didn’t feel a lick of pain.

“I thought the nurse said you’d be on your face if you stood up yet?” Thomas asked. “I think she was lying to let me recover for a bit longer. The cops here are a lot more brutal than back on Mars.” I slipped on my shoes and Thomas handed me a baseball hat. “To hide your face,” he said.

“Thanks.” The elevator comes to a stop and the door opens. People were continuing

to move along as if nothing happened. I guess the chaos was only on our floor. “I’ll get my car while you try and find the Captain. Meet me in the front,”

Thomas said as he jogged off. It didn’t take long to spot the Captain. He stood taller then most people in the hospital. That and he was wider than most people, so that helped too. I ducked behind a large arrangement of flowers in the gift shop. The captain stopped and looked around. He looked like he was waiting for something.

Suddenly a black van with tinted windows pulled up. When he yanked the door open I saw three more men inside, all with shaved heads and LHG tattoos. The Captain stepped into the van as inconspicuously as he could. The van closed and they drove off. Right behind them was Thomas with his car. It was a blue bug.

“He’s in the black van,” Thomas said as I slipped into the beetle. “I know. Don’t lose him.”

We trailed them for a good fifteen miles. Thomas held off a few cars back and in an adjacent lane.

We followed to an industrial part of the City. A lot of other cars seemed to fill in around us as we got closer to the their destination. Finally, we saw it; A giant four-story warehouse with a huge parking area in front. Surrounding the property was a ten-foot high gate with barbed wires around the top of it. A red banner hung on the inside back wall nearly twenty feet high. In black letters it read ‘Light of the Human Genome’. Thomas started to pull away from warehouse.

“What are you doing? I have to go in there!” “No, its too dangerous. Plus they will recognize you,” Thomas rebuked. “Where are you taking me then?” “To see Father Jacob.” “And who is that?” “He’s the priest from the First Lady of the Light Church. I’ve been staying

with him while I’ve been on Earth. He can help you. What did the guys at the warehouse look like?” Thomas asked.

“They had shaved heads and had LHG tattoos,” I said matter of factly. “Do you look like them?” “Well no, but-“

Thomas cut me off, “No you don’t. So we need to make you look like them so you wont get noticed.”

Chapter 13 The City- First Lady of the Light Catholic Church March 25, 2050- Wednesday 6:00pm When Thomas pulled up the shadow of the tall building loomed over us, making me feel miniscule. The church stood a whopping seven stories tall, four of which were in the bell tower in the center of the building. The paint on the side was chipping and coming apart. You could tell it needed a fresh coat but no one had the time or energy to undertake a task that big. Stain glass windows stood as a monument to its beauty, long since forgotten. Now, it’s only caretaker was an elderly man who couldn’t move around without the assistance of a cane.

“Gabriel, allow me to introduce you to Father Jacob,” Thomas said as he stood next to a short man.

“How do you do? I’m Gabriel,” I said extending my hand. “I do fine young man,” Father Jacob said before turning to Thomas. “Is

this the man you were searching for?” he asked. “Yes and his journey is almost over. Hopefully after that we can return to

the church and be done with it,” Thomas said, giving me a glance. That told me why he had really decided to help me. Thomas still thinks

I’m going back to the church after this. I wasn’t sure if I was going back… if I wanted to.

“Well, come this way,” Father Jacob gestured. “No use standing out here.” “Father there’s something we need your help with,” Thomas said “Yes?” “Do you have a razor blade and a black permanent marker?” Thomas

asked. The Father gave him a quizzical look and nodded slowly. “Yes I do believe I have those things. Why?” Thomas smiled and followed the Father into the church. After a short while Father Jacob showed up in Thomas’ room with the

requested items. Thomas reached in his bag and pulled out a pair of black slacks, a white tank top, and a pair of black boots.

