I'm Not A Terrorist

An Open Letter to my “30 Days” Characters

2009-10-07T10:03:00.001-07:00

Dear Alex, Elena, Carrie, Misty, Julia, and the rest of the “30 Days” Cast.

I’ve just spent the last few days reviewing the Blogvels I wrote for the last couple NaNoWriMo’s. The first one, 30 Days: The Infinity Event, is pretty poor. Terrible characterization, no story structure, random events with no purpose. It was completely written on the fly, with no direction, and it shows. A wholly unbelievable mess.

Last year’s entry, 30 Days: The Singularity Matrix, was far better. Perhaps having 11 months to think about it helped a lot. There’s a distinct story arc, much better characterization, yet the same zany atmosphere as the first. A huge improvement, with characters you can actually care about. I hadn’t re-read it since last year, so I was surprised how well it worked, given that it too was written on the fly.

I’ve been planning the exciting conclusion of 30 Days since the last one ended. I have plans for all of you. It involves a tremendously exciting struggle to save the planet from annihilation. You will all be tested to your limits, beyond anything I’ve put you through before. It’s the climactic end to a three-year journey, with the entire world, nay, perhaps the structure of the Universe, at stake.

However.

I’ve decided that for NaNoWriMo 2009 I will be going in a different direction. I want to let you know you’ve all meant a lot to me over the last couple years.

My circumstances have changed drastically. This year, NaNoWriMo counts. I need to focus on writing that will lead somewhere. There’s nothing wrong with my plans for you, but I’ve decided to use NaNoWriMo to work on a new story with new characters and a new setting. I don’t want you to think this is a better story. I haven’t even written it yet, so I don’t know. I’m not saying Prudencia, Thomas, and Beatrice are any more deserving of my attention than you. You’ve been great. I love your stories. But it’s been said, “kill your darlings” and you certainly are mine.

I do want to say a few things. First, this is not necessarily the end of 30 Days. I do want to continue the Blogvel at some point. I want you all to achieve the closure you so desperately need. Second, I want to thank you for being part of my life for so long. I will never forget you.

Third, there’s some things I want to say to each of you.

Alex. You’ve come so far. You’ve transformed from a timid computer nerd to Captain of a Pirate Ship and now owner of a social networking startup. You’ve proven you were worthy of being Main Character. But you still have more to learn, more ways to grow. You have a wife and a daughter, challenges you’ve never faced.

Ellie. You’ve been through so much, and never had a moment’s peace. You are one of my all-time favorite characters, you’re so full of life and energy, ever fearless and strong, always full of surprises, yet I always felt something was missing from your life, something you tried to achieve with Alex but couldn’t. Someday you know you will have to go home. You’ll have to close the loop with your own family before you can consider having one of your own.

Carrie. You are so ready for redemption it’s not funny. Your blind ambition has destroyed you, now you have had a chance to become something you could respect. You have the opportunity to save the world. Some day you will forgive yourself for what happened and move on. I don’t know if you can do it. I hope so.

Misty. It’s amazing how you kept your wits in the midst of chaos. Keeping a strange family like yours together is tough. Dealing with Alex and Julia is tough, but you’re the one person who could probably pull it off. You’ve emerged so much stronger after this experience, ready to take charge of your life.

Julia. We hardly got to know you. You have so much fire and energy, and you’re a great cook. Your life is just starting and already you’ve lived a lifetime. Someday you’ll trust Alex and Misty with you innermost struggles, and become a real asset to the world.

So I wish you guys the best, and I feel like we’ll see each other again. I just wanted to let you know and I hope you understand.

An Update

2008-12-13T11:54:00.000-08:00

An Update

Hey everyone!

This is Alex again. I've decided to post some occasional updates on how Misty, Julia, and I are doing here in our West London flat. I plan to post these updates from time to time, whenever anything exciting happens or just to let people know how we're doing.

Well, you wouldn't believe how quickly London has recovered from the detonation of the QC1. It's almost like nothing ever happened here. Apparently the blast caused much less damage than initially reported. However the QC1 completely vaporized, leaving no trace of it whatsoever. Hopefully all that terrible technology died with it. I think about Ellie and Carrie a lot, and how I got caught up in the whole mess.

The last couple weeks have been extremely busy for all of us. Misty and I have been in endless debriefings and meetings. She wants to continue her work at MI6, but they've given her a month or so to decompress. She will report back to duty after the New Year. For Julia, we've looked at various schools in the area and we think we've found one that will fit her. It's not the most rigorous academically but they do offer a kind of culinary apprenticeship that she might enjoy. She won't start until after New Years.

As for me, I've been talking to the local software startups and I think I've found a small niche group to work for. Misty has vetted the owners of the startup and determined they have no nefarious connections, so I hope to stay out of trouble. I may start that in a couple weeks if everything works out.

As to our legal status, it's still pretty murky. The UK has granted me temporary asylum from US extradition. They're trying to negotiate with the US to get my charges dropped. We've even gone as far as to inquire into receiving a pardon from the President. They've completely suppressed any mention of our involvement so we can go on with our lives.

We've been slowly adjusting to life in rainy London. We've begun looking at various houses, as Misty's flat is cramped, and Julia doesn't really have her own room. Fortunately housing prices are pretty reasonable right now. We have a couple we like, and we hope to be moved in in the next couple weeks. In Misty's flat we've put up a few Christmas decorations, although Julia didn't really appreciate them. We're trying to find a mosque she might want to belong to.

Julia has definitely been a challenge. Since everything ended, she's become a bit moody and withdrawn. She's spending a lot of time on the Internet, hoping to find some of her old friends online, and perhaps some family as well. Misty says that she's just experiencing some PTSD and she'll get better, but I think she may be a bit lonely and homesick. On the QC1 we never really had time to reflect and think about our losses, but I think it's really hit her hard. And frankly, London culture is so different from her home that she's having trouble adjusting. We hear that her new school may have a few Filipinos attending so we hope she can start making friends. She's trying really hard to be nice and to fit in but I can sense frustration building inside her.

One thing that may help is our trip to the Philippines next week, our combination honeymoon/adoption trip. The UK has made us foster parents for now but we do need to at least try to provide some real paperwork for her. They've granted us British visas so we can travel.

Well, we're surviving. Some days I feel like just sitting in front of the TV all day drinking beer in my underwear, and after all I've been through can you blame me? Misty isn't thrilled about it but I guess everyone needs to deal with this in their own way. I've been with Misty now for most of the year, but now that it's "official" it's hitting me that I'm going to spend the rest of my life with this woman. Don't get me wrong: I love her and I do want to grow old and raise a family etc, but she does have a lot of annoying habits and things I don't want to get into. She insists on taking us to "cultural" events whereas I'd prefer to just go to the movies or a soccer match. We've disagreed on what's best for Julia. It seems like we need to argue about everything. I hope moving into a new place will help, or maybe we'll spend weeks arguing about how to set that place up as well.

Whew that was a lot. Seriously, I think things are going really well. We're just going to take things one step at a time. Until next time!

Introducing Alex, Misty, and Julia Ross

2008-11-30T15:33:00.000-08:00

Introducing Alex, Misty, and Julia Ross

I'll get to the meaning of the title of the post in a minute. The last couple days have been hard as you might imagine. We've been to countless funerals and services, including ones for Rod Portman, Bethany Jacobson, and some of the other agents we knew from Kastle Klingon. Beth and Rod both received posthumous medals for their part in stopping Carrie. The Chinese had seized the base and recovered many of the bodies. We've still got more scheduled in the coming days. We've also had to sit through exhaustive debriefings as the government tries to put everything together, and there's more to come of those.

We've been staying in Misty's flat. When we first arrived, it had no electricity or heat, and everything had been covered with sheets and a layer of dust. We cleaned it the best we could. She's gotten her car out of storage and we had power restored the next day. We converted one of her rooms into Julia's, but we plan to move to a larger place as soon as possible. With all the refugees from London looking for homes, the market is a little tight right now.

On Friday a man arrived at our door, and handed me some paperwork. Apparently Ellie named me as the heir to her fortune. He also gave me sealed envelopes containing the account numbers and passwords to her secret off-the-books accounts. I haven't checked yet, but from what she's told me, these accounts are far into 8-digit territory. I think I'm pretty set for life. To my surprise, she also mentioned Julia in her estate, giving her a small sum as well, although a note suggested I use it to bribe Filipino officials so our adoption paperwork goes through smoothly.

Now for the big news. After talking it over with Misty, we realized that our best bet was to get married as soon as possible, so that we could begin the adoption process without delay. Our plan is to head to the Philippines for our honeymoon.

So this morning, in a small ceremony, we were married! Misty's parents were there, as well as her two older brothers and their families. My dad made it out, as well as my brother Brad and his wife Marcia. Everyone was simply thrilled with Misty, and treated Julia very well. It's amazing that we found a wedding dress and tux on such short notice, especially with the chaos that is London. I think I did well with Misty's relatives, and they got along with mine. Also attending were Commander Jeffries and General Tam.

Some day when I have my US passport restored, I hope to return to America and have another ceremony where all my friends and more distant relatives can attend. Misty thinks her government can speak on my behalf, but it may take a Presidential Pardon before I can enter the States again.

After the wedding, I took a few of the flower arrangements, and Misty and I drove down to the River Thames while our parents entertained Julia. At the river's edge, I said a few prayers for Ellie and Carrie, and tossed the flowers into the water. They would have no funerals or services, no headstones or monuments. I hoped to contact their parents some day and try to explain things, but I had no information as to their respective whereabouts.

Well that's about it folks. Hopefully I've put my life back together, and I really think our lives will be pretty good from now on. If not, then at least somewhat sane. Drop me a line at alex_ross@dawnsrise.com if you ever want to find out how we're doing.

Peace!

Posted: Sunday, November 30, 2008 @ 3:33 PM

Nuclear Thanksgiving Part IV

2008-11-29T20:35:00.000-08:00

Nuclear Thanksgiving Part IV

We blasted through the cabin door with Julia's gun and gathered our weapons. Ellie found her earpiece and put it in, listening to the attack. We found some towels and a sink, and tried to clean away the blood as much as possible. Ellie studied her face in the mirror for a moment. "Damn. I think I have a broken jaw, nose, and maybe my zygomatic bone. My head's gonna start swelling up like a balloon. This is gonna hurt."

She spit a huge gob of blood out into the sink. Julia's wound seemed superficial but her eyes didn't seem too focused. I worried she might have a concussion. I felt fine for my part, just some aching ribs, nothing broken I hoped.

Ellie listened intently for a moment, then shouted, or rather spat, "we've secured the ship. Alex, tell them how to restore power. We'll need to do a room-by room search."

She handed me the earpiece and I instructed them, and in a minute all the lights flashed back on.

"Okay, let's find her," said Ellie, grabbing her weapons and backpack.

I led the team over to Carrie's cabin. I knocked on the door and shouted, "Carrie, it's over! Come on out."

The door exploded from a shotgun blast. "Carrie," I yelled. "It's over. We have control of the ship."

"Fuck you, asshole," came the response along with a couple blasts, knocking down the rest of the door. Ellie nodded at me, holding up a knife. I stuck my shotgun around the corner and fired randomly, then Ellie jumped into the doorway and threw her knife. I heard a scream.

I rushed in behind Ellie, who grabbed the woman and pinned her up against a wall, a knife at her throat. Carrie had another knife protruding from her arm.

"You bitch," she screamed at Ellie, who back-slapped Carrie hard and returned the knife to her throat.

"Say the word, Alex," she breathed, blood still foaming out of her broken mouth and nose, "and I'll end this right now."

At that moment, the ship lurched to one side. I ran over to the console Carrie had been using. "There's flooding in the SMD. Carrie, what have you done?"

Carrie laughed. "That water will cause containment to fail, and this thing will blow sky high."

"Alex, tell the men to evacuate," said Ellie. I relayed the instructions to the men.

Ellie took the knife and jammed it into Carrie's shoulder. She screamed in agony. "I'm going to keep doing this until the end," whispered Ellie, her face inches from Carrie's. "If we die, you will die in agony." Ellie began twisting the knife, digging it into Carrie's shoulder socket.

"Ow! Stop! Stop! Aghh!" Carrie clutched her shoulder, and dropped to the floor, trying to escape Ellie.

Ellie grabbed Carrie's foot, and plunged the knife into the ankle socket. Carrie screamed. Ellie didn't relent, digging the knife through the tendons and cartilage. Ellie grabbed Carrie by the neck, and threw her into a chair. Carrie screamed and cried, writhing in the chair, trying to hold her shoulder and ankle at the same time. Ellie produced some quick ties, and bound Carrie's arms and feet to the chair, making sure the ankle tie was extra tight.

"Everyone has a breaking point," she told Carrie, waving the knife in front of her face. "You can't send someone to the breaking point, unless you've been there yourself. Listen to me!" She slapped Carrie hard. "Now we'll see what you're really made of. Not many people can survive this level of pain before their heart literally bursts. I'm going to try my best to keep you awake, all the way until the very end. Are you with me?"

Carrie just howled and whimpered, struggling against her bonds.

"What's the point of this," asked Misty. "Let's just end this and be done with it."

Ellie looked up at us, then grinned at Carrie. "Fine. Looks like this is it then." She raised the knife, and Carrie squeezed her eyes. Ellie stopped, then looked at me. "No, you do it, Alex. She's done far more damage to you. Come over here."

Ellie handed me the knife, and I approached Carrie, who struggled and writhed in her chair, gasping and whining with every breath. Her eyes found mine. I looked down at the knife, and then at the bound woman. Yes, I killed dozens of zombies today, but that was self-defense. This was a cold-blooded execution. Not that Carrie didn't deserve it. I looked around the room. Misty seemed a bit sickened. Julia simply stared at the drama with wide eyes. Ellie motioned me forward. I turned to Carrie again.

"Alex, please," she begged. "You don't have to do this."

"Why the hell would I spare your life," I asked her. "After everything you've done? All the people you've killed? All the lives you've ruined?"

"Alex," she wheezed, "I can ch-change. I see that now. I've been b-bad, I've hurt people. I...I can b-be different. You s-said it's never too late. You said it. Is it too late?"

I hesitated. "You want to change, Carrie? Then tell me, how do I end this? How do I destroy the Singularity Matrix without destroying the Earth?"

"Let me go and I'll t-tell you," she said.

"No. You tell me what I want to know without conditions. This change starts right now. Do the right thing."

"Just fucking kill her," yelled Misty. "She's messing with your head!"

I held up my hand for silence. Carrie struggled for a moment, perhaps an internal battle. She nodded to the side. "Over there. Your answer is over there."

I looked around the room. I only saw a bookcase and a desk. At the top of the bookcase sat a large box. "Fuck," I screamed, not believing I hadn't thought of it. "That's it! The twin singularity."

"Yes," agreed Carrie. "Why do you think I h-have it? If you put them together, they d-destroy each other. It's my 'other' insurance policy, if someone tries to s-steal the Matrix. But you don't have much t-time. You've got to add this one to the containment field."

I glanced at the console which flashed red. "Ellie, we've got to move. Misty, take Julia up to the deck and get into a transport helicopter. I'll meet you there. Ellie, help me get Carrie up. She'll give me instructions as we walk. Everyone ready?"

Misty gave me a big hug. "Be careful Alex, I don't trust her one bit."

"Take care of Julia. I'll be up there as fast as I can." I gave Julia a hug and kiss too.

Ellie cut Carrie's bonds and Carrie flopped to the floor in a fetal position. She tied Carrie's hands together in front of her, then tied a strap to it. "Move it," ordered Ellie.

Carrie struggled to her feet, not able to put much weight on her damaged ankle, but the pain in her shoulder when yanked didn't give her much choice.

We headed down the hall while Carrie explained the basics. I carried the heavy box with me. All I needed to do was place the box in a receptacle, set a timer, and at the end of the countdown one wall of the box would be breached and the singularity guided into the heart of the Matrix. From then, there was no telling what would happen. It might take microseconds, it might take months, but the two singularities would circle each other faster and faster until they merged and annihilated each other, releasing any residual energy, which might be substantial.

"How substantial," I asked.

Carrie waved her good arm. "Goodbye, London."

We entered the Palace, a smoke-filled land of corpses. As we passed the center, Ellie gave Carrie a painful tug, causing her to fall.

"Alex, do you have everything you need from her," Ellie asked me. I nodded. "Good. Now get up here, bitch!"

She yanked Carrie up the stairs leading to the cage platform.

"Alex," cried Carrie, "you said you would help me if I changed! Please, don't do this! I helped you!"

"Shut up," growled Ellie. She pulled Carrie onto the platform, then threw her down onto the middle. She walked to the corner, and lowered the heavy steel cage over Carrie.

"Let's go," said Ellie, waving to me, and the room filled with the sound of gunfire. I dove to the ground, rolling down the stairs. I pulled the gun off my back and looked around. Nearby I spotted a wounded Pirate looking around. Apparently he had been left for dead. I took careful aim, and discharged a round into his head. He dropped. I ran back up the stairs.

Ellie lay on the stage, motionless. I ran to her, and knelt down. "Ellie," I cried. "Ellie, talk to me."

Her eyes blinked. "Shit. I've been shot. I think it's fatal, Alex." I looked at her. A pool of blood formed behind her. One bullet pierced the upper right breast, the other through her leg. They both looked bad. She grabbed my jumpsuit and pulled me close.

"Alex," she wheezed, the blood gurgling in her lungs, "you've got to finish this. But after that, I want you to have a good life. Misty is a really good person. She's strong and steady. You need to take care of her, but for goodness sake listen to her. Alex, I'm so sorry about how things turned out between us, but I'm truly happy for you now. Go live your life, be the best person you can be. Don't let me die for nothing."

"Ellie," I cried as her eyes closed. I shook her. "Ellie, please, don't die! Ellie! The world still needs you! I still need you! Don't go!" She lay motionless on the stage.

I stood up slowly. The woman who I spent night and day with for eight months of my life lay dead before me. I screamed. My earpiece crackled.

"Alex, what's the status," called Misty. "We're loaded and ready."

"Ellie's dead," I replied. "I'm heading for the Matrix now. Ross out."

I picked up the heavy box.

"Alex, let me out of here, please," begged Carrie, clinging to the bars of her cage. "Don't leave me here to die! Alex! Alex!"

I kept moving. "You made this bed, Carrie, now sleep in it!" All I could think of was Ellie lying there. If not for Carrie, Ellie and I could still be together. Not that I wanted to go back, because I've found something greater in Misty, but still, I put Ellie's death on Carrie's head.

Carrie responded with a stream of epithets and screams.

I ran with the heavy package through the Palace and down through the flooded corridor leading to the Matrix. The water helped me carry the heavy load but impeded my progress. It also felt a bit warm, like a sauna.

The Singularity Matrix stood only a couple feet above the top of the water. I found the receptacle for the box and placed it in there. I keyed in the transfer sequence, and set it for fifteen minutes. Given the rise of the water, I wasn't sure that was short enough, but we needed a chance to escape the blast.

I swam back through the rising water, almost getting trapped at one point, then climbed the ladder of to the deck hatch. I instantly saw the lone Merlin helicopter in the middle of the deck. I ran over to it and hopped in. The British Naval airmen strapped me in, and I waved and blew a kiss to Misty, who had tears in her eyes.

"We've got ten minutes to clear the blast zone," I shouted. "At least ten miles, twenty if you can. We need to be on the ground in a shelter by then."

The helicopter lifted and headed towards Northwood. I studied my watch anxiously.

"We're not going to make it," said the pilot, "I'm putting her down."

We landed in a field near Harrow on the Hill. I grabbed Misty's hand and she grabbed Julia's, and we ran like madmen towards the train station. My watch beeped as we ran down the stairs, down as far as we could.

I think you've heard what happened next. For a few minutes, nothing. We sat there panting and gasping for air. Then the ship began belching steam, not just from the cooling towers, but from every opening in the hull. The back of the ship began glowing, boiling the River Thames into huge clouds of steam. The glow grew brighter and brighter, until the entire ship detonated in a ball of white hot gas, sending a blazing mushroom cloud up into the sky and leveling all the surrounding structures, leaving a mile-wide crater in the Earth, slowly filling with water mixed from the Thames and backing up from the ocean.

We could see the mushroom cloud from Harrow, but it didn't radiate dangerous radiation. The blast had vaporized everything. The river, the Tower of London, and the surrounding blocks. I held my loved ones tightly, knowing that somewhere in that cloud floated the ashes of Ellie and Carrie.

Well I've got to rest now, I have another busy day tomorrow. Misty's been extremely supportive and understand of what I'm going through. I'll write up a little something tomorrow to let you know how we're doing and what our plans our. Talk to you soon.

Posted: Saturday, November 29, 2008 @ 8:35 PM

Nuclear Thanksgiving Part III

2008-11-29T12:30:00.000-08:00

Nuclear Thanksgiving Part III

Julia collapsed in the middle of the pathway in grief, unable to continue. She sobbed uncontrollably. Misty and I knelt down next to her.

"Please, Julia, we've got to keep moving," said Misty softly, stroking her back.

"Rod's gone," she bawled.

"Come on," I said, looking around, "it's not safe here."

Ellie knelt down. "Have you guys never been in combat before? Let me talk to her. You keep guard."

We stood up and surveyed the area. We were just at the end of the path, in a corner with no exits if zombies attacked.

"Julia, Rod was a very brave man," said Ellie. "He sacrificed himself for you. He did it so you could keep up the fight, because he knew you have the strength to do it. If Rod were with us right now, what would he say to you?"

Julia sniffed and rubbed her knees. "I don't know."

"What would he want us to do?"

"He'd, he'd--" she gasped a few times, her breathing ragged. "He'd want us to kill Queen Carrie," she said finally, looking up at Ellie.

"What about you? What do you want?"

Julia scratched the ground with one hand, picking up some fallen leaves and throwing them. "I--I want her dead. I want everyone on that ship dead!"

A grim smile flooded Ellie's face. "And we're killers, right? We're here to kill. Nothing else. We will avenge Rod's death. At all costs."

Julia started nodding, a determined look grew on her visage. "Yes. Kill. Or be killed."

"We kill our enemies without mercy or hesitation," continued Ellie. "As long as there's an ounce of life in our bodies we continue the fight. We're warriors, and the world will tremble beneath our fists."

Julia made two fists with her hands and rose to her feet. "Yes. No mercy, no prisoners. All our enemies will die. Their screams of death will be our sweetest music."

Ellie stood up with her, smiling. "I think she's good now."

"Splendid," mumbled Misty, shaking her head.

We crossed back over to Thames Street, only encountering the occasional zombie. After a few minutes, a new sound filled the air. The zombie growls and hisses began transforming in cries and wailing. One zombie appeared, a man with useless crumpled arms at his side, his body covered with blood. He walked a bit, then stopped at a corpse.

"Mary," he cried, trying to manipulate his broken arms, "what have I done? Argh!" He flopped down next to the corpse. As we passed, he wailed, "please, help me, we've been in a wreck or something. My wife is all torn up, I don't think she's breathing! Please! Hey!"

We kept moving. More and more of the zombies began waking up from their nightmare, begging us for help, crying for the dead. From a distance, we began hearing the wail of sirens fill the night as ambulances from outlying areas descended on the city. A helicopter floated by, shining a light on various streets. In the distance, I spotted the remains of the Tower Bridge. "Come on, just a couple blocks now."

We came upon the Tower of London, an ancient and majestic site the held England's prized Crown Jewels. Underneath the approach to the Tower Bridge we spotted a group of people, and proceeded slowly. We breathed a great sigh of relief to find the Chinese and British operatives gathering, checking their supplies. Considerably fewer made it than had set out, the zombies had taken a toll among these men as well. They led us over to a corner where we found Cmdr. Jeffries and General Tam sitting on the ground. Jeffries' head was bandaged, and Tam's arm was in a sling.

"God, I thought we'd lost you," said the Commander. "We barely survived ourselves. Bloody zombies. Where's Portman?"

"He didn't make it," said Misty. "But he died a true British hero. He sacrificed himself so we could go on."

The men distributed some energy bars and bottles of water. I walked over to the side, and peered out over the River Thames. A short distance away sat the Queen Carrie 1, with no lights or activity, a small column of steam rising from the cooling towers. That meant the Matrix was still too hot to enter.

"We have some time," I told the officers. "Maybe an hour. Then they might be able to fire it again safely. But they might be able to set it off at any time, so it's best that we move fast."

"We've got to disable it, at least the controls," said Ellie. We huddled around a laptop with a schematic of the ship.

"If we could get back to the power junction here, we could do it," I noted, pointing to the sabotaged room. "You know, where you blew the power that day."

"I didn't do that," said Ellie. "I've been up in those rafters the whole time, except to occasionally steal food. I was as surprised as anyone when that happened. Maybe it really was an accident, or one of the pirates was making a power play."

Cmdr Jeffries spoke. "Then let's get you aboard. You'll have ten minutes to disable it, then the main assault begins, whether it's down or not. You've got five minutes to prepare. Good luck."

Ellie led us over to a small tent they had erected. "You stay out here, and get this suit on. They'll help you."

A Chinese officer assisted me in donning a black wetsuit. I had never worn a scuba outfit before. He placed the snorkel and regulator on my head, and strapped the tanks and a pack full of weapons to my back. I practiced breathing for a minute. The ladies emerged from the tent, similarly garbed. Julia seemed to struggle with the weight.

"There's fifteen minutes of air in there," they said. They led us down to the water, and placed big flippers on our feet.

Julia hesitated at the edge, fearful of the black water.

"It's okay, Julia," said Ellie. "You're a warrior. You can fight this. Just breath nice and easy." She splashed some water on the girl. "See? You can't even feel it."

Julia dipped one foot and than another into the water. We walked out until our heads submerged. Julia breathed quickly and thrashed for a second, but Ellie helped her relax. We started swimming towards the boat, guided by a directional watch on Ellie's arm. I could barely see Misty next to me in the murky water. We all held hands, forming a line. We popped up near the bow of the ship. A few ropes dangled down from above.

"We shot these ropes over the ship a couple hours ago," explained Ellie. "They're anchored over by the dock." She pulled out her pack, and removed a few metal items which she placed on the rope. One by one she fastened us to the ropes, then spoke into a device on her wrist. The ropes tightened, and slowly we rose out of the water. We hung like fish on hooks for a while.

"We've shot out every camera we could spot on the deck," explained Ellie, "but they may had replaced them or put guards up there. Doing great, Julia. A true warrior."

The rope slowed as we reached the deck. Ellie produced a night-vision telescope with a bending sight to look around corners. She studied the deck for a minute. "All clear," she said. The rope yanked us the final ten feet and plopped us onto the deck.

"We have ten minutes from now," said Ellie, clicking a button on her wrist. We quickly removed the scuba gear. Now I see why the women dressed in a tent, we all only wore underwear underneath our suits. Misty pulled out some black jumpsuits from her back. We donned them quickly, then attired ourselves with weapons. Julia pulled out the vest Ellie had provided her, the only one of us with any kind of protection. It felt good to have a shotgun strapped my back again. Ellie applied dark pigment to our faces so we couldn't be easily spotted.

We ran down the length of the deck, huddling low and keeping to the darkest areas. We discovered our designated hatch. I pulled it open while Ellie held her weapon, but the hatch lay unguarded. "I don't like this," said Ellie.

We proceeded along gangplanks and walkways, not encountering any Pirates. "Five minutes," whispered Ellie as we approached the power station. Ellie used her scope to look around the corner. She produced a small package of darts and a blow tube. A couple puffs later, and the guards fell to the ground, constricting in a painful rictus as the nerve toxin coursed through their system. We stepped over them as they spasmed. We entered the control room, and I jumped over to a console.

"Okay," I said, "I can pull up internal security footage."

"Let's blow the lights at T-minus-ten seconds," said Ellie. I pulled up a view of the Palace. Carrie addressed the Pirate crew, and I turned up the speaker so all could here.

