Roshma Book 1: The First Steps
Chapter 7: Meals and Ordeals

Enter Tyerow

That was seriously the best meal I had ever eaten. I was bruised and beaten when upon arrival, but now I could add fat and happy to that list of adjectives. The amount of food consumed by myself alone was enough to feed three men. After the meal we walked back to our ship but for me, it was more of a waddle.

To everyone’s surprise we didn’t have a ticket for illegal parking. However, now we faced a new problem. We didn’t know the location of Headquarters.

Mott asked, “Hey Tyerow, why don’t you call headquarters on your com-link?”

I replied, “Okay.” With one simple word I became the guy who took care of all of our calls from that day forward.

That being said, I called headquarters with this request, “Where is headquarters located?” This time Jerrah answered instead of Polanski. I was relieved. Polanski was a loose cannon, one could never know what would set him off.

She responded, “Send us a message when you arrive in Del Santos Park and we will open up the hangar for you. That’s exactly how it went down. We landed our ship in the middle of the giant park. Here was a grove, a break in the trees. We sent a message to Jerrah and all of the sudden the ground opened up. We descended into the hole as the earth came back together cleverly hidden form the public.

From here we proceeded to exit the ship and board yet another underground train car. I had to wonder, How many of these secrets train cars were hidden underneath the city and did all lead to headquarters?

There were many twist and turns along the path but somehow it all led back to Polanski’s office. Jerrah was there and she told us, “He was on his lunch break.” We waited there for a while, all the adrenaline had worn off and I realized exhausted I was. It had been almost a day since I’d last slept. Everyone else must have been tired too because no one hit on Jerrah, not even the infamous Westcon.

There was a faint sound in the distance. We all heard it, but couldn’t quite our finger on it. Then it gradually got louder and louder and at his point everyone had turned their heads towards the sound. It sounded like humming. It turns out it was Polanski, he was humming a merry tune. At least he seemed to be in a good mood. This may not be so bad.

He “welcomed us”, “How about you freaks step in my office?” We proceeded to walk down the long hallway again and he proceeded to speak to us, “You boys wrecked that dam up pretty good. That’s going to cost us a lot of money, and it’s coming out of your salary. Anyway that‘s not what I’m here to tell you. They say, “There ain’t no rest for the wicked”, and it must be true. For your next and final mission, you will be traveling to Maldeves. Don’t worry, you’ll have a couple of days to rest.”

Mott interrupted him and asked the question that was on all our minds, “What do you mean our next and final mission? This war is far from over and I’m just getting warmed up.”

Polanski replied, “Just hold on a minute and I’ll explain. You freaks have skills don’t get me wrong. I underestimated you and thought you would all die on your first mission, luckily, for Mako City you are very much alive. However, a haphazard approach won’t work twice. You had no plan of attack and just stormed the place. That won’t work every time. Sometimes you need stealth and your team really needs a sniper to provide cover fire. So unless you find a sniper up to my standards the “superfriends” can kiss their little team good bye. Don‘t worry, we still have use for you but I think you all would better serve this planet as soldiers.”

Mott was outraged, “Giaka, you can’t just change the rules on us like that. Where are we supposed to find a sniper over night?”

Polanski’s face turned red, “I can do whatever I want!”

He took a couple of deep breathes before continuing. “Now back to the topic at hand, Maldeves. The chancellor of the West, Mr. Martin will be visiting Maldeves to rally support for the war effort. As you know, the West has been all but wiped out. Martin is a symbol of hope to people all across Zatara because of his indomitable spirit. Our spies have let us know that the enemy has found out about the Chancellor’s little visit and plan to assassinate him. Your job is simple, protect the chancellor. If they kill off the chancellor they kill off any hope that the western front has left. We would use a squad of professionals, but there’s not enough time for that you’re all we have.”

I had a burning question that I just had to ask, “Polanski, I noticed that a good portion of the enemy forces were comprised of Zatt’s. Why is this?”

He looked puzzled and didn’t know what to say for a moment, but he was quick-witted and came up with something fast. “This is just a theory but as you know there are many Zatt like races spread out throughout the stars. Most of these people are refuges, their home worlds were destroyed by past galactic wars.