I disrobed slowly. The wounds still hurt. I didn’t think to look at them while I was in the elevator. The first shot grazed my right bicep and the second went through my upper shoulder on the same arm. I thought I was hit three times but the wounds didn’t lie. If I had been shot like this fifty years ago it might take a few months to heal. Thanks to the advances in medicine I would have full usage in a few weeks.

“Take a seat,” Thomas said indicating to the stool that had been set out for me. I sat down and wrapped the towel around my shoulders. Taking care to cover my bandages. I could hear the hum of the clippers as Thomas started from the back of my head and moved forward.

“So what’s the plan?” he asked. “Well, sneak in. Find my brother. Escape with said brother,” I replied. “And what if your brother doesn’t want to go?” Thomas asked.

I sat for a minute in contemplation. “What if he doesn’t want to go?” I

repeated. “I don’t know. I came down here to find him and make sure he’s safe. I guess leave.”

“Could you leave him in good conscience?” “No. I’ll have to try and convince him to leave with me. I’m still going to

need you for this next part.” “Oh? And what will I be doing?” He said as he put down the clippers and

pulled out the shaving cream and razor. “I need you to take the beetle and be ready to pick me up if things go

sour.” I said. We both stayed quiet while Thomas finished shaving my head. I was walking into the lion’s den. These people were dangerous. If any of

them remember me from the riot there could be big trouble. I could die if I go in there, but then again my brother could die if I don’t. Either way I needed to know for sure whether or not Michael was alive.

While I waited for Thomas to finish Father Jacob took a seat next to me and took my left forearm in his lap. “Now you said their tattoos were just the letters ‘LHG’. Nothing else?” Father Jacob asked.

“No, I don’t think so but it was done in calligraphy. Some had more flourish to it than others.”

“Okay. Let me see what I can do.” Father Jacob said. Before long the two of them were through. Thomas took a wet towel to

my head and neck, trying not to get the bandages wet, and cleaned off any remaining shaving cream. I put on the clothes Thomas laid out and looked at myself in the mirror. Some time during the scuffle with John I must have gotten a black eye. My entire right side was bandaged. My hands were cut up from the glass at the Café, my bicep, and shoulder from the gunshot. Throw on a shaved head, a heavily detailed LHG ‘tattoo’ on my left arm, and I looked like a bad mother.

“What do you think?” I asked them. “Good, but you need one more thing,” Thomas said holding out a small

narrow black rectangle. I took it and turned it over in my hands. There was a small button on the side. I pushed it and five inch black blade popped out. “Just in case.”

“Thank you man,” I said as I folded the blade back up and stuck it in my back pocket.

“So who are you?” Father Jacob asked. “I’m Tony Sullivan. I hate aliens and believe the galaxy should be ruled by

humans ‘cause God made us in his image not ETs,” I said adopting a little bit of southern accent.

“And why haven’t we seen you before Tony?” Thomas asked. “I just moved here from the Lone Star state to get closer to the LHG and

join up.” “I think we’re ready.”

Chapter 14 The City- Industrial district March 25, 2050- Wednesday 6:45pm

Thankfully the Church wasn’t too far from the LHG. Thomas dropped me off in an alley a few blocks away from the warehouse. I could still see people shuffling to get there. The noise coming from the building made it sound like a raging party was going down.

When I turned the final corner I saw big steel walls and a crowd of young people moving past the gate. The average age was seventeen or nineteen, barely adults. Every so often there was a man in his thirties or forties. They seemed to stick together and poke fun at the younger members. I slipped in among them, working my way forward when I got a chance.

Beer was being passed out freely from kegs scattered around the yard. Bonfires were erected about sixty feet from the gate to the warehouse. A band had taken the stage deep inside, below the LHG banner, and was playing fast punk rock. I couldn’t follow the lyrics but what ever he was saying was getting the audience riled up. I managed to keep my head down and draw no attention as I passed the gate. As I moved through the crowd I saw a few familiar faces. Standing talking to one another were none other then Captain Rodriguez and Saul. I kept my back to them and tried to move past but a fight broke out in front of me and was baring my passage. It was a dirty mix of a hug slash-shoving match. The balance of the smaller man faltered and the two toppled over one another. I shifted past them when an opening presented itself and I moved closer to Rodriguez. Straining my ears to hear them.

