like he could read his mind. Jen closed his eyes "He could not have seen me…they most likely would have shot me." Jen overheard the man with the tattoo say, "I think I heard something." Jen tried to back up slowly but he rustled the bushes. The man with the scar took a knife from his belt then threw it. A shriek issued from the bushes.The man with the scar got up. "Well, well, well. What do we have here?" He took the knife from the corpse and picked up the vulturestoat. A hairy lizard, both mammal and reptile, it had the beak of a duck and the teeth of a Tasmanian devil. His tattooed companion said with distain on his face. "Listen, you killed it--you eat it. I'm tired of vulturestoat." In the confusion, Jen got away back to the house. "Moms, there are two guys in outer fields eating our corn." "Well Jen, they probably need it more then we do if they would go so low as to steal food." "There is plenty and this is a good year. I wouldn’t worry about it." Jen’s godfather came from inside the house with a tool in each hand "Jen, do you have a minute?" he asked. Jen put a boot up on the porch and retied it. "Sure." "Jen, the harvester is acting up. Would you please work on it for me? I'd do it myself, but I still have things to do." "Fine Dads, let me get the tool chest and I will be on my way." Jen went to the field where the harvester was sitting and popped open the engine hatch. He climbed in, picked up the sonic screwdriver and got to work checking the electronics. The energy coupling seemed to need replacing. Jen tried to pull it from the socket, but it wouldn't budge. He rolled up his sleeves and took hold. Then with a great effort he heaved and pulled it from its socket. Sparks flew. He examined it for a second, then simply rolled his eyes and thru it over his shoulder. When it hit the ground outside, an ear shattering crash sounded. Then he popped his head out and was surprised to see flames coming from the neighbor's house. Jen grabbed his rifle and sped down towards the house. Minutes later he got to the wall that surrounded the house. It looked as if the house had been bombed—part of it was in flames The rest would go up quickly. Jen was about to jump over the fence when he saw the two men standing near the house. They were the men from the field. The man with the tattoo said, "Sir, there are no survivors." The other man turned and scanned the horizon. Jen ducked down as the man scanned on the end of the fence where Jen was hiding . "Alright. Let’s go. I need a drink," said the scarred man. The men turned and ambled away from the house. When the men were gone Jen stuck the barrel of his short rifle down the back of his shirt. Jen jumped over the stone wall and raced for the house. Once inside he called, "Is anybody in here?" He was very hot. "I've got to do this fast--the house will not stand much longer." Jen ran through the house, calling in vain for anybody. Faintly, over the roar of the fire, Jen heard coughing. Jen ran towards the sound. Jen's face burned--he covered it with a sleeve and kept running. Jen thought, "The house is not going to be stable for too much longer," as he jumped through a flaming door. Sparks flew, scorching his clothes and burning through to his skin. He ran up a flight of stairs, two at a time, looking for the source of the coughing. When the stairs collapsed, his arms shot out as he tried to grab on to the second floor platform. It took a right good effort to pull himself up, then the adrenalin started to wear off Jen noticed he was light headed and found it hard to breathe. Jen thought to himself, "Maybe I should not have done this." He ran franticly dawn the hall checking in each room. Then he heard the last sounds of life being stolen from someone. Jen exerted himself. He tried to open the door but it wouldn’t budge, so he knocked it down. The breaking door sent sparks flying everywhere. Jen knelt by the bodies of the father and mother but it was too late. They had used themselves to shield the children from the blast. The two kids--a boy and a girl--had first degree burns covering part of their bodies. Jen examined them. They had been knocked out by the pain. Jen lifted them on to his shoulders "I've got to get out of here!" Jen ran toward the broken door. Halfway down the hall, a beam came crashing down--blocking the exit. Jen jumped back, ducking the falling beam. E-gads! I'll have to find another way, then, thought Jen as he ducked into a side room to avoid around the beam. He would have to break into another room and hope that that there was an exit that way. Jen thought, "I hope that there are no nails in the wall," as he punched the wall. A sharp pain shot thru his arm--the wall didn't even dentHe took back his hand cradled it and screamed "bloody hell!" " hoy na ny!" "Alright, the windows are blocked, the stairs are non-existent and the Hun dan wall is concrete. We have the floor but underneath us everything is probably engulfed in fire. When you can't go down…then you must go up." Jen took his rifle and used the butt to bash in the ceiling looking for a beam. Most of it, thank God, was breakable. He took the rifle and stuffed it back down his shirt before he grabbed the kids and then ran toward the escape hatch in the attic. On the outside he got his bearings as fresh air