He took a drink from a glass on his table before continuing, “They wonder around the solar system looking for a place to live. They arrive on planet Zattara looking to call it their home. Well our immigration policies are rough on newcomers. We were doing this for our own good so our planet didn’t become overcrowded, there are only so many resources to go around. However, this made a lot of enemies. To make matters worse, many of the Zatt‘s who live here are unhappy. The gap between the have‘s and the havenot’s is constantly growing. Some people think if they join the enemy forces they will be one of the “have‘s” in the new world he creates.”

Jin asked the question that was on all of our minds but none of our lips, “How much are we getting paid?” I held my breath waiting for an explosion of anger.

Surprisingly Polanski very calmly answered, “However, much I feel like you deserve after I figure out how much it is going to cost to repair the dam. Anyone else got any more stupid questions? If not, you can all leave.” So we left. I always felt so welcome at headquarters.

The task force plus Jerrah boarded an elevator bound for the main floor. To our surprise, it looked just like a normal office building. There were lots of cubicles and people busily at work. That was interesting but not near as interesting as the lobby. It was majestic. There was a long staircase, a fountain with a statue in the middle and a receptionist desk. We went up to the receptionist. The master of this desk was an older lady with glasses she said, “Welcome to White and Zupon law firm. How we may help you today?”

Jerrah answered in a sing-song voice, “Gumdrop Merry-go-round.”

The old lady smiled, “That is the password. Whenever you come in here for your assignment, say the password, and I will let you proceed to headquarters. If you get the password wrong or don’t say one at all, we will be forced to terminate you with extreme prejudice.”

Then Jerrah briefed us, “Report for duty at daybreak in three days, goodbye.”

Now we knew the location of headquarters, but now there was the problem of getting back home. None of us drove here. We were all kidnapped by men in black suits and thrown into the middle of a forest. Westcon was the only one who had parents that actually lived in Mako City so the ball was in his court. However, he informed us that, “White and Zupon was his father (Alex Westcon’s) biggest rivals and he wouldn’t be caught dead here.”

Everyone seemed to look to me to fix their problems. I did my best and called the only person I really knew who wasn’t standing right in front of me, Katotta Robatachi.

She said, “Sounds like you boys need Katotta to bail you out once again. I’m on my way. You’d be lost without me.” Not to take anything away from her but I don’t recall a time when she had ever bailed us out.

With nothing to do and nowhere to go, we stood outside of the building. Finally, Katotta arrived in a very large hovercraft. She got out and shrieked, “What happened to you all? You look like you’ve been through hell.”

Westcon responded, “We saved the city.”

She still looked kind of confused, but he then asked, “Are you interested in me now. I saved the whole city.” He knew she would say no it was more of a game this point. In fact, everyone knew she’d say no she was way out of all of our leagues, unobtainable. Westcon was the only one that thought he had a chance for some reason.

She responded, “That’s quite admirable, but you’re still too short we’re the same height. I need a taller man, and preferably a smarter man.” Of course at this point it was simply banter between friends. Katotta won this round. Westcon was too tired to fight.

The vehicle we rode home in was the top of the line, the best of the best, the cream of the crop. On top of that she probably could have transported 16 people, it was that big. It must be nice to have money, but I wouldn’t know.

First, stop of the Robatachi Express was an apartment complex. This is where Mott got out. The apartments looked nice enough, but they were too bland for my taste. Everything was white. Next, we did a 360 and ventured to one of the nicest parts of Mako City. We twisted and turned snaking our way through a very well to do neighborhood. Eventually we stopped in front of a dome shaped house with a lot of yard space and a forest behind it. This was the Westcon residence.

I describe the next part of the drive as the devolution of Mako City. The landscape became poorer and poorer as we continued our journey. This was the land of two bedroom, one bathroom houses like the one I resided in. I assumed we were going to my house, but we stopped a little bit before we got to my street. Surprisingly, Shodon got out. I didn’t know he lived this close to me. In the two years we had known each other, I had never been to his house. It didn’t really matter though because his house looked like it had the exact same layout as mine.

Where had the time gone? It was almost time for me to get off and I hadn’t said a word to Katotta. I frantically scrambled to make small talk, “So what did you do today Katotta?”