“I’m sorry man. I was going to slip him a little cocktail in his IV after I questioned him but that bitch of a nurse wouldn’t leave him alone with me.” Captain Rodriguez said to Saul. Saul’s face was black and blue from our last encounter.

“’Ish okay main. Stank you fur your cocern. When I schee him I want to be she one to kill him,” Saul said through missing teeth, swollen lips and a very bruised jaw.

“I had my boys at the hospital watching him when he escaped. His priest buddy hit my boy in the head with a fire extinguisher. Isn’t that messed up? But you know what? I think it’s better this way. Now if I run into him there will be a lot less cameras and I can take my time.”

I was concentrating too much on their conversation and not enough on the fight. Before I knew what was happening the two combatants tumbled into me. My body tangled in their feud didn’t slow them down at all. The taller man swung wildly, trying to get an edge where he could. I could feel a stitch pop loose as I jerked to get out of his way. I let out a shout and a big hand reached down and grabbed me by my left arm, yanking me up.

“Hey man, you gotta be careful. Lord knows these knuckle heads aren’t,” he said as he kicked one of the fighters in the ribs. Before I knew it I was looking Captain Rodriguez in the eyes. “Say, do I know you?” he asked.

I slipped into character and my southern accent sprang from my mouth. “Naw, I don’t reckon. Not unless you been to Waco recently. You been to Waco?” I asked.

“Nope, I’m a local. You sure I don’t know you?” he asked staring me up and down.

“Naw man. Names Tony Sullivan. I just moved here after seeing that piece on the LHG. I wanted to get close to that action. Is Mathew Auger really as bad ass as I hear?”

Captain Rodriguez placed an arm around my shoulder and a beer materialized out of nowhere in my hand. “Listen kid, Mathew is a one hundred percent bad ass. Were you here a few days ago for the riot?”

“Yeah,” I replied in character. “Mathew is the one that set it up. He had these military grade shielding

rigged onto a bunch of his crews rides. Then they drove through town running over police and anyone who tried to stand in his way. That was till one of our own turned on us and ruined the fun.”

“Oh man that sucks.” “You have no idea, but don’t worry we took care of him. We took care of

him permanently, if you know what I mean.” Captain Rodriguez spoke with a knowing glance and a chuckle. I smiled and pretended to agree with him.

“Good, I hope that he got what he had coming.” “Freaking A,” he said thrusting his cup into mine and tipping back the

cup till it was empty. Richard, please forgive me. The speakers screeched out with an earsplitting feedback. The audience

groaned. “Sorry folks, sorry… Lets hear it for the band, Anvil, ladies and gentlemen,” a plain looking man said on stage. He was standing in front of the band as they unplugged their instruments and began to walk off stage. Thunderous applause erupted from the audience.

“And now the man you’re all here to see. The man who will lead the way for Human kind,” The announcer made sure to put a strong emphasis on the word human. “The man that is sticking it to every alien lover out there. Give it up for Mathew Auger!” Just then fireworks went off next to the stage. Sparks of white and silver sprang up like fountains and the audience lost its mind. They cheered and applauded with such fervor that it made the applause for Anvil seem like a golf clap. A man stepped on the stage. His hair was chestnut brown and parted in the middle. Even from here I could see his blue eyes and goatee, and I knew I was staring at the man responsible for so much death and hate. I knew I was staring at Mathew Auger. He stepped over to the plain man, shaking his hand and taking the mic to his face. He moved with the grace and charisma of a well-seasoned motivational

speaker. He knew where to move, what tone to use, and when to shout to get the audience fired up and ready to receive his hot plate of rhetoric and hate.

“Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, but most importantly hello Humans!” At that another round of hoots and shouts broke out.

“Screw E.T.!” a man from somewhere in the crowd screamed. Captain Rodriguez still had his arm around me, squeezing every now and then when he got excited. Mathew pointed at the man and smiled.

“That’s right! That’s right. I see we have some fresh faces in the audience. That’s good. That means our message is growing and our cause is growing. The world is learning it doesn’t matter if you’re black, white, yellow, or gay. What matters now is that we look out for the purity of the human race. We wont let Zintoniean creatures turn us into bellboys while they steal our women, our land, and our freedom.”

“Over my dead body!” another man from the audience shouted. “Do we want that?” Mathew asks. And in unison they reply “No!” “No we don’t! But that’s what the people leading this country want. They

want us to bend over and let the Zintonieans take us from behind without so much as a reach around. Not on my watch. No sir! These people, these ‘elected officials’, need to be ripped from their seats of power and ran through the streets. What do you say?” again another roar of cheers sprang from the audience.

Captain Rodriguez was pulling me in tight under his arm. At moments it was hard to breathe. It was then that I noticed Saul was staring at me the whole time. He didn’t look to Mathew or Rodriguez. He just stared at me. I shifted uncomfortably and tried to wriggle my way out of the Captain’s grasp. “Where you going?” he asked “This is the man you came here to see, isn’t it?”

I dropped back into character, threw the southern back in my voice, and looked him in the eye. “Yeah, he is but you squeeze tighter then a boa on steroids. Almost blacked out while listenen to him,” Rodriguez smiled and looked back at the Mathew. Saul was standing to Rodriguez’s right and I was on his left. Saul dipped his hands in his jacket pockets. I could see the faint outline of a weapon.

“Where’s the pisser?” I asked Rodriguez. He pointed to the left side of the fence towards the gate. There, four portable toilets had been erected against a wall. A line of ten people stood to one side, each waiting for their turn. I started to move towards it. The sooner I got away from these two the better.

I pushed through the crowd. The smell of sweat and beer filled my nose. People gave me dirty looks as I squeezed by. Once I was out of sight from Saul and Rodriguez I began to move forward towards the stage. The closer I got to the stage the better I could see the layout of the building. We were only in the loading area of the warehouse. Behind the stage were another three stories of office building built into the warehouse. There were windows on the inside of the building looking down on the loading area. The giant LHG banner covered

most of them. The only way into the building, that I could see, was the door directly behind the stage. Several men in black jackets hung around the door.

I stopped and looked around some more. There had to be another way in. Then something caught my eye. Standing on front of the second story window I see my brother. From his body language he looks like he’s talking to someone. He steps away from the window and out of sight. Now I have to get in there.

Just then something pointy is stuck into my back. A hand is placed on my shoulder pulling me into the sharp object and a voice whispers in my ear. “Don’t movesh.”

I look over my shoulder and see Saul holding a knife to my back. “She may not have noticesh you but I shhure did,” he continued. “So what are you going to do? Kill me here?” I asked. “No thatsh too good for you. Go!” he insisted, jabbing me with the knife

for emphasis. We slid through the crowd and to one side of the stage. He was taking me into the building. A couple of guys in black jackets stopped us.

“Thish ish the guy who meshed up the riotsh. I want Mathew to have him, as tribute,” Saul said, spitting a little bit on my neck every time he hit an “S” word. The guards pat me down. You can tell these guys weren’t professionals because they missed the knife on my back pocket. They waved us in.

“Ricardo, go with them. Take’ em to the room two-oh-three,” one of the guards said to a boy who looked no older than seventeen. The boy nodded and led the way inside.

The interior of the building was surprisingly clean and professional looking. Tables and desks were pressed against walls with computers and printers next to them. Men and women sat at each one of the computers. They were on different social media sites, each typing and looking generally busy. LHG artwork adorned the walls and the smell of printer ink and pine needles greeted my nose.