entered his lungs. The fire had not spread very far since the house was mostly concrete. Jen looked around and a chill ran down his spine. "How am I going to get to the bottom? It’s got to be three stories and no grass around. The grass that was there--is in flames. I might be able to get down by myself maybe, but what about the kids?" Smoke was really beginning to billow out of the hole. "Alright, Red Archer…time is running out." Then something caught his eye. A shed wall. "I have two options – one, stay on the roof and die a slow horrible death…or two, jump on the shed and risk falling through the roof to a short death. O.K. where do I sign?" Jen picked up the children, jumped and landed on the roof -- it was stable. Jen gave a sigh of relief-- thank God! Suddenly, the shed's roof gave way. Jen landed head first on the hard wooden work table, whacked into the bench then landed on a dirt floor. He blacked out. Jen came to in pain. He tried to open his eyes, but shut them tight. There was a warm liquid running down his face. His eyes felt like someone had heated up sewing needles to glowing hot and had stuck them in through his eyeballs, into his brain and taken a ten pound sledgehammer to his forehead. Through the pain, he had the strange feeling that he was moving. Hey! He heard Godmum's voice say something; he tried to talk but it all came out as a jumble of sounds. This startled him and he jumped bolt up out of the thing that was moving him. As he opened his eyes, he doubled over and reached and then began to collapse. As he fell, he heard some one say "Serrana, help me catch him!" He fell and knew no more.
Monday, April 23, 2007
ch2 Brave New World
Chapter 2 Brave New World Fourteen years after the war of independence. Io, the 5th closest moon to Jupiter. It’s a moon of volcanoes. Io's surface is covered with nonvolcanic mountains and numerous lakes of molten sulfur…or I should say, used to be. In a dry clearing surrounded by planted fields, there is a moderately big house with metal mirror sides. The morning sun glances down on it giving cheap power for the household. There is a women on the porch sitting on a stool over a bowl of potatoes and listening to a pocket music player. "Jen!…Jen! Sticklebats! Where is that boy?" This came from Jen's Godmom. She was using a small knife to remove the skin and cut off black rot spots, throwing the peeled potatoes into a metal bowl by her side. Jen swung out the door. " Here, Moms." said Jen, "what do you need?" "Jen would you please throw these peels to the goats and check on Jenny?" She went back to peeling. Jen poured the peels into a plastic bucket. "Oh -- and Jen, please check on the animals for me see if Jenny needs any help?" "Sure, Moms." Jen picked up his rifle then went out down the steps and across the field to the barn. There was a light breeze. Birds were flying through the air upon their daily duty. While walking, Jen spied something up in the sky. He stopped and looked up. "It's too big to be a green-tailed hawk." Thought Jen. It turned in the sky and then Jen recognized it. "Wind viper." The equivalent of a dragon. There are stories that some can breathe fire. Jen thought that these were merely stories like the stories of Champy back earthside. These animals came in many colors. This one was a dark blue. They have no legs but wings with sharp talons. It’s said their wingspan is from six feet to ten feet. They're five to seven feet in length. People have tried to catch them but have never been successful--not even a dead one. The viper circled around the fields. Two small birds flew out of a tree to engage this attacker. The viper ducked and flew off. Jen traveled the rest of the way to the barn. Jen opened the latch on the electric fence to the paddock and walked down the hill to the feeding trough. He dumped the skins in the trough. A goat came walking up; she sniffed the skins. The goat by the door snorted loudly. It was Esau, a full sized pigmy goat about knee height. He lived disgustingly. Jen winced as he thought of the details. Rachel, a one-horned African tree-climbing goat came up and sniffed the trough. She turned and walked up to Jen, sniffing him and rubbing her head on his side. Jen looked down and shook his head and smiled. "Sorry, Rachel old girl. You’ve already had all the treats for today," he said, scratching her in the good place right behind the ears. Jenny walked up carrying a bunch of brambles and threw them over the fence . Then Jenny jumped over the fence. She came in and scratched Rachel behind the ears. Rachel stretched her neck in happiness. "Yes, I'm the good person in the family. I give you treats unlike evil Jen here." Jen glared " Hey! You jumped the fence." Jenny looked at Jen. "Yes -- what of it?" "Don't jump the fence," exclaimed Jen. "If you keep doing that these goats will start." "Bite Me!" Jenny stuck her tongue out at Jen and blew a raspberry. Jen’s eyes narrowed, Esau glanced out of the barn and made a beeline for Jenny. She sidestepped him easily. Esau quickly screeched to a stop, turned around, lowered his head. The demon in him came out glaring. He began to chase Jenny around the pen. Jenny glanced at Jen with a terrified expression. She cried, "Jen, help me!" He looked at Esau and replied leaning on the side of the