"This night will mark a new era in the history of Mankind," she declared. "We have destroyed the City of London. Their defenses have proven useless against us. As we speak, they sit in fearful masses, counting their dead and broken. The entire United Kingdom is on her knees, begging for mercy. We will show her none. We will first collect the treasures of the Tower of London, then we will raid museums, historical archives, and the local banks until all the treasures of England are ours. Nothing can stop us."

Xyllan came over and whispered in her ear. "In ten minutes we'll be able to fire the Matrix again, destroying any stragglers or idiotic commando units in the area. Then we pillage. I want to see fires! I want flames! I want the world to never forget this night. This city will burn when we're done. Now get yourselves ready. London is ours!"

The men cheered, brandishing weapons and holding up bottles of liquor. The four of us checked our weapons. Ellie counted down from five. "...three, two, one, hit it."

I flipped over the switches to power down the boat, leaving just the power for the Matrix containment field. In a moment, the floor of room shook, followed by a muted concussion. Ellie's team had blown holes in the sides of the boat and poured into the ship. We put on night-vision goggles and I led the team back towards the bow, to reunite with Ellie's team.

As we approached the cabin section, we started hearing the echoes of gunfire, sporadic bursts of noise. Ellie listened to a headset. "They're pinned down, let's go."

We quickened our pace, running through the pitch-black corridors. The floor seemed a bit slanted. "Ellie, are we sinking? That's not good."

"Just the bow," she said. "The Matrix should be safe. The ship won't sink far."

"Great." We arrived at the scene of the fighting. We had no armor, just the thin jumpsuits. Ellie peered around the corner with her scope. She withdrew her rifle, then blazed away around the corridor. The gunfire ceased.

She led us over the corpses and we met up with her unit which she talked to in Chinese. They led us over to the Palace door, which they lined with explosives.

Ellie pushed us back. "Fire in the hole!" came the order, and a huge concussion knocked us off our feet. In moments, the ship filled with noise as Ellie's team charged through the breach in the wall. They had knocked a hole ten feet wide in the solid lead wall of the Palace.

Tracers whizzed everywhere and I saw her team get cut down like weeds. Then a number of them fired grenades into the Palace, and the whole room lit up like the Fourth of July, raining shrapnel and carnage down everywhere. The rest of her team charged through, and Ellie waved us along. We slid down over to the kitchen area, while Ellie's team fought inch by inch against the Pirates.

I pointed along the Palace floor. "Look," I cried. Two hatches had opened, allowing the Pirates to flee. Among them went Ellie and Xyllan.

"After Carrie," ordered Ellie, instructing her team to cover us. Fires spread throughout the Palace, lighting it up in a deadly glow and filling the room with smoke. Some Pirates still put up resistance, but by and large most of them surrendered. Ellie's team began chasing the men escaping towards the stern.

We crawled over the debris, and reached the doorway. A guard stood just beyond it and fired at us. Ellie threw a knife at him and he fell with the knife cutting through his neck. Ellie yanked it out and wiped it off.

We moved slowly through the corridors of the cabin section, wary of any traps. A set of emergency lights lit the area, so we could remove our cumbersome goggles. Ellie picked off a couple more guards. We crept through the halls, weapons drawn. We had traversed one floor of cabins and started down the next. We hadn't gone very far when I heard a yelp behind me.

"Drop your weapons," screamed Xyllan, holding Julia in front of him in a bear hug. She struggled against him as he held a giant paw against her face. "Now! Or I'll wring her little neck and rape her corpse."

Ellie nodded at us. We disarmed, throwing our rifles, pistols, and knives on the ground.

"Throw them in there, then lock the door from the inside and close it." We complied, pushing them into a cabin and locking the weapons out of reach.

"You're so tough with a little girl," said Ellie, pushing Misty and I behind her. "You think you can take on a real woman?"

Xyllan laughed deeply. "You four have been nothing but trouble since you first came aboard. I should have killed you when I first saw you. Now I'll finish the job." He slammed poor Julia against the wall with both hands, and she dropped motionless on the floor like a rag doll.

Misty screamed but I held her back. Ellie crouched like a tiger, and Xyllan stepped over Julia's body, beckoning to Ellie.

A low growl purred from Ellie's throat. She sprang, slamming her hands into his throat, pounding her elbows into his ribs. Xyllan picked her up by the throat and threw her to land heavily at our feet. He chuckled a bit and rubbed his neck. "That's all you got?"

Ellie rose, looking up at us, rage contorting her face. Her hair had broken free, pouring down her face, dripping with perspiration. She flung herself at the man, who caught her, slamming her into the wall, punching her face with his fist, then throwing her gut into his knee. Ellie fell to the ground, writhing in pain, clutching her abdomen.

"God, Alex," breathed Misty, clutching me. Ellie started crawling towards us, but the giant landed on her back, driving an elbow into her kidneys. Ellie howled with pain. He flipped her over, and slammed her face with his fist until blood flowed from her mouth and nose.

"Get off her," I cried, jumping after him. He caught me by the neck, and threw a knee into my gut. He tossed me down the hall, gasping for air.

"You want some," he shouted at Misty, who shrank and shook her head.

With one hand he ripped away Ellie's jumpsuit. "Now I'll make her a real woman." Ellie fought weakly, whimpering in pain. "First I will break this bitch once and for all. Then I will rape the little girl, ripping her insides apart, then you can watch me take your whore, Ross. Then I will tear you apart limb by limb until you beg for your death. Or maybe I'll just rip off your dick and let you live, unable to perform again. You'll never forget this moment as long as you live."

We heard a small pop, and Xyllan's face grew blank. He swayed, then fell directly on top of Ellie. Behind him stood Julia, the small pistol Ellie gave her in her hand.

"No mercy, no prisoners," she said, blood soaking her head from a cut on her scalp. A wisp of smoke seeped out of the barrel of the weapon. Blood poured out of the hole in Xyllan's head.

Misty and I sprang over, and pushed with all our strength to roll the dead man off of Ellie. We helped her sit up. She pulled a tooth out of her mouth. "Dammit, not another one." She looked at the dead man, and rage filled her eyes. "Aaah!" She began beating on the corpse like a zombie, pounding it with her fists and kicking him with her feet. Her breath grew ragged and raw. She screamed Russian epithets at him.

Finally spent, she turned to Julia, who still held the gun. Julia extended a bloody hand to the girl, and embraced her. "Warriors to the end," she told her.

"Warriors to the end," repeated the girl. "No mercy, no prisoners."

Ellie rose to her feet, blood flowing down her face. She held her ribs in pain, possibly suffering from a few cracked bones. "And you guys didn't want to bring her. She's a fighter, through and through. Come on, let's bust down this door and get our weapons back. We've got a war to finish. There's a bitch on this boat who still needs to die."

Posted: Saturday, November 29, 2008 @ 12:30 PM

Nuclear Thanksgiving Part II

2008-11-28T23:19:00.000-08:00

Nuclear Thanksgiving Part II

Ellie led us out to a back alley where a number of British convoys lay waiting for us. A number of British and Chinese soldiers stood together conversing. When they spotted us, they began jumping into the vehicles.

"So Ellie," I asked, "what's the deal with the Chinese and British? Why are they cooperating now?"

"Well, after that assault deep into China, the two governments almost began World War Three. When you began sinking Chinese freighters, the Chinese relented, hoping the British could help. In return, the British have allowed our small of commandos here so we can assault the ship. Yes, this assault will be an entirely Chinese operation, with the Brits just here for support. We take care of our own."

We hopped into the vehicle. Cmdr. Jeffries jumped in too. "You think I'd miss this," he asked. "What's with the kid," he said, motioning towards Julia.

"She's an expert in infiltration and commando tactics," responded Ellie quickly, "and an integral part of my team."

Jeffries huffed, and turned around. Julia stuck her tongue out at him.

We hadn't gone more than a half a mile before traffic came to a halt. "What's going on," I asked.

I heard a dull rumbling, like a clap of thunder.

Jeffries listened on his headset. We all had donned combat helmets with earphones. Julia could barely see out of hers, it covered so much of her head. "They're shelling the city," he said. "Mortars, we think. Our snipers can't get an angle on them. The residents are panicking and trying to flee, many on foot."

The convoy stopped completely. Even with our police escort, the gridlock was complete.

"Come on," said Ellie, "let's go on foot. We'll make better time, and it's only a few miles."

We jumped out of our transport. A couple dozen black-clad Chinese followed us. We picked our way through the back streets of London. We came into a park known as Coram's Fields which contained a number of soccer fields and recreational facilities. It also contained a number of mounted policemen who blew whistles at us. We ran a block, but then a SWAT team cornered us with drawn rifles.

"Get down! Down, now!"

"Shit!" cried Ellie. "Come on, this way." We headed for an alley, but another SWAT group ran in and cornered us.

"Hands up, let's see them."

"We're the good guys," I cried. "We're heading towards the attack! We can stop it."

"Shut up." The shoved us up against the wall, and started disarming us.

"What's this," said one man, finding my liquor bottle. "You're no fighters, you're thieves!" He smashed the bottle on the ground. The other men did the same thing with the other packs.

"You idiots," I cried. The man hit me hard in the back of the legs, sending me to my knees.

"Alex," shouted Misty.

Then I heard it. The sound Jeffries had warned me about. A rising wail filled the air. Carrie was about to engage the zombie ray!

Ellie slammed her foot into her captors heel then spun her elbow in his throat. She grabbed his rifle out of the air and let it rip on full automatic into the other SWAT members. "Come on, grab your shit and run for it," she yelled, "fifty seconds!"

We ran down the street as fast as our feet could fly. "There!" We ran into a bar, and Ellie fired her rifle into the ceiling.

"Whisky, now! 30 seconds." The barkeep just stood there so Ellie jumped over the bar and began throwing us bottles. I started chugging mine as fast as I could, Misty and Rod did the same. Fortunately Julia still had her bottle, and she too drank it. I coughed and sputtered and retched but I somehow managed to drink most of it.

The floor felt cold against my head. My ears rang, and my vision swam, the room spun in big circles. Car alarms and horns filled the air. My head felt tight, painful, aching. I looked at the ground and the other people struggling to get up. I felt a rage building inside me. I wanted to hurt someone. I wanted kill, to rip someone apart, feel their blood and bones in my mouth, to tear their flesh apart.

A wave of nausea washed over me and I felt the whole room spin. I tried to get up but I couldn't. "M--m--misty," I mumbled. She lay in front of me, trying to rise, a confused look on her face. I didn't see anyone else on our team. Her face started to contort, she bared her teeth and glared at me, breathing quickly.

"Ahh!" She jumped me, snapping at my throat. I held her arms and then got behind her, holding my arms under hers and behind her neck in a full Nelson.

"Misty, please! It's Alex. Misty, you've got to come out of it! You can fight it!"

She struggled and struggled against me as I called her name. With a great push, she freed herself and faced me. Behind her rose Ellie, a rifle in her hand. Misty jumped and Ellie fired.

"No!" I cried as Misty landed in my arms. "Ellie, what the hell did you do!!" I felt Misty's body convulsing against me. "Misty!"

Ellie shot again, this time over my shoulder. The other patrons of the bar had awakened, and the more sober ones attacked each other. I felt Misty, searching for the bullet hole.

"Alex, I didn't shoot her," cried Ellie. "She's just coming out of it. Now put her down and help me fight!"

I looked at Misty's face, now dull and unfocused. "Alex, Alex," she said quietly. "What's happening?"

I hugged her, then put her down. I had trouble focusing on the attacking zombies. The room still spun, and they seemed to be multiplying into twos. Rod pulled himself off the floor. "Julia's still out," he said.

We shot all the zombies in the bar. Misty had crawled over to Julia to try to revive her. "Julia, baby, come on, get up." The girl stirred, but couldn't seem to wake up fully. I felt close to passing out myself.

"Here," said Ellie, passing us out some pills. "This may not make you sober, but it will wake you up, and counter some of the effects. Hurry up."

Outside, a number of zombies roamed around the streets. They attacked each other, gnawing on each other and beating their heads. I could hear the cracking of bones as they used every ounce of madness in their attack.

Misty coaxed Julia to take the pill. As we stood guard, I started feeling better, and more alert. My head stopped spinning, and I could focus again. Julia got up, and gasped at the sight of all the dead bodies.

"You still ready for this," asked Misty, and Julia nodded.

"I'm not afraid," she said, even though we could all see her trembling. "Let's go." She started leaning hard to the left and Misty propped her up.

We peered out the door. For the moment all the zombies in range seemed occupied. "We've got to move fast," said Ellie, "before they can reload the zombie ray."

We started scampering down the street, stepping around the mutilated bodies and pools of blood. Screams and growls came from all the buildings surrounding us. Piles of damaged and steaming cars littered the street, some with zombies inside beating senselessly against the windows, unable to manipulate a simple door handle. As we approached one car, the window busted open, and the bloodied zombie crawled out on broken arms. It spotted us and started ambling towards us, but Ellie felled it with a single shot to the head.

A thick drizzle settled in on us. "Is the weather always like this," I asked aloud.

"Where do you think I got my name," replied Misty. "Apparently moments after I was born, my dad looked outside and said, 'it sure is misty out there,' and my mom loved it. It wasn't even a name on their short list."

"I'm sorry," I responded.

"Nah, it's better than 'Choon-Hee' which was their original choice. Shit, look up there."

A group of zombies seemed to be milling about.

"Why aren't they attacking anyone," I wondered. "Are they recovering."

A woman began running down the street, somehow not zombified. The group spotted her and began chasing her. She screamed and ran harder, but tripped over a body and went down. Instantly the group pounced on her, and in moments I could see fingers and entrails raining out from her body. Momentarily satisfied, the group stood back up, surveying the street.

"They're forming packs? This is not good," said Ellie. "Come on, before they spot us."

We slipped around a corner, trotting towards the river. Either the pill Ellie handed me began wearing off, or the alcohol continued to flood into my system, because I started feeling a bit drunk again. It became hard to run in a straight line. Julia bumped into me and we both fell down into the wet street.

"Hee hee," she giggled, her eyes a bit glazed. She started speaking in incomprehensible Tagalog, singing something. She wrapped her arms around Rod who helped us up.

"Rod," she started saying, "Rod, Rod, Rod."

"Fight it," said Ellie, not looking so steady herself. "Behind you!"

A group of about 5 zombies charged us. Ellie fired on them, missing our heads by inches. The last one dropped right at our feet. "Dammit," she cried, "I can't fucking shoot straight. We've gotta get sober! And those were all the pills I had."

We began to lean on each other for support, like a group of drunk partiers. Misty started singing, "As I walk through, this wicked world."

"Ssh!" said Ellie.

"Wait...I know this one," I said. "Um..."

Misty continued, "searching for light in the darkness of insanity."

Rod picked it up. "I ask myself, is all hope lost? Is there only pain and hatred, and misery?"

"Guys, knock it off," hissed Ellie.

We all joined in, "And each time I feel like this inside, there's just one thing I want to know: What's so funny 'bout Peace, Love, and Understanding? What's so funny 'bout Peace, Love, and Understanding?"

The last lines we shouted out into the gathering night. Ellie blasted at oncoming zombies.

"As I walk on, through troubled times, my spirit gets so downhearted sometimes."

We shouted the next lines: "Where are the strong?? Who are the trusted? Where is the harmony? Sweet harmony?"

"Shut the fuck up," screamed Ellie. "Look behind you!"

We turned around to find about thirty zombies closing in on us. We clumsily reach for our weapons, almost knocking each other down. I tried firing but nothing happened. I fiddled with the safety and released it. At about ten feet distance, I emptied my gun into the oncoming screaming mass. In a moment, they all lay down on the ground. Then slowly, they started picking themselves up.

"Head shots," yelled Ellie, firing down the street at another approaching group.

I reloaded my gun, and this time took careful aim, dropping them one at a time. The assault seemed to clear my head a bit.

"Move it," we're about a block away from the river now." We sprinted down the street as the rain increased. The zombie ray had knocked out all power to London, but the suburbs still lit the clouds enough for us to see. Ellie didn't want us to use headlamps.

At last we made the river, and started heading East towards the remains of the Tower bridge. We saw no signs of British or Chinese forces, except some abandoned military vehicles and some corpses that could have been soldiers. Hard to tell in the dim light.

We made decent progress, then we came to the Blackfriars Bridge underpass. Ellie switched on a small light to see through the impenetrable darkness. Julia pressed close to us. We passed through the first one without incident, but under the second bridge we heard some rustling. Ellie held up her hand. "Lights," she whispered, and we turned them on. Surrounding us were dozens of faces, peering out from the dark. Only now do I remember hearing that some zombies just like to lie in wait, springing on unsuspecting prey. As one the horde screamed and jumped out at us. As one we opened fire with everything we had, completely surrounded.

We formed a ring with Julie in the middle. Inside the tunnel, the sound of guns deafened us, and the only light came from the muzzle flashes of our guns. I shot at all the faces I could see. My gun clicked, and I stepped into the ring to reload, coming out again to fire. Still they came, some with missing limbs, some with holes in their heads but not completely dead, most with blood pouring out of their bodies. The carnage was unbelievable. The pavement pooled with their blood.

"This way," shouted Ellie. We walked our little ring East, trying to get out of the tunnel. The way beyond seemed clear. My gun emptied again, but before I could reload, one of the zombies snatched it from me, and I stood face to face with a crazed man reaching for my throat. I whipped out a pistol and shot him between the eyes. One of them jumped towards me. I shot this one too, but his momentum carried him into me and knocked me and Julia down. Rob turned to help us up, but two zombies grabbed his waist and pulled him away. I heard him screaming somewhere in the dark.

"Rod!" screamed Julia. "Rod! Someone help Rod!"

I shot into the darkness, hoping to hit something and save Rod. We shot like crazy, beating off the zombies for a moment, and climbing over the bodies to find Rod. We discovered him crumpled in the corner, bleeding from a dozen places, a knife in his hand.

"You good," I asked him, and he nodded. He screamed when he tried to put weight on his foot.

Ellie knelt down and felt it. "Broken. Come on, help him."

Misty and I put his arms around our shoulders, and carried him out of the tunnel. We hadn't gone fifty yards when Julia screamed. A huge horde of zombies ran towards us, down from White Lion Hill.

"Give me your guns and leave me here," said Rod. I'll fight them off, you run. The river walk looks clear."

It looked like every zombie in the city converged on our position.

"No!" screamed Julia. "We can make it."

Rod sat down painfully, and held Julia's hand. "Julia, I have to. It's the only way. You can't carry me. I'll be alright. I want you to live. Please. Now go, before they spot you."

"Come on, Julia, please," begged Misty. "It's the only way."

Julia tore herself away from Rod. We handed him a pile of everything that could fire a bullet, and ran down the river walk. In a moment, we heard firing from behind us. Rod shot and shot, and then, silence. Only the screams of the zombies filled the night.

Posted: Friday, November 28, 2008 @ 11:19 PM

Nuclear Thanksgiving Part I

2008-11-28T15:08:00.000-08:00

Nuclear Thanksgiving Part I

I've been saying all along, and I'm repeating it now: I am not a terrorist. Yes, I am involved. I participated. It's because I've been trying to stop it, to prevent these kinds of things from happening. Yes, maybe there were times where I could have just run away, thrown up my hands and refused to be a part. Last year I had the excuse that I didn't really know what was going on. This time...I don't know. I never wanted to see anyone hurt, so I've been doing my best to prevent the ultimate disaster: the destruction of the entire planet. And yesterday, that almost happened.

So let's go back to yesterday morning, and I'll try to explain the day's horrific events as best I can.

Misty and Julia had crawled into a bed and huddled together, trying to warm up and get some rest. Rod found another bed to lay down in, after taking a quick shower. My mind raced a mile a minute. The only thing I really wanted to do at that point was to jump on a plane and return to San Francisco and try to return to some kind of a normal life. I finally lay down next to Misty, but no sooner had I closed my eyes when a hand began shaking me.

Ellie stood over me, now dressed in her black SWAT-type outfit, her hair pulled back in a tight pony tail. She motioned me to follow her, and leave the others to rest. I looked at my watch, and couldn't believe I had slept half a day. It was already after noon. She led me to a room where I met Cmdr. Jeffries, General Tam, and a few other military types. They all greeted me warmly.

Ellie started. "Alex, tell them what you think the condition of the ship is at the moment."

I cleared my throat. "Right now they're stuck. If you keep the river low, they can't move. However, they are able to maintain enough coolant aboard to power the zombie ray. I'm surprised they haven't used it yet."

"Bollix," said Jeffries. "This damn rain will cause the flood gates to fail and the river will rise again. How long does it take before they can re-fire?"

I shook my head. "It only takes a few minutes for the Matrix to cool down enough to fire again. But they'll need to reload the coolant tank. They were working on cutting an alternative intake system, but that may take a while. Remember, cooling this thing is like cooling down a nuclear explosion, it take an enormous amount of water. Not only that, they have to evacuate the entire ship into the Palace and stay there while the Matrix cools before they can resume work. They may be waiting for the river to rise before they act."

Ellie and Jeffries exchanged a look. "Alex," she asked, "did you find a way to destroy the singularity? What are our options?"

I sighed. "You might as well try to destroy the Sun. The only way I can think of is to shoot it off into outer space, out of the Solar System. You'd have to shoot the whole containment system, which weighs several tons. Remember though, if the containment system loses power, even for a moment, the Earth is doomed. The singularity could swallow the whole world."

Ellie asked, "so our best bet is to seize control of the ship, and keep the Matrix powered up at all times?"

I nodded. Something nagged at the back of my head though. "That's like living with gun to your head, never knowing when it will go off, because given enough time, it probably will. And talk about your tempting terrorist targets. After what Carrie's done with it, there's not a country in the world who wouldn't want to capture this power."

"Then it's set," said Jeffries. "We must take the boat at all costs."

"Well," I reminded them, "if you back them into a corner, they may panic. Fire it without coolant, blow the whole thing sky high, and then who knows what the Singularity will do after the meltdown."

"That's where you and your team comes in," said Ellie. "We need you to get in there and shut it down safely, and prevent them from scuttling the whole thing."

I sprang up and raised my hands. "No. No. No way. We are not going back there. We have been putting our lives on the line for far too long. I'll give you all the information you need, but I am not stepping foot on that goddamn boat ever again."

Ellie stood up. "Can you all excuse us for a minute?" She waited while the others filed out of the room. After the door shut she put a hand on my shoulder. "Please Alex, sit down and talk to me."

I grudgingly sat down and put my head in my hands. "I am so damn tired, Ellie. My life has been put on hold now for a year. And the last few weeks, my life could have ended at any moment. It's not fair. We've suffered so much, and I just can't do it any more. I just want Misty and Julie and I to go somewhere and be safe and happy."

Ellie sat quietly for a moment, then breathed heavily. "So you really like Misty. Do you love her?"

I nodded. Ellie lifted my chin and caught my gaze. "Then listen to me, Alex. If you want love, and if you want happiness, then you need to be willing to sacrifice everything for it. I know you're tired, I know you're scared, I know you've done everything asked of you and more. We need your help. You know Carrie better than anyone, you know the Matrix better than anyone. I'll be there with you, I'll make sure no one gets hurt. I know I've let you down in the past, and I truly regret that. I've had a lot of time to think in the last few days, stuck up in that machinery room. One thing I've realized is that I, too, have been stuck in a rut, not being the person I want to be, fooling myself into thinking I could escape myself. Ever since I first met you I've been running away from myself. I swear that if we get through this, I'm going to start making things right. We need to do this, you and me. We need to make our stand, do what's right, and blowing fucking Carrie Park away. Are you with me?"

I looked at her for a moment. I've been running, too. Ever since the day that I was involved in ruining Carrie's life, way back in High School. I ran from that responsibility, I ran away from dealing with the Infinitae incident, and I've been running away from dealing with the Singularity Matrix and preventing the destruction of the world.

"Okay," I said quietly. "Let's do this. I want this thing ended."

Ellie grabbed my hands, and then hugged me. "We'll get through this. We have to. And then we'll figure out a way to get our lives back."

After bringing back the brass and discussing a few things, we called Misty and Rod back to the planning room. They seemed a bit groggy but at least somewhat rested. I took Misty aside for a moment.

"You're okay with going back to the ship," I asked her.

"I don't love the idea, but I'll do whatever it takes to stop that monster," she stated.

"You're not afraid we could all die?"

"Terrified. But Alex, I didn't volunteer for this whole thing to back out at the end. I need to see this thing through. I owe it to my country. Don't you feel like we need to do this?"

"You know," I said, "I never volunteered for any of this. From the first moment, I've been manipulated, lied to, and forced into these situations. I've never had a choice. This has all been thrust onto me."

Misty looked at me for a moment, and took my hands. "Well, Alex, I'm sorry for that. I know you're not an agent, I know it's not your responsibility to deal with all this. I'm so grateful for everything you've done. You've carried yourself so well, even in your darkest moments. I think you simply are underestimating yourself. You've been there for me and Julia and Rod so many times, and we owe you our lives. We can never repay you for what you've done. You're a special person, you really are. We're counting on you now. I know you can do it, I know that deep inside you're brave and noble and ready to deal with whatever comes. I love you Alex, and if I'm going into the bowels of Hell there's no one else I'd want at my side."

I think that was the moment it finally struck me: this was a do-or-die time, for everyone. No more plotting and planning, no more watching and waiting. We had to strike, we had to conclude it. This might be the final moments of all mankind. Everything had to be put on the table, nothing held back.

"I love you too, Misty, and there's no one else I'd rather be with at the gates of Hell. Well, let's descend into Hell then. I'm ready." We hugged, and I kissed her for a moment.

The team discussed a few more things, and finally Ellie said, "we leave in 20 minutes, at 1530. I'll have your gear sent to your room."

We returned to the room and ate a quick meal. I wished it had been turkey and stuffing instead of chicken and rice but it was filling. Ellie arrived after a few minutes and sat with us.

"How is everyone feeling? Are we ready to go?"

We nodded.

"I want to go too," said Julia, eyeing our equipment.

"Julia," said Misty, "it's too dangerous. I want to keep you safe."

"No! I don't want to leave you. I want to go with you. I'm not afraid," insisted the girl.

"Julia, we've got to keep you safe. They can protect you here. I don't want you in danger any more."

"NO!" shrieked the girl, looking around. "Don't leave me here, please! I do whatever you say, just don't leave me. Please." Tears streamed down her face and she clutched Misty's shirt.

"Alex, can you talk to her," asked Misty, turning to me.

"Julie," I said, "we're doing this for you, so you can have a life, so everyone can have a life. We just want what's best for you."

"NO!" She screamed. "No, no, NOOOO!" She shrieked in such a high pitch I thought my ears would bleed.

"Hold it," shouted Ellie. "Everyone listen to me. Julia, dear, would you rather be dead than be without Alex and Misty?"

The girl nodded emphatically. "You want to be part of a family? You want to be with Alex and Misty forever? Do you love them like parents?"

Julia nodded. "Yes, yes, they are so good to me. They are the best people I know."

Ellie announced, "then I say she comes along."

Julia squealed and shook Misty's arm. "Please, please Miss Misty?"

"Are you daft," cried Misty, jumping to her feet.

Ellie rose slowly to face her. "She's about the same age I was when I started down this path. She's got as much at stake as anyone. If her choice is to stand and fight with us, I'd be hypocritical to not support that. And you two. What exactly is your plan for her? She has no home, no family. What are you going to do when this is all over? She needs a family. She needs support. Do you guys want to be together? Do you want to be a family? Let's get it all out on the table."

Misty turned to face me. I looked at her and at Julia. Misty seemed speechless.

"Yes," I said. "If Misty will have me, after all we've been through, then I want us to be a family. What do you say, Misty?"

Her mouth moved, searching for words, and then looked around the room. "Alex, are you saying what I think you're saying?"

I looked around as well. Rod and Ellie and Julia nodded at me. "Yes, yes. Misty, I want us to be together. Forever. I want us to be a family, and I want Julia to be our adopted daughter. I don't think I'd want to go on living without you two, you've made me become a much better person than I would have been otherwise. Misty, you're my whole world."

I took a deep breath, then got down on one knee. "Misty, will you be my wife? Will you marry me?"

Misty grabbed her face for a moment. "Oh, Alex. Yes. Yes, I'll be your wife. Yes, I'll marry you."