There was a heavy undertone of sarcasm in her voice, “Well I was shopping, with some of my friends until Tyerow called to inform me the city would be destroyed, after that I spent a couple hours at my private shooting range outside the city. Then you summoned me back to pick you all up and take you home.”

I muttered, “Sorry about that.” sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ FɪndNovᴇl.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

She said, “Don’t worry about it. You guys saved the city. You can apologize another day.”

Next, thing I knew, we were at my house, but one question in particular was bothering me “Hey Jin, Jon where do you guys live?”

Katotta replied, “They live in the Robatachi Temporary Housing Facility about a two miles from my house. The housing is usually for those in poverty, but since they both just arrived, it’s temporary until they can get on their feet.”

Jin acted like he was holding out a bowl puckered his lip before saying, “Please, may I have some more?”

Katotta laughed, “Come on Jin, you aren’t fooling anyone. You got to beg harder than that if you want to eat.”

Jon said, “Don’t worry, we’ll be out of your hair soon.” He could be a buzzkill sometimes.

It was stupid to be jealous of them but I was. Everyone got to live there at some point in time except me. I remember Mott spoke of his time there after getting off the streets. I didn’t want to be a street kid or an orphan, but it would be cool to live only a couple miles from Katotta. However, I would entertain those thoughts another time. Right now, the most important thing was sleep.

Upon entering my home I stripped off my clothes and dived headfirst into a sea of covers that was my bed. While sleeping, I dreamed up a solution to our sniper problem. It was Katotta! She could be a part of the Task Force or whatever we were called. I bet she was better than any other sniper the military had to offer. That was the answer to our problem!

I was awakened from my slumber by a loud knocking at my door. At first, I tried to ignore it but it didn’t stop. So I got up and boy was I surprised to see who it was. It was a woman with shoulder-length brown hair brown, tan skin, a red t-shirt, shorts and knee high socks. It was my sister Cierra.

Cierra said, “You look surprised, didn’t you get my message? The one saying that said I’m moving in with you.” I checked my com-link and there it was.

It was a couple for minutes before I spoke to her. “This is great but it’s all so sudden. I saw our parents a couple of days ago and there was no mention of you moving in. Heck, I didn’t even know you wanted to attend Cashay’s Academy.”

She responded, “Well originally the plan was, for mom and dad to come up and help me move towards the end of the warm season right before the new semester started, but when we returned home things had gotten bad. Battles were raging in the desert and some of the houses in our village had been set on fire. They decided the quicker I got out the better. Some military dude offered to escort me for a small fee. We’ve traveled all through the night. It was cramped and it smelled, but here I am. He dropped me and my luggage off and then immediately left.”

I informed her, “Of course that’s fine, I know we’ve had a bit of a rocky relationship, but you’re my sister and they’ll always be a place for you here.” I hugged her though I was filthy. Neither of us seemed to care.

She said, “Good now that I know you’re okay with it, can you help me with my luggage. I couldn’t bring my dresser drawer along but I brought as many bags as I could.”

She wasn’t lying when she said she brought as many bags as she could, there were eight total. I reached down to grab two of the bags, and I grimaced as my body was sore under the strain of their weight.

Cierra looked over at me with worry on her face, I wasn’t thinking about it when I asked you to carry my bags, and I didn’t even give your appearance thought. What happened to you? You’re bloody, and all cut up.”

I gave her the truth, “Well we defended Mako City from an enemy attack.”

She smiled, “ Dad would be proud of you.”

It was also, in that moment when one of my neighbors stuck his head out the window and whistled at my sister.

A better big brother probably would have shouted something like, “Hey leave her alone.” However, I had done enough fighting in the past couple of days and wasn’t looking for any trouble.”

We eventually, got all the bags inside my humble abode. I told her, “She could have the guest room or the couch and to make herself at home.” As for me I was gross and in desperate need of a shower.

The shower, felt refreshing on my battle-worn skin and each drop of water seemed to bring new life and rebirth. Despite how refreshing the shower felt, my mind wasn’t at ease. I had accepted her into my home. I couldn’t really turn her away she’s my sister, but I worried about what would become of my home. Cierra and I were different. Mainly, she liked to party and me not so much. My job was probably going to require me to be gone a lot and I was scared that she was going to wreck my place in my absence. Hopefully, this didn’t become an issue.