We walk past the computers and over to a set of stairs that lead up. We ascend them to reach the second floor. Ricardo keeps looking back at Saul and me. Ricardo opens the door for the two of us and we enter.

“What’s up there?” I ask gesturing with my chin to the third story. “None of your bushness,” Saul answers.

It’s hard to believe this was a terrorist and a hate group with how clean this place was. If I didn’t know any better I would have thought I was in a legitimate business. Brown plush carpet lay on the floor matching with the tan walls. We were in a hallway. We could have gone left right or straight. Each one looked similar. Tan walls with brown carpet and brown wooden doors every ten feet or so. Hell, I think I saw a fern in a corner as I was pushed forward. We walked down the middle hallway until we reached the end and made a left. Ricardo stopped at the door on the right marked ‘203’, opened it and led me in. Room 203 was actually kind of nice. It looked like a room people would have used for a business meeting; two windows, one partially covered by the LHG banner, the other completely covered. It had the same carpet and wall color

scheme as the rest of the building. A man stood next to the window looking at me as I entered. It was my brother. I don’t think he recognized me at first. “Wait here,” Ricardo said as he closed the door behind him.

I immediately ran over to the nob and tried it. Locked. Saul had stayed with Ricardo, probably to go tell Mathew himself of his ‘good deed’.

“Its no use, they upgraded the locks and doors earlier this week after I broke out last time,” Michael said. I looked him up and down. I hadn’t seen my brother in a long time. He had grown a beard in the time he’s been here. It looks like they roughed him up pretty good; he had dry blood encrusted on the front of his shirt. What had they done to him?

“Michael, don’t you recognize me?” I asked. He looked me over again and squinted.

“Gabriel?” he said unclear. “Is that you? What did you do to yourself? Please tell me you didn’t join up with these fanatics.”

“Speak for yourself, this is black marker,” I said gesturing to the ‘tattoo’. “What the hell are you doing here?!” he asked. “I’m here to get you.” “I don’t think you realize this but we’re not going anywhere. If I could

have escaped I would have,” he said. To emphasize his point he took a fold up chair that sat against the side of a wall and slammed it against the window with a resounding thud.

“They won’t break. The doors are just as strong. Mathew built this place so you could use every room like a fortress. The walls are reinforced and they even have an air scrubber that keeps toxins from outside from getting in. Short of fifty caliber bullets nothing is piercing these walls. Now I repeat, we aren’t going anywhere.”

“Okay I get your point but we got to have faith. We can get out of here,” I replied.

“Oh for Christ sakes! You’re here less then five minutes and you start with the religious crap again. Give it a rest, I’m not converting!” He snapped. “Get over yourself! My faith has nothing to do with you. I just meant we shouldn’t give up. I came here to bring you home safely so that’s what I’m going to do.”

“Your home. Not mine. We’re from Earth brother this is home for me.” “I mean bring you home to mom. She sent me here after that message she

got from you. She was worried about you and wants to be sure you’re safe.” “Ha! Mom doesn’t care about me. If she did she wouldn’t have ran off

with her favorite son to Mars.” “I’m not Mom’s favorite-” “Shut it! I don’t want to hear anymore. Even if we could get out of here, I

still couldn’t leave.” “Why?” “Project ‘Black Light’.” “What’s that? I know the LHG had you working on it but little else.”

“I just figured it out myself. They plan to take out the Defense Grid for Brazil and the Independence. As soon as it goes down Brazil will launch a full scale assault.” I stood there for a second trying to understand what he meant. Mathew wanted to kick off another war. This guy needs to be stopped.

“With that kind of information I’m surprised you’re still alive,” I said to Michael.

“Me too. I don’t know why they haven’t killed me yet but I do know how to stop them if we can get out.”