I got up and we embraced, as tears filled both our eyes. Even Ellie wiped away a tear.

"Okay," said Ellie, "we're running late. Let me grab some equipment for Julia. You guys are now officially a family, and you're going to live and die as a family."

"Hold on," said Misty. "One last thing. I want you and Rod to be Julia's Godparents, just in case anything happens."

They both agreed heartily.

Ellie grabbed some clothes and returned momentarily. She talked to Julia as she dressed her.

"Now Julia, I want you to stay close to Alex and Misty at all times. If you hear any guns, get as close to the ground as you can, and make yourself small. Hide under something solid. If Misty and Alex are dead, and you're afraid of being captured, there's a small gun in your back pocket they don't know about. Just put it to your head and pull the trigger. I promise you won't feel a thing. Here's a knife, some flashlights, a radio, energy bars, some flares, and a map. I don't think you'll need most of that stuff. Oh, and here is your bottle of liquor. If you hear an air-raid siren, it means that we think they're about to set off the zombie ray. Drink it as fast as you can. I put a bunch of sweetener in it so hopefully you can do it."

"Thank you Miss Ellie," she said, feeling all the little pockets in her bullet-proof vest. "What if I get scared? What if I freeze up like I did jumping into the river?"

Ellie smiled and hugged the girl. "It's okay to be scared. I'm scared all the time. I know you're a very brave girl, otherwise you couldn't have survived what you did. Look at everything you went through. Most kids would have fallen apart. I think you might be a little like me. A fighter. Are you ready?"

Julia nodded.

"Okay everyone," Ellie announced. "It's time to go save the world. Let's go."

I took Misty's hand and squeezed it, then Julia came over and hugged both of us. One way or another we were going to see this thing through.

Posted: Friday, November 28, 2008 @ 3:08 PM

Escape from QC1

2008-11-26T22:30:00.000-08:00

Escape from QC1

Okay. So much has gone on, you'll have to bear with me. Just so you know, a lot of what I've posted up until now hasn't exactly happened as I've described them. Some of it is to protect the innocent, some because I knew interested parties follow this blog, and some because I only found out the real reasons later. Let me catch you up with what is really going on. I think things will become obvious as I type this.

We slowly passed the burning wreckage of the British destroyers. I think in the annals of history, this attack will stand up alongside Pearl Harbor or the defeat of the Spanish Armada as one of the worst single day's destruction of naval equipment.

We cruised up the River Thames, slowly passing by hamlets and docks. A squad of pirates manned the machine guns on the deck, and had fun picking off whoever came into view, shooting up boats and buildings and vehicles. After about ten miles the river grew narrower. We needed to reduce our speed to a bare crawl. Xyllan called off the shooting since crowds of people began lining the shores to sneak a peek at us. A couple news helicopters hovered around, keeping a respectful distance. Even further away lurked fighter jets, waiting for some kind of opening we supposed. We could take down anything within visual range but we continued to take pot shots at the shore areas.

A small contingent of pleasure craft trailed us up the river. We wound around the sweeping curves of the river, keeping to the deepest shipping channel. We sunk any ship daring to come too close. I have to admit the amount of death and destruction we dealt on that river was unparalleled. The entire river became a column of smoking ruins behind us.

We passed through the Thames Barrier, a structure designed to control water flow through the river. They apparently hadn't thought to close the structure. As we passed, we blasted a couple of the gates so they couldn't trap us. Shortly after passing the barrier, we passed by the Millennium Dome, a large retail complex. Throngs of people gathered on shore at this point, and a few began firing at us. We stopped our assault to conserve ammunition. We had a more powerful way to kill these Londoners.

We cruised around a couple more bends, gawking like sightseers at the beautiful and stoic structures of London. In front of us stood the Tower (London) Bridge, and right beyond that, the Tower of London, holding one of the greatest treasure collections known to man, all for the taking. The entire bridge lit up at once, and we heard the impact of shells and mortars hitting our outer hull.

"Return fire," called Carrie, and a couple of rockets burst off of our deck, impacting at the base of the Tower, exploding in huge balls of light. As the smoke cleared, we spotted gaping holes in the support structure of the Bridge. As we watched, the structure began crumbling brick by brick in a slow motion disintegrating. The middle deck fell first, then the towers crumpled in on themselves, and finally the outer deck collapsed into the river.

As I watched, my board filled up red. "Power loss! Emergency shutdown initiated. We're losing coolant to the Matrix, we've got to shut it off or we could blow!"

"What?" Carried jumped over and pushed me away from the console. "What the hell? What's the fuck is happening?" She clicked around frantically, then pounded the table. "Dammit, we're sitting ducks now!"

Fortunately there was no concomitant power loss. I looked outside. "I think I know what's going on. They're lowering the water level. We don't have enough clearance on our input manifold, or maybe it's become clogged up. We don't have enough coolant."

Without describing the details of a raving madman, let's just say the next few minutes were not enjoyable. Carrie flipped out. She went ape shit. Finally Xyllan had enough sense to go up and slap her.

"Shut up," he growled, hitting her right in the mouth. "Enough! Let's focus on fixing the issue. We'll cut a new intake if we have to. We just need to do it before the British Marines storm the ship. We'll bring water aboard in buckets if we have to. Besides, they can't keep back the water forever, this is the rainy part of the year. Come on, let's get moving."

We first had to wait until the Matrix cooled, which took considerably longer since only a trickle of water emerged from the intake. Night sets in early this time of year, so London became a cheery mass of lights. Some people had already put out Christmas decorations. I didn't have much time to appreciate it, since I was scanning for enemy activity. I couldn't see much, but enough shadows seemed to move to indicate something.

We finally accessed the Matrix to find the cooling system completely clogged with a fine silt. We ran a few lines over the edge of the top deck and drew in water to start cleaning the mess, and some other pumps to carry the dirty water overboard. We had a small holding tank where we could store a bit of water, enough for maybe a zap or a couple minutes of propulsion. Not enough for sustained operations.

A bit after midnight, I got accidentally doused in cleaning solution. I scuttled back to my room to get changed and wash off the somewhat corrosive cleaner. After I entered the cabin, I saw a small sticky note under the keyboard. It read, "C-21. 0200. Bring anyone whom you want to keep alive."

I stared at the paper for a second. Ellie. I didn't hesitate, I knew what I had to do. I quickly washed off the cleaner and redressed, pocketing a few guns and knives I had stashed around. I went to the control room where Rod monitored the enemy activity. I walked over to him and looked over his shoulder. "Here, I think I see the problem," I said, and started typing on his keyboard: "0150 at Gate C" then I quickly erased it.

He nodded subtly at me. "Got it. Thanks, Alex. How's the cleanup coming?"

"Slow. Probably will need a few more hours. I'm going to need a drink. A big bottle of booze will do."

"I'll bring you a couple," he said, nodding. "I'll bring some for everyone." He emphasized the last word just a bit.

"Yes, everyone," I replied. "We'll all drink. Bring a lighter too, I might light something."

The next hour and a half passed agonizingly slowly. I checked my watch almost every minute. Fortunately the progress on the silt removal proceeded just as slowly, forcing us to send men down into the intake tubes to shovel them out. I don't think this ship had been designed for river travel.

At 0145 I wandered back into the Palace. I walked over to the Pirate camp, a mass of tents set out on the floor of the Palace. "Where are the prisoners," I asked the nearest guard, "it's time for their punishment."

He pointed me to a tent with another guard snoozing right outside. I slipped inside, and found two lumps under sleeping bags. I crept to the smaller one and cupped my hand over her mouth.

"Julia, wake up, but be quiet. Ssh. It's Captain Ross." She struggled for a second, but when she heard my name she relaxed.

"Captain Ross! You've come back! I knew you would." She threw her small arms around my neck and hugged me with her wrists tied together.

"Ssh. Misty! Wake up! It's time to go."

She stirred and her eyes grew wide. "You! What the fuck are you doing in here you fuckin--"

"Ssh! Jesus Christ! We're leaving. Let's go."

"I'm not going back to your bloody cabin, not after--"

I placed my hands on her shoulders and looked right at her in earnest. "No. We're leaving. We've got about eight minutes, so shut up and get moving."

Misty's mouth gaped open. "Yes, yes, sorry. What about these ropes?" She held up her hands which were bound in thick hemp strands.

"I'll get them off as soon as we clear the Palace. I need to gag you too. I just want it to look bad for you. We need to hurry. I won't make it tight. Julia, you ready?" I tied another rope around their wrists. "I'm going to yank it a bit. Sorry." The women glared at me.

"Move it," I shouted, pulling them out of the tent. The guard startled and fell off his chair.

"Where you takin them," he asked, pushing his dreadlocks out of his haggard face.

"It's payback time for these whores." I took out my knife and waved it in Misty's face. "You don't want to see what I'm going to do to them. You can go now, they won't be coming back. Now move it bitches, or the end will be drawn out and painful."

They did a credible job resisting me as I dragged them out of the Pirate camp. As we cleared the area, I motioned to them to hurry, and we trotted over to C Lock, under the movie wall. We slid through and I closed the door behind me.

I grabbed my knife again and the women backed off, fear in their eyes. I grabbed Misty's wrists and cut away her bonds, then Julia's.

Misty yanked off her gag and spoke. "Alex, that was the most humiliating thing I've ever--"

"Save it, we're not clear yet. Rod! Where the hell are you?"

Rod came puffing down the hall, a large clinking sack on his back. "Sorry. This booze is heavy. What the hell is this for?"

I shook my head. "I have no fucking clue. We have about 3 minutes. You have the schematic?"

Rod whipped out his handheld PDA. "Right here."

We raced along gangplanks and machinery, avoiding the mechanical apparatus of the SMD and the workers clearing out the silt from the Drive. We crawled up into the underdeck, where a lot of the control surfaces were housed during idle. These surfaces kept the ship from breaking apart at high speeds. "C-21, just up there," pointed Rod. There were spots where we crawled on our hands and knees, scraping off skin. If I hadn't lost so much weight at Kastle Klingon I doubt I would have fitted. At some points we literally pushed Rod along.

I smelled it before I saw it. Scents reminiscent of a distillery greeted me, as well as unwashed human bodies. We emerged into a small room littered with stacked but empty liquor bottles and neat piles of trash. We looked around. We heard a sound from above, and a body slid down a control wing and plopped onto the floor of the room. For a minute it lay there, then started moving. I rolled the body over.

"Holy shit! Ellie!"

Julia screamed and grabbed Misty. "The wild woman from the cage!"

I kneeled down next to the body and helped her sit up. "Ellie, are you hurt? What's wrong?"

"Hey, Alex," she slurred. "Glad you could make it." She lazily raised a hand and then her eyes went back and she swooned in my arms.

"She's bloody pissed," exclaimed Rod.

I shook Ellie's chin and slapped it a bit. "Ellie! Wake up! What the hell?"

Her eyes fluttered open. "Alex. I've missed you." Her alcoholic breath washed over me.

"Ellie! What the hell is going on? Why are you so drunk? Are we getting off this boat or not?"

"Getting off? Boat? Oh...oh! Shit! Help me up, hurry. God, I'm so wasted." I did my best but she could barely stand straight.

"Has she been here the whole time," asked Misty, surveying the amount of trash lying around. "What the...how the bloody hell did she survive?"

Ellie reached for an unopened bottle of booze and waved it at Misty, barely able to stand up straight. "This. It stops the zombie ray. Drink enough, and instead of waking up a mindless zombie, you wake up...drunk! I thought you guys would use the weapon tonight, so I drank a whole bunch."

Ellie slumped against me, reeking of alcohol and lack of bathing. "I found tapes of the trials," she continued. "The only people left alive and relatively unscathed were the drunks. I put two and two together. I've been living on nothing but a steady diet of booze since I escaped. Now, let's get outta here before our ride leaves. Hold on."

She pushed along the wall, grabbed a bucket, and emptied her stomach into it. "Sorry," she said, wiping her mouth, "but I feel so much better now."

"I'm gonna gag," cried Misty, holding her mouth. "Let's get out of here. Stat."

Ellie waved a hand. "Leave the booze over there, in case I need to come back. Right up there is the hatch. You just push it, fall through, and hit the water. Does everyone know how to swim?"

"Top breaststroker at Oxford," replied Misty. Rod nodded as well.

"I don't know, I don't know," cried Julia, "I hate water."

"You come from an island nation, surrounded by water," I exclaimed, but Julia shrank up against Misty. "Okay, okay. Let's do this. Misty, you sound like the strongest swimmer, so you go first, then Rod. Then I'll help Julia through. Ellie next, and don't forget she's so drunk she'll need help. I'll be right after her."

Ellie helped us crawl up the retracted wing over to the hatch. I pressed it, and sure enough the locking mechanism had failed. All I could see was black water about fifty feet down, like a five story drop.

"There are frogmen down there," said Ellie, flashing a small light and receiving a reply. "They'll guide you to their raft. It's black and without searchlights your camera shouldn't pick it up."

I saw the little lights blinking down below. If I didn't know what to look for I'd say there were reflections from streetlights.

Ellie signalled, and Misty slid out the hatch. In a second I heard a small splash. Leaning out, we could see the all-clear signal. Then Rod took the plunge, and they flashed success.

"No, no, no," whimpered Julia, crawling away from the edge.

"Come on, you can do it. We're getting off this boat, and never coming back. Julia, this is the only way."

"I'm scared," she cried. "Please don't make me, please, please, please."

I reached out to try to shove her but she grabbed my arm with a death grip.

"Please don't make me," she cried, holding her head down like a dog.

"It's okay," I said softly. "Misty's down there. She won't let anything happen to you. I promise."

"Oh, fuck this," said Ellie and literally put a foot on me and shoved us both out. For a moment I experienced sheer panic as my body felt weightless out over the inky blackness of the River Thames. Julia screamed a piercing howl, then we hit the water like fish dropping on pavement. I instantly lost Julia, and the frigid November waters of the river struck me like a million spears into my body. I instinctively started grabbing for the surface, not even knowing which direction it lay. It took what seemed an eternity, but finally my head broke the water.

"Julia," I screamed. "Julia!"

A couple figures moved in the water, men with black scuba gear and underwater lights. In a moment they brought Julia to the surface, lifeless and limp. The water next to me exploded. For a moment I thought we were being attacked until I realized Ellie had just dropped in. The men dragged Julia onto the raft, and she seemed very still. I swam towards them, quickly losing feeling in my extremities, my heart literally bursting in my chest.

"Here, Alex," called Misty from the raft. They helped me in, and then the men delivered a shivering Ellie.

On the other side of the raft, the men worked feverishly on Julia, one wrapping his arms around her and performing a modified Heimlich maneuver, the other checking her vitals. They then laid her down and started CPR, chest compressions and rescue breaths. Another man provided us with blankets. Misty clutched my arm so tightly I thought she might crack my wrist bones.

For what seemed an eternity they worked on her. I began pulling on my wet hair and praying. Ellie put her arms around both of us as we watched the spectacle. "What was I thinking," I muttered, "what the hell?"

A trickle of water spurt out of Julia mouth, then a torrent. She began coughing and gasping violently. The men signaled the others, and the divers began pushing our raft away from the boat and towards the Northern shore. We scooted as close as we could to Julia, and called to her, "it's okay, we'll be safe soon, hang in there."

The men wrapped her in every blanket they could, we even gave her ours. In a few minutes we reached the northern shore of the river. A few men helped us out of the raft, and placed Julia in a stretcher. They hustled us into the back of a waiting van, and the van took off just as the door closed. We all huddled together for warmth. Misty kneeled next to the stretcher. "Julia, hang in there. We're going to get you better. Julia? Julia! Alex, she's not responding!"

Ellie squatted down next to the girl and checked her. "She's alive, but she has hypothermia. Look at her lips. Help me get these wet clothes off of her. We need to warm her up."

We quickly stripped the poor girl naked under her blankets.

"These blankets won't work," griped Ellie. "We need warm body heat. Forget it, you two. Misty and I will do it. Misty, grab some blankets and take off your clothes."

"Yes, yes." In a minute, Misty and Ellie had stripped butt naked and crawled under a blanket, holding Julia between them with their shared warmth.

Rod and I just tried to be cool about everything. My vision of escaping the boat never included naked women. Ellie and Misty's heads peeked out from under the blanket as the van jostled around London's streets. "I think I'm almost sober again," said Ellie, then turned to Misty. "Don't rub her. Just concentrate on warming her core. Keep the cold blood out for now."

"Where are we headed," I asked.

"Chinese embassy. It's not far."

My dealings with the Chinese have not gone well. "Ellie, I'm not entering Chinese custody again, not after everything I've been through. Just drop us off somewhere."

"Alex," she said from under the blanket, "it will be fine. You won't be in custody. No interrogations. You have my word. You can leave any time, but I hope you'll stay long enough to help us figure out how to end this crisis."

Misty spoke. "I want British representation at any talks that may occur. We have the most to lose, after all."

The two women glared at each other, practically nose to nose, and judging from the lumps under the blankets, they had wrapped an arm around each other.

Ellie relented. "Done. She's a tough one, Alex. And I feel so lesbian right now."

Misty snorted. "Oh you're a funny gal. Hold on, I think Julia's moving. Give her some air."

They rearranged themselves and Julia's head poked out. She looked around the van, then at Misty and Ellie. Her fingers crept out of the blanket and she pushed it up, looking down. Her eyes grew wide, and a bit of color touched her cheek, but her lips remained dark blue and her normally tan face a ghostly pale.

"Whaa!" Julia flipped herself over under the blanket.

"Julia, it's alright, we're trying to warm you up," said Misty. "Nothing funny. The guys didn't see anything, you've been under the blanket the whole time."

Julia peeked one eye out towards me. "You didn't see me?"

I held up my hands. "Not an inch. We're just trying to keep you warm."

"Haven't been looking," said Rod. "We're just keeping you alive. You've had quite an ordeal."

Julia looked at Ellie. "You're really warm. Sorry Miss Misty." She spooned her body up close against Ellie. "My sister would do this sometimes during storms, just hold me and keep me safe," she whispered, closing her eyes, just to rest.

Ellie held her tightly. "She's so sweet," she told Misty who nodded enthusiastically. "But you need to feed her more. She's all skin and bones."

The van slowed down, and we heard some echoes, like we were in a parking structure. Then we heard men's voices. The van backed up and parked. The doors opened, and a handful of Chinese medics greeted us.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I said, pointing to the pile of wet clothes. The medics nodded, and whistled for clean clothes to be brought. In a minute, we handed the women some sweat pants and shirts and closed the door for their privacy. Rod and I just changed in front of everyone, on the side of the van. In moments the five of us stood together and hugged. A lot of color had returned to Julia's cheeks, and I gave her a great big hug, followed by Rod. Julia started crying, overcome with emotions.

A familiar face greeted us. "General Tam, you're back," I said to the small Chinese man. He bowed to me.

"What are your orders," he asked Ellie.

She stretched and rubbed her face. "We need food. I haven't eaten anything solid in a week. Then get me Commander Jeffries on the line, Royal Marines. We're setting up a meeting. Let's find a suite to relax in. And I want every staff member issued a fifth of Scotch immediately. If I give the order, they are to drink it as fast as possible. And I mean in 60 seconds. Guys, come on, it's time to finish this thing."

Ellie provided us the nicest stateroom in the entire complex, where we immediately collapsed on the beds and couches. I found a computer and began typing this in. In a little while, we're going to meet with Jeffries and his staff. We have to take out the ship before it becomes fully operational again. It may be our last chance to stop this threat.

If things don't go well, this may be the last time you hear from me. For the Americans out there, especially my Dad and my brother Brad, have a nice Thanksgiving. It may be your last. But I promise I'll try to be there next year.

Posted: Wednesday, November 26, 2008 @ 10:30 PM

The River Battle

2008-11-25T23:18:00.001-08:00

The River Battle

We made it through the night without incident, although when we arrived in the control room we found it a shambles. Apparently the drunken orgy had made its way up here, and Carrie's night crew seemed powerless to stop it. The desks had been tipped over, drinks spilled on equipment, and trash lay everywhere. A few of the idiots still lay around in a drunken stupor. I poked a few with my shotgun, none too softly, and told them, "if you ever enter an officer's area again, you will be throw overboard." They beat a hasty retreat.

We spent most of the morning cleaning up the place, a thankless and disgusting job. Heaven knows how they didn't destroy the Matrix or turn the crew into zombies. I had to reboot half a dozen systems. Finally we restored all the telemetry and external camera displays to make sure we didn't collide with other shipping. Fortunately our GPS navigation system prevented us from running ashore overnight while the night crew tied one on. Far off in the distance, I could just make out the British coastline. We cruised through the English Channel at quarter speed, still a healthy 50 knots. Throngs of pleasure craft and small airplanes came out to view us, but now they kept a healthy distance.

By the time Carrie stumbled in, it was already past lunchtime. She was escorted by a young Pirate, one of the new men on the ship. They kissed and the man walked away. I shot Misty a look and she returned a quizzical stare. We had thought Carrie was with Xyllan, but apparently not. Partway across the Palace, we could see him staring our way, looking none too happy about the situation.

I started complaining vociferously to Carrie about the night crew but she waved me off. "Ross, it's no big deal. You need to learn to relax." I could see she was still pretty drunk.

She wandered over to a small couch and laid down. "Just wake me if anything comes up. You've got our route, don't you? Good night."

From the way Misty pounded her keyboard with her fingers I could tell she was moments away from bitch-slapping Carrie into tomorrow. None of us had much sleep, and to have Carrie snore right in front of us was infuriating. "Let's get some lunch," I suggested.

By now the three of us had armed ourselves to the teeth. We each carried two pistols, mostly 9mm semi-automatics, Rod and I carried shotguns, as well as knives. I even found a small dagger for Julia as well as a switchblade. We closed up the control center as best we could, hopefully any alarms would wake Carrie. We also could see the large movie wall from anywhere in the Palace so we could see if trouble developed.

We checked the kitchen for malcontents before allowing Julia in there. We only found the normal staff in there, so we let her cook while we talked.

"We need body armor," said Rod, "instead of this bloody Pirate crap. These new scoundrels are going to be the death of us I'm afraid. And our drunken Queen is not helping matters. She's losing her control. These fellows know it, and it's only a matter of time before something tries something."

"I guess I can talk to her," I suggested. "A mutiny would be disastrous. As the only identifiable officers on this boat aside from Xyllan, we'd be the first targets. After a few days without any raids, these guys are getting restless."

Julia began bringing our food out as she cooked it. Deliciously tender fried chicken, noodle soup, sesame salad. A few groggy pirates wandered over, tempted by the scent of fresh food. The kitchen exhaust system didn't work well since it wound through the thick palace wall, so you could smell whatever was cooking throughout the Palace. The same could be said for the urinals, however, since they too didn't drain well. We told the pirates this was the Officer's seating, and they'd have to wait their turn. I don't think they liked that. And they liked not getting Julia's food even less.

We approached the narrowest part of the English Channel as we finished our meals. On one side, the Cliffs of Dover, on the other, the quaint city of Calais, and somewhere beneath us, the Channel Tunnel. Only 21 miles separated the two countries at this point. We finished up quickly and headed back to the control center. Carrie still snored loudly. I felt like dunking a bucket of ice water on her.

After passing though the Strait of Dover, we turned North, passing by the Isle of Thanet. We cruised back West, heading towards the mouth of the River Thames. Ahead of us I could see a line of gray dots along the river mouth. Not even waiting for Carrie, I sounded the General Quarters Klaxon. Hopefully the stupid pirates would know enough to get in here and close the Palace hatches. Carrie jumped off the couch.

"What the fuck? Goddamit!"

I pointed up at the monitor. We could see a line of naval vessels blocking out route up towards London.

"Shit," spat Carrie. "Where the hell are the rest of my officers?"

"You tell me," I spat back. "What kind of fucking operation is this? This is bullshit!"

"Fuck you, Ross," she cried. "Fuck everybody. Find my goddamn crew."

"You go find them yourself. As you can see, we're kind of busy. We're almost surrounded, they're closing in from behind."

Carrie and I stared at each other for a moment. "Fine, it's you guys then."

"We're being hailed," said Misty from the communications console. "It's CINCFLEET. There's a Commander Jeffries wishes to discuss the terms of our surrender. Do you want to talk with him? We have a video hookup."

"Give it to me," Carrie snapped, reaching for the headset, then hesitated, a smiled crossing her face. "You do it, Nguyen. You know how to talk to these people. I'll talk to you through your headset. Come over here, Rod, help me set it up."

"No," stated Misty. "I'm drawing the line right here. I'm not going to threaten my own countrymen. I'm not going to be a part of this any more. I'm not helping you attack England." She threw down her headset and jumped out of her seat.

Instantly Carrie drew a gun, and Rod and I drew ours too. "Get back on that line," hissed Carrie, who looked at me. "I will fucking end her, right now. You want to take that risk, Ross? You drop your goddamn guns."

I looked around the room. Julia huddled under a desk. Misty stood at her console, staring at the weapon aimed at her head. I heard the patter of the Pirates running towards the control room. In moments we would be outnumbered. I just couldn't risk Misty's life. I pointed my gun towards the ceiling and lowered it to the floor. Rod did the same. Xyllan and his men jumped in and confiscated our weapons, pushing us back into our seats with guns to our heads. So much for being Captain.

Misty sat back in her chair, her face a maze of worry. Her hands shook as she put her headset back on. "Stand by for transmission," she said.

Rod hooked up the system so we could see and hear both sides of the conversation, and let Carrie tell Misty what to say.

"CINCFLEET go. Officer Nguyen of Queen Carrie One speaking," said Misty, and Cmdr. Jeffries' face filled the screen.

"You are in violation of the sovereign waters of the United Kingdom," said Jeffries. "You have five minutes to reverse course or we will open fire."

I could see the agony writ on Misty's face. "If you do not let us proceed, we will destroy your fleet. Any hostile act on your part will result in immediate retaliation."

"The Royal Navy is prepared to use any and all means, and I mean all means at our disposal to stop you here. You will proceed no further. This is your last warning."

"Please, Sir," pleaded Misty, going off-script. "You don't fully understand our capabilities. Please do not provoke an attack. If you would just listen--"

Carrie cut the connection. "Enough chit chat. Prepare the Singularity Matrix! It's zapping time!"

The Klaxon sounded, this time with the most ominous tone. The heavy leaden doors closed, trapping us in a radiation-proof shell.

Carrie finally found a couple of her hungover Matrix operators to key in the sequence to activate the offensive capabilities of the Matrix. As the timer counted down to zero, a number of ships launched missiles in our direction.

"Fire!" yelled Carrie. The ship shook as the Singularity gobbled up a heap of fresh matter and expelled its deadly energy wave. Outside, nothing immediately changed. The missiles kept coming. Closer and closer they approached, finally sailing over our deck and continuing on path, their electronics fried and useless. We also caught footage of surveillance planes and drones tumbling out of the sky, crashing to the ground in big bursts of orange. Even inside the Palace we could feel the rumbles of those detonations.

"Fire Exocets," commanded Carrie. Two missiles flew out from our deck and impacted on the two ships nearest to our path, exploding in huge balls of flame and deafening thunder. None of the ships moved. Not a single thing moved for miles around. We had crippled the entire Royal Navy with one quick blow.

"Ross, you still with me," demanded Carrie. "Make a damn choice. Are we going to invade this country? Are we going to get what's coming to us?"

I nodded sheepishly. Misty glared at me. "You bloody bastard! You little shit! You're still with her? After everything she's done to us? You fucking pussy. I'm going to rip you apart!" She jumped at me but Xyllan's men held her back.

"Get her out of here," I cried. "And her slave too. Misty, you two-faced whore, I never want to see you again. I've had it with you! If you can't see by now what we're trying to do here, you never will. Get the hell out of my sight."

Misty started to retort, but her eyes burst into tears. She began wailing loudly. Julia approached me. "Please Captain Ross, how can you do this? You love her. She'll be better. She'll try harder. Please."

I turned my back as they were dragged away. Carrie's triumphant smile made me want to hurl.

