Sunday, June 20, 2010

The Prelude

So here's something I've been working on for a little while. Tell me what you think.

***Prelude***

“Half a truth is often a great lie.”
Benjamin Franklin

April 02, 2212>>>Garden City, Seventh Province, Earth>>>1912 hours local time

“For those of you just tuning in a bomb has gone off in the Parliament building in downtown Cairo.” Dana Johnson probably had the most well known face in United Nation space, but only her mother in New Stanton, District XI that noticed the now dry lines of tears covered in makeup. “We’re still waiting on word from the military regarding who is responsible and how many people have been injured or killed. Early estimations are conflicted, some say only a few dozen while other experts believe we may have lost well over a thousand lives.”
Mrs. Kilgore, Dana Johnson’s mother in New Stanton, had cried a great deal as well. Her son-in-law Henry Johnson was in Cairo covering the proceedings at Parliament. They were about to pass a landmark law regarding genetic research. Finally researchers had been able to stop cancer, turn back Alzheimer’s, and rebuild broken spinal cords.
No one had heard from Henry since just before the bomb went off; he had called Dana when he woke up to share a bit of a dream he had had, something about rainbows and a pot of gold, and then he was off. Just like Henry. Despite her sadness Mrs. Kilgore smiled when she thought of Henry; he was always happy, a child in a man’s body if there ever were such a case.
Once the bomb blew Dana had called over and over trying to get a hold of him. There wasn’t any answer. Only silence, or a voicemail, or the incessant ringing as the phone continued to ring on the other end. But, never Henry. Before Dana had gone to air with the story she called her Mom..
Mrs. Kilgore told her everything was going to be fine. The same lie she told her when Mr. Kilgore died four years earlier, the same lie she told her when her brother went to defend the outer colonies from the rebellion. She’d used that lie a dozen times with her daughter; and every time she prayed it wouldn’t be a lie.
That for once she could tell her daughter the truth.


April 02, 2212>>>Cairo, Government District, Earth>>>1023 hours local time

“This way!” Called out a short Muslim man in a deep blue armor with the gold policeman’s badge etched into the left breast. Seeing a man limping heavily on a badly gashed leg Officer Hakeem grabbed the man’s arm and lifted him onto his shoulders to carry him out of the smoky haze in the building.
He had only been a short distance away when the explosion tore through the Parliament building with a fury of a desert sandstorm. Even as far away as he had been the shockwave threw him against his car and into the pavement. Thankfully the passing motorists had good brakes and he wasn’t killed then.
Most of the following minutes had been a blur, being one of the first police officers at the scene of the explosion he did what he could for any survivors. Picking people from the wreckage, giving resuscitation when needed, or simply directing those who could walk to the nearest exit. His helmet made it easy to cut through the dust the sleek black building had thrown to the wind, but the reporters and politicians inside were not so lucky as he. He actually had to physically carry most people he met.
So much blood. He thought. My God it’s everywhere. He would have expected blood in different areas, but not so much just splattered about. It seemed to him that a painter had simply thrown cans of red about without a thought.
He turned again to the building, breathing heavily, he couldn’t remember how many trips this would be. He’d carried more people out than he had directed and even with his powered armor providing what extra strength it could he was getting very tired, very quickly.
Moving as fast as he could up the stairs to the front doors he could see large group of people in the foyer moving out. Officer Hakeem couldn’t tell through the haze but it seemed they had found other survivors and were carrying them to the front doors as well.
Three shots rang out over the sound of the chaos and destruction and Officer Hakeem fell to the ground bleeding from two wounds in his chest and one in his leg. Confused he tried to access the button inside his helmet at the chin to call out to the other officers coming in behind him.
It was unbearably hard to move his jaw more than a few centimeters in any direction, and all his strength was searching for air. Not finding it he struggled onto his chest to crawl back down the steps into view when a heavy boot kicked him over and fired two more shots.
In the following life he would remember the armor. White like Death.


March 11, 2197>>>Research Lab 11, North Sector, Undisclosed Planet>>>0311 hours local time

“Doctor Johansen, could you take a look at this sample?” asked an elderly man; Doctor Stevens according to the nametag.
“Yeah, no problem.” Doctor Johansen had thick black hair clipped short, and dull green eyes. His mottled skin belied his years spent in laboratories on various research planets. He was barely thirty, but he had made some of the most important genetic discoveries of his generation. He leaned over and looked at the screen in front of Dr. Stevens. “What sample is this?”
“The mixture of subject A and that blue lizard we found on Arialis, species number,” he trailed off for a moment while he looked at the paperwork on the table next to him. “twelve thirty-one; ice lizard.”
“It seems to be doing rather well. No adverse reactions yet.” He smiled. “Lets move it to phase two and see what pops out shall we?”
“Yes sir.” The elder Dr. Stevens gather the file before him, and placing the sample into a jar left for lab 04.
Dr. Johansen watched him leave. Turning back to the files he had been reviewing he mumbled to himself with a sigh, “Maybe this time we’ll get something we can actually use.”