“How’s that?” “Mathew carries around a jump drive around his neck. In that jump drive

are the activation codes needed to enact project ‘Black Light’. He keeps it with him to prevent anyone from getting to… eager. What’s also in the jump drive is a set of deactivation codes that can wipe Project ‘Black Light’ from their computer base. He keeps that around for the same reason, if Brazil betrays him or if the FBI storms the warehouse he can clear the slate and they wont have anything to use on him.”

“How do you know this?” “As much as I hate what they stand for some of them are good people.

They’re scared of being subjugated by an alien race. Look how history has treated the introduction of an advanced society to a lesser evolved one. The lesser one is almost always wiped out. I made friends with their head programmer and after I retrieved the files he finally let me know what they were for. Man, was that guy arrogant. He went on and on to anyone that would listen.”

“So we need to escape this room, get the jump drive off of Mathew, and inject it into a computer.”

“Not any computer,” Michael corrected. “It has to be on the third floor server.”

“Okay so first things first, escape. The guys aren’t very good at checking for weapons because they left my knife on me,” I say as I pull the knife out of my pocket. The door behind us clicks and in walks Mathew Auger, Saul, and two more of his guards. Michael takes the knife out of my hand and pockets it quickly.

“Well, hello there Mr. Hero,” Mathew says as he struts into the room. His two guards flank us, Saul leans against the far wall and Mathew closes the door behind it. The guards unfold two chairs and set us into them. Mathew takes another chair and sits across from us. “Now I’m sure you’re wondering why I called you both in here,” Mathew says in his most condescending tone. “You two have been causing me nothing but trouble. The Alonso Brothers, whatever will I do with you?”

“How did you know?” I asked.

“Oh come on. One look at the two of you together and you can tell you’re related. Do you know why I haven’t killed you yet, in all this time Michael?” Mathew says. We both shake our heads.

“I haven’t killed you yet because I liked you, and once everything was over I was going to let you walk out that door. Free as a bird. I even went s far as to bring you back myself. I can’t do that now. Now you and your brother have caused me too much. I have to kill you now, or else I seem weak in front of the other kids and I don’t want that,” Mathew said, topping it off with a pouty face. The party was still raging outside. I could hear the band start back up. The glow of the bonfire cast long eerie shadows across the wall. Mathew continued talking. “Ricardo, guess what you get to do to earn your LHG stripes,” Mathew reached into his back pocket and pulled out a big knife, roughly twelve inches long and handed it to the boy. The boy looked shocked. He took the knife hesitantly. “Don’t worry, it won’t bite. Hold them down please,” Mathew said looking from the last guard to Saul. The two rushed over to us and grabbed our arms, holding us in our seats. Ricardo stepped forward in baby steps. “Now I need you to take that knife there and give these boys a ‘Columbian Neck Tie’.”

Ricardo looked at Mathew confused. “You do know what a ‘Columbian Neck Tie’ is don’t you?” Ricardo shook his head. “It’s where you slit their throats, reach in and pull their tongues down through the slit so it hangs out. Just like they did in the good old days.” Mathew purred in Ricardo’s ear. Ricardo steadied himself and stepped towards Michael. “You don’t want to do that, Ricardo!” Michael shouted. “Think about it man. You’re still clean. You can walk away from this without any blood on your hands.” Ricardo’s pace waivered for a minute before he proceeded forward. “Stop man! Don’t do this!” Michael pleaded. Ricardo reached out with his free hand and pushed Michael’s head back. Suddenly the guard holding Michael collapsed forward. The knife Michael had stashed in his pocket now jammed the guard’s knee. Blood was gushing from the wound and before anyone knew, it Michael had drawn the knife from the guards knee and run it into Ricardo’s throat. Saul let go of me and moved to grab Michael. I leant forward and slide the chair between my legs, collapsing it as it moved. Then I stepped around and brought the folded chair down on Saul’s back just as he reached Michael. Saul collapsed. Michael darted at Mathew. Mathew flew backwards toward the door, swinging it open. Saul tried to get up but I took a step past him and swung the chair like a golf club at the top of his head. That knocked him out. Mathew made it through the door as Michael’s knife came slicing down Mathew’s back, opening his shirt from the back of his neck to mid-back. The cut didn’t go very deep and did little to stop him. Mathew took off down the hallway at full speed. Michael just stood there in the doorway watching him go.