Xyllan asked, "what should we do with them? Throw them overboard?"

"No," I said quickly. "I have something special planned for them. Just keep them safe right now. I don't want them to be touched until I'm ready. Don't worry, after what she did to me last night, it will be slow and painful."

Xyllan grinned. "No problem, Captain."

I have a lot more to say right now but I think it's best if I end it here. Let's just say the sight of the zombified hordes fighting across the decks of the British ships will haunt me 'til the end of my days.

Posted: Thursday, November 25, 2008 @ 11:27 PM

"Captain"

2008-11-24T22:45:00.000-08:00

"Captain"

We sailed through the Strait of Gibraltar today without much incident. We had to take it slow so we didn't collide with the ships in the shipping channels. The Spanish and Italian navies did a good job keeping the looky-loos back from our path. Finally out in the open ocean, we could open her back up to full speed. Once again we plowed through the ocean like a runaway comet slicing open the sea like Moses.

Somewhere off the North Coast of Spain we slowed down and joined up with a low slung freighter. A troop of fresh Pirates clambered aboard, apparently replacements for the men we had lost in the raid. The new Pirates greeted our current crew warmly, excited to be part of this deadly voyage. They offloaded fresh supplies from their ship onto ours, including a great number of weapons. It seemed like an entire Pirate Army had invaded our ship. We quickly ran out of cabin space for them, so they began erecting makeshift campsites right on the floor of the Palace.

"With these men, we can invade any city," explained Xyllan to Carrie, a wild look in his eye. "No power can stand against us. We zap them, and then take over the city. All the countries of the world will tremble before us. First we will destroy London, and then New York."

Carrie gleamed at him. "Do you trust these men? Have you worked with them before?"

"Some of them. These are not your trained Marines, so they are a bit rowdy and wild. That's the kind of chaos we want to bring to the civilized masses."

I had resumed my post up in the control room. It didn't take longer than an hour after we finished loading before I heard shouting and screaming coming from the cafe area. It still hurt too much to strap my shotgun on my back or my sword around my waist but I still carried it with me. I made sure it was loaded before I ran down to the cafe.

The new pirates were arguing over something. I cringed when I spotted Julia in the center of the altercation, being yanked both ways by the men.

"I saw her first," snarled one in a French accent. "She's mine."

"You let her go, she's my trophy," said a German. Both seemed gruff and burly, plastered with tattoos and piercings, long tangled hair draped over their shoulders.

Julia screamed and struggled to escape, kicking at the men's legs.

"Leave her the fuck alone," I cried, pumping the gun to load a cartridge in the chamber. The men stopped their bickering and turned to face me.

"Who the hell are you," cried the Frenchman, grasping Julia tightly.

"Let the girl go," I repeated, aiming the weapon his their general direction.

"He's da Captain of this ship, you better listen to him," warned Julia.

"You? Captain?" A few of the men laughed at me. Okay, well, with my loose white billowy shirt and pants over the bandages I probably looked more like an effeminate zombie than a Captain. I raised the gun to my chest and looked down the site.

"As an Officer of this ship, it is my right to have each and every one of you run off the plank. Who wants to go first? You? You?"

The pirates backed up a step. Julia finally broke free and ran behind me. "Shoot them! Shoot them!"

I continued, waving her off, "You men will behave yourselves aboard this ship. Any rapes, murders, or tortures of any kind will result in your expulsion from this ship. Do any of you care to question my authority? Good. Now clean up this mess or I'll confine you to the brig." We don't have a brig. Yet.

Surprisingly, the Pirates didn't immediately charge me and beat me up. My entire body shook with adrenaline and fear as I turned to escort Julia back to the safety of the control room. Misty had been resting in our cabin, but she must have just returned or heard something, because she stood not 10 feet behind me. She grabbed Julia's hand and escorted her back to the center. Xyllan came up to me and put a hand on my chest.

"Well 'Captain,'" he hissed, "threatening my men are we? You had better keep your wenches under control, because these men know no rules but the fist and the sword, and they take what they want. For you own safety I suggest you find more secure quarters. These men don't like orders, and they don't like people who overstep their authority. Watch your back."

"Keep your men under control," yelled Misty, but Xyllan ignored her as he walked away.

Back in the control room, Carrie seemed oblivious to everything. She pored over maps and charts, as well as financial statements and complex transactions. "Dammit to Hell," she cursed. "Mother fuckers!"

I didn't respond, figuring why rile her up more than necessary. I heard her get on the phone and begin to yell and scream to someone on the other end. "What do you mean, seized? I trusted you! I am not a goddamn terrorist, how dare they put me on a blacklist. We run a clean operation here. And what do you mean, everything? What about the gold? Dammit! You're supposed to protect me!"

She threw the satellite phone, almost hitting someone, and started pounding on her desk with her fists, her face bright red and somewhat sweaty. She turned to me. "Ross, we've got to move this thing. They're starting to grab my assets. I'm not out there moving them like I should be. The whole financial structure of this operation is unraveling. Some of our biggest contributors have cut deals and ratted me out. We've got to make them pay. No more delays, no more supplies. We've got to hit them where it hurts the most. Let's burn some fucking rubber."

"She can't take much more," I replied. "Any faster and we could shear off a propeller or melt the entire matrix. We've also come way too close to colliding with other ships. At this pace, we could destroy everything if we're not careful."

"Then fucking be careful but fucking move this pile of shit. I'll be in my cabin making calls if anyone needs me." She gathered up her satellite phone which hadn't broken and started off carrying a laptop.

"Hey Carrie," I asked as she passed. "When you're off the bridge, am I actually in charge here? Of the ship? You've never made that clear."

Carrie looked at me and at the control room and huffed. "Sure, whatever. What does that kid call you? Captain? Go for it. As long as you stick to the plan. Just don't cross me. Even Captains can walk the plank. Now don't bother me any more."

I guess that's as official as these things get around here. Julia clapped quietly and gave me a thumbs-up. Rod rolled his eyes and shook his head.

So a little while ago the four of us huddled in our cabin. I had commandeered a small table and chairs so we didn't have to sit on the floor. Our door was solid enough, but not built to stop bullets. We had no other escape from our room. I began thinking about how I had gotten trapped and almost killed in my dorm at Kastle Klingon, and I didn't want to be in that situation, but this was about the only place where I felt we couldn't be overhead.

We had been teaching Julia the basics of Poker, with an old beat-up deck I had found. We used uncooked beans as our chips. While we played, we could talk.

"I think it's best we all stay in this room from now on," said Rod. "I've collected enough blankets to make a bed on the floor. We'll use my room to store stuff."

Julia seemed excited at the prospect of Rod sleeping over. "Settle down," I chided her. "He's just here to sleep. Nothing else."

"Dat's okay," she replied, beaming at Rod. "I'll make sure he's comfortable."

Rod thanked her politely but I sighed. She treats the man like a rock star or celebrity. Maybe I'm a little jealous some times.

Rod continued. "I also think that we need to start sleeping in shifts, in case anyone wants to start some trouble. What do you say I take first, then Alex, then Misty?"

Julia interjected, "me! I want a shift. Please?"

"You can share my shift," offered Misty. "We can keep each other company."

"Oh, okay, Miss Misty." She gave Rod some puppy dog eyes, hoping he would ask her as well but he concentrated on his cards and ignored her.

"I better hit the hay if I'm taking last shift," Misty said, yawning widely.

"Do you want me to leave this out for you," I asked, pointing at the laptop. "I'm typing up my blog during my shift. Hey, why don't you write something in it?"

Misty seemed shocked. "Me? What would I write?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Anything. Just finish where I leave off, then hit this and my buddy Iap will publish it for us."

Misty agreed. So if she writes anything, it will be here:

Hi. This is Alex's friend Misty. I haven't done this before so bear with me. It's been pretty quiet tonight. We think most of those pirate types have been partying it up over in the dreadful Palace. Hopefully we've been all but forgotten.

I don't know if anyone out there reads this, or if Alex just likes to write things down. If so, I urge you consider this carefully. If you are anywhere in or near London, I suggest you evacuate immediately. I can't say what may happen, but it will be exceedingly unpleasant. Please use all haste to remove yourself from that area.

Well I don't have much else to say except that Alex has been a great friend, and I really appreciate what he's done for me. I know he's made some terrible mistakes in his past, but these experiences have brought out a new side in him, much more responsible and mature. Not that anyone can really escape a Chinese labor camp unchanged.

So if you read this, please take the proper precautions, and God bless all of you.

Posted: Monday, November 24, 2008 @ 10:45 PM

Sea Pizza

2008-11-23T23:29:00.000-08:00

Sea Pizza

Instead of heading back to my room, I wanted to go over to the control room to check on what Carrie was up to. Aside from her strange visit, I had no idea what was going on. As we walked, I noticed that the Palace had undergone a bit of transformation. Gone were the casino games and sex couches. Most of the floor lay bare with only lighting standing up. The movie wall still projected exterior views and some Hollywood films, but the Pirate crew was mostly settled in one corner either laying around or working out in and around the boxing ring.

As I entered the control room, a couple people stopped and applauded, although Carrie just glared at me from her desk. She looked more disheveled than usual, her hair matted and unkempt, and her unpleasant scent filled the room. They had replaced some of the busted windows with boards, plastic sheets, or cardboard, making the control center look like a kid's play fort.

"Look at this," Carrie cried, pulling up the exterior views. All around us floated ships of every size. "I've had to reduce our speed in half to avoid them. And here." In the sky, hundreds of planes surrounded us, some private single-engine planes, some modern fighter jets.

"What's going on," I asked. "Where are we?"

"We're in the Mediterranean," replied Rod, showing me our route on the monitor. "We crossed through the canal last night. This morning, during our maintenance halt, a couple helicopters approached us, from news organizations. Apparently no government has told the press about us, simply crediting all our activity to East African Pirate activity. We decided to leave the helicopters alone, and then when we fired up the SMD and shot off like a cannon, all the European and North African news stations began featuring us prominently."

He called up grainy video of us ripping through the Sea, with our enormous rooster tail and huge cloud of steam behind us. Another feature I had all but ignored was our huge tsunami-like wake we generated near full speed. It had already crashed up on beaches and overturned small watercraft. I watched the incredible television reports. They chased us with planes, speculating about who we were and what we wanted. Nobody knew anything, although once word came out about the wake, hundreds of surfers ran out to catch "The wave of a lifetime."

Thousands of people in boats came out to catch a glimpse of us. So many that we were in serious danger of a collision. At full speed we covered a mile every fourteen seconds, and we could only turn a few degrees per mile without capsizing. The thick crowd forced our speed down to less than 100 knots.

"That's it," Carrie growled. "I'm going to blast them. Then the won't come so close." She reached for the controls that created the zombifying zap.

"Hold on," I said weakly. "Why not just alert the local navies? They could create a path for us, if we promise not to attack them. If you zap them, they might start laying out even more stuff to slow us down. If we collide with something it could rip a hole through our hull and sink us. Besides, look at all the coverage we're getting. The whole world is looking at us right now. You don't want the whole world turning against us by killing a ton of civilians. We could clear out the entire sea, but they might set up a line across the Strait of Gibraltar to stop us from escaping. We're not in the open ocean right now...there's no where to go. If they trap us here we'd have to go ashore at some point to get food. We'd be very vulnerable at that point."

Carrie considered for a moment, then withdrew her hand from the controls. She kicked a cart of food over, sending the meal flying across the floor. "I hate this fucking food," she screamed.

Julia set down her Gameboy and started cleaning up the mess.

"You," shouted Carrie, pointing at the girl. "What the fuck are you doing? I sick of this Asian shit. Can you make anything else?"

Julia cowered on the floor. "Yes, Queen Carrie. I can make whatever you want."

"Good. I want a goddamn pizza. Pepperoni. No Asian shit. You got it? Move it."

Julia bowed, quickly gathered up the rest of the mess, and trotted off to the kitchen.

"I better check on her," said Misty, rising to her feet.

"Sit the fuck down," Carrie yelled back. "I want you to record something. Someone get me a fucking camera. You're perfect for this Nguyen, with your English accent. You make everything sound official."

Misty sat back down with a dark look on her face. She clicked angrily on her console.

Carrie hurriedly typed up a script for Misty to read, then sent it over. Misty read it over, sniffing at a few passages. "You want me to read this straight?"

"If you would," replied Carrie. "You're now the face of the Clan of the Wise. Congratulations."

"Great."

Down on the Palace floor, they brought in some lighting and a camera. They set up a smaller version of the huge flag as a backdrop. A couple of the prostitute women came up to the control room to apply makeup to Misty. Now up to this moment I had never seen her with makeup. After they applied the dark eyeliner, rouge, eye shadow, lipstick, and base, she looked like someone out of a movie set, simply stunning. They then dressed her in the finest Pirate Chic we had, pink and red flowing shirts and scarves, and gave her hair a bit of bounce.

While this process occurred, Rod helped me get down to the kitchen to check on Julia. We found her crying in the corner.

"What's wrong? Did someone hurt you? Was it Bo?"

She mumbled in Tagalog for a minute, then translated. "We don't have the right dough, we don't have pepperoni, we don't have mozzarella. I can't make a pizza out of this crap." She bawled loudly.

I tried to comfort her the best I could. Carrie would tan her hide if she didn't produce pizza.

Rod spoke, "you know, we're right off the coast of Sicily. Why don't we just order some bloody pizza?"

I stood up, speechless. "That is...brilliant! Some of those mob guys we have speak Italian. I'll find them and help us get an order in. We'll have to stop the boat and pick it up of course."

They sat Misty down to check her look in the camera. "Make her boobs bigger," ordered Carrie, peering at the monitor.

A man walked up to Misty. "Don't you touch me," she spat, then adjusted herself as best she could.

"I know a good doctor," commented Carrie, holding her own chest.

"I like mine fine, thank you very much," replied Misty crisply. "Now let's get this thing over with."

I approached the Pirate crew slowly. Xyllan sat up from his massage table, where a scantily clad woman rubbed his back.

"You think you're Captain now," he called to me.

I held up my hands. "Hey, that's just what a kid says. Do you listen to kids now?"

"What do you want? We're busy." He and his friends rose and surrounded us, fingering their weapons. We had always kept a certain distance on the ship.

"I need a translator. Italian. Maybe someone Sicilian."

Xyllan laughed at me. "Why should we help you?"

"It's for Carrie," I said. "She needs something off the Island."

Xyllan shrugged. "So let her deal with it. Unless we're boarding a ship, we do nothing."

"How does pizza and Italian wine sound," suggested Rod.

That caught Xyllan's attention. "I'd rather have Italian women. Can you do that?"

"Give us a translator and we'll see what we can do."

We grabbed the translator and made all the arrangements. I returned to Carrie. "We should stop the boat so there's not so much background noise." Carrie agreed, and I slowed the boat, and sent it on a new course, a small detour.

Finally Misty was ready. I went up to her to give her some encouragement, but then whispered, "stall as long as you can. For Julia. I'll give you an all-clear."

She nodded. The cameraman pointed at Misty to go.

"Hello. This is Misty Nguyen, speaking from the--hey I don't want use my real name. I might have relatives watching."

They argued about the name for about 5 minutes. I watched the external cameras closely.

"...I represent the Wise Clan. I mean Clan of the Wise--do you really want to say this here?"

Fortunately Carrie is a much higher believer in incompetence than in subtle delay. She yelled at Misty to get it right.

"Okay, I'm ready now. Our demands our simple. Create a lane for us through the Med--I'm sorry, I really have to hit the loo. And can someone bring me a water? It's quite hot under this lights."

"Fine," glowered Carrie. "Take ten and make sure you're ready when you get back. I should have just done this myself."

Misty returned after a long while, but of course had mussed her hair and makeup a bit. I thought Carrie would explode. I finally spotted what I wanted to on the monitors, and signalled to Rod. In a few minutes the operation was complete, and I signalled to Misty.

"I must warn the governments of the world to not approach the Queen Carrie One, or suffer the most dreadful results. If your government chooses to become our preferred partner, we'll share our new life-giving technology with you. Any governments who oppose us will be destroyed. This is Susie Cho, and I wish you all well."

"Finally," gasped Carrie, hopping off her chair. "Now where is my goddamn pizza?"

As on cue, Julie jumped out of the kitchen, presenting Carrie with a thick, succulent pizza pie, dripping with cheese and sauce and the finest Italian Pepperoni. Carrie devoured it like a madwomen. "Oh my god this is the best pizza ever. That girl is a genius!"

Xyllan walked over, eating his own piece.

"What the fuck..." Carrie scanned the Palace. Everyone had pizza. The whole entire Pirate crew was served pizza and had started in on a few large bottles of Italian wine.

"Ross! I know Julia didn't cook all that." She took a few more bites. "Oh fuck it. This is so good, I don't care right now. Let's get this boat moving again."

After changing out of her getup, Misty approached me. "How did you do that? How did you get all that pizza here?"

"We ordered take-out. I stole one of Carrie's credit cards. It cost like $200 per pie to be sailed out here. Let me tell you, when the delivery boat pulled up, it was all I could do to not jump off and take a ride back out of here."

"Why didn't you," she asked.

"Because you look so damn sexy today, I just had to stay." I winked at her.

"Yeah, right. You with all your bandages, you look like a bloody zombie. Now go get some rest, you might need your strength later."

I kissed her and finally headed back to my cabin. I guess everyone has started going a bit stir crazy in this tin can, and the pizza was just the thing to get everyone to relax a bit.

Posted: Sunday, November 23, 2008 @ 11:29 PM

Strange Dream

2008-11-23T11:01:00.000-08:00

Strange Dream

I had the weirdest dream last night. They had given me something to help me sleep through the night, but I guess it made me pretty delirious. Someone started shaking me and saying "Alex, Alex, wake up." The lights in the Palace had been dimmed so we could sleep. I tried opening my eyes, but I could only make out a faint shape next to me.

"Misty? Is that you?" The figure seemed to be swathed in some kind of headscarf and body dress like a burqa or something. I couldn't ready see the face under the hood.

"Ssh. Listen to me Alex. I need to speak to you."

Now I knew I was dreaming. I heard the distinct tone of Ellie's voice. I reached out and felt the figure. Definitely a woman. And for some strange reason I smelled a wave of alcohol. It reminded me of the day Ellie and I met, in a bar down in San Fransisco. I had just lost my job and I was drowning my sorrows in a bottle of Jack Daniels, when this incredibly beautiful woman sits down next to me and asks if she could share the bottle. The night ended at my apartment and the rest is shall we say "history."

I was shaken again. "Huh? Wha? Leave me alone, I'm trying to sleep." Stupid drunk nurses. I made a half-hearted attempt to roll over, dreaming about my days with Ellie.

A cold hand slapped me in the face. "Wake the fuck up," came the voice of Ellie.

I groaned loudly. What the hell? This was not a good dream so far. I just wanted to sleep.

"Time's running out, Alex. We've got to find a way to destroy the Matrix. We can't allow Carrie to destroy the rest of the world's economy and governments."

I lay there for a while. I thought about the time Ellie and I went backpacking in the Sierras. I felt the cool breezes blowing through the fragrant pine trees, the strong sun on our backs. I remembered how we laid a blanket out and did what came naturally. I wondered if I would ever have that opportunity with Misty.

Ahh, Misty. So different from Ellie. No she doesn't have the knock-out body that Ellie does, or the drop-dead good looks, but she has a quiet honesty about her that I really appreciate. I always know where I stand with her, and we communicate really well. Ellie always seemed mysterious and distant, and frankly she's pretty frightening. Misty's just like--

"Dammit Alex, what the hell did they give you? Listen to me if you can, I need to get out of here. I found a way off this boat. Up in the airfoil machinery. There's a loose hatch up there. If we're really heading for London, then I have an escape plan. When I send you a message, head for hatch C-21. Bring only what you can carry, but make sure everyone has a bottle of strong liquor with them. You heard me right. Liquor, something strong. OK, I gotta go. Good luck." I swear I felt something on my hand, then a squeeze.

This morning they came to change my dressings, not a pleasant experience. The doctor came and pronounced me fit enough to get out of bed, although I would still need to check in a couple times a day to change the dressings. Every movement felt painful, but they finally were able to remove the morphine drip.

I told Misty about my crazy dream.

"So, dreaming about Ellie," she said in a mock-jealous voice. "Why don't you dream about me? And what the hell is the liquor about? Was Ellie a drunk or something?"

"Yeah, at times," I admitted. "She did have a penchant for stiff drinks and partying. Crazy, isn't it?"

Misty helped me get dressed into some loose-fitting pirate garb, something that wouldn't scratch my burns. I felt a bit weak but I could walk on my own. "Julia made you a special 'Captains Breakfast'" she told me.

The memories of the dream fading away into the mists of the night, I raised my hand to scratch my head and I saw it. As plain as day, not in my handwriting, on the palm on my right hand were the letters "C-21."

What the hell? Was it some drunk nurse messing with my head? Did I somehow write this? I quickly rubbed it off, and didn't mention it to anyone. There's no way Ellie could be alive on this boat. It's just not possible.

Posted: Sunday, November 23, 2008 @ 11:01 AM

Julia Suncatcher

2008-11-22T21:47:00.000-08:00

Julia Suncatcher

I work up around dinner time, feeling a little better. I think the nurses adjusted my drip down a bit. I'm feeling achy and scratchy, but I think some of the swelling is going down. From beyond the curtains I heard a clatter, then came Julia's voice: "You get out of the way. This is for Captain Ross."

She shoved her way into my bedside and closed the curtain. Her face beamed with exhilaration. She had started calling me "Captain" a couple days ago when she realized that I actually steer the ship, whereas Queen Carrie always seemed too busy with something or other to help with anything. So Julia dubbed me "Captain" and vociferously argued with anyone who dared challenge her. In her half-Tagalog dialect (Taglish I guess) it sounded more like "Cap-i-tan Wass". I've tried to translate her words as best I can, but I may throw in a few that don't translate well.

"I cooked you a special hapúnan [dinner], just for the Captain." She rolled the cart right up to my bed. I could instantly smell the savory aroma of the meats and vegetables. I suddenly realized how hungry I was. I'd been in this bed, almost unconscious for two days.

She uncovered a couple of the dishes. "You will enjoy," she says, not as a question or statement, more like an order.

I would describe the food she prepares as something of a cross between Thai and Mexican food, at least the Americanized versions of those. One dish was a pork stir fry, scented with garlic and tomatoes, some kind of shrimp fried rice, a vegetable-laden soup, and for desert a custard pie. She gave me the names of all the things but I'd have to grab her and have her type in the dish name since it all had Tagalog names I don't recognize.

She sat patiently while I ate. I felt an uncomfortable silence between us. I'd only known her a little over a week, so I didn't expect miracles, but she wasn't like a puppy we adopted. Our intention was to get her back to her home at some point.

"Where's Misty," I asked her.

"Oh, Miss Misty is very busy. Queen Carrie is working her non-stop while you rest. She sent me here to take care of you. You're a very brave Captain. I will take care of you."

"Do you like...'Miss'...Misty?"

Her face lit up. "Oh yes, very much. She reminds me of Manang [eldest sister] who took care of me after my parents died. She treats me well and never yells or hits. But Captain, if I may say, you must make her a proper woman. Mohammad would not approve of this arrangement. You are good people, you do not want this sin."

"Oh." Oh. Never considered Julia might be a Muslim.

"It's too late for me," she said, eyes downcast. "I have been shamed. I am unclean. I shall burn in the fires of Hell for all eternity."

"Hey, hey, don't say that. You're just a kid. I'm sure whatever happened to you wasn't your fault. Hey, look up, look at me. You're life isn't over, it's barely begun. We all have our burdens to bear. If your god is anything like mine, he's given you burdens to make you stronger, not to punish you. And I think that in the end, it doesn't matter how big or terrible your burden is, it's what you do with it. Does that make any sense?"

She looked around the bed. "I don't know, Captain. Let's not talk of this. It makes my brain hurt."

I laid back a bit, feeling the satisfied rumblings from my belly. "So tell me about this Bo. How old is he? Where's he from?"

She suddenly brightened, talking about how idiotic and annoying Bo was, and providing me a complete analysis of the situation in excruciating detail. I think I finally dozed off after a while, but she had cleaned up all the food and tidied my bed by the time I awoke. She left a couple snacks on a metal table. I really hope we can do something for her, she seems so eager and smart, it would be a great shame for her life to be thrown away.

Posted: Saturday, November 22, 2008 @ 9:47 PM

Recovering

2008-11-22T14:13:00.001-08:00

Recovering

As you can probably tell, I'm not dead. The morphine dispenser only allows a maximum dosage, so I guess I'll never know if Carrie tried to kill me or just shut me up. I guess if she really wanted to kill me she could have smothered me with a pillow after knocking me out. Still, I must have been out for a couple of hours.

Shortly after I came to, Misty poked her head through the curtains, then came in, followed by Julia. The both wore huge smiles on their faces. She strode over and gently kissed me, and I squeezed Julia's hand. They pulled over some stools.

"How are you," Misty asked. "You've been out a long time."

"Yeah," I replied, trying to get my eyes focused and my head to not spin. "I'm good. Don't feel much of anything."

"Good," she replied. "I was so worried. Carrie actually raided a hospital supply ship to get you all this stuff. She even abducted doctors and nurses. God, it's been such a mess these last couple days. We've lost so many people, and guess who had to help remove the bloody bodies? Ugh."

I patted her hand, then looked at Julia. "How are you holding up, kid? Cookie giving you trouble?"

Julia frowned. "I can handle Cookie. Like Miss Misty says, it's not been good. All these dead people. We put them all on the lift, then we had to drag them out and over the rail. People crying and screaming. I couldn't eat after that. This place is so stupid. I hate it here. But I'm gonna cook you something special once you get out. Hey, you know that kid Bo? He keeps bugging me. He's like following me around and stuff, and keeps asking me stuff. I was like talking to Joy and she said he liked me but I said 'eww' and 'why' cause he's a little weird and--"

I held up my hand. "Okay, okay. Slow down, I can barely keep up. I need to talk to Misty for a minute, then you can tell me everything about Bo."

The curtains moved and Rod poked his bandaged head through. "Is he alive," he asked.

Misty waved him in, giving him a quick one-arm hug. His right arm lay in a sling, and bandages wrapped his wrists and head. His face looked covered with bruises including some dark shiners. He walked with a pronounced limp.

"What the hell happened? Are you all right," I asked, staring at the man who looked like he just went 12 rounds with the heavyweight champ.

"Yes, indeed. It was a helluva thing." He found a folding chair and sat opposite Misty and Julia. "I kept running the defensive grid, trying to keep those blokes off the deck. Then I heard the Klaxon. In a flash I jumped into the supply room, found some quick ties, and bound my hands and feet together. When I came to, it felt like someone had hit me with a hammer."

"Wow. Do you remember anything?"

Rod breathed for a moment. "I remember incredible pain, like a migraine only ten times worse. I saw stars in my vision, heard a screech in my ears. Then came this overwhelming rage. I don't remember much after that. I felt myself struggling, then I stopped and the feeling vanished. I guess I had thrashed around and around. My shoulder was partially dislocated, my head had banged on the floor, but the ties saved me I suspect. Every muscle in my body feels sore and strained. I'm probably lucky I didn't do more damage. It took the better part of the day before they found me, but I think I blacked out from the pain and utter exhaustion."

I shook my head. Apparently it is possible to survive being zapped. I wonder if that's how Ellie has escaped detection, if she's still on the boat. By now she would have been zapped dozens of times, so if she is still hiding out, she must be in terrible shape.

"Hey, Rod, can you grab Julia for a minute? Maybe you can help her with this Bo situation. I need some time with Misty."

"No problems, mate," he beckoned to Julia.

"Hey, maybe you can beat up Bo for me," Julia added, following him out.

Misty smiled at me. "I'm so glad you made it. The doctor says you should be up in day or so. You'll still need treatment, but the swelling and blistering is going down. You should make a full recovery without much scarring if any. You got really lucky."

"We all got lucky. Any word on who did this?"