barn. "I'm not stepping in -- that goat is hostility personified." "Besides," Jen grinned, "You called me evil." Jen turned back to watch the two. "But I’ll say one thing, though…Best of luck." Jenny growled as she did a swimmer’s turn to evade Esau. She grabbed a stick from the pile then turned to face Esau. She soundly wrapped him on his nose. Esau skidded to a stop. He walked back to the barn then when he was at the door looked back as if to say, Well, I gotta try sometimes. Jen laughed hysterically. Jen began to walk back to the house. Jenny gave Jen the stare of death. Jen heard a grunt and a snort. Jenny yelled and started to swear very loudly while sidestepping Esau…who flew past and straight into the side panel of the chicken coop. The noise of disturbed chickens filled the air. Jen threw some bread to the chickens and made a mental note to fix the side panel of the chicken coop within the week. He was going to be leaving. Since the end of the war of independence, after being conquered by the empire, all men must serve four years in the empire's Army. The army would not take Jen because he would lie low. Jen had decided he would camp out in the forest and go missing. He didn't want to, but it was his only alternative to service. While he walked back to the house, he heard men talking in the tall cornfields. He cocked his rifle and snuck through the corn stocks carefully pulling then back. He spied two men eating corn from the family field. One man had black hair and black symbols tattooed on his face, with a long black ponytail down his back. The other had a patched and stained dark green leather trenchcoat. It reminded Jen of stagnant water. The man had a few weeks of beard stubble. He wore a long black glove on his right hand and he had a deep scar that went from the bottom of his cheek through his eyebrow. He had long red hair. There were cuts and pieces missing from his trench. He held a modified G.R. 23 combat rifle. His eyes bore into Jen
like he could read his mind. Jen closed his eyes "He could not have seen me…they most likely would have shot me." Jen overheard the man with the tattoo say, "I think I heard something." Jen tried to back up slowly but he rustled the bushes. The man with the scar took a knife from his belt then threw it. A shriek issued from the bushes.The man with the scar got up. "Well, well, well. What do we have here?" He took the knife from the corpse and picked up the vulturestoat. A hairy lizard, both mammal and reptile, it had the beak of a duck and the teeth of a Tasmanian devil. His tattooed companion said with distain on his face. "Listen, you killed it--you eat it. I'm tired of vulturestoat." In the confusion, Jen got away back to the house. "Moms, there are two guys in outer fields eating our corn." "Well Jen, they probably need it more then we do if they would go so low as to steal food." "There is plenty and this is a good year. I wouldn’t worry about it." Jen’s godfather came from inside the house with a tool in each hand "Jen, do you have a minute?" he asked. Jen put a boot up on the porch and retied it. "Sure." "Jen, the harvester is acting up. Would you please work on it for me? I'd do it myself, but I still have things to do." "Fine Dads, let me get the tool chest and I will be on my way." Jen went to the field where the harvester was sitting and popped open the engine hatch. He climbed in, picked up the sonic screwdriver and got to work checking the electronics. The energy coupling seemed to need replacing. Jen tried to pull it from the socket, but it wouldn't budge. He rolled up his sleeves and took hold. Then with a great effort he heaved and pulled it from its socket. Sparks flew. He examined it for a second, then simply rolled his eyes and thru it over his shoulder. When it hit the ground outside, an ear shattering crash sounded. Then he popped his head out and was surprised to see flames coming from the neighbor's house. Jen grabbed his rifle and sped down towards the house. Minutes later he got to the wall that surrounded the house. It looked as if the house had been bombed—part of it was in flames The rest would go up quickly. Jen was about to jump over the fence when he saw the two men standing near the house. They were the men from the field. The man with the tattoo said, "Sir, there are no survivors." The other man turned and scanned the horizon. Jen ducked down as the man scanned on the end of the fence where Jen was hiding . "Alright. Let’s go. I need a drink," said the scarred man. The men turned and ambled away from the house. When the men were gone Jen stuck the barrel of his short rifle down the back of his shirt. Jen jumped over the stone wall and raced for the house. Once inside he called, "Is anybody in here?" He was very hot. "I've got to do this fast--the house will not stand much longer." Jen ran through the house, calling in vain for anybody. Faintly, over the roar of the fire, Jen heard coughing. Jen ran towards the sound. Jen's face burned--he covered it with a sleeve and kept running. Jen thought, "The house is not going to be stable for too much longer," as he jumped through a flaming door. Sparks flew, scorching his clothes and burning through to his skin. He ran up a flight of stairs, two at a time, looking for the source of the coughing. When