Upon stepping out of the shower the bathroom was filled with steam. I used the towel to wipe the layer of moisture off the mirror and was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. Most of my wounds had already healed thanks to my accelerated healing abilities and I was looking a lot better after washing off all the blood a grime. With that I put some product in my hair it was a new day and I was a new man reborn from the ashes.

The rest of the day was boring. It consisted of helping Cierra organize her new living space in the spare room. She complained how small the room was and I told her, “If you don’t like she could always go live with the neighbor guy he seemed interested in her. I didn’t really mean it.

Cierra rolled her eyes at that one. She had brought so many clothes that they didn’t all fit in the dresser and she had filled up the closet as well, so a small pile was mad e n the floor. I complained a lot but at the same time, was extremely happy to have someone living with me. The old house gets lonely sometimes, and by sometimes I mean all the time.

I had the day off and spent the rest of it trying to bond with my sister, we had a lot to catch up on. The two of us made some small talk about life. She asked, “So what do you do in your free time? Like when you aren’t saving the planet.”

I smirked, “You see, my life is kind of boring 90% of the time. I usually practice up my Jijitsu, I write, and occasionally hangout with my like seven other friends. Waste a lot of hours watching the box because I have bad insomnia.”

She said, “Just as I suspected, you’re still as much of a loser as ever. Ever do anything fun? Ever go to any good parties?”

Her accusations cut deep and I tried to defend myself, “I don’t party much it just doesn’t sit well with me. However, my buddies and I have been downtown a couple of times.”

She replied, “So there is hope.” She then proceeded to ask me “If I had any hot friends.”

This was a loaded question. How was I supposed to know? I didn’t swing that way. Quickly I thought back to what I had heard some of the girls at the academy say. I informed her; “Mott and Shodon and good looking I guess.”

She used the chance to tease me, “That makes sense. I’ve never seen you with a girlfriend.”

If you can’t beat em’ join em’, “Yay you’ll have to meet my boyfriend some time He’s a really nice guy, and a heck of a cook.” She looked shocked for a second then we both laughed. It was good to be laughing.

Then she continued, “Do you need me to get a job? It is the offseason now so I could get one before the Academy starts back up to help with the rent and stuff.”

I coolly replied, “No I make bank at my job.” Later that afternoon, I checked my account and found out that I didn’t make bank at my job. I should have known better. Dad was never rich why would I be? But 5000 Cinni, that was barely enough to pay all my bills especially now that I was off government support after my schooling had ended.

Later that day I changed my mind, “On second thought, you may want to consider getting that job.”

I only had one more thing to do call Katotta with my crazy proposal. So here went nothing, “Katotta I’m going to ask you something crazy.”

She said, “Fire away.”

Here goes nothing, “Do you want to be on the Task Force? We need a sniper or they are going to close our whole operation down and you’re the best sniper that I know.”

She didn’t speak for a while and when she did, her tone worried me, “I just don’t know if I’m up to it. I want to help my planet and you guys are great, but I saw how you looked after your last mission. It honestly be safer joining the military. I don’t even have any powers, advanced healing, or combat skills like you guys. That’s a lot to ask of someone, and the answer is most likely no.”

I hung up and didn’t even tell her bye. In retrospect, it was kind of selfish of me to ask something like that from her, but I didn’t want the Task Force to be over already. I felt important when we saved the city. I had tenacity so it would take more than that to make me give up. Another plan was brewing in my mind; fire had to be fought with fire. I then called Mott, “I need you to work that Blixer charm on her can you convince Katotta to join the team.”

Mott paused, “Leave it to me. If anyone can change her mind it’s me.” Man, confidence was a renewable resource for this guy. I practiced Jijitsu and watched the box for a while. The program was about an up and coming Guitar protégé, his name was Jacob Legato. He was only 12 years old, but could he make that thing sing. Then Cierra came in a changed the show. Some reality crap, like Modern Life. That was my cue it was time for sleep.

When I woke up it was almost midday. I did my usual routine I walked out into my living room in just my boxers and made some food.