Misty shook her head. "No ideas. Carrie has locked up those rooms tight and assigned guards. She's not going to let this happen again. After we dumped all the bodies, we got the Drive back online, and spent the rest of the day zapping and sinking every pirate ship we could find. We then went by Somalia and zapped the pirate city. We could see them killing each other on the beach. It was quite horrible."

"God. And now where are we headed?"

Misty grimaced. "That's the rub. We sort of blasted our way through the Suez Canal, pretty much threatening Egypt with annihilation, and now we're ripping up the Mediterranean. I had this scary chat with Carrie yesterday morning, I think maybe that's what set her off."

"Oh yeah? What did she say?"

"Well, Julia and I had just grabbed some tea and biscuits, and Carrie walks up to me:

"You're British, right?" asked Carrie out of the blue. She knows full well who I am and where I come from.

"Uh, yes. Born and raised. My folks are from Korea though."

"Huh. So, England's pretty rich. You have those...crown jewels, right?" She munched on a bagel, dropping crumbs everywhere.

"Yes. Those are for the King or Queen's coronation ceremony." I eyed her warily.

"I knew I always liked England. Once of the few places in the world that's had Queens. So if I were to take those jewels, I could be crowned Queen. As Queen of England, I could dissolve Parliament, and then go on to conquer the rest of the world."

I stared at the loony woman for a moment. "I don't think England would stand for such an affront. We repelled many an invader before. I don't think we'd just hand you the crown. Without our Monarch, we have nothing. The Queen is the soul of our nation. We could never abide by having a Yankee commoner as our Queen."

"Hmm. I think England is about to learn a thing or two about real power. They seem to have forgotten over the years. Get up in the control room, and start plotting a course."

"Wow," was all I could say. "We're heading for England?"

"Yes, and I'm highly unpleased," she replied in her British twang. "That monster will not step a foot on British soil, so help me God. Now Alex, you need your rest, and I need to get back before someone accidentally destroys the ship. I can't fight this evil alone. We've got to stop this madwoman somehow."

I laid my head back down and Misty kissed me. She tried a small smile but I could see the weight of this constant stress weighing on her face. Ever since the day we met back in Kastle Klingon, I have seen her grow stronger and more capable of dealing with things, but now that her home was in peril, I wondered how much more she could take. I said a quick prayer for her, typed up my blog entry on the laptop she left me, and then hit the morphine switch so I could rest without so much pain.

Posted: Saturday, November 22, 2008 @ 2:13 PM

Carrie Park Talks

2008-11-22T11:31:00.000-08:00

Carrie Park Talks

I'm laying in a makeshift sick ward cut out of one corner of the Palace. A morphine drip seeps medicine into my arm, calming the agonizing pain of my burns. Fortunately I hadn't gotten scalded too deeply, so most of my wounds are superficial, like a severe suntan. Still, it hurts like hell.

This morning, I woke up, groggy and a bit loopy. I could feel the vibrations of the Singularity Matrix Drive pulsing through the floor, and the gentle sway of the boat. From the frequency I deduced that we were cruising again somewhere near maximum speed. I sensed a presence next to my bed and opened my eyes. To my surprise Carrie hovered over my bed.

"Hey," she said. "You awake? Can you hear me?"

I nodded a little bit. Carrie pulled up a stool to sit next to me. For just a moment, when I first opened my eyes, I might have caught a look of concern on her face, but it had been replaced with a dark mask.

"I just wanted too...I just wanted to say..." She seemed to struggle for words, and pushed back a lock of her fake golden hair. "Um, what you did the other day, well, it really was phenomenal. I just wanted to thank you for saving the boat. You and Rod are real heroes."

"Did Rod make it," I asked, realizing I hadn't seen him return to the Palace before we zapped the invaders.

"Yeah, he's banged up, back over there behind some curtains. He should be good to go in a few hours, I'm sure he'll stop by." She pointed in a general direction, but they had hung privacy curtains around all the beds. "I gotta run, but--"

I don't know why, but my heavily bandaged hand shot out and stopped her from rising. "Hold on, I want to talk to you about something. Close the curtains some more."

Carrie nodded, "okay, just a for minute." She looked around and closed the curtains, then scooted the stool over so we could talk quietly.

I don't know what came over me. I think it was mostly due to the morphine, but also partially due to how close I had come to death. I needed to say some things.

"Carrie, you know, this whole thing. It's not too let to get out. It's never too late."

She scowled at me and shook her head. "Alex, you know I can't stop. There are people--"

I snatched her hand and held it, and looked straight into her eyes. "Carrie, I don't know if I've ever said this. I wish I had, a long time ago, when you were in a bed like this. I am so sorry for what happened to you. I know I wasn't the one who started it, but I was there and I could have, I should have stopped it."

Carrie frowned and tried to pull away. "Alex, I--"

"Please," I begged, "hear me out. We've been working together for the better part of two years, and we went to school together for a long time. We grew up together. I remember you from third grade, you were a real nice girl back then. I might have had a little kid crush on you even. Then something changed. You grew distant, mean, and started getting in trouble a lot. You picked on me a lot, made fun of me and my friends. Then in High School, you kinda blew up big, and began getting teased a lot. People knew to stay away from you, you always seemed to be in a bad mood. God, I wish I had gotten to know you better back then. Maybe I could have said something to help you or something.

"I just want to say that what happened to you, the accident, all the surgeries, losing your uterus and spleen and guts, the rehab, you know, it was a terrible thing to do to you, and you definite didn't deserve any of it. I think back to how you were way before, growing up, and now I realize something terrible must have happened, even before the accident. Something made you really mean and unfriendly, and I don't think you started out that way. Whatever it is, I'm so sorry about it. I really think you deserved better."

Carrie stared at the floor, memories flooding into her head, the hint of tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "Goddammit Alex. God fucking dammit. What the fuck? You...you want some kind of forgiveness or something? You and your fucking asshole friends who turned me into this...freak? Look at me! You think I can live a 'normal' life? You think that saying sorry will make everything better? You think you have any idea at all what I've been through, what I've had to endure, what a complete fucking shit hole my life was?"

I tried to sit up a bit. "No...I don't. I didn't know, back then how could I? How could anyone? I know you've suffered more than anyone should. Carrie, back then, we were scared to talk to you, because you'd bite our heads off. No one visited your hospital room for the same reason. I just want to say that this path you're on, that we're on, is only going to lead to more pain and suffering, for everyone. Some country will get pissed enough that they'll finally drop a bomb or a nuke on us. No good can come of this. You've got more money than you'll ever need. You could just call this off, and live our your life in peace. No one has to suffer anymore. You've got the power now to make it all stop."

Carrie sighed. "You know there's no place on Earth that will take me in. Not even Al Qaeda. I've got to see this through. You have no idea what's going on around us, the people involved. I've got all kinds of mobsters and crime families backing me, as well as some rogue governments who want to take a step up in the world. My only shot is to take control, to win. I can't escape this thing, it's too big. If I step out now, they'd hunt me to the ends of the Earth. I'd never be safe, never have a normal life."

"You could change your appearance and hide somewhere. I'm not saying it would be easy. But thousands of people have died already, and thousands more will keep dying while we continue. You are probably the smartest person on Earth. We have this brilliant technology sitting next to us. Instead of using it to take over the Earth, we could use the power for good. We could eliminate poverty and hunger. We could clean up the environment. And you could be the catalyst for all of this. Somehow I don't think running a murderous pirate ship was what you really wanted for your life, at least back in grade school. I know you've had so much taken away from you. I know you've suffered a great deal. But as someone who was once your friend, I'm asking you to reconsider what you're doing. It's never too late to change."

Carrie stared for a minute, contemplating I don't know what. Then a hard look crossed her face and she glared at me. "My chance to change vanished the moment you idiots caused the wreck. I'm not stupid Shelly White any more, maybe I never was. That stupid girl died a long time ago, forgotten and buried. Now I'm Carrie Park, and I'm going to take over the world and rule it my way. Enough chit-chat, Ross, I think you need a nice, long sleep. See you on the other side." She grabbed my morphine drip and shot a good dose into me. I passed out before she even passed through the curtain, not know if I'd ever wake up again.

Posted: Saturday, November 22, 2008 @ 11:31 AM

Sabotage

2008-11-20T23:22:00.000-08:00

Sabotage

We've had no Ellie sightings since she apparently entered our cabin. We've found no bloody rotting corpses or any trace of her whatsoever. It still doesn't mean that everyone isn't on edge. Xyllan has sent out steady patrols to keep searching the ship for her.

I've beginning to hear few rumors as well, about Carrie's organization "The Clan of the Wise." Apparently they don't consider small-time piracy much of a proof of her power. They have devised some serious objectives that need to be met. First she disappointed them with the technical delays, and now with the random cruising around the oceans.

Misty and I sat at our controls, monitoring the ship's progress and the state of the SMD. We had gradually tuned the system to push over 220 knots. A huge black cloud of steam followed us everywhere, clearly marking our position to even the most primitive of satellites. Julia sat in a corner of the control room, playing a handheld game or reading an electronic book. She'd steal a peek at Rod every once in a while.

As I watched, a number of indicators shot into the red. "Shut it down, shut it down," I shouted, typing away and clicking on the shutdown procedure. We had never made an emergency stop before. "Deploy air brakes!"

The entire room went black, and people began screaming. I could feel the entire ship lurching towards the bow, groaning with the sudden loss of power. We had no cameras, no telemetry, and no contact with the Singularity Matrix. A great feeling of dread came over me. If we had lost containment, the entire ship could blow sky-high. This was definitely not part of a normal shutdown. Either some major power conduit had failed, or someone had deliberated sabotaged the ship.

"Alex! Alex," called Misty. Someone flicked a lighter so I could see just a bit. I grabbed Misty, then we found Julia and Rod. The ship shuddered and lurched, throwing us off our feet, and sending equipment flying. The entire Palace filled with screams and shouting. Julia began crying, calling for her momma.

In the din of the panic I shouted in Misty's ear. "I've got to make sure we keep containment or we're all dead! I'm heading back to the engine room."

"Alex, you'll burn up! We were just at 110%, it will take hours to cool off. You can't do it."

"I have to, I don't have a choice. We have some fire suits. All I need to do is get to the Matrix control box."

"Damn it Alex, send someone else. We can't lose you. Not now!" She clutched me and her eyes pleaded with me.

"Get back to the cabin if you can. I'll meet you there. Please, Misty, I don't have a choice. The fate of the Earth could be at stake."

"Oh God, Oh God. I know, I know. Just be careful. Take this laptop, if it doesn't melt you might need it." She hugged me fiercely. "And Alex, if anything should happen, I want you to know...I love you so much."

I was speechless for a second. "Misty...I...I love you too. Everything will be fine. Take care of Julia, I think I'm really starting to like that kid."

"Okay, just be careful." We kissed for a moment, then I grabbed the laptop, put it in a nearby backpack, and left them, not knowing if I'd ever see them again.

Making my way through the panicked throng proved difficult. I had no idea where Carrie was, and no one seemed to be in charge. Only a couple tiny lights here and there lit the place. Fortunately no one seemed to disturb me. The ship continued to buck and shimmy, listing a bit to the left, probably due to a stuck rudder or control surface. I felt the bow plunge back into the ocean, losing its hydrofoil speed, and once again we all were thrown onto the floor. I picked myself up and staggered past the piles of gaming machines and lounge chairs strewn about. The people who recognized me in the darkness begged for information but I just pushed past. The clock could be ticking on the demise of the entire human race.

I pushed thru the thick bulkhead door. A wave of heat hit me as soon as it opened. I closed it behind me, feeling my way through the passage way leading down to the Matrix. I found a small room that contained the fire equipment. I grabbed a helmet with a built-in LED light. I used that light to turn on a few more that I removed and clipped to my arms. I quickly slipped on the suit and made my way out towards the Matrix.

Every step seemed to bring more and more heat. Sweat began to form on my brow and slide down my face. I came to another bulkhead door, but even touching this door proved too painful. I ran back to the fire room and retried an axe. I used the axe to turn the wheel of the door.

A puff of boiling hot steam assailed me as the door swung open. I could barely breath. I couldn't even guess at the temperature...maybe 150 at least. It felt like an oven. I stepped in, feeling the heat penetrating the asbestos soles of the boots I had donned. I searched for the Matrix control room. Searing heat seeped through the seams of the suit, cooking me alive. I finally found the room, only a scant few meters from the core of the Matrix. I could hear the rumblings of the steam still firing through the system, cooling it down bit by bit. I found a connection to plug the laptop in. The keys felt a bit melty, but the damn thing actually worked. In a few moments I downloaded the telemetry.

I breathed a huge sigh of relief. The containment field held, although for how long I couldn't say. A backup system still supplied the critical power that held the tiny singularity away from the walls of the Matrix. I threw the laptop back into the bag, and ran back towards safety. Just as I closed the door to the engine room, the walls seemed to lurch, and a moment later a metallic grinding sound filled the room. I began pulling off the heavy protective gear. Some of it literally smoked. I could feel parts of my skin start to blister, but that grinding sound couldn't have been good.

I had to find a way to restore the electrical power. Without it we were blind and defenseless. Until the inner control room cooled down, we couldn't use the Matrix to zap enemies. We were essentially sitting ducks.

As I made my way back towards the Palace, I ran into Rod in the hallway.

"Where's Misty and Julia? What the hell's going on," I demanded.

"It's a bloody riot in there," Rod spat. "I got them to safety, then came to help. Christ, you look like shit."

"Ok, okay...you're sure they're safe?"

"No one's completely safe, but they've barricaded the door best they could."

I heard a boomy sound reverberate through the halls. "What the fuck is that?"

"That's the other thing, I think we're under bloody attack! We think some ship has come alongside. This is a goddamn cluster-fuck, that's what it is."

"It's a fucking setup, that's what it is." For damn sure. This was no coincidence. Was this Ellie's doing? Carrie's? The ship fails right smack in the middle of the most Pirate-infested waters in the world. "We've got to get this damn ship functional. Where the hell is the damage? I think if we just get the power back, we'll be fine."

We found a cooler room to sit in. Flipping open the half-melted laptop, I pored through boat schematics. "Here, there's a small transformer room, between the Palace and the top deck. This is where I'd cut the power. Everything is routed through here. Unless the APU's have been damaged, we should be fine,"

"That's where we'll go," responded Rod, as were heard more sharp reports and a bit of shouting.

We ran back to the bulkhead containing the Palace, then crawled along gangways and service ladders all around the thick wall. We noticed a small haze of smoke as we approached the transformer room, and smelled the acrid burn of ozone. Something definitely had blown here. We also received a wisp of gunpowder. Now we could hear the rat-a-tat of automatic weapons, and the occasional concussion of an RPG or some kind of grenade.

The transformer room seemed intact but full of smoke. A few lights lit up. "We still have power, it's just terminated here!"

"Ah, here's the bugger," said Rod. "Someone threw a bloody wrench into the transformer. We just need to grab it and reset. Go on, now, go grab that wrench."

I looked at him like a crazy person. "I could get electrocuted! You do it!"

"Ross, there's no power. Just grab it!"

Tentatively I crawled between the large transformer stacks. Once in reach of the wrench, I quickly reached out and snatched it. It still felt warm, and the ends had melted a bit. I threw the wrench on the ground. "Fucking hell!"

"Ok, Ross, now let's hit the power." He pulled all the levers in the room down, into their reset position. "On three, lift them back up. Ready? One...two...three!"

Click, click, click, click. On the last switch, the lights came back on, the air condition started blowing, and the network rebooted. I quickly opened the laptop and searched for information. It took an awful five minutes before all the ship's systems came back online. Matrix containment: nominal. Ship integrity holding. Intruder Alert: all decks. Code Red.

The Klaxon started sounding, a new tone I hadn't heard before, battle stations I guess. We whipped up a screen of the external cams. A small ship lay next to ours, but a swarm of men emerged from it. They definitely weren't Marines of any kind, they were dark-skinned men wearing no more than tatters but carrying rifles and knives. On the top deck of QC1, a bunch of bodies lay scattered across the surface, obviously our men from their gaily colored outfits. I switched to a view of the Palace. A few of them had fought their way in, but a fierce battle raged across the floor. One by one the intruders slipped through the door.

"We're getting beaten," I yelled. I looked at some other views. Some invaders were trying to force their way into the cabin section, where Misty huddled. "This shit has to stop. Rod, you got any idea how to get the Fire Control System up?"

"Lemme try." I handed him the laptop and he played around for a minute. "Here we go. What do you want?"

"Fire at their ship. Let 'em know we're not rolling over."

Up on the deck, a hatch opened, and a set of missiles poked out of the deck. They turned and faced the attacking ship.

"Fire!" I commanded.

"Exocets away!"

Two missiles fired up and shot off their launch, impacting the hostile ship almost immediately, exploding in a huge plume of fire and smoke. Our ship shook with the impact, and the men on the deck were thrown off their feet. Another impact tore through the other ship, and it began listing away from us.

"Direct hit!" cried Rod. "Blimey fuckers!"

"What else we got," I asked. "They're jumping off their ship onto ours."

Rod flipped through the controls. "Ahh, here we go." Another part of the deck opened up, and a machine gun on a turret popped up.

"Oh yeah," I breathed. "Rake the fuckers."

The gun burst to life, spraying the deck indiscriminately with bursts of leaden fire. In moments, not a thing moved.

I pointed to one of the monitors. "Shit, they've broken through to the Cabins. I gotta go. You keep taking them out when you see them."

"Good luck, Ross. Give them my best."

I patted Rod on the shoulder. After studying the schematics for a minute, I found a route around the outside perimeter of the Palace over to the Cabins. I retrieved my shotgun and sword from where I stashed them, and began the long crawl towards the bow of the boat. I heard continual gunfire, shouts, and screams of pain. The pain from my burns continued to increase in intensity, until I could barely control screaming from the pain. Tears flowed down my face, but I gritted my teeth and kept going.

Little by little I made my way past the Palace. I finally emerged into the cabin section, on the opposite side of the Cabin as Misty. I ran down the hall, turned a corner, and faced Carrie and Xyllan. The huge man raised his weapon at me. "Get down!"

I dropped as Xyllan fired. Behind me, two enemy Pirates dropped to the ground. Xyllan grabbed me by the shoulder and yanked me to my feet. I screamed in pain from the burns.

"Hold it," ordered Carrie, pushing Xyllan back. "Alex, you got us back up?"

"Yeah," I said, doubling over in pain. "And I'm hurt bad."

"Who's running things now?"

"Rod's back up in the transformer room. It had been sabotaged. Listen, I got to get to Misty. Can you help me? Please."

I stood crouched over, panting in pain, hating to ask Carrie for anything.

"Okay, sure," agreed Carrie to my surprise. "Come on, let's go. We may need her, you look you're about to die. Someone needs to operate this thing."

We turned a few corners, slid down a staircase, and arrived at our door.

"Misty, it's me," I called. In a moment I heard the barricade come down and the door lock unlatch.

"Alex! You made it!" She almost hugged me but Carrie held her off.

"He's burned," she explained. "He's going to need help. But we need to get back to the control room and zap these guys. Let's go!"

We scooted down the hall and Xyllan stopped at a room. He ducked inside and brought out three shotguns. He handed one to Carrie, one to Misty, and one to Julia, whom I doubt has ever held a gun. "Just point and shoot," he told her. She shied away from him as much as possible, but aimed the gun at his back once he started walking. I waved her off, although it might be completely justified.

As we approached the Palace, the scene didn't look good. Almost two dozen enemy pirates had infiltrated the Palace, and scores of dead people lay everywhere. We snuck in, out of the line of fire, and crawled into the control room, still a jumble of electronics. Bullet holes puckered the walls, and the glass walls had been all but disintegrated, covering the floors with masses of sharp rubble. Misty found some functional equipment, and brought up the Matrix protocols.

"Whenever you're ready," she said.

Carrie looked around. "Still too many of them."

"Even with the bulkhead doors open, it won't affect us that much," I mumbled, feeling faint. "We won't zombify."

"Do it," Carrie commanded.

Misty pressed the button. The Klaxon sounded, the dreaded countdown. The enemy pirates starting firing with reckless abandon. The clock counted down to zero--

"Ow! Ow!" Misty shook my shoulder. The floor spun beneath me and I couldn't focus my eyes. Even a mild zap is extremely confusing. "How long has it been?"

"Look," she said, pointing across the Palace.

The enemy had turned to face the bulkhead door. Another enemy pirate jumped through the door and launched himself on the nearest pirate, ripping at his throat and beating him senseless. The other pirates froze, then fired at the zombie, who wouldn't stop until his heart and head burst. Another and another zombie jumped in, attacking anyone within reach. They tried to fight them off, but the frenzied attack caught them off guard. They threw down their weapons and ran. Our men jumped out from their cover and blasted them, cutting them to ribbons. Once the enemy perished, we concentrated on the zombies pouring in, cutting them up one by one. After a while it was all over.

Blackness enveloped my vision, and I collapsed.

Now I'm resting in a corner of the Palace converted to a hospital ward. I'm typing up what I can remember from the attack. They just gave another sedative...I post again when I can.

Posted: Thursday, November 20, 2008 @ 11:22 PM

Monster

2008-11-19T22:38:00.000-08:00

Monster

Julia screamed like she had seen a ghost. The clock read 3:23 AM. Misty and I jumped out of the tiny cot we shared to see what had frightened the hysterical girl. She had been having occasional nightmares since she started sleeping on a mat in our doorway but this seemed much worse. She pointed a finger at the door. I checked it and looked around the hallway, and saw nothing.

Julia whimpered, "I saw her. I saw the Monster. She came in here, with a knife. A bloody knife."

"What," asked Misty, "what monster? What are you chattering about?"

"The--The monster from the cage. The wild woman. She came her to kill us!" She threw herself into Misty's arms.

We exchanged a look. "Ellie," I asked, "Ellie's escaped? Shit. This is not good."

"Are you sure it wasn't a dream," wondered Misty.

"No, no, it was real. She was here. She had a big knife and she was going to kill us!"

I felt doubtful, until I noticed the blood. A spot here and there on the floor, and a smear on the door. Still wet. Shit. "Hurry, give me something to clean this with," I called to Misty, who grabbed some rags from the costume pile.

It took a long time to settle Julia down. She wanted to crawl onto the tiny cot with us, but the two of us barely fit as it was.

"You sleep on the floor," insisted Misty at last to me. I could see by the stern look in her eye that arguing was pointless. She didn't put her foot down often, preferring a calmer, reasoning approach, but when she did then that was that.

We didn't really sleep much after that, and then a couple hours later came a pounding on the door. I opened it, and Carrie and Xyllan and a couple pirate crewmen stormed into the room. Xyllan caught me and slammed me up against a wall, nearly crushing my windpipe. Another man dragged Rod in as well and held him up against the wall.

"What the hell's going on," I gasped.

Carrie strode into the room, without her usual thick makeup and her hair tied up in some knot. She wore a simple white nightgown. "I'll ask you one time, Ross. Did you help Ellie escape?" She peered past Xyllan's thick arm.

"What? What are you talking about?"

The pressure on my throat increased. "That bitch has escaped," Carrie screamed. "I want some fucking answers!"

"Leave him alone," cried Misty, sheltering Julia. "We've been in here all night! That stupid bitch broke in here a couple hours ago and scared Julia half to death. Instead of threatening us, you should be out looking for her."

Carrie turned to face Misty. Her snarl transformed into a cold smile. "Say, Nguyen. How much do you really know about Elena Galistina, and your friend Alex here? You do realize they have a bit of a past, don't you?"

Misty nodded, scowling.

"You do know they once lived together, slept together, fucked together?"

Misty stared at me for a moment. "We didn't discuss details."

Carrie's smile broadened. "And you know that he and I have a past, too, don't you dear? That we've been...intimate."

Misty shook her head. "I doubt that. Maybe in your twisted brain..." She shot a look over at me and I couldn't hide my guilt. "Alex...no..."

"So you might not trust him or believe him as much as you would like to. Are you sure you have no idea where this Ellie could be? Are you sure he doesn't still have feelings for her? How well do you really know Alex?"

Misty seemed a bit speechless. I mean, it's not like she's told me all of her past. And frankly, sleeping with Carrie is a memory I'd rather forget. She finally found some words to spit out through her set jaw. "What Alex has done in the past doesn't concern me. But I believe him when he says he hasn't seen her or helped her escape."

Carrie studied our faces for a moment, then held out a finger. "If I find that any of you have been working with her..." Her eyes fell on Julia. "Then this little bitch going back to Xyllan and the rest of his crew to do what they please. That's after you all walk the plank. You're all confined to quarters until further notice."

They departed, but not after Xyllan buried his fist into my ribs, sending me to the floor gasping for air. Julia and Rod helped me back up as Misty sat on the cot, her hands gripping the rail, staring darkly at floor.

"Misty, I--"

"Don't you talk to me," she hissed. "How could you? With her? That woman is pure evil."

"I...I...it was a huge mistake. Ellie had just left me--"

"You used to date the Monster," said Julia, incredulous.

"Ellie is not a monster," I cried. "Queen Carrie is the monster. She tricked both of us, got us to separate from each other, tricked me into sleeping with her, kinda, then threw me away like yesterday's garbage. It was a real confusing time. And it all ended with me getting sent to Kastle Klingon. Carrie is like a cancer, corrupting everything she touches. Look at us! We're like rats on this godforsaken ship, now she has us at each other's throats like the zombies she creates. Misty, I'm sorry I haven't told you everything, but there are some things I'm deeply ashamed of and I just want to bury those things. Please, it was one of the worst nights of my life, and if I had to do it all over again, I would have run screaming from her."

Misty glared at the floor for a moment, then shot a look at me with her deep, dark eyes. "Okay, Alex. I knew something was up between you two. What the bollux is wrong with you? God, sometimes...ugh. One of these days, you need to figure out what your life is about. First a Communist agent, then a megalomaniacal monster. You have some taste in women."

"I'm hoping I'm doing better now," I said quietly. I sat on the cot next to her, clasping her hand gently. "I know I've made my share of mistakes, real doozies. Ellie, well, she wasn't always the monster in the cage. She just came out of nowhere and bowled me over so hard I couldn't think. I'd never been with anyone like her. She hid the monster really well. Now I know it was all a lie. She tried, I think, to change her life but she just couldn't. Misty, I'm with you now, and you're all I think about. When I think about what I went through, I just shiver. Without you I don't think I would have made it through that camp. I might have saved you a couple of times, but really, it's been you who saved me." Okay corny but I really mean it.

Misty sighed. "Someone had to. I guess I never understood how a guy like you could end up at a place like that. Most of the inmates were near-criminals, hackers running from the mob and the lot. You seemed a lot different, like you had some kind of cross to bear."

"Well I hope I've paid my repentance. Although this boat to hell might suggest otherwise. Misty, I'm so sorry you had to find this out from Carrie. Can you forgive a stupid Yankee?"

Misty looked at me for a moment, then a slight smile crossed her lips. "Oh, fine, Ross. You Colonials still have so much to learn. Let's let the past be the past." We hugged for a moment, then the Klaxon sounded.

We scrambled like madmen, tailed by our guards, and rushed into the Palace. Almost as soon as we crossed the threshold, the men closed the heavy leaden bulkhead door behind us. Carrie stood up where the cage had been, now raised back up off the ground. She held a microphone.

"Good, everyone's here," she stated, staring in our direction. "As you know, the bitch Elena Galistina, my pet for the last week, somehow escaped in the middle of the night. We've checked the tapes, and there's no sign of her leaving the ship. She somehow slipped out of her chains, then managed to bend some bars to escape. It doesn't appear at the moment that she had any assistance, and I thank you for that. However, we have to assume that she's loose on the ship. I want every corner of this ship searched, top to bottom, bow to stern. I want a full accounting of every person aboard this boat. There's a million dollars to the first person who spots her, no questions asked. Five million if she's captured, dead or alive. Now go! Get your asses moving! Ross, get over here."

She has changed back into a Napoleonic getup with a heavy wool overcoat.

"Keep him away from us," I warned her as we approached, and she waved Xyllan off. In the rush I had left my weapons behind.