April 11, 2212>>>Cairo, Government District, Earth>>>1736 hours local time

The middle-aged reporter coughed and tried to clear his throat again. The dust settled on everything making him and the six other survivors look like ghosts in some ancient play. He hadn’t any idea how long they’d been there. Long enough for their phones and personal computers to lose all power, and the flares burn out. He was just happy there seemed to be a steady stream of air entering their pocket.
“We’re going to die down here.” A skinny Asian spoke up. His beige suit was covered in the same white dust as the others. The clean area around his mouth showed how nervous he was; he hadn’t stopped licking his lips since he woke up after the initial blast.
“No we won’t Chung.” Replied the middle-aged reporter. “We’ve been fine up until now. The building’s held up, we to have plenty of air, and I’m sure they’ve been digging since the explosion. We’re going to be okay.”
“Oh shut up Henry,” he retorted. “You’ve been saying that for who knows how many days, and we haven’t even heard them digging yet.”
A burnette from the Chicago Times asked, “And giving up is a better choice?”
“I report the news Tina,” replied the Asian man in the powdered beige suit. Throwing his arms out to the sides he turned around, and while looking to their ceiling he shouted, “Newsflash! We’re trapped underneath a four hundred stories of building, and we’re going to die.” Changing his tone to represent a news anchor he continued, “Now to Tim with Sports News. How’re those Black Devils looking this year?” Now angry he looked at Tina and then Henry. “We’re going to DIE down here.”


April 15, 2212>>>Cairo, Government District, Earth>>>2357 hours local time

Jabbing his palms into his eyes the technician rubbed against the sleep and yawned, it was a losing battle. So was the search for survivors. He looked at the clock on the cockpit wall next to him; it flashed 11:57 PM in glaring red letters. “Three minutes to two weeks.”
Shaking his head he looked at the depth radar in front of him. He was operating a ten-year old “state of the art” D.A.M. Depth Analysis Machine. It was basically a smooth edged tank equipped with ‘deep rock’ sensors. It allowed miners to see into the rock before they dug so that they wouldn’t accidentally fall into an underground cavern. It had saved hundreds of lives since it was introduced to the industry thirty years ago.
Hans Joseph was hoping it’d save at least a few more.
Da-na-na-na-na uh-uh. “Mother F—“ Joseph jumped as his phone sounded off loudly. The normally enjoyable techno beat seemed more like a funeral dirge in the impromptu graveyard. Calming his heart he picked up the phone. “This is Hans. What’s up?”
The voice on the other end was the Army Officer in charge of the excavation, Major Stevenson. “Anything Hans?”
“Nope. Not a damn thing.”
There was a sigh on the other end. Major Stevenson probably hadn’t slept more than an hour or two in the last three days. He had participated in every dig he could looking for survivors. It had wore on him more than most Joseph thought, the guy was searching for his effing daughter after all. “Well, Jim just left the office he’ll be there to relieve you in about ten minutes. How are you on fuel?”
“Running pretty low. Probably three hours left.”
“Well I’ll have the fuel truck swing out—“ A quick succession of beeps sounded on the sonar. “What was that?”
Looking down at the monitors Joseph saw what appeared to be a smallish cavern some ten meters below the top of the rubble. “A little cavern.” He sounded almost confused as he pressed a few buttons to alter his view. “I can’t tell very good. It’s fuzzy…” *****Fuzzy. What the hell does fuzzy mean?
“What do—.”
“Stop talking.” Joseph cut him off. Ignoring the angered reply he dropped his phone on the dash and yanked the operator’s manual out of the compartment at his side and flipped it open quickly. “Fuzzy, fuzzy, fuzzy…” he mumbled to himself as he searched through a diagnostics section.
The Major’s voice was quiet, coming from the phone on the dashboard, but he was shouting now, more worried than angry at this point. The rubble had been found to be unstable in many parts and he wasn’t sure the search and rescue mission hadn’t just grown by one.
He could hear little beyond the machines rumble through the phone, until he heard a shout. “Hans! Hans! What the hell happened? Are you okay?”
The line scratched for a moment as Hans picked it up and he heard the old construction manager yell. “We got people down there! We got some f—g people down here. Get the excavators rolling!”
Pointing at his terrified secretary. “Call Komatsu. Get their excavators over to Hans Joseph’s location ASAP. We’ve got people to dig up.” Too excited to see if his orders were going to be followed he ran out the office into his own vehicle and tore off down the road. “I’m coming sweetheart.”


January 23, 2231>>>Henry Johnson’s Memoirs “The Truth as it Was and Is—The Life of Henry Johnson”>>>White Halberd Publishing House>>>Garden City, Seventh Province, Earth

‘I sometimes wondered what Lazarus must have felt, when he was called out from the tomb by Jesus. He’d been dead though. Was he afraid the Jews that didn’t follow Jesus would kill him? Was he just happy to not have to lie on a rock anymore, or to breath fresh air and eat food? Did he have a wife, or just his sister?
I can’t guess what he thought, but I know what was happening in my head when that first little hole broke through. The lights of the excavators broke through nearly blinding me. At first I assumed I had just died, not been brought back to life, but then the air hit me. I know this is cliché, but I can’t think of another way to describe it. It was the sweetest, most fresh air, I had ever breathed in my life.
Lazarus probably felt the same as I did breathing that first air. Feeling clean, crisp, air rush into your lungs; and then coughing like hell because of all the dust in the air. I can’t be sure how he felt, but I think I understand a little what went through his mind
I’m pretty sure it never had anything to do with a rebellion.

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