“We have to go after!” I shouted. Michael reached down and picked up a small crucifix off the ground.

“No we don’t. We have what we need,” Michael said pulling the top of the crucifix off revealing the jump drive beneath. “Come on we have to get

upstairs while he’s still looking for back up,” Michael said as he ran out of the room towards the stairs. We ascend the stairs once more and get to the third floor. A keypad sits to the right of the door. Michael tries a series of numbers and finally the little light above it turns green, indicating the door is unlocked. Once inside we keep low. There is a glass wall in front of us that goes from the ceiling to about halfway down before meeting the wall and continuing to the floor. It’s laid out a lot like the first floor, where there is a center hallway and one leading left and right. Michael starts heading down the right hallway in a crouched run, stopping when needed to stay out of site. We walk for five minutes, making lefts and rights as needed before finding a room marked ‘Servers’. Michael peeks over the edge and sees four people milling about at work in there.

“Damn! The main server room is occupied,” Michael says. “Sometimes the answers are right in front of you,” I say as I gesture to the

wall across from us. A little red square sits neatly against the wall with the words ‘Fire’ written across the top. I reach up and pull it and rush into the room.

“Oh my God! One of the Bonfires got knocked over and it’s burning up the side of the building. Hurry! We have to get out of here,” I scream in a panicked voice, trying to sound as winded as possible. The guys look around for a minute not sure how to react. I shout out, “What are you waiting for? Run!” The shout snapped them out of their stupor and they shuffled out of the room as fast as they could.

Once clear we went into the room. I watched the door while Michael pulled up a chair to one of the computers and plugged in the program. The server room was cramped. There was a tall square box that had to be the server to the left, tables were pushed against the walls with computers on top of them, and a large window that had been heavily tinted. Cold air was blown into the room to keep the computers from over heating. Normally it wouldn’t haven been an issue but with my newly baldhead I was shaking.

Michael’s hands started flying on the keyboard. The program was booting up. I heard shouts in the distance and the sound of heavy footfall.

“Michael we got to hurry! They’ll be here any minute,” I said as I ran over to the window and opened it. We were three stories up.

“Hold on. I’m getting a complete members list and a copy of what they’re working on so I can show it to the authorities.” Michal said as he dragged large folders around on the desktop.

Thankfully we were facing the street. A hint of blue caught my eye as I spotted Thomas’ car. I waved at him and he came rolling down the street towards us. If we jumped we could make it over fence but only barely. The sound of gunfire and breaking glass rang out behind me as bullets hit the walls. I dropped to the ground.

“Stop firing! You’ll hit the server!” Mathew shouted. “Now be a lamb and throw the jump drive to me. I’ll make sure your death is quick and painless.”

“Michael, you done over there?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he said as he grabbed the jump drive from the computer and tossed it to me.

“Okay we need to jump out that window. My ride is outside. We can make it over the fence if we jump away from the building.”

“Thanks genius, I didn’t know how jumping worked. Come on,” he said as we both got up together and ran for the window. We placed our feet on the lip and leapt through. Despite Mathew’s orders his guards still fired at us. Thap, thap, thap, went the bullets into the wall and out the other side. For a few seconds everything seemed peaceful as the wind rushed past us. Thwump! We landed on the ground on the other side of the fence. I groaned as I tried to stand up. Michael wasn’t moving. I went to him as fast as I could. Blood was pouring from three chest wounds.

“Michael, Come on. Get up!” I shout at my brother. “Michael no… Please God no!” I gathered him up in my arms, checking for a pulse. There was none. He died before he hit the ground.