"Come on," she said simply, while consulting some kind of hand-held computer. We trooped behind her back to the living quarters. She led us to a cabin, where a guard greeted us. Carrie pointed to me. "Go in and look. You two probably don't want to go in there," she finished, gesturing to Misty and Julia.

I walked in slowly, wary of a trap. I also puked at the sight. A man had been carved up neatly, a gag in his mouth, and his eye bulging out and staring straight up. It was obvious from first sight he had been filleted while still alive. Parts of him were sticking out of other places where they shouldn't be. I held a hand to my mouth, practically running out of the room, coughing and gagging.

Carrie walked up to my face. "We've already found 3 more like this. Your friend is on a revenge spree. Why do you think she came to your room, with a knife? Seeing the two of you prancing around, holding hands, kissing, while she's tied up like a dog? How do think that makes her feel? Especially a vicious killer like her? The two of you carrying on even makes me feel a little sick sometimes. This has got to stop. We can't have a killer running free. If we don't find her soon, I'm going to have to take drastic measures."

"What do you want from me," I asked. "I have no idea where she could be. Frankly if it were me, I'd jump off the ship, rather than have a bunch of mad Pirates after me. She's probably finished with her kills, and she's gone."

Carrie shook her head. "She's not done. After all, I'm still alive. Therefore she's still on this boat. Okay, lets get back to the Palace."

For a few hours we sat up in the control room, watching security footage and live feeds of all parts of the ship. We had nothing. All told six men had died, all with connections to Ellie in the past, all some of most abusive men on the ship. No one felt sorry to see them go. They only felt scared for their own lives. I finally found the tape of Ellie's escape, and noticed it had been edited slightly. With a little digging, I uncovered the edited-out part.

Apparently around two in the morning, some highly drunken pirates approached the cage. The taunted the mostly naked women, and for a while she sat still, but then stood up and removed the rest of her clothes, standing completely naked. I will say with all due respect to Misty, that Ellie has one of the most spectacular bodies known to man. She began her hooker routine, beckoning them and blowing them kisses, exposing her body in erotic ways. Now as I've mentioned, Pirates are perhaps the least disciplined of all men, so these had no compunction about disobeying orders and raising the cage. They raised it about three feet, enough to slip under.

I slipped in an earpiece so I could hear the audio.

"Ohh," she said seductively as the men advanced, "I'm so hot. I want to do so much with you two, but these chains, they just get in the way. I can't really bend like you'd like."

"We can't take off them chains, we'd get a whippin," said the first, a tall skinny man.

"Yeah," said the other, a short, squat guy. "And you could escape."

"Me? I just want some fun! God, you're like the sexiest pirates. Mmm. Hey, you could just lower the cage, then take off the chains! Think of what it would be like, both of you inside me."

"Ssshit...brother, get the damn key." He leaned over to grab Ellie but she pushed him away gently.

"Nah ah ahh...not until you get the key. Please? I'll let you do whatever you want to me." Ellie licked her lips and fondled her breasts.

"Hurry the fuck up," the tall man called to his companion.

"Found it," he called, running back and clambering into the cell.

"Ohh, let me see, I'm going to fuck you so hard..." She held our her hand and rubbed the short man's chest, swinging her hips seductively while nibbling on a finger.

The tall guy shouted as the short one handed Ellie the key, "you fuckhead! You didn't lower the--"

He never finished the sentence as Ellie's hand crushed his windpipe in a devastating karate chop. She kicked the other man in the teeth with her bare foot, sending him falling heavily into the cage. She worked the key in the lock, and in a moment the chains crashed to the floor. The tall man lay writhing on the floor, gasping for air. She came up behind him, wrapped her arms around his neck, and shouted up into the air, "this one's for you, Alex! You're next!" She whipped her arms around, snapping the man's neck like a chicken's. She hastily removed the corpse's clothes as the body lay twitching on the ground and dressed herself. The other man started to stir. Ellie scooted under the stairs and hit the button to lower the cage. The edge lowered directly across the man's throat. Ellie ran off camera. I sat, watching the man struggle for a couple minutes then lay still. I switched off the video.

"Nice, isn't it," said a voice behind me, causing me to nearly jump out of my seat.

"Have you seen it," I asked Carrie. "Do you believe me when I say I wasn't involved?"

"No. Not really. But it won't matter in a few minutes, because after that you'll have no one left but me to help you with your miserable life. If we can't find her, well, we'll eliminate that bitch the hard way. Hit the warning!"

The Klaxon sounded, this time for the Singularity Pulse Warning. All the searchers streamed back into the Palace, and Carrie made sure they had a good count, with no more missing people. All the bulkheads were secure, and they made a cursory search of the Palace, but Ellie escaped detection. I prayed she hid behind some drapes or something, but I don't think she was in here.

Carrie gave the signal, and a tiny speck of gaseous matter puffed into the Matrix containment field, sending off a mind-blowing electro-magnetic pulse. If Ellie hadn't escaped the ship, she'd be converted into a screeching zombie, beating herself into a bloody pulp.

"Good," said Carrie once the Matrix returned to normal. "Go do another search, and bring me back her broken body."

The crew searched and searched, but turned up nothing. Ellie had escaped. Carrie set a course for the Horn of Africa, deep in the heart of Pirate Central, and we turned the matrix up to maximum capacity.

Posted: Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 10:38 PM

Xyllan the Villain

2008-11-18T22:51:00.000-08:00

Xyllan The Villain

Wow, I've really gotten behind in my posts. That last post took place on Sunday. As you can tell I finally got Internet access, spotty as it may be, and I've been trying to catch up as fast as I can.

Since Sunday, we've raided half a dozen ships. Needless to say I don't go on the raids anymore. Carrie's decided to head out towards the West Indian Ocean, where a lot of pirates are operating. She thinks we're missing the "good" action or something. We've been steaming away night and day, logging over 2500 miles a day, only stopping for the occasional raid on a merchant ship or to adjust or clean some part of the Singularity Matrix Drive. The most hideous stop was when we boarded some kind of pleasure craft. I think it might have been one of Xyllan's enemies, because we didn't zap them first. We just boarded and slaughtered the crew by hand, and did something terrible with the guests, especially the women. I don't want to dwell on it.

Speaking of Xyllan, he seems to be a kind of prodigious figure on the QC1. He clearly runs the day-to-day operation of the pirates, if you want to call it an operation. Carrie of course runs the place, but Xyllan keeps everyone in line. He's the first to have any women prisoners we bring aboard, he gets first pick of the loot, and seems to chafe whenever Carrie orders him to do something. A hulking dark-skinned man of Asian descent, he never wears sleeves and has every inch of his body covered with tattoos.

Today an incident occurred that really scared me. The four of us: Misty, Rod, Julia, and I, all sat together at a table as was our norm. The whole boat seemed to be broken up into little cliques: the Officers, which included us at times when Carrie needed help in the control room, the rest of the technical staff, the Pirates which they broke down along racial and cultural lines with the Southeast Asians separate from the Middle Easterners from the South Americans from the Europeans from the Somalis, the prostitutes, although they tried to align themselves with the pirate groups, and the hired help including cooks, maintenance and sanitation men, the wardrobe staff, and a few other random people who helped keep the boat afloat since the pirates seemed useless at everyday tasks.

We all huddled together and talked quietly. I gave up my black pirate outfit for something a little simpler: just jeans and a T-shirt. I still kept a bandanna since I hadn't had a shave nor haircut in months and I needed something to keep the hair out of my eyes. I kept the purloined shotgun on my back and a pocket full of shells. I uncovered a better sword, something an officer would carry, and strapped it to my waist. Misty also toned it back a bit, but she found a smart nautical-style dress with a bit of Asian-based embroidery in it. She looked a bit like something out of the sixties. Julia still insisted on wearing her colorful Chinese waiter outfit. And she fit the part, going back and yelling and screaming at the staff whenever our food arrived a touch late or wasn't prepared perfectly. I think we've found ourselves a future master chef. Sometimes she even threw out our food and cooked us her own tasty recipes. "You are cooking for Officers," she would scream. "Not dirty whores! You make this food right!"

Misty had gotten Julia to open up just a bit about her ordeal. Her parents had died a number of years ago, and she found herself shuttled between abusive or non-caring family members, or worse, abusive group homes until she ran away. A man offered her a job as a cleaning girl at a restaurant, as long as she did more than just cleaning. She ran away from that and wound up on a boat of some kind. This boat was raided by Xyllan's crew and she was one of the only survivors.

"She has no family to go back to," explained Misty to when Julia was out of earshot. "We can't just send her back to that awful situation."

"But we have to do this thing the right way, or we're no better than these pirates," I explained.

"Are we? Are we really any better than them," she asked. More than once she begged me to consider just jumping off during some down time, but I insisted we see this thing through. And we couldn't abandon Julia and Rod.

Speaking of Rod, I noticed a growing attachment between Julia and Rod. I think she might remind him of his little sister, but in her I see the beginnings of a schoolgirl crush. She always served him first, and always made sure he liked the food. If he didn't, then she would rain hellfire down on the kitchen staff. If I complained, she smiled sweetly and just insisted I try again, maybe I just need to "learn the flavors more."

As we returned to our quarters after dinner, a shadow fell across us. Xyllan blocked our way. He extended a finger towards Julia.

"That's mine," he stated. "You've stolen my property."

"No," I said calmly. "She's ours."

The man grabbed Julia by the wrist. "Well she's mine now."

I practically jumped on his arm, but he flung me off like a rag doll. Rod suffered the same fate. I grabbed for my shotgun but Xyllan grabbed for his, and we faced each other leveling our guns. Julia struggled and struggled to break free, beating on his massive chest with a tiny fist.

"Hey! Asshole," came a cry from above. Ellie stood up in her cage. I have to admit she's starting to look terrible, like a cave woman. Her hair lay limp and matted across her head, her body seemed blotched and dirty from food being tossed and poured on her, and her leather skirt and bra seemed to hang limply from her struggles. "Yeah, you, you fat pile of shit."

Xyllan backed up a few paces so he could keep an eye on me and respond to Ellie. "Shut the fuck up, whore! Or I will teach you proper manners."

"Pick on someone your own size, you yellow dog, you.." she launched into a tirade of international curses that I guess Xyllan understood because his face turned black. With a great heave Julia broke free and scrambled behind me into Misty's arms. Rod helped them move quickly away from the area that became flooded with onlookers.

Xyllan turned back to me. "Why don't we fight like me, like Pirates, you and me. Winner takes the girl."

The pirates began chanting, "fight, fight, fight!"

I looked up in the ring. So far it had only been used for sparring. Most of the "real" fights were settled out on the deck, the loser thrown overboard. Honestly I didn't like my chances. The guy looked like a pro wrestler.

"If you want a fight, I'll give you a fight," yelled Ellie, her eyes growing wild. "Beating Ross won't prove anything. I've killed hundreds of men with my bare hands. If you want a fight, I'll take you on."

Inwardly I blessed Ellie for taking the attention off of me. The chants grew louder, and many of the men would die to see Ellie get whipped, seeing how she verbally assaulted them every time they passed. They started searching for the mechanism to lift off Ellie's cage when Carrie pushed her way through the masses.

"What the fuck is going on," she raged, swatting and pushing at the men. "Get your asses back to your posts. There's not going to be any fights today. Xyllan, what the hell are you thinking? You know I sold that girl. Why do you have to make my job harder? Ross, get your ass out of here. Move it! And as for you, you bitch, I think it's time we cleaned you up."

After Carrie's back was turned, Xyllan flashed her the throat-cut sign. He seemed pretty pissed. He grabbed a couple men and conferred in low whispers, and glanced at me and Carrie a couple times. I have a bad feeling about this.

They wheeled over a hose and began spraying poor Ellie with high-power sea water. Being chained up, she could barely keep from drowning as they aimed at her head. Her garments became ripped and tattered, and after they were done she sat shivering and mostly naked in a pool of water that collected up there. The men gathered around and piled on the insults but she just stared straight ahead and trembled. With fear or rage I don't know.

Back in the cabin, Julia cried uncontrollable. Misty held her for a long time. I went over to Rod's room and played cards. Finally Misty arrived and brought me back. Julia lay up on our bed asleep. "That Xyllan fellow had better watch his back," threatened Misty, "because he's gotten on my last nerve. If he touches Julia again I don't know what I'll do."

I've left them for a moment to type up this entry. This boat is slowly eating away at what's left of our souls. Something has to change soon, because we're running really low on humanity.

Posted: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 @ 10:51 PM

Piratry

2008-11-18T21:11:00.000-08:00

Piratry

We zipped across the surface of the ocean like some kind of giant hydroplane. Water simply exploded off the propellers in a huge spray of foam. The twin cooling towers glowed even with the 200mph cooling breeze as the vaporized water and sea salt shot high into the sky like billowing orange flames. In two hours or so it took to reach our target, we only consumed a tiny bit of fuel. The system took a while to cool down, and ship also needed to be slowed gradually, so we just coasted the last twenty miles or so. Even now, at a complete stop, about half a mile away from our target, steam still billowed out of the towers as the Singularity Matrix released its residual energy.

A boarding party assembled down near Ellie's cage. Mostly men, they carried any and all weapons they could, mostly shotguns and short swords and hatchets.

"Oh Alex," said Carrie, "you haven't seen the best part of this yet. Check out this feature."

The Klaxon sounded again, this time with a more urgent tone. People huddled in the room as all the hatches were double checked.

"Ready? we discovered this almost by accident. Apparently, if you dump a bunch of matter into the Singularity Matrix instead of ramping it up slowly, the Matrix creates this pulse that kind of messes with your head chemically. The theory is some channels get opened that aren't supposed to be. There are three basic levels: Stage One, people just pass out, and wake up with headaches. Stage Two, you're about to see that. Stage Three, well, they never wake up again. Turns people into vegetables. The problem with Stage Three is that the blast is so powerful we're afraid it will damage the Matrix so we try not to use it. It's pretty much overkill anyways. Well here we goes."

Carrie typed in some instructions and waited for a green condition on her monitor. She hit a button. I felt a shudder rip through the boat but not much else. A large plume of steam like a small mushroom cloud puffed out of the towers.

"Is it done," I asked.

Carrie nodded. She pointed at the monitors. Nothing moved. A couple other cameras focused on aircraft in the area. They seemed normal. "Approach the vessel at idle speed."

I directed the ship to approach the stricken freighter. It had come to a stop when it first saw us. In a delicate procedure, we came along side the boat. The men ran up the stairs and onto our deck, still warm from the heat of the towers. They spread out and started roping in the other ship. We cast a few lines across and then a rope ladder. A dozen of our men climbed it and jumped on the deck of the ship.

"Why don't you go with them and check it out," said Carrie.

I looked at Misty and she nodded OK. I arranged for Rod to take them back to their room and look after them. I didn't want Misty left alone without me.

"Et tu Alex Ross," Ellie yelled at me from her cell. She could see the proceedings on the movie wall. A couple pirates had mounted cameras so everyone could watch the invasion.

They wouldn't give me a gun but I managed a sword. I figured I might need a weapon. By the time I reached the deck they had already laid a gangplank across so I just walked onto the other ship. I followed the crowd around into the main bridge area. I noticed a couple crewmen laying still on the ground. They were still breathing. One of them started groaning and moving, holding his head.

I went over to him, and tried to help him sit up. His simply groaned louder and louder, and soon his companion began the same routine. Finally he stood up and screamed. His eyes popped open, and his mouth snarled with rage. In a moment he spotted me as I instinctively backed away. He charged at me, arms reaching for me. I think I screamed or something then ran. The fellow tripped and cracked his head on some pipes. He rose again, blood pouring from his open wound. He took another step towards me, and then his companion jumped on his back, biting and chewing and ripping at his neck and shoulders while beating him with his arms.

In a moment the first guy collapsed, blood streaming out like a river. The second chewed away on the downed man then stopped, eyeing me with rage. He started to approach me, and then his head exploded as a shotgun blast reached its mark.

"Fucking rookie," spat an old grizzly pirate. "You never been on a zombie raid?"

"Uhh... I just got on board. What the fuck is going on?"

The man scratched his scraggly beard and looked around. "It's zombie time. First we kill the zombies, then we loot. Is all you got that little sword? You expect to fight a zombie with that?"

I unsheathed it and examined it. The sword did seem like a poor killing weapon, especially against a charging zombie. "Not really. You got something better?"

The man raised his eyebrows and nodded. "Yeah, we found an arsenal over here. You better grab something. Not all these zombies attack on sight...some of them lay around waiting for someone to show, real smart and stealthy. Some don't even turn to Zombies, they just act all drunk. They're the first ones to die though when the full zombies attack, can't defend worth shit."

He led me around the bridge to the arsenal. It had been almost picked clean but after some rummaging the man found me a pump-action shotgun and a box of shells. I began to hate my outfit since it had almost no pockets whatsoever.

"Stick with me, kid. Let's see what's on this boat."

What proceeded was the most disorganized and random looting I've ever seen. As the men killed the zombies, they stole their possessions. The blew the ship safe and stole cash. The staterooms were searched. Then they turned their attention to the cargo: a shipment of produce and refrigerated meats from Argentina and Chile, food we desperately needed to restock our larder.

The old pirate led me around the boat searching for various items. When we discovered a large cache of booze, I think the old man also died from joy. We radioed up our discovery, and all attention turned to figuring out the best way to get the booze onto our boat.

I decided I had seen enough and started to return back to the QC1 when I heard an odd keening noise. I followed it, my shotgun drawn and loaded. I entered the engine room. A man sat on the floor, bleeding from several places. Another man lay on the ground, his face and neck cut to ribbons. He spoke in Spanish, crying and raising his broken hands towards me. I felt another presence near me, one of the other pirates.

"Do you know what he's saying," I asked. "Is he still a zombie?"

"No, it wears off after a while," replied the man, aiming his gun at the man. "He's asking why, why did this happen? You see, he just pretty much ate that other dude. Now his mind's clearing up. This is the worst part. His says he thinks his arms are broken. They swing so hard as zombies that they break their arms, dislocate their shoulders, break their necks, you name it. It's like you just went to Hell."

He took aim, and blew the guy's head off. "Poor bastard."

I hurried up and out of there, and puked my guts out before I could even get to the rail. My whole body trembled. What the hell has Carrie done? How could you use this against people? This is horrible. I think people should not try to fight us. It's not worth it. If you're on a boat and you see us approach, just put up a white flag and surrender. Don't let us do this again. This isn't a weapon you can fight.

After that incident I retired to my quarters where Misty held me tight. Rod had offered to play some checkers with Julia while I talked with Misty. There's not much that can erase those memories from my head.

Posted: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 @ 9:11 PM

QC1 Takes Flight

2008-11-17T23:17:00.000-08:00

QC1 Takes Flight

One thing you need to know about Pirates: "First thing in the morning" really means around noon. They aren't very organized or methodical. They really just do things whenever the mood strikes them.

Misty and I rummaged through the meager trappings of the room, finding a couple of things we could wear. A guard finally unlocked us around ten AM and escorted us over to "wardrobe." In there we found all kinds of pirate costumes, all colorful and handmade. For a while we had some fun trying on different things. I pushed my way back through the racks of clothes, looking for a black leather headscarf and matching pants. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed something move in the very back.

I pushed some of the clothes aside, and discovered the Filipino serving girl hiding amid the clothes.

"Please don't tell them," she whispered, trembling and eyes wide. "I can't go back in there. Please."

Misty peered over my shoulder and gasped. "Oh, my poor dear. Alex, be a dear and cover us while we chat."

I rearranged some racks so Misty could talk with the girl. I nonchalantly looked at some clothes while keeping an eye on the other purveyors of the piratalia. After a few minutes Misty pushed through the clothes.

"Alex, the poor girl. She can't go back to that dreadful palace. She's scared half to death. Is there anything we can do?" Misty held my arm as her eyes pleaded with me.

I rubbed my face for a second. "I guess we have to hide her. Bring her food. Maybe if we make a port we can sneak her off and book passage back to Manila. Jesus, how old do you think she is?"

"Maybe thirteen, fourteen. Just a young gal. Not cut out for being pirate booty."

"Okay, okay, let me think." I looked around the room a bit. "Dress her up. I mean real street-walker. There's a makeup counter over there. Then take her to our room. If anyone stops you, just explain that she's exactly what you want, and you don't want witnesses."

"Alex! She's been through so much." Misty peered back through the clothes. "I don't know if she would trust me."

"Misty. I trust you. Just be patient with her. Tell her you'll stay with her at night and protect her. I'll hang out somewhere else. I'll just say you kicked me out if anyone asks."

Misty squeezed me quickly and dove back through the racks. I finally spotted the pieces to complete my "Dread Pirate Roberts" look. Finally Misty emerged with the girl in tow. She stared around with frightened eyes.

"Now let's make you a proper Pirate," said Misty, leading her over to the makeup counter. "What's your Pirate name? I'm Misty. Hmm. Misty...Northernstar. What about you?"

The girl was quiet for a moment, not sure how to respond.

"That's okay," said Misty. "Just give me your first name? Then I'll give you a Pirate last name."

"Uhh, Julia," she said in a very small voice.

"Great! Let me see now, Julia, Julia, how about Julia Petunia? No? Okay. Julia Scorpionmaster?"

She giggled a bit. "Julia Sharkeater? Julia Whalebones? Julia Suncatcher?"

"Yeah," said Julia. "Julia Suncatcher. I love the sun."

"Well there we go. Now let's get you dressed proper. We will make the best Pirates on the ship." Misty carefully applied the makeup to girl, softly and skillfully. I kept an eye on the proceedings and also on the comings and goings. Then Misty allowed the girl to apply her makeup. Misty definitely had a calming and friendly demeanor to the girl, who had suffered through who knows what in the last few weeks.

At last all were ready. Misty and Julia appeared like the Belles of the Ball with all their finery. Misty also packed a few changes of clothes.

I took the lead walking back to our cabin. Whenever we came across someone I distracted them by asking where certain facilities where on the ship while the girls snuck by unnoticed, at least by wearing clothes so loud that no one would suspect them of sneaking. We arrived in the cabin and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. Misty helped wash all their garish makeup off and found the girl some comfortable clothes. She lay her down for a nap then came to talk to me.

"What are we going to do," she asked me.

"We have two problems," I responded. "One, we've got to keep her hidden. Two, she's got to stay inside the shield while the Matrix is operational or her brain will be fried. So this may work for a day, but we've got to get her inside the Palace when the Drive runs."

Misty frowned, her eyes narrowing and her cute nose wrinkling. "Bollux. Who designed this bloody ship? Idiots. Oh Miss Julia? Tell me about the kitchen a bit. Let's figure out if you've found some good hiding places. Alex, you go ahead and find out what you can. Give us plenty of warning if they plan to fire it up."

"Okay, I'll be back as soon as I can."

"And bring some bloody tea and some biscuits if you can," called Misty after me.

I entered the Palace and crossed over to the cafe. As I walked past, Ellie shouted at me, "you'll pay, Ross! You'll pay for your treachery!" She rattled her chains at me but I avoided eye contact. I feel sorry for her, but I'm going to get what's coming to me. There wasn't anything I could do for her. She had served her purpose.

I snuck into the cafe and grabbed as much food as I could carry. Just as I started to leave, Carrie spotted me.

"Ross! Where the fuck have you been all morning? Hey, nice duds...where the hell is Nguyen?"

I froze for a moment. "Uhh...she's...a bit seasick. You know...we haven't drank anything for months until last night."

Carrie smirked. "Yeah, I always thought she was a lightweight. Go tell her she's got about thirty minutes to sober up before we light up these puppies. We need you guys at the controls in case anything happens. Now get her ass down here."

I started walking then stopped. "Hey, Carrie, quick question. Seeing how you have all these...workers...here, I was wondering if Misty and I could, like, have a servant? Someone just for us? Like our own slave?"

Now Carrie began cracking up. "God! Just when you think you know someone. Wait, you're serious. You and Misty...want like a sex slave? Whoa...Sure! Go for it! But it will cost you, these people don't come cheap. That's a hundred thou out of your take. Each. No returns, and you're responsible for whatever trouble this slave gets into."

"Fine! Fine! Jesus, after all Misty and I have been through, we just want some comforts."

Carrie shook her head. "Alex, you don't have to explain. We're Pirates now and we take what we want. I hadn't thought slavery but it makes perfect sense. What was I thinking, trying to have you guys executed? You fit right in!"

She gave me a thumbs up as she rushed off to make final preparations for our maiden voyage. I vaunted back to our quarters, ignoring Ellie's caged invective.

"Ssh," said Misty as I entered. Julia slept on the bed while Misty sorted through the pirate gear.

"I have sort of good news. Julia is now our personal slave. She belongs to us."

Misty's mouth dropped open. "No, you didn't. Really? What bloody hell does that mean?"

I shrugged. "She's our property. Means we control her, like a pimp I guess. I don't know, I've never owned a slave."

"We are NOT pimping her out."

"Duh!" I sat down next to Misty. "But it means we don't have to hide her. She stays with us at all times. Like, I don't know, like she's our kid."

Misty nodded and smiled. "I think I'm too young to be a mum. Especially of a teenager."

"Aww, you'd be a great mom."

"Don't," warned Misty. "Don't even go there, Alex. That's a long ways off. And there's no way I'm being a pregnant Pirate."

We shared a laugh for a moment. I gave her a quick kiss and hug. "Well Park wants us down there. Let's get Julia up and explain her new role."

Misty woke the girl gently and explained that the girl would be our special servant, and we would do anything to protect her. She just need to stay close to one of us at all times. No one else could tell her what to do, and if she ever felt uncomfortable with what we asked her, she could tell us. She heartily agreed, definitely taking a fancy to Misty.

Misty pulled out a nice gold-laced maroon outfit that made Julia look like a cross between a busboy and a chinese chef. She found a matching cap and placed it on her head. The silken outfit featured a dragon motif and a shiny sun on one shoulder. She could definitely serve in any fancy Asian restaurant.

It took a great effort to convince Julia to enter the Palace again, but we explained patiently that we would watch over her and protect her.

The interior of the Palace swarmed with activity. All loose items were being stowed or tied down. A row of chairs was assembled in front of the movie wall which now showed a myriad of internal and external images. These chairs were securely bolted to the floor and featured lap belts. Apparently they anticipated a rough ride.

We made our way over to the control center. Ellie glared at us but didn't say much, maybe wondering about the figure that accompanied us. Carrie waved us in and directed us to our consoles.

"Wait, that's your servant? Shit."

"What? Is there a problem," I asked.

"Oh nothing, nevermind," replied Carrie, but I could sense she was lying.

I studied my monitor. All the old familiar code came back to me as I ran down the checklist. Misty sat next to me with Julia in between, just watching. We all put on headsets to be able to converse in case it grew too loud. Even Julia got one although it wasn't on.

The klaxon sounded. One minute to launch. Anyone not in the Palace faced certain insanity.

Once all the hatches had been closed, Carrie announced, "Okay, let's go. Let's get this thing moving. Raise anchor!"

From somewhere in the ship we heard a loud rumbling as the anchor dragged up the side of the ship.

"Impulse power, 5%. I've always wanted to say that. Wait 'til we go to warp drive."

I raised the input to the Matrix just slightly. Steam started shooting out of the towers. In one image, I could see the giant propellers begin to turn underwater. I felt a slight nudge coming through the floor.

Carrie began shouting out navigation instructions as we felt our way through the shallow bay. For an hour we tooled around the bay. Radar lit up with surveillance aircraft but none approached close enough to be a threat. We knew subs trailed us in the water.

At last we made it out to deeper water. "Let's go up to 10 knots," said Carrie, dropping the Star Trek references.

Gently I urged the Matrix to higher output. Steam billowed up from the cooling towers as we passed seawater directly around the Matrix and into turbines that powered the propellers. "Systems nominal," I said, feeling the sweat gathering on my forehead. I basically sat at the controls of a nuclear bomb, monitoring a slow nuclear explosion.

"Twenty. Thirty. Forty."

The freighter moved faster and faster. I doubted any sub or military ship could keep up with us. The deck shimmied and the walls groaned.

"Fifty."

"Come on Carrie, she can't take much more," I cried.