Cierra let out a scream, “What are you doing walking around the house half naked? It’d be different if you weren’t my brother, but that’s weird.”

I quickly covered up, “I’m usually the only person here.” I went and put some clothes on and in the process saw a message on my com-link. The first was from Katotta it read, “I’m joining the squad. I did all the sniping field exercises this morning and I got the second highest score of all time.” Wow, a lot could change in a days’ time, I thought she said probably a no.

I needed to know how Mott had convinced her, so I called Mott, “How did you convince Katotta? She wasn’t buying anything I had to say. I could tell Mott was grinning though I couldn’t see him. He was about to explain his brilliant plan, “Well you see I told Katotta it would be fun. We were going to Maldeves on this next mission which has great shopping. I told her she wouldn’t ever have to do anything, just set on the ship and get paid. Also, I told her she would be helping our planet because without a sniper we would be disbanded.”

Mott was sugar-coating it and I let him know, “But half of that isn’t true. I mean we need a sniper, it’s not like she can just sit on the ship and do nothing.”

Mott got defensive, “Why not? We didn’t have her last time and we won by brute force. Sure a sniper would help but it’s honestly unnecessary.” It all sounded good in theory, but theory and real life are a different ballgame. One of my flaws was the fact that I was too polite, so I didn’t tell Mott how I really felt. However, suddenly regretted proposing Katotta ever be on the team at all.

The rest of the day was pretty awful. I got called into work early, for an Emerald Protocol. I didn’t know what that meant, but I predicted it meant I probably would get zero sleep before this mission as well. What happened to getting three days off? Last mission opened my eyes to the fact that this wasn‘t a game. There was no coming back if we lost. Also, I didn’t know who or what would show up to try and assassinate the chancellor but that was a problem in itself. It could be anything. The Alpha Star started to set in sky. I left Cierra with only one request, “Don’t destroy the house while I’m gone.” A simple enough request. With that I mounted my speeder and too off into the night.

The city was a different place at night, and I‘m pretty sure I saw a drug deal going down. The poor and disheveled walked the streets. Some were staring off into space and others were associating with fellow “street people.” My hope was that our government would invest more in the poor as soon as the war was over; even if it was their own fault. No one deserves poverty and once you’re in it is a vicious circle. These thoughts hung with me even as I sped through the nicer parts of the city. Finally, I arrived at the “lawfirm” parked my speeder in the lot across the street and walked into headquarters.

I was one of the first ones to arrive along with Shodon, so we played the waiting game. When the others arrived we said the “gumdrop-Merry-Go-Round” got on the elevator and we were back to good ole headquarters. Most everyone was giving us hateful looks. Everyone except a rather plain looking man with short blonde hair. He chased us down and said, “I know everyone around here isn’t too fond of you guys, but I just want to tell you all thank you for saving Mako City.”

We told him, “Thank you.” It really meant a lot to us since almost everyone else seemed to hate us. However, a flicker of light does little to light up a dark room and we still received mostly mean mugs. When we finally arrived where we were supposed to be A small man with a lab coat, a large grey beard, bald and with glasses came up to us. “Are you the Task Force?”

Westcon answered, “That be us.”

Jon rolled his eyes at this and nudged me, “Great now this guy will think we’re idiots too, can we put muzzle over Westcon’s mouth?”

I laughed, “He grows on you eventually; however, it takes a really long time. He’s an acquired taste.”

The scientist played it cool despite Westcon’s antics. He cleared his throat and addressed us, “Come this way, time for the Emerald Protocol.”

I had no idea what he meant by this statement, but still followed him the basement floor. All I remember is we took a lot of turns through many hallways. How big is this place? If I got lost there be no hope of finding my way back.

Our journey came to an end in front of a large metal door with a strange symbol on it. The weird science man typed some numbers into a keypad. The first metal door opened. Behind that was another metal door. Then he put his eye up to a retinal scanner and that door opened. Inside was hands down the most amazing lab I had ever seen, but the labs at the academy to shame. Why did they need so many machines?