the stairs collapsed, his arms shot out as he tried to grab on to the second floor platform. It took a right good effort to pull himself up, then the adrenalin started to wear off Jen noticed he was light headed and found it hard to breathe. Jen thought to himself, "Maybe I should not have done this." He ran franticly dawn the hall checking in each room. Then he heard the last sounds of life being stolen from someone. Jen exerted himself. He tried to open the door but it wouldn’t budge, so he knocked it down. The breaking door sent sparks flying everywhere. Jen knelt by the bodies of the father and mother but it was too late. They had used themselves to shield the children from the blast. The two kids--a boy and a girl--had first degree burns covering part of their bodies. Jen examined them. They had been knocked out by the pain. Jen lifted them on to his shoulders "I've got to get out of here!" Jen ran toward the broken door. Halfway down the hall, a beam came crashing down--blocking the exit. Jen jumped back, ducking the falling beam. E-gads! I'll have to find another way, then, thought Jen as he ducked into a side room to avoid around the beam. He would have to break into another room and hope that that there was an exit that way. Jen thought, "I hope that there are no nails in the wall," as he punched the wall. A sharp pain shot thru his arm--the wall didn't even dentHe took back his hand cradled it and screamed "bloody hell!" " hoy na ny!" "Alright, the windows are blocked, the stairs are non-existent and the Hun dan wall is concrete. We have the floor but underneath us everything is probably engulfed in fire. When you can't go down…then you must go up." Jen took his rifle and used the butt to bash in the ceiling looking for a beam. Most of it, thank God, was breakable. He took the rifle and stuffed it back down his shirt before he grabbed the kids and then ran toward the escape hatch in the attic. On the outside he got his bearings as fresh air entered his lungs. The fire had not spread very far since the house was mostly concrete. Jen looked around and a chill ran down his spine. "How am I going to get to the bottom? It’s got to be three stories and no grass around. The grass that was there--is in flames. I might be able to get down by myself maybe, but what about the kids?" Smoke was really beginning to billow out of the hole. "Alright, Red Archer…time is running out." Then something caught his eye. A shed wall. "I have two options – one, stay on the roof and die a slow horrible death…or two, jump on the shed and risk falling through the roof to a short death. O.K. where do I sign?" Jen picked up the children, jumped and landed on the roof -- it was stable. Jen gave a sigh of relief-- thank God! Suddenly, the shed's roof gave way. Jen landed head first on the hard wooden work table, whacked into the bench then landed on a dirt floor. He blacked out. Jen came to in pain. He tried to open his eyes, but shut them tight. There was a warm liquid running down his face. His eyes felt like someone had heated up sewing needles to glowing hot and had stuck them in through his eyeballs, into his brain and taken a ten pound sledgehammer to his forehead. Through the pain, he had the strange feeling that he was moving. Hey! He heard Godmum's voice say something; he tried to talk but it all came out as a jumble of sounds. This startled him and he jumped bolt up out of the thing that was moving him. As he opened his eyes, he doubled over and reached and then began to collapse. As he fell, he heard some one say "Serrana, help me catch him!" He fell and knew no more.
like he could read his mind. Jen closed his eyes "He could not have seen me…they most likely would have shot me." Jen overheard the man with the tattoo say, "I think I heard something." Jen tried to back up slowly but he rustled the bushes. The man with the scar took a knife from his belt then threw it. A shriek issued from the bushes.The man with the scar got up. "Well, well, well. What do we have here?" He took the knife from the corpse and picked up the vulturestoat. A hairy lizard, both mammal and reptile, it had the beak of a duck and the teeth of a Tasmanian devil. His tattooed companion said with distain on his face. "Listen, you killed it--you eat it. I'm tired of vulturestoat." In the confusion, Jen got away back to the house. "Moms, there are two guys in outer fields eating our corn." "Well Jen, they probably need it more then we do if they would go so low as to steal food." "There is plenty and this is a good year. I wouldn’t worry about it." Jen’s godfather came from inside the house with a tool in each hand "Jen, do you have a minute?" he asked. Jen put a boot up on the porch and retied it. "Sure." "Jen, the harvester is acting up. Would you please work on it for me? I'd do it myself, but I still have things to do." "Fine Dads, let me get the tool chest and I will be on my way." Jen went to the field where the harvester was sitting and popped open the engine hatch. He climbed in, picked up the sonic screwdriver and got to work checking the electronics. The energy coupling seemed to need replacing. Jen tried to pull it from the socket, but it wouldn't budge. He rolled up his sleeves and took hold. Then with a great effort he heaved and pulled it from its