"Bullshit! Sixty!"

The ship now blazed through the water, cutting a huge wake through the waves.

"Okay, Ross, give me full power! I want to see what she's made of. Do it!"

I said a quick prayer. Misty glanced at me through gritted teeth, and Julia found an empty chair to strap into. I increase the power up to 100%. Of course I can always add more power, but not without completely melting the Matrix and destroying the Earth.

Seventy. Eighty. I felt the bow beginning to rise. If we flipped we'd be doomed! "We're going over," I yelled, reaching to cut the power.

"WAIT!" Carrie pointed at the screens. The ship settled, running up on hydrofoils. Wings extended from the top deck to add stability. One camera focused on the original bridge of the ship. As we hit 120 knots, the entire structure seemed to crumble and fall away from the cooling tubes. These tubes now shot what looked like giant flames up into the sky, glowing red themselves. Only a few vertical fins remained to provide aerodynamics. The bridge had just been a decoy for the true design of the ship. This wasn't a container ship at all. 150, 160. Once skimming the water, the ride felt much more comfortable, much like a slightly turbulent airplane ride. We finally topped out at 200 knots, about 230 mph, the speed Indy cars travel at the speedway. Behind us a titanic rooster tail of water shot up into the sky almost a thousand feet high. This clearly was no stealth boat, we could be seen coming from dozens of miles away, like a fire breathing dragon.

After a couple minutes at this unbelievable speed, we realized we weren't dead. "Okay, take us back down to 150 knots," said Carrie, almost breathless. "Whew! Yes! This fucker actually works!"

Cheers went up all around the Palace.

Carrie punched up a Satellite map on my monitor. "Ross, you think you can get us to these coordinates?"

"Yeah. It's tough to steer at these speeds but I'll get us there. What is it?"

Carrie laughed into her headset. "It's our first target. Pirates! First attack in two hours! Ready yourselves for plunder! We be boarding us a ship!"

The assembled throngs screamed in bloodthirsty cries.

Posted: Monday, November 17, 2008 @ 11:17 PM

Queen Carrie

2008-11-16T21:45:00.000-08:00

Queen Carrie

Well it wasn't so hard to get back online after all. Let me catch you all up to date. Note that these posts are being reviewed before I send them out, so I can't post everything that's going on, but I hope you all get the idea.

We climbed into a small inflatable craft after dark, right around moonrise. The harbor lay serene in the glow, and only the slightest of breezes greeted us. The water lapped gently at the side of the boat. Rod fired up the small engine and we set sail towards the dark freighter that lay about 8 miles away.

The boat progressed in uncomfortable silence. I sat next to Misty while Rod sat on the opposite side. Ellie stood in the bow, peering through binoculars for any sign of a threat. We knew that submarines skulked here and there under the water, although this part of the harbor drew too shallow for most of them.

It took the better part of an hour to cross the harbor in the underpowered raft. The freighter loomed dark and foreboding in the moon glow. They had no lights on, the only evidence of activity was a small wisp of steam coming from a smokestack. None of the windows of the bridge of the ship emitted any light.

As we approached the final couple hundred meters, a couple spotlights lit up along the edge of the decking, shining down onto the raft. The lights swayed a bit, indicating the path we were to take on our approach. We finally reached the side of the freighter which towered far above us. They lowered a scaffold used to clean and inspect the hull of the freighter and we climbed aboard. Slowly the scaffold ascended the side of the ship, until we crested the edge of the deck. We stared into the barrels of a dozen guns.

"What the hell," I breathed as the vision of the dozen men became apparent. They all wore gaily colored outfits of what I can only describe at "pirate wear." Bandanas, vests, shirts, leggings, boots, all seemed to be straight out of a Hollywood casting closet. A couple men even brandished swords at us.

The pirates tied our hands behind our backs with nylon ropes and frisked us carefully. None of us were stupid enough to try to carry anything on board. Still, they checked us carefully. As they worked, I looked around the deck of the freighter. Normally, a container ship is kind of like a row boat in that it's just a bottom and walls. This ship had a large deck where the containers usually are stacked. We also could see no lights from the bridge of the ship, and I could see through the windows that the bridge was indeed empty. Apparently they controlled the ship from elsewhere.

The men began to escort us across the deck. Ellie leaned over to me. "I recognize some of these people. It's like a who's who of the most wanted international criminals and assassins."

"So you should fit right in," I replied. She shot me a "not funny" look. We entered a roped-off area that turned out to be a large lift. Someone hit the controls and we began to descend. We dropped only about twenty feet to the next deck. We were in a narrow walkway leading forward and aft. Before us lay a large door, something akin to a bank vault door. Ellie examined the hull.

"This might be radiation shielding. It's an inner hull made of lead I believe. This probably leads to a 'safe' zone inside."

One of the men nodded. "You'll learn all about it. Through here is our main area, we call it 'The Palace'. Welcome to The Palace."

The door open and as one the four of us gasped. We stepped through the portal into completely unexpected scene. Imagine the main ballroom of the Titanic combined with Jabba the Hut's lair. We were up high on a walkway so we enjoyed a panoramic view of the room which must have comprised a good third of the length of the ship and most of its width and height. It was a good four flights of stairs down to the main floor.

Crystal chandeliers lit the ceiling, with brightly colored banners cascading down the walls. The middle of the floor featured some kind of boxing or wrestling ring, and the far wall on the end projected a movie. Elegant lamps and rugs covered the floors. At the bottom of the stairs we were greeted with a vision in white and gold, almost like a Greek Goddess.

"Hello again, Alex," said Carrie Park from under her golden jewel-encrustedcrown and thick make-up. "Welcome to The Queen Carrie I. This is what we like to call The Palace." She extended her arm and swept it around the place.

"Wow," was all I could say.

"Ms. Nguyen, Mr. Portman, glad we could meet again. Now, as to you, Ms. Galistina, I have something special for you. Men!"

A group of men grabbed Ellie. She screamed at them and fought but they pinned her down. One man produced a knife.

"Carrie, don't!" I cried.

"Wait for it, Ross. We won't hurt her. At least not yet."

The man with the knife began cutting off Ellie's outfit, just her usual SWAT-looking clothes. As she struggled, they got her completely naked. Then they began putting on various pieces of attire, mostly black leather with rivets and chains, something like a dominatrix would wear. The piece de resistance was a heavy choker attached to a couple long metal chains. On command the men jumped off of her and pulled the chains tight.

Ellie went nuts. She pulled on the chains and screamed and hissed and tried to move, but with all the chains attached to her neck she couldn't move far. A chorus of laughter filled the Palace as all the assembled throng gathered to watch. The men led her to the opposite side of the room.

Angry voices filled the room. "You bitch! You killed my brother! You assassinated my father! You stole my money!" I think Carrie might have populated the boat with people all who hate Ellie. The dragged her kicking and screaming up some stairs onto a platform where they bolted the chains onto four posts. They slackened it just enough so she could move just a little bit, but for all intents and purposes she was confined to a small area up on a platform where everyone could see. Carrie gave a signal, and a large metal cage descended around Ellie with no door or exit.

Carrie whispered to me, "I can't let these animals destroy her...at least not yet. I'll let them have their fun when the time is right."

Once Ellie was secured, Carrie ascended the stairs and addressed the throng. "I have an announcement to make! Ellie, shut the fuck up or we'll get out the cattle prods. Thank you. Now with the addition of our centerpiece, and of course fixing the technical glitches, The Queen Carrie I is ready to sail on our maiden voyage!"

The crowd cheered wildly. A cart rolled through the palace distributing bottles of champagne. Carrie asked for one to be handed up to her. "I now christen thee 'The SMD Queen Carolyn One' powered by the awesome Singularity Matrix Drive. Let's just call her The Queen Carrie. Now, lower the flag!" She smashed the bottle against one corner of Ellie's cell.

On one side of wall a huge banner descended. It was completely black except for a white skull and crossbones and the letters QC1/SMD. The crowd erupted once more. The movie wall displayed someone on deck raising a similar flag on a pole. I'm sure all the cameras trained on the ship took note of the action.

"We will take her out first thing in the morning," announced Carrie, "but for tonight, let's party!"

Loud techno music filled the air and colored lights flashed and swung around. Misty grasped my hand, her jaw hanging loose from astonishment. Ellie pulled on her chains and yelled, but no one could hear her above the din. A few of her mortal enemies walked up to her cage and taunted her and took turns yanking her chains, but the worst they could do was throw champagne on her. Ellie sat down in the middle and fumed, staring at me uncomfortably. Carrie led us away from the spectacle.

She led us to one corner of the room which contained a kitchen and a number of tables for dining. An elegant setting had been laid out for us. Carrie sat at the head of the table, while her friend Xyllan at the opposite. I sat directly to her left and then Misty while Rod sat opposite me. In moments we were served warm toasty bread and savory soups, while wine and champagne flowed freely. They lowered the volume of the music in this area so we could converse without shouting and put up a privacy wall.

"Well, Alex, what do you think," asked Carrie between bites.

Misty spoke up, "I think it's sick and depraved. What is that over there? An orgy? There are people having sex right out in the open."

Carrie shrugged. "I'm trying to promote a 'free sex' society. Anyone, anywhere, anytime. I'm really just trying to get rid of all those pesky 'morals' people adhere to. Just do what you want. We're pirates here! We take what we want and we don't take prisoners."

"So that's why everyone is wearing pirate gear? Where's the rum," I asked.

"Yes, dear Alex. It's my new clothing line. I call it 'Pirate Chic'. We're going to plunder the world's trade routes...to start with. You think the financial crisis is bad? Wait until we begin disrupting shipping...the world economy will drop to it's knees. We sink a couple oil tankers and let the panic commence."

I choked down a roll. "Where does this end, Carrie? What's your goal?"

Carrie smiled at me patronizingly. "Why Alex. Imagine a fleet of these ships. A Navy if you will. All under my command. We would own the high seas. We would exact a huge bounty on world trade. The world's navies would be useless against us. The entire world oil trade would flow through us. We could set the price of oil. We could trade oil routes in exchange for controlling interest in the oil companies. We would rule the world."

Rod spoke, "and what's to stop other countries from building their own Singularity Matrix Drives?"

Carrie slammed a fist down on the table, almost spilling some water. "Us. Why do think the Large Hadron Collider broke? We can't have people experimenting around with this technology. The four of us at this table are the only ones who know how to control the Matrix. I intend to keep it that way. This is why we have to act quickly. If we bring the rest of the world down to its knees, no one will have the ability to finance such a project. Now, let's talk about more pleasant subjects."

I have to admit I thoroughly enjoyed the meal of lobster and steak and a great dessert. It was my first real meal in a year or so. I did keep peeking over at Ellie, who seemed resigned to her fate at the moment. We talked a bit about the Palace. It had every luxury known to man. Carrie had spared no expense in bringing in some of the world's most beautiful women and men to serve as hosts and essentially sex workers. There were a few technical people like us whom Carrie trusted. The rest were a mixture of rugged seamen, mercenaries, and mobsters.

"Now for the grand tour. Take some of these leftovers and throw it into the cage with my pet." One of the hostesses, a young Filipino girl nodded and collected the scraps.

I asked Carrie, "is she one of your 'sex workers'? She seems a bit young."

Carrie shrugged. "Whatever. She agreed to the deal, same as everyone: one year of service, $100,000. That's probably more than her entire village has made in her lifetime."

"Did she know what she was getting into?"

Carried turned to face me, her face turning red. "Alex. Are you questioning me already? You wanted to be a part of this. Now no more questions. You're killing my good mood. Let's get you all settled in."

She led us back through the palace floor, past rows of video game consoles, past the shrine to Ellie and Piratedom, through a casino area, along another museum-like shrine which displayed many of Carries possessions including rare cars, stolen artwork, sculptures, rare and probably stolen antiquities, and the movie wall and surrounding theater. Ellie screamed obscenities in three languages at us as we passed. She really isn't taking this well.

We passed through another air/radiation lock. "Only the palace is safe when the Matrix is operational. That's why we have a control center inside. The original bridge of this ship is fairly useless, and you'll see what happens to it soon enough. There will be a klaxon warning and you'll have about sixty seconds to return to the Palace or you might get your brain fried if we have to turn up the juice."

She led us through some corridors and stopped at some doors. "Here are your rooms. Alex and Ms. Nguyen are in here, Mr. Portman in here. Sorry I couldn't get the two of you separate cabins, but space is severely limited as you can imagine." I pocketed the key she gave me while Misty sniffed around the room. "Now while you two are getting settled, I want to show Alex something."

She led me down the hall and up and down some stairs. "This is my room," she said. "It's the Captain's suite. I don't let anyone in here, not even Xyllan. But I have something to show you, you might be the only one who can truly appreciate it."

I worried that she might try to seduce me. I'd hoped she wouldn't, it would probably be just as awkward as last time. Fortunately she didn't. She closed and locked the door behind us. "Come over here," she said. "On top of that shelf there's a box. Take it down. It's very heavy and very fragile, so be careful."

I found a box about a foot square. It felt very warm to the touch, like it had been under a heat lamp. I grabbed a chair and carefully grabbed the box. It must have been close to sixty pounds. I nearly dropped it and Carrie gasped and cringed. "Jesus fucking christ be careful," she shouted. I got the box down and opened it up. Inside was a glass cube. "Take it out."

Carrie held the box while I lift the cube. It seemed to be a solid clear glass cube. Then I noticed the cube contained a hollow sphere inside. Carrie dimmed the lights. The cube continued to glow, especially along the inside of the inner sphere.

Carrie bought over a light and held up a piece of paper before it. "Look through it at this paper. Tell me what you see."

I peered inside. At first I didn't see anything. Then..."what is that?" A tiny black dot floated in the center of the cube, like a speck of dirt. I had to focus my eyes right on the center of the cube.

"Watch this," said Carrie, and she shoved the cube a couple inches to the side. The tiny speck swayed just a little bit then settled down. "It's another Singularity. This is a leaded and magnetized glass containment block. It's our replacement if anything goes wrong with the current one. The warmth you feel is the constant 100 Watts of radiation it emits to maintain equilibrium. Now let me tell you something else. When these are created, you actually get two black holes. The original research had been examining quantum effects at distances. Once they achieved high enough power, they actually began creating pairs of black holes with lifetimes of trillionths of seconds. But if they took them and separated them, and fed them ordinary matter, they grew until they reached their present size. Then they began emitting whatever matter you threw at them. Here's the thing: these two singularities are like brothers and sisters, or like twins. Mirror images of each other. To us they have the same properties, but the quantum spin of one is the opposite of the other. Not only that, but they're connected. We haven't figured out all the details, but in theory, we can have instantaneous communication through these singularities. That's faster than the speed of light. Imagine building a whole network full of these things. Cities with limitless power. Computers with limitless speeds. Doesn't this make you excited? Think of the possibilities. And with me in charge, you won't have a bunch of bureaucratic idiots squandering this technology."

I studied the tiny mote of darkness before me. It was no bigger than a molecule, but it bent light around it so that it looked like a tiny circle about a half-millimeter wide. It weighed no more than a drop of water, but had the power to destroy the planet if fed too much matter. Carrie assured me that the glass cube could withstand a lot of damage, but she'd rather not find out. If needed they could open a microscopic hole and suck the singularity out into the Matrix if needed.

I helped Carrie replace the box on the shelf. "I'm really tired," I said yawning, "and it sounds like tomorrow is a big day."

"OK then. Bright and early. This is going to be fun."

A guard escorted me back to my room and locked me in my room with Misty. I practically dropped asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I need to run for a little bit. I'll tell you how the maiden voyage went in my next post.

Posted: Sunday, November 16, 2008 @ 9:45 PM

Chit Chat

2008-11-15T20:55:00.000-08:00

Chit Chat

Ellie spent a long time talking with the big-wigs in camp. I have pretty good confidence in her: she can accomplish just about anything she sets her mind to. They had me shacked up in an equipment tent where people came in and out at all hours of the day and night. After debriefing Ellie, Misty dropped in to my tent. I could see a concerned look on her face.

"So, Alex, how well do you know that woman," she asked, flopping down on the cot next to me?

"Um...we dated for nine months, and lived together most of that time. I never knew she was an agent and a foreigner until the very end. So basically I don't know her at all."

"Do you trust her?" She held her helmet in her hands as she sat on the cot. We all were required to wear them in case snipers lurked about.

"With my life. I don't know if she would be here if not for me. I think leaving me at Kastle Klingon is eating her up inside, and she's having trouble forgiving herself."

Misty brushed some dirt off her helmet. "So," she said softly, "you still have some feelings for her?"

"It's complicated," I replied, probably not the best response. "I mean, I don't know if we were ever really together. And it just sort of ended, no fight or anything. I mean there was a battle and all that, but we just kind of parted."

"That's not really an answer," Misty said.

I tried to explain the best I could. "Misty, Ellie is bat-shit crazy. She kills people by chewing through their necks. Like a dog making a kill. I think I've seen a little too much of the real Ellie to ever go back. I don't think she's ever going to change her ways. She's not the kind of person I think I'd want to raise a family with. She set up a hitman agency...just for fun. She kills for fun. It's not my kind of lifestyle."

Misty sighed. "Still...it's OK Alex. I understand if you have feelings for her. I just want you to be honest with me."

I knelt before her and grabbed her hands. "I guess I wasn't being clear. Ellie and I have a close history. But that's all it is: history. I've moved on, she's moved on, and you're the one I want to be with now. We've talked and talked about all the things we want to do back in the world and I'm so excited about being with you and doing those things. It's great to see Ellie, but whenever I think about her I also think about how much she lied to me. It's like falling in love with a character in a book. It's great while you're reading, but when the book's closed you have nothing. I want to see your homeland, I want to share your life and be with you."

A tear spilled down her face and we hugged. "Thank you, Alex," she whispered to me.

"Ahem," came a voice from the tent door.

"Ellie! Hey. Have you met Misty?"

Ellie poked her head through the flap. "Yeah, we've...met. Good to see you again, Officer Nguyen. Now I need to steal Alex for a little while. Gotta, you know, save the world."

Misty managed a small smile but held onto me just a moment more than needed. "Talk to you later," she told me.

Ellie led me across the camp, followed by the usual contingent of guards. We entered a communication center where the company Commander and his staff waited for us.

We all stood around a table. Ellie began speaking. She described her elaborate set up, and detailed everyone's roles. I didn't particularly like the plan, but it made a kind of sense. It was our only option really.

"Then it's done," said the Commander. "Sergeant, see if you can open a channel to the boat. They must be listening on some frequency."

"No," I said, "I have a better idea. I just need a computer connected to the Internet. There's one I was using on my trip over here."

They retrieved the laptop I had been using and hooked me up. I knew a few aliases Carrie had used in the past. I logged into various services and finally found one alias online.

"Hey" I typed into the window.

While I was waiting for a response I searched for a few more screen names but nothing came up. After about ten minutes, I got a reply.

"Well, look what cat dragged up. You're still alive? What the hell do you want?"

"I want in. I'm sick of coming up on the losing side."

"Really. Or is it more like you're setting me up?"

I thought. "Yes, really. I've had it with being pushed around. First Ellie, then at the labor camp. I'm sick of it all and I want mine. I worked my ass off to help build the Matrix and I want some of the benefit. You owe me."

"Right. And what do exactly bring to the table?"

"I know you've been sitting out there for two weeks working on technically difficulties. I can deliver Misty Nguyen and Rod Portman. Misty wants to be with me and Rod really was a defector. Also...I can deliver Ellie. I am so sick of her trying to mess up my thing with Misty. She's a real jealous bitch." Sorry, Ellie.

"Ha!" She replied. Then, "So you want to join our merry band of pirates as we take over the world. You should see our bounty chest already. It would take all of the island of Oahu to bury it all."

Ahh, I got her to talk about her favorite subject: herself. "Sounds kewl. I'm so sick of the bullshit. I want Ellie to stop fucking up my life. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to help you, but I gotta get something out of it. Got any needs for any presidents of any countries? It can be a small country."

"I think I've underestimated you, Alex. This world is built for people to take what they want. You taught me that. And you really did do a pretty good job on the Matrix control system. It's whomever built this engine management system that I want eliminated as soon as possible. Fucking retards."

"So I have the idiot Brits thinking they'd send us over to talk you out of it. Make you listen to reason. Present you with 'deals'. Once we eliminate Ellie there's not much to fear."

We waited for a while for a response.

"OK Alex. How do you want to do this?"

I typed in some instructions about how we would steal a small boat at night and head over to her. So it's all set for a few hours.

This may be my last post for a while, if ever. Once we're on that boat...assuming Carrie even lets us on and lets us live, I don't know if I'll be able to communicate.

Wish us luck.

Posted: Saturday, November 15, 2008 @ 8:55 PM

Assault on Kastle Klingon

2008-11-12T22:58:00.000-08:00

Assault on Kastle Klingon

"I've got to meet with your commander," Ellie announced, interrupting my story. "We've got to get a mission underway. Sitting around here jacking off is bullshit. Park could set off one of those Zombie Waves at any time, and we'd be chewing each other to death. I think we also may be running out of time. She's been planning something, and I don't think she's wait much longer. If that ship starts moving, they're going to go after it with everything they got. And I mean everything. No matter what the cost."

"They can't, Ellie. If they attack that ship, and sink it...we're not just talking about collateral damage. One of two things could happen from what I can tell. One is a runaway nuclear reaction. If the contents of this harbor were converted to energy, the resulting explosion would knock the Earth out of orbit. The other scenario involves the Earth shrinking to the size of racket ball."

Ellie regarded me with a penetrating gaze. "Then I really need to speak to someone in charge here."

I could see the hard look in her face. The full moon bathed the harbor in its cold glare. Ellie stood up with a look of determination in her face. It was a look I'd learned not to cross. "Don't you think the Marines will capture you?"

Ellie smiled coldly. "I think they'll want to listen to me. After all, you and I are the closest people in the world to Park, except that pirate she's hanging with. We know her better than anyone."

"And we know what she's capable of. I'm really sorry, Ellie, we really tried to stop her. A lot of people lost their lives trying to stop her, and it looks like a lot more people will die still."

Ellie pulled me close. "Listen Alex, you did what you had to. I've been cut out of the loop. What's done is done and we need to move on. Now let's head over to the base, and finish telling me your story."

Security became tighter than ever before. Our dorms had gone into full lock down, everyone confined to their floor. None of the British agents lived on my floor. Fortunately I could see the women's dorm from the bathroom window vent, and Misty and I had set up a signaling system to convey messages if we were separated. We had made small colored clothes we could hang outside to communicate with. We could hang them so they weren't readily visible from the ground, only from the respective windows. Every hour or so I wandered over to the vent and looked out. Around 11PM, I spotted a red and two white cloths: assault at 0200.

I threw up the green acknowledgement cloth and almost ran back to my room. I thought of packing, but I had absolutely nothing of value in the entire room. All I could do was turn off the lights and pace in the dark. A million thoughts raced through my mind...what would happen to Misty? Could we stay together? Would she want to? Could I ever return to America, or could Misty help me to go to England? And could we stop Carrie? I could sense that she came in as a hired consultant, but knowing her she would stop until she controlled this entire organization.

After only a short time of contemplation, I heard the rumble of diesel engines firing off. I rushed to the window, and saw that the entire camp had come to life. Had our plot been discovered? They were hurriedly packing everything up and getting it all back onto trucks. I tried the door to the stairwell but I found it securely bolted. I ran back to my room, and tried the bars. I couldn't budge them. I had a rendezvous in just over two hours, and I was trapped.

For an hour I frantically searched around for escape. As I watched, they packed away all the servers and hardware and of course the Matrix. In the courtyard, a number of the guards assembled, all holding automatic rifles. In front of them stood General Kanaan. He addressed them in Chinese for a while. They saluted and split into several groups. One of the groups unlocked the bolts and entered the first floor of my building. I heard shouts and yelling.

Then came the gunfire. My heart almost dropped out of my body. It was an execution! We were being eliminated, floor by floor, building by building. I heard screams of terror, a burst of gunfire, and then nothing. I heard a similar chorus from another building, perhaps the women's dorm. The other men on my floor gathered in the hall, yelling and screaming as well. The entire camp erupted in panic.

"Come on, we've got to get out of here," I screamed. I led them into the bathroom. "Grab whatever you can, we've got to bust out a window." A few of us tore off the sink, some others snagged the toilet as water gushed everywhere. "Over here," I led them to one of the corner rooms. As one we charged the window and busted the bars clean out.

I hear the struggle on the floor beneath us. The men had caught on and barricaded themselves in their rooms, forcing the guards to bust down the doors and execute them one at a time. It at least bought us some time.

"Up to the roof," I said. "From there we might be able to make it out of camp." That wasn't my goal, but it would keep them motivated. I doubted any of us would survive the night. I helped them one by one to climb up. The gunfire from the second floor ceased, they would be up here in a moment. I helped the last man up when the door to the room we were escaping from burst open. I literally jumped for the hand extended down to me as the window frame exploded from the fusillade of bullets. They tried to shoot through the roof but it thankfully absorbed the onslaught.

"Run for it," I yelled over the din. Air-raid sirens screamed and anti-aircraft guns came to life. The sky filled with tracer rounds, giant streaks of light and smoke seeking out potential attackers. Artillery detonated in the sky like spastic fireworks. I headed towards the gym, hoping to catch a glance of Misty or any of the British agents in the fracas. I ran to the edge of the roof. Beyond me lay the roof of the gymnasium, ten feet away and ten feet down. A guard fired at me from the ground and I dropped onto my belly. Another prisoner caught a bullet and tumbled off the roof.

"Shit!" A squadron of what I think now were RAF Tornados passed overhead. A moment later the entire camp shook as the anti-aircraft batteries blew up in a tremendous roar, shattering all the windows around me and nearly lifting me off the roof. Needless to say the guards stopped shooting at me and started looking for cover. I have no idea where the jets could have come from, we're thousands of miles from any bases and deep inside of China.

I took a deep breath and a few steps back. With everything I had, a racing heart, a gallon of adrenaline, I ran off the roof. For a moment I flew through the air, and then landed heavily on the roof of the gym. My ribs ached, my elbow and knee bled, but I had made it. I quickly ran to the edge where a roof-access ladder stood and practically slid down it. A moment later I slipped inside the building. The thunder of the artillery had been replaced by the popping and thumping of gunfire and helicopters. The assault had begun!

The electricity had been cut, so I walked around by feel. "Misty," I whispered. "Misty!"

"Over here," I finally heard. We embraced tightly as tears streamed down her face.

"Where is the rest of the team," asked Bethany, who listened on a headpiece to the oncoming assault. She lit a small glow stick so we could see a little bit.

"Everyone from the first two floors of my dorm is dead," I replied. "I don't know about the other dorms."

We heard a rustling and Ben walked in with a stricken look on his face. "I'm sorry," he muttered, and fell on his face. A knife protruded from his back. A half-dozen flashlights lit up, sitting on the barrels of a half-dozen rifles. Into the light strode General Kanaan. We backed up against a wall.

"You're friend Ben told us a great deal. British agents indeed. You're the worst agents I've ever seen."

"Fuck you," scream Bethany. Kanaan took out his pistol and shot her right between the eyes. Bethany slumped against the wall, her eyes staring straight ahead, her blood and brains dripping down the wall behind her.

Misty screamed and clutched my arm. I admit I felt like screaming at that moment.

"Feisty one, you," he said, leering at Misty. "You Korean girls are tigers in bed. You make good love." He brushed a hand up against her arm while she shivered and shrank against me.

"Leave her alone," I muttered.

"What? You say something, Hero?" He pulled Misty away from me and pushed his pistol against my temple. "You want to say something to me?"

For a moment I closed my eyes and my strength left me. I felt more fear at that moment than I had ever felt before. But it wasn't just fear for myself. Without really knowing how, my eyes opened and I looked directly at the hulking man.

"Leave...her...alone," I said with a strong voice.

Kanaan grinned at me for a moment, then slammed the pistol against the side of my head, slamming me across the room to land among the gym equipment. My senses swam, I saw stars, and my body would not respond to my brain.

"Strip her down," ordered the brute. "Let's make this quick."