“Kill them!” Mathew shouted from the open window. His goons opened up.

How could this happen? I could hear Thomas shouting at me. It was distant, like a dream. I finally looked up to see Thomas only ten feet from me, shouting with the back door open. Bullets hit the ground around me kicking up dirt and concrete. I grabbed Michael and dragged him into the waiting back door of Thomas’ car.

He peels out as I clutched my brother’s lifeless form. We may have staved off another war but at what cost? I never wanted this. If I hadn’t been so stubborn I could have had my brother.

Independence Migrate Home Joseph Scott

March 26, 2050 3:23pm TAMPA, Florida- Today word has reached our offices that the fleets of

Independence ships have begun to attack. The bombardment started at 2:45 am. The UNA forces are scrambling to intercept and repel the attack. Independent

Forces are hammering the defense grid, looking to tear them down by force. No word on what prompted this attack. Citizens are being forced to evacuate the area before the Defense Grid falls. Major Edgar Lopez Of the UNA Marines was unable to be reached for a comment at this time. His commanding officer has informed us he has been moved to the combat zone and will be unavailable for comment.

In a response to the attack the president as reinstated the draft. Calling all able bodied men and women of the ages 18-30 to enlist. Democrats are outraged at this sudden move by the President.

In a press release the President had this to say: “Our all-volunteer army will no longer sustain the inedibility of war. With the first blow against freedom struck this morning so too must we strike back. Let it be

known that the UNA is not a lion without claws. It is with a heavy heart that I reinstitute the draft. Know that we fight so that future generations will not have to, and that we may repel these invaders for the last time.” For more on the attack and the draft please go to our website.

Chapter 15 The City- Interstellarport 1145 March 27, 2050- Friday 9:45am Passengers are loading and unloading from the ships. Some are hugging and clutching long missed loved ones. A long wooden box is being loaded onto the back of the shuttle. My brother is in there. I’m so lost in thought I don’t feel Sam slipping her hand in mine. Tears roll down her face. She hasn’t stopped since I gave her the news. The police had questioned her about the shooting. She said it was a mugging gone wrong. Father Jacob managed to get her out of the hospital while I laid low. He even went so far as to call in some favors to get Michael’s body sent back to Mars. I’m taking it back so he can be with mom.

“Everyone here is safe thanks to him,” Sam says. “He has done more to protect these people then they’ll ever know.”

“I know,” I said. “When I get to Mars I’ll turn in the jump drive to the authorities. I doubt Mathew’s reach is that far.”

“Guys they’re boarding,” Thomas whispered over our shoulders. He was dressed in his priest robes. Father Jacob had surprised me with my suitcase. I looked up at the shuttle and I saw it. A giant Killer Whale emblazoned on the side of the shuttle. I chuckled a little.

“What?” Sam asked. “Nothing.” I said. With that we boarded the shuttle.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jameson 'Mason' McDaniel is a comedy/horror writer living in Los Angeles with his wife Karen and his son Adam. He is currently working on a horror web series called *Dark Corners* as well as a live trivia show called Super Nerd Trivia Fun Time.  

This novel is a pure work of fiction. All characters, events, names, places, and incidents are a work of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locals, or persons is purely coincidental. This novel is published by permission of IMPERIAL ODYSSEY. All characters, events, names, places, and incidents are protected under copyright.

IMPERIAL ODYSSEY WORLD WAR FOUR

PART TWO THE CITY

First Edition ©2013, Imperial Odyssey, All Rights Reserved

Written by Jameson ‘Mason’ McDaniel Curated by R.D. Womack II & Lukas Resheske

Based on “Imperial Odyssey” created by

R.D. Womack II & Lukas Resheske

No part of this novel may be reproduced or distributed without exclusive written authorization. For more information email contact@imperialodyssey.com.

PROUDLY PUBLISHED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Cover Photo Credit: Problemkind