It was then we met the other scientist. This one was a really tall and thin man. He addressed us, but it was very hard to hear him since he mumbled a lot. I think he said, “You all sit down in those chairs over there. I will need to take a sample of each of you all’s blood.” He opened up a briefcase with seven different syringes in it. He went down the line, extracting some of each of our blood. It wasn’t too bad just a little prick. However, Shodon must have had a fear of needles because he was breathing really hard and the doctor had to tell him to quit squirming around.

Then the tall scientist said, “The serums will be ready in about an hour.” He proceeded to walk over to a large tower machine and put the syringes in it and typed some things on a hologram keyboard.

The grey bearded scientist came back over and ask us a question, “You all are probably very curious about what I’m doing. Any guesses?”

Mott said, “I have no clue, science wasn‘t my best subject?”

The older scientist replied, “Come on you have to try better than that. I ’m making you immune to certain toxins the enemy might use to harm you. The enemy doesn’t always want to kill you right away. Sometimes they will try to poison you, paralyze you, or put you to sleep. They may even want to wipe your memory. These toxins work because our bodies, even your bodies with your special abilities, don’t possess the enzymes to break down these compounds when they enter the body.”

He paused for a minute to access our confusion, but continued on anyway in spite of it, “I, or actually my chemist has used enzyme chip technology to construct the enzymes necessary to break down these compounds rendering them almost harmless to you. However, even enzymes are eventually broken down by the body or rendered useless so it’s just a quick fix like an antivenom when you get poisoned.”

He stopped momentarily to take a swig out of his water bottle. “Our solution to this dilemma was to combine our homemade enzymes with nanotech. These little robots preserve the integrity of the enzymes so they can be used over and over again. Then we ran into another problem. Any guesses what it was? Well, I’ll tell you. The immune system tries to destroy everything in the body which I doesn’t recognize as self. This is why we are going to copy your glycocalyx (aka self) onto these little guys so your body doesn’t try to destroy them. By the way my name is Dr. Sanchez pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

The man was eccentric but brilliant. I didn’t know what enzyme chip technology was but I did understand glycocalyx because I had taken a basic science class at the academy.

Jon slid over to me, “Wow, enzyme chip technology is so fascinating.”

I had to find out how he knew so much about this, “I don’t know a thing about the enzyme chip, how do you know so much?”

Jon answered my question in a really roundabout way, “Well after my house in Desantiago was set ablaze, my family moved to Maldeves where I finished up mandatory school, and eventually Maldeves Academy. I majored in health sciences to eventually become a doctor. I wanted no part in the war and doctors are exempt from fighting. Someone has to take care of all the wounded the war leaves in its wake.”

He hung his head as he told the next part of the story, “The government of Maldeves had different plans. They aren’t the most ethical bunch, and they will use whatever means to get the job done. After hearing about my telekinetic abilities they forced me to drop out of school and go try-out for this team. I told them ‘”no.’” They said, ‘“They would revoke my father’s business license if I didn’t comply.’”

Everyone on the team had it rough in one way or another, but I felt especially bad for Jon. I guess he learned about that technology in school but, the point of his story wasn’t to answer my question but to reach out to me. I reached out back to him, in the form of my arm around his shoulder and said, “When this war is over no one will be able to stop you from becoming a doctor.” He smiled. We both smiled.

We waited for what seemed to be a lot longer than it actually was. Until finally, the nanobots were ready.

The tall chemist called out,” Mr. Hawkins we are ready for you.” Why did I have to go first? I slowly walked toward the room. It was like one of those rooms from a suspense thriller where the mad scientist experiments on an innocent victim. All the walls were white there was one window and a giant metal chair in the middle with restraint bars on it. An obnoxiously bright light located right above the chair added to the motif of the room. I nervously in the chair and he locked me in the metal bar was cold on my flesh. He said, “This could be very painful.” Here we go.

He started by injecting me with five different needles. These were supposedly the five different groups of nano-robots he was putting inside me. These needles were a little bigger than I would have liked, but still nothing too painful. In fact, the light above me was the worst part, it was blinding. There were also five vials on a metal table besides the chair.

He went on to explain, “We are going to test your modified body’s resistance to these five toxins. The presence of the toxins in your body will act as the catalyst for the enzyme. Some will be very painful at first, but the enzyme/ nanobot combination should neutralize them.” “Should”, that was comforting.