socket. Sparks flew. He examined it for a second, then simply rolled his eyes and thru it over his shoulder. When it hit the ground outside, an ear shattering crash sounded. Then he popped his head out and was surprised to see flames coming from the neighbor's house. Jen grabbed his rifle and sped down towards the house. Minutes later he got to the wall that surrounded the house. It looked as if the house had been bombed—part of it was in flames The rest would go up quickly. Jen was about to jump over the fence when he saw the two men standing near the house. They were the men from the field. The man with the tattoo said, "Sir, there are no survivors." The other man turned and scanned the horizon. Jen ducked down as the man scanned on the end of the fence where Jen was hiding . "Alright. Let’s go. I need a drink," said the scarred man. The men turned and ambled away from the house. When the men were gone Jen stuck the barrel of his short rifle down the back of his shirt. Jen jumped over the stone wall and raced for the house. Once inside he called, "Is anybody in here?" He was very hot. "I've got to do this fast--the house will not stand much longer." Jen ran through the house, calling in vain for anybody. Faintly, over the roar of the fire, Jen heard coughing. Jen ran towards the sound. Jen's face burned--he covered it with a sleeve and kept running. Jen thought, "The house is not going to be stable for too much longer," as he jumped through a flaming door. Sparks flew, scorching his clothes and burning through to his skin. He ran up a flight of stairs, two at a time, looking for the source of the coughing. When the stairs collapsed, his arms shot out as he tried to grab on to the second floor platform. It took a right good effort to pull himself up, then the adrenalin started to wear off Jen noticed he was light headed and found it hard to breathe. Jen thought to himself, "Maybe I should not have done this." He ran franticly dawn the hall checking in each room. Then he heard the last sounds of life being stolen from someone. Jen exerted himself. He tried to open the door but it wouldn’t budge, so he knocked it down. The breaking door sent sparks flying everywhere. Jen knelt by the bodies of the father and mother but it was too late. They had used themselves to shield the children from the blast. The two kids--a boy and a girl--had first degree burns covering part of their bodies. Jen examined them. They had been knocked out by the pain. Jen lifted them on to his shoulders "I've got to get out of here!" Jen ran toward the broken door. Halfway down the hall, a beam came crashing down--blocking the exit. Jen jumped back, ducking the falling beam. E-gads! I'll have to find another way, then, thought Jen as he ducked into a side room to avoid around the beam. He would have to break into another room and hope that that there was an exit that way. Jen thought, "I hope that there are no nails in the wall," as he punched the wall. A sharp pain shot thru his arm--the wall didn't even dentHe took back his hand cradled it and screamed "bloody hell!" " hoy na ny!" "Alright, the windows are blocked, the stairs are non-existent and the Hun dan wall is concrete. We have the floor but underneath us everything is probably engulfed in fire. When you can't go down…then you must go up." Jen took his rifle and used the butt to bash in the ceiling looking for a beam. Most of it, thank God, was breakable. He took the rifle and stuffed it back down his shirt before he grabbed the kids and then ran toward the escape hatch in the attic. On the outside he got his bearings as fresh air entered his lungs. The fire had not spread very far since the house was mostly concrete. Jen looked around and a chill ran down his spine. "How am I going to get to the bottom? It’s got to be three stories and no grass around. The grass that was there--is in flames. I might be able to get down by myself maybe, but what about the kids?" Smoke was really beginning to billow out of the hole. "Alright, Red Archer…time is running out." Then something caught his eye. A shed wall. "I have two options – one, stay on the roof and die a slow horrible death…or two, jump on the shed and risk falling through the roof to a short death. O.K. where do I sign?" Jen picked up the children, jumped and landed on the roof -- it was stable. Jen gave a sigh of relief-- thank God! Suddenly, the shed's roof gave way. Jen landed head first on the hard wooden work table, whacked into the bench then landed on a dirt floor. He blacked out. Jen came to in pain. He tried to open his eyes, but shut them tight. There was a warm liquid running down his face. His eyes felt like someone had heated up sewing needles to glowing hot and had stuck them in through his eyeballs, into his brain and taken a ten pound sledgehammer to his forehead. Through the pain, he had the strange feeling that he was moving. Hey! He heard Godmum's voice say something; he tried to talk but it all came out as a jumble of sounds. This startled him and he jumped bolt up out of the thing that was moving him. As he opened his eyes, he doubled over and reached and then began to collapse. As he fell, he heard some one say "Serrana, help me catch him!" He fell and knew no more.
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