The first one was a blue liquid, and when it hit my bloodstream I immediately felt very tired. My eyes lids became heavy and the world started to fade to black. I fell asleep, but only for a moment, but then it was as if a fog had been lifted and I woke up.

The second drug was injected into me as there were no side effects. The scientist said, “Oh, that’s Rifflelin the drug often used to take advantage of people at parties.” The next toxin wasn’t as kind to me. I immediately felt its effects. My whole body went stiff. Again, after a few minutes all range of motion returned. A paralysis toxin. The fourth toxin made my heart race very fast, it was painful I started to squirm and sweat, but it too was over, Now I knew why they strapped me in.

The sly scientist had one more challenge for me. He informed me, “The one I just injected you with is codenamed heart-exploder. But you haven’t felt true pain yet. The next one is called Nuerofire, it is very hard to find, even in the deepest corners of space. It causes ever nerve in your body pulse with an unimaginable pain. The purpose of this drug is torture. Put this in your mouth and bite down on it.”

The scientist injected me with the liquid which was appropriately colored black. Almost immediately, every ounce of my body felt like it was on fire. I writhed uncontrollably, the metal bars dug into my skin as I struggled against the pain. Even the light seemed to burn my skin. I tried to scream but my mouth was full. Then it was over. He stuck one last needle into my arm. It was a thicker than the others and blood pooled at the surface. “Hey what was that last one?”

He smiled, “That was just a microchip for tracking your whereabouts. I limped out of the office and everyone looked at me in shock. Nothing I could say was going to prepare them for this awful experience, so I was silent.

Then everyone else went in and came out looking the same as I did. Shodon looked he had seen the devil when he came out. He sure hated needles. Next they called Katotta, and I was really worried for her. I don’t think she knew what she was getting herself into. I waited in fear, no need for heart-exploder, my heart was doing this on its own and the nanobots couldn’t save me, she had never experienced pain like that before, most Zatts hadn’t. I prayed for her” Oh Elohim, what have I done please be with her.”

The worst of my fears were confirmed when Katotta came out and she looked like she was in an excruciating pain. She was even limping, and didn’t return to the bench like the rest of us, but asked to leave the room. Bringing her on the team was a terrible idea.

Outside the metal doors opened to reveal Katotta, she was crying, “I’m not cut out for this. You guys told me, “It will be easy”, but that was awful. I don’t ever want to feel like that again.”

I pleaded with her, “I didn’t know what the Emerald Protocol entailed or for that matter that there would even be an Emerald Protocol when I called you. I’m so sorry. You can quit if you want. It‘s up to you.”

She cried harder, “I don’t want to quit before the first mission. I don’t want Zatara to see how weak, how vulnerable I really am. Ever since my mother was killed I have hardened myself and said, “I would be strong.”

My finger found itself on Katotta’s cheek. I caught one of the tears as it fell from her eye, “But you’re not weak, you’re the best sniper I know. The only reason I have such a high pain tolerance is because I‘ve had to fight my whole life. In fact, I can’t think of any other girl or even guy for that matter that would be brave enough to take on something like this.”

She looked at me with those eyes, A look from her could break you in two, “Oh Tyerow your words are so kind but you‘ve got me wrong. You have to leave, I’m trying to dry up the waterworks before Polanski sees me.” I walked back in the room as Mott walked out. He’d probably have something better to say to her. After all, it was he Mott that convinced her to join the team.

After that terrible ordeal, we met up with Jerrah. She immediately ran up to her cousin Katotta and gave her the biggest hug. Katotta wasn’t really down for that right now, but she didn’t let any of her pain show. Jerrah then informed us, “We would have to travel to the air traffic station outside the shield.” I guess that’s only way you can truly fly out of the city. Even the dam is mostly under the shield.

We boarded another underground train car. The ride was really long. The skyport must have been on the edge of town. As I rode the train there was an uneasy feeling like something just wasn’t right. I kept looking over at Katotta to see if she was okay, but this was only half the reason, it was also because she was the most beautiful girl I’d ever laid eyes on. Besides My feeling of unease about Katotta something else was bothering me but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. It remained an enigma almost the whole trip, but then it came to me. A.J was still at the medical center.

I never got around to visiting him. I felt like such a bad friend. Things had been so busy with my sister moving in that A.J. was set on the back burner. I asked Mott -more like yelled at him- “How is A.J. doing?”

Mott laughed at my urgency, “Chill out, he’s fine. I talked to him. He wanted to be here but he wasn‘t quite ready to go into battle yet. The doctors didn’t want him overexerting himself. We’ll be seeing A.J. next mission, if there was a next mission.”

To my surprise we got on another train, and when it stopped, we were in a large room. In the middle of this peculiar room was an elevator. Jerrah went on to scan a keycard and the elevator door opened. It was a very strange door as it opened vertically instead of horizontally. I don’t know how deep underground we were, but the elevator ride seemed like it took forever.

I looked over at Katotta and she finally caught me gazing at her, like I said earlier, “I was concerned about her.” She quickly darted her eyes away and we both pretended like it never happened. Women are really confusing. I didn’t understand them half 90% of the time.

When the elevator finally stopped, I expected to come out on top of a mountain. No such luck, we were in an office complex. It was completely void of workers. Then again it was dark outside. After leaving the offices, we ran into a couple of graveyard shift workers. Besides the employees, there were a couple of night travelers. I saw an old man with a briefcase sleeping on a bench.

It was sad to see this place so dead. Even at night, this place used to be alive with the bustling of people. When I arrived here over three years ago, it was very busy. However times were changing. A couple of public transport ships got shot down by the enemy and then flying became very risky. A handful of people still had to travel this way, but it was a roll of the dice every time you do. The only reason this place was still around is because Indratrial and military pilots still used it as a docking bay.

Our game of follow the leader continue. Wherever Jerrah went, we went. I didn’t really know where we were being led to, I never knew, but she eventually stopped at terminal 25C and said, “Your ship is in the hangar below her name is the Blue Falcon. She’s been through a lot, but still flies like a champ. On board, there is an armory full of weapons and lots of med-kits in case things get ugly. Good bye and good luck.” With that she handed Mott the keys and departed from our presence.

We walked down to the hangar and saw the Falcon for the first time and she was truly a site to behold. She wasn’t the largest ship but she looked so sleek. The ship had a metallic blue paint job and it had very sharp edges. On top of that, it was about as aerodynamic as they come. She sliced through the air like a knife through warm butter. There were also four high propulsion thruster and she was armed with a laser cannon on it underbelly.

We entered the Falcon, the interior was very similar in layout to that of the “crappy cruiser” except loads nicer.

Jin had taken his place in the cockpit. “Hello, it’s Captain Gillespie. We will be leaving soon for the beautiful city of Maldeves, estimated flight time about three hours. The engine roared to life and we had liftoff. Soon we were, high above the city.

Day was about to break and it was a beautiful sight to behold. I saw through the dome all of the buildings, houses and people. It was breath taking. They lived in ignorance, unaware that home had been under siege or that someone was trying to assassinate the chancellor. Maybe that was a good thing? This way, they could live a semi-normal life even in the midst of the chaos.

I was interrupted from my thoughts as a hand touched my shoulder. It was Jon and he said, “Hey Tyerow I want you to stay alert on this next mission. Nothing in Maldeves is as it seems.”

I thanked him for his advice and with that, it was off to sleep.

While I slept I had a horrible dream. It started out with me standing in the middle of the diner. I was all alone in the room with Vaughn Rogers, and the gun was in his mouth. I yelled at him, “Don’t pull the trigger.” He didn’t hear me he pulled it anyway. The walls behind him were stained with blood in the shape of a butterfly.

The giant blood-stained butterfly came off the wall and started to fly around my head. I tried to run but it followed me. My feet moved fast trying to run from it, but the blood creature followed me for what seemed like hours. I woke up and screamed everyone looked at me. Everyone except for Westcon who was somehow still asleep. I apologized and then went to the bathroom and splashed some water on my face. This wasn’t the first time I had this nightmare. Every couple nights the crimson butterfly would return to haunt my dreams.

I prayed, “Dear Elohim, I know I’m going to be throwing myself way of danger. I pray that you allow me to survive. Also, I’m a wreck this job is literally tearing me apart, I pray that I can get my head on straight and focus on the mission.”

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