"No!" screamed Misty. "No! No! Stop! Please..."

I couldn't move. I couldn't help her. I felt wetness running down my cheek. I probably had a bad laceration, if not an entire skull fracture. I felt my life ending right there. My pathetic, meaningless life. I had been a failure every step of the way, a failure to my family, a failure to Ellie, and now I was a failure to Misty. They would rape her then kill her, and Carrie would destroy the world.

Somehow I managed to flip over. I reached out and my hand closed on something cold and hard. The grip of a ten-pound hand weight. Misty screamed. Good, she still fought them. With strength I didn't know I had, I rose to my wobbly feet, the room spinning and the blood dripping down my face. I saw the hulking monster with his pants off, facing a naked girl held down by his cronies. With a scream, I launched myself, bringing down the entire weight of the weight straight down on Kanaan's brain with a wet thwack.

The guards yelled and jumped up to grab their weapons, but the room erupted in bright flashes and sharp pops. Each man's chest seemed to explode into a spray of blood. One of the attacking man aimed right at me.

"Get down," he yelled. As I could barely stand it didn't take much effort to flop down. The man fired, killing the last guard.

The soldiers rushed up to me. "Alex Ross? Hold still sir. Medic!"

"Help! Get this guy off me," cried Misty in her British accent.

"Misty! Alex! Oh my god, Bethany! Ben!" Rod followed the soldiers in. He knelt down next to me and turned his back as the Royal Marines helped move Kanaan's body off of Misty and helped her get dressed. A medic shined a light on my head and prodded my wound.

"Waa...what.." I mumbled incoherently. I'm surprised now that I remember as much as I do from that night.

Rod grabbed my hand. "I just barely missed being executed. When the AAA batteries exploded, it blew out part of the wall. I got here late, just in time to see Kanaan grab Ben and force him in here. I ran to get help, but it looks like I was too late."

I squeezed his hand, and in a moment Misty came into focus. "Oh my god, Alex. Is he going to make it?"

The medic nodded. "Yes ma'am. We'll patch him up proper."

I grabbed the medic. "Get me an officer. Hurry."

The medic spoke into his radio and in a moment a burly man walked in and kneeled down. "Mr. Ross, I'm Lt. Williams, 45th Commandos Royal Marines. We need to get you moved to safer ground."

"You've got to stop Carrie. She's stealing the...she's... she's stealing the Singularity Matrix. You've got to stop her."

The man looked down for a moment. "We tried. The squad passed out, and when they awoke they attacked each other. We put them in cuffs until they calmed down, but something strange happened to them."

I tried to talk, but the words came out all garbled. "Gobba stob..gob..stob..."

Misty told me later what happened next. They secured a landing zone for the helicopters and lifted me and bunch of other wounded marines out of there. Then they tried to chase down the convoy, but every time they got close, they passed out, and their electronics began to fail. Aircraft sent against them were downed, along with everything else. Satellites watched them load the equipment on a transport plane which then took off. The couldn't chase it.

I spent a day at a field hospital. Fortunately my injury was very superficial, I lost more blood than anything else. They tracked the plane to a harbor, where they offloaded the equipment onto a freighter which then sailed to its present location. I've been here ever since, trying to help figure out what to do next, a "guest" of the Royal Marines.

Ellie looked at me in the moonlight. "That's a hell of a story, Ross. It's going to be my special pleasure in ripping Carrie Park apart limb by limb. I've saved some special techniques I've learned for some special, and I think she's going to be it."

Posted: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 @ 10:58 PM

The Singularity Matrix

2008-11-11T23:11:00.000-08:00

The Singularity Matrix

The British Marines I'm encamped with had been restless all day. Most of them seemed hell-bent on attacking the ship with everything they had. Instead we were told to await orders. After nightfall I wandered over to the latrine to take care of my business. As I left the latrine, a hand grabbed me from behind and dragged me into the bushes. "Silence or you die," came a voice from the darkness. Finally out of sight of latrine and the Marine contingent, the hand let me go after whispering, "do not yell or scream."

The hand released me and I whipped around to face my attacker.

"Holy shit! Ellie!" I practically tackled her with joy. Finally a familiar face, something I hadn't seen in almost a year.

"Shh! Alex! Calm down!" she shushed at me.

I literally couldn't stop hugging her. All my anger and rage at my captivity and her seeming indifference melted away. Ellie had been my close girlfriend for the better part of a year, and despite the fact that she completely lied to me about her life and almost everything, I still hold a lot of feelings for her. Heck I had seriously considered proposing to her. I can go on and on and about how great she was...or how cruelly she broke my heart. For one moment I just felt a great joy being in her presence, feeling her close to me, knowing she still lived and hopefully still cared.

"Ellie," I said as she gently pushed me off of her. "Ellie...what the hell are you doing here? You're in the middle of the British Marine camp. I don't think they'd appreciate a foreign agent here."

Ellie gestured over to the enemy boat. "Any luck with that? I didn't think so. You've got half the world's major military forces represented in a radius of twenty klicks and you're all sitting her like a bunch of raw recruits. Doesn't your army teach you anything?"

I shrugged. "This isn't my army. I don't even know where the Americans are. These British are kind of keeping me under lock and key. So you think you can get on to that boat?"

Ellie smiled and nodded. "Of course. Infiltration is my specialty. You have to remember, Alex, there are people on board, and those people, no matter how nutty, can be reasoned with. The can be bargained with. Heck if what I've seen is real, then they could easily kill all of us right now but they haven't. The problem with these military grunts over here is that they only know attacking and defending. Infiltration requires a much more precise art, and since we know the people on the boat pretty well that gives us a big advantage."

I rubbed my arms as I talked with her. "God, Ellie, it's so good to see you. It's been so hard, and I'm not proud of the things I've done in there. I just need to know that things are going to work out, that I can leave this place forever."

Ellie laid an arm on my shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Alex. I lost a lot of my prestige during that time, and I couldn't control your fate. I knew that we had been scouting for talent, for defectors from the West. I thought it could be an interesting project. I never knew it was a forced labor camp, designed more to break people down than actually accomplish anything. I really let you down, and I'm sorry. I've since quit the People's Army, completely resigned and become essentially a free agent. That wasn't very easy, let me tell you. Fortunately I convinced them they had more to lose my having me disgruntled, and that I would never use my talents against them."

As we spoke I felt the warmth I used to feel with her, the whole sharing of thoughts and experiences. I wanted to sit and talk the whole night like we used to. I looked at her and saw such beauty and strength, and a kindness that belied her profession. She seemed to be everything that a man could want. Yet...I felt a lot of conflicting emotions at that moment.

"So Alex," she said as we sat down behind a log, "how the heck did you get here? And how did Carrie wind up in control of all this?"

The day after all that equipment arrived, Carrie called all of us in for a meeting. With her stood a powerfully-built man, with a shaved head and goatee.

"Hi everyone," she started, her newly-blond locks cascading over her shoulders. I wondered if she wore a wig. It would explain how she managed to keep it looking so good. I felt a sudden compulsion to yank on her hair but the large man looked a little imposing. I had also seen them in an embrace out in the hall. So Carrie finally found someone who could tolerate her for more than a second. I guess there's someone for everyone. "This is my friend Xyllan. He's in charge of transport and containment. As you all know, this is a very momentous occassion. Our bosses will be arriving in a day, so everything needs to be fully operational ASAP. We begin initial runs in an hour so prepare your teams. We don't want any mishaps like last night." She glared at Xyllan for a moment but I don't remember him participating.

As I left the meeting Bethany tracked me down. "Cover me for a while, I've got to get a message out. We can't let this become operational. Stall if you have to."

The work room became frantic as we all checked and re-checked our figures. Carrie's people had placed large monitors in the room which displayed all kinds of stats and figures, all displays we had crafted over the last few months. Part of me felt a bit of pride, and part of me felt great shame. Of course at that moment I had no idea what the machine was truly capable of.

One corner of the one monitor displayed a countdown, while the other monitor revealed a set of videos of the machine. At last without any other work to do, we gathered around the monitors. Carrie stood away from the rest, consulting a laptop up on a stand. I wandered over to her.

"Carrie, I need to talk to you," I said.

"Not now Alex, I'm a little busy."

"This is like your plot at Infinitae, except it's real. It's a real object with real consequences."

Carrie glanced at me. "The project I laid out at Infinitae wasn't a complete fiction. It had some scientific basis. With the power I'll get from the Singularity Matrix I can finally build a prototype of the fingerprint broadcaster. You see, Alex, there's really nothing stopping me now. I'm going to be the greatest power the world has ever known. You've been a good soldier, Alex, I could use someone like you by my side."

I help still but inwardly I cringed. I couldn't stand being in the same room as her. Bethany finally returned and gave me the all-clear sign.

"Carrie, I could never be a part of this. This is just wrong. I've seen some of the research. This thing will hurt people."

Carrie turned to me and grinned with almost a snarl. "You think I'm evil. That's it, isn't it. You think I'm some kind of monster. Ok, I may have made some bad choices in the past. I've grown since then. I now see that this world is just spinning right out of control. Look at the financial crisis. Look at poverty. Look at ignorance. This machine could cure all of it. And they want to trust control of this machine to some idiotic bureaucracy? Listen, am I not the smartest person you know? Who would be better to determine how this machine is to be used? Yes, there's going to have to be hard changes. No change is easy. Some blood will have to be spilled. But you have to look at the final outcome. A world without war, without poverty, without cold and hunger. We've harnessed the greatest energy source the world has ever known, and its completely free and we can make as much as we want. Now that we have a control system, we can start using this energy in a controlled fashion. Alex, we could literally be the progenitors of a new race of humans. If my projections are correct, we might even use this energy to take us to the stars. Now be quiet, here we go."

The clock slowly ticked down to zero. When it hit zero, nothing happened, except I think someone hit a key on a keyboard that booted the actual control system. I guess for history's sake we can say the first Singularity Matrix went live at 12PM China Standard time, October 27, 2008.

"Systems nominal at 100 Watts." Enough energy for a light bulb. "Ready for fuel injection."

We had a touch-screen controller. Ben slid a finger along part of the screen. "Injecting at 10 nanograms/sec." 10 billionths of a gram of matter. One of the monitors began glowing. "Annhiliation proceeding. Thermal readings coming on line. Wattage increasing. 110. 150. 200. 300. 450."

The Matrix glowed like a light bulb. The walls of its containment structure converted the radiation to heat and electricity. The heat got siphoned off into a cooling structure.

"Cease injection."

"Injection terminated. Wattage at 450...now decreasing...440, 420, 400, 350...now back to 100."

Carrie had a wide grin on her face. "Awesome! It really works!" I was worried she would hug me or something, but she just stood in front of the monitors and grinned. "Now, let's really see something. One microgram, 10 minute turn-up."

A microgram, or a millions of a gram, doesn't sound like much, but that's the equivalent of burning 10 metric tons of coal an hour, a half megawatt of power, enough to power 150 homes. Slowly the Matrix heated up as more matter entered the Singularity. We could hear the rumbling of the generator in our feet. The monitor displayed a giant plume of steam shooting out of the top as the waste heat boiled water at a furious rate. After a few minutes at 10mg/sec Carrie had us throttle back. It took a while for the singularity to drop down to normal conditions.

"Now," ordered Carrie, "I wanted every bit of data checked and rechecked. I want even the slightest irregularity brought to my attention. Heat, voltage, radiation, curves, everything needs to be 100% in tolerable ranges. Go!"

She left the room. Misty wandered over to me. "What is it? What have we built?"

"You see that glowing point there in the middle of the Matrix? If I'm not mistaken, it's a black hole. Somehow they've created or captured one, I have no idea how. When we feed it molecules, it turns them into energy like a match to paper. When we stop feeding it, it returns to some kind of equilibrium. It's still drawing power from somewhere, which is why we're getting this residual 100 Watt output and it never completely evaporates."

"Is it safe?"

"As long as it stays in its containment field. The amounts of matter we're feeding it are extremely tiny. If it were to contact the ground though...there's no telling what could happen. It might be able to consume the entire Earth. I have no idea."

Misty looked at me and then at the monitor. "And if this were in the wrong hands, say someone who's vengeful and vindictive and self-aggrandizing...We've got to stop this."

I nodded. "And fast."

Posted: Tuesday, November 11, 2008 @ 11:11 PM

The Storm

2008-11-10T22:38:00.000-08:00

The Storm

It's another day of staring at this frickin' boat. I did manage to see some of the transmissions Carrie made to extort the world for her own purposes. It makes me sick to think about it. She's really gone too far. But right now we don't have any options. Given what we suspect might be on that freighter, a nuclear strike is out of the questions. They hold all the cards and all we can do it wait.

We've got all kinds of military personnel traipsing around the little island we're camped on, taking readings, trying different things to spy on the boat. Most of the transmitters we got on board had either failed or been discovered. Apparently some kind of underwater attack failed as well, when a huge geyser sprouted out of the harbor. We feel it's only a matter of time before they move the freighter where it can cause civilian damage. We might be powerless to stop it.

Well after I was formally introduced to the counter-intelligence agents at Kastle Klingon, I stared to look at Misty with a whole new light. After a long debriefing with the team where we shared all our notes, I finally got a moment alone with Misty.

I think the first thing that startled me was to find out she was actually British and talked with a definite accent. She had been speaking like a Californian up to now.

"Yes, dear," she told me, "I'm actually from Coventry, England. My parents were Korean refugees. I attended Oxford, graduated at the top of my class in Computer Science. I was recruited out of college to work for the SIS, or MI6 at you Yanks call it as a language specialist. I know Korean and a bit of Thai, and I'm working on Russian. SIS promised me a chance to travel, to use my computer skills as an analyst as well as my language skills. However I was never really trained as a field officer."

I just sat for a moment, trying to absorb all of it. I tugged on the beard I had been growing and looked around the courtyard. She had only talked in her accent for a moment before reverting to her American twang. An Autumn chill had settled in the air, offering some reprieve from the sweltering summer. Far away in the distance I could hear a thunderstorm building up. "How, why, would you ever choose to come here? Did you know how bad it was? Did you have a choice?"

She looked down for a moment. "Well, no one could have predicted this. I mean, voluntarily becoming a prisoner is crazy, right?" She glanced up with a tear in her eye. "You realize that we're all that's left? There were twenty of us in the program to start. It was you, Alex, who kept us alive. We've all here for the same thing: to save our country from this craziness. And it will all be over soon."

That night, a thunderstorm like none I'd seen either here or back in the states rolled through the camp. Earlier we had seen a line of trucks pull up, including some huge 40-wheel trailers. A set of cranes began manipulating the cargo. The power failed, and we could only see this through the flashes of lightning from the upper story window. The lightning flashed almost continuously, and the thunder roared like the base of an enormous waterfall. Rain came down so hard I thought I was in a waterfall.

Misty crept into my darkened dorm room and wrapped an arm around me as we witnessed the storm's ferocity and the curious movement around the trucks.

"What do you think they're up to," I pondered aloud.

"I don't know. We should get a better look."

I stared at her. With all the yard lights out we might actually have a chance, and the crazy lightning might hid our movements in the dizzying shadows. But if the lights suddenly turned back on, we were doomed.

We crept out of the dorms, right under the noses of the guard who also seemed awed by the incredible light show. We snuck into the mess hall then out the back window. Down the muddy slope we slid until we could hear the groan of diesel engines over the din of the thunder. Most of the boxes bore Chinese emblems.

"There," pointed Misty. "What the heck is that?"

It just seemed like another house-sized box until I noticed that it was being constantly struck by lightning. The electricity seemed to pound the rods on the top of the container like those static electricity novelty globes. Except this was real lightning. Something in the box attracted the energy to it. Sparks flew everywhere. Men in rubber suits seemed to be trying to ground it with long metal poles but whenever they drew near the lightning blasted them into flames.

On the other side of the assembly area I spotted a generator-lit tent with some people inside.

"Let's go!" I led Misty by the hand. Every lightning strike I felt in the soles of my feet, and it seemed like it was only a matter of time before we were hit. Somehow we made it through the mud and rivers of running water to the lit tent.

"We can't maintain containment during this storm," said one man, working feverishly on a computer. "The lightning is causing an imbalance. We're losing voltage!"

Then I spotted Carrie, underneath an oversize rain jacket. She shouted over the din. "You lose that power and we're all dead. You cannot lose it, not even for a second."

"Down to 20 percent," he yelled. "10!"

"Run for it", yelled Carrie, and pushing and shoving each other they sped out of the tent down the road.

I grabbed Misty's hand and ran in the same direction, still trying to keep out of sight.

I woke up with my head in the mud. Misty lay beside me on her back. The lightning had moved off, and the rain settled down. "Misty! Misty! Can you hear me?" I couldn't tell if she was breathing or not. I heard voices of other people recovering. I quickly grabbed Misty up around the chest and dragged her off into the ditch. A couple people including Carrie rose up and gathered right where we had been lying.

"Shit," cursed Carrie. "Shit! What the fuck was that! You fuckhead, you could have killed us!"

The man who had tried to control the system spoke. "Looks like just a Level One containment breach. Very minimal effect. We'll need to check the camp for people who might have fallen, but my guess is that everyone was in bed and won't notice a thing. With the power out, electronics won't be affected."

"How long were we out," asked Carrie, wiping the mud off her face.

"Four or five minutes," he replied. Misty started to stir. I clamped her mouth and shh'ed her.

"What was that," said Carrie, turning around in our direction. "Did you hear something."

She pulled out a flashlight but it wouldn't work. "Damn it. Let's get back and finish unloading. We've got to figure out this lighting deal."

After they left we crept back to the dorm as I filled Misty in on what I had heard. Just as we kissed and parted, the electrical system came back online, flooding all the open spaces with brilliant flood lights. I watched what I could from my room before I collapsed from exhaustion.

The next day Misty came to me, a definite twinkle in her eye. The violent rain had left and been replaced by a beautiful crisp October day. White puffy clouds dotted the sky, hugging the distant mountains. "It's on. Now that all the equipment's here, they're setting up the strike. It's all going to be over soon. Maybe we can even go home. I have so much to show you."

"Me too," I agreed, knowing that I probably could never go home again, not until I cleared my name.

Posted: Monday, November 10, 2008 @ 10:38 PM

The Plot

2008-11-09T19:38:00.000-08:00

The Plot

Today the activity picked up a bit at the harbor where the freighter lay at anchor. Around noon we heard a whooshing sound and a number of helicopters approached the boat. No one knew whose choppers they were. They weren't ours. We watched a lot of bustling aboard the freighter as the copters approached.

The surface of the freighter erupted in fire and smoke as it launched a barrage of rockets against the aircraft. The copters tried to wheel and avoid the rockets but one by one the rockets impacted and knocked the copters out of the sky as we stood by helpless. A few minutes later we made out a squadron of jets approaching low and fast. They shrieked by, splitting the air. We could see them turning off in the distance, ready for another approach.

I don't really know what happened next because I woke up a few minutes later. Everyone had passed out, apparently even the pilots of the jets because in the distance we could see the burning wreckage. A couple of us had been injured by falling. I don't know what kind of weapon that was, but if you're reading this you'd better be prepared for it. One minute you're awake, the next you're asleep.

Still we watched and observed, working on a plan to capture the boat before anyone else could.

Lets see, where was I...oh yeah.

I worked pretty closely with Carrie over the next few months. I hate to admit it, but she made a pretty effective leader for this project. After her initial bout of haughtiness she settled down a bit and focused on the task at hand. I didn't enjoy it at all, since she still was demanding and occasionally demeaning, but she spent most of her time elsewhere and only showed up a handful of days each month. I didn't know what other parts of the project she worked on if any. She did stay in constant contact via email and video so it's not like I could really escape her.

Spring turned into summer, a hot, abominable summer with swarms of flies everywhere. Only the work area had air conditioning, but the dorms and mess hall sweltered in the heat. Naturally we spent as much time as possible in the work area since the rest of our camp became unbearable. We could still hear the occasional screams and executions coming from the other camps, but we pressed on. Being with the same people day in and day out eventually wore nerves ragged, so I imposed mandatory "vacations" where people couldn't enter the work room for a few days.

I myself had to take one after I got into a stupid fight with Misty about dinner of all things. She had made something for me and I didn't realize she had made it and I went off on the terrible food. She began screaming at me how I never appreciate all the little things she does for me. We created quite a scene. We decided to take a "break" and not come to work for a few days.

Once we returned, we practically jumped in each other's arms. We talked about how much we missed each other and how much we loved each other and how sorry we were for fighting. I promised I would never take her for granted and she promised to not "test" me with food. She admitted her biggest fear was that I only like her because she was convenient and I might ditch her once we got out. I assured her I wouldn't and said something sappy like we met here because we were meant to meet here.

Autumn brought a rising of tensions in camp. We knew that we approached our completion date. I knew this meant our execution was literally weeks away. I thought about begging for Carrie to help us escape but I'd only use that as a last resort. After months of decent cooperation, she began to become more erratic, yelling at the smallest issues and threatening people. A oppressive weight gathered on our shoulders.

Just about a month ago, I was reviewing some of Misty's code when I became confused over some security protocols she had written. I called her over.

"Hey Misty, what's with this section here," I asked.

"Uhh. Oh, yeah," she stammered. "That's something Carrie Park asked me to do."

I looked up at and she glanced over towards Bethany.

"Ok," I said, a little confused. "What is it?"

"She just wanted a debug port set up," said Misty. "A temporary back-door to be used during testing." A back-door allow programmers to bypass the main security.

"Well, make sure you add it to the bug list so we remember to remove it before it ships."

Misty glanced over to Bethany again, and I looked around to. "What going on," I asked.

Misty walked around my desk and kneeled down next to me so she wouldn't be overheard. "Just meet me in the gym at 3:00. Don't be late. There's something I need to show you."

"Oh?" I smiled at her, thinking she was being flirty and setting up one of our rendezvous, but she looked dead serious. "Okay, I'll be there."

At three I wandered over to the gym. Misty met me and grabbed my hand. "Follow me."

She led me back into the men's locker room. For a moment I thought she had some intimate plans until I noticed a group of people in there. They were some of my most reliable and trusted people, all hailing from the US or UK. Bethany, Misty, Ron, Barry, and Ben.

"What's going on," I asked.

"We have something to tell you," said Misty. "We've been debating whether we can trust you. It's never been clear what happened at Infinitae, and you have some pretty damaging connection to Carrie Park and Chinese agents. At this point we have no choice but to trust. You see, Alex, we're not just asylum seekers. We're government agents planted here to uncover The Plot. We've lost many good people so far."

I smirked. "You guys? Agents? You couldn't fight you way out of paper bags."

"Technically we're analysts," said Bethany. "We were approached with this suicide assignment because our governments believe there was a real threat here. We also scored high on resisting interrogation. One by one we've come here. And now we know most of The Plot, and we're ready to act."

"We're getting out of here," said Misty, excitement in her eyes. "The code you saw today was one of a series of steps we're taking to undermine the project, creating security holes so we can hack back into it."

"Jesus Christ," I exclaimed. "Are you guys serious? Agents? Why didn't anyone tell me? What the hell am I? You guys don't trust me after everything we've gone through? I've spent nearly a year in this hellhole and I've suffered as much as anyone. Did you say you're getting out of here? Does this mean you could have gotten out of here anytime? What the fuck is going on?"

"Lower your voice," urged Bethany. "You didn't come with the best reputation. We still have questions. But we've taken a huge risk because we think you can help us."

I glared at the group. "If Carrie gets even a whiff of this, she'll pull the plug and we'll be dead. What are you guys thinking? And why wait 'til now to tell me all this? Are you trying to get everyone killed? And Misty, you've been lying to be this whole time?"

I figured Misty hadn't told me how she came to be here because of embarrassment. I stared at the lot of them. They all seemed extremely nervous. These people weren't agents like Ellie. They were just people like me, thrust into an impossible situation. It strained my mind to think that none of them had cracked. Or maybe some had, and paid the ultimate price.

"So...what's the plan? You have some plan to get out of here?"

"We're awaiting instructions. We've received some tracking devices. Here, keep this hidden on you at all times." Bethany handed me a slip of paper. I was puzzled until I noticed faint traces of wires in the paper. It was a tiny paper thin tracking device. I could put it in my shoe or my pocket and it would just look like a scrap of paper. "There's going to be an extraction. There's only enough space for the people in this room. The entire complex will be leveled, and hopefully all this technology will be destroyed."

"Shit. What about the rest of the team?"

Bethany shook her head. "We don't have the resources. Their respective countries will be notified of their whereabouts. This is a quick get-in-get-out operation. It's gotten to the point where we've been forced to act. This thing, whatever it is, looks like it may become operational. And we can't let that happen."

I exhaled heavily. "Do you have any idea what it is? Do you know what all this software controls?"

They all kind of looked at each other.

I waved my arms. "All this, as far as I can tell, is the control system for some kind of super weapon. This weapon is capable of taking out cities without any loss of structures. It can also power whole cities with no pollution or waste. So it can either be the greatest boon mankind has ever seen, or its worst nightmare. It all depends on who controls it, which currently looks like the Chinese."

Bethany grimmaced. "Damn. Well, it's not the Chinese. Even though this is a Chinese facility, we've determined that they are not in charge of this place. Some other entity runs it with their tacit approval. We've still investigating, but it seems to be run by some amalgam of private Chinese nationals, energy companies, and organized crime. It's a huge power play. If what you say is true, they could control the future of this planet."

Misty added, "and if that happens, we're all screwed."

Posted: Sunday, November 9, 2008 @ 7:38 PM

Pirates...and YKW...again...

2008-11-07T23:23:00.000-08:00

Pirates...and YKW*...again...

We peer out across a wide body of water at the long, low cargo freighter anchored at the far end of the harbor. It sits low in the water, gray and hulking, with little sign of activity. We have been growing restless the last couple days as we observe the ship through high-power telescopes and satellite imagery. For all we can tell, nothing lives aboard the ship. But we know better.

Finally, a couple hours ago, we notice some movement on the deck. A group of men seem to be having some kind of argument. Guns wave, and it seems like one of the men is circled and attacked by the others. They all disappear, but a few minutes later, a large wooden board is laid over the rail of the deck. A man is seen tied up on the board. He walks to the end, then falls off, his hands and feet fairly well bound together. He doesn't stand a chance in these shark-infested waters.

"Fuck!" I yell. "What the fuck? They made a guy walk the plank? What fucking century is this?" After a number of radio communications we confirm that the dead man was an agent who had snuck aboard.

The pirates celebrate by shooting off pistols and downing some bottles of alcohol. As we watch, another man comes along and starts ripping into the men, cuffing them around the ears and beating them back. I assume this must be their pirate leader. After an extensive argument, he shoots one of the men in the head. In a minute we witness the body flying through the air over the rail of the ship as the body is tossed to the fishes. Once more the radio chatters. One of the listening devices the agent planted reveals that the pirate captain was incensed that they killed the prisoner before he could be interrogated.

This is the ship we need to board and take over as soon as possible. But first let me tell you more about how we got here.

For a few weeks, life in the Chinese Hi-Tech Labor Camp, or Kastle Klingon, became almost tolerable. In the back of my mind I knew we were all doomed, destined to be killed once the project finished. They couldn't afford to keep us around knowing what we knew. At least the torture and maiming had stopped, we worked decent but long hours, and even had a couple forms of recreation to keep us entertained. I felt complicit in telling people that everything would work out, that we'd be saved if we just worked hard. Not everyone believed it but I think people we glad to have something to work on. Keeping busy kept one's mind off of how desperate and lonely we were for our families and friends.

I've never been in complete charge of a software project before. Instead of working on the code, I spent most of my time putting out fires and trying to work with some of the lessor developers to try to get them up to speed and productive. I don't know where most of the people came from, but they all had differing backgrounds and abilities. Many had severe emotional issues and without the fear of imminent death if they screwed up, they tended to get distracted and picked fights with other team members. Squabbles raged over the few females in the group who did nothing to settle the men down. It became a daily struggle to keep everyone in line. Sometimes I felt like given them the cattle prod myself but instead I just worked with them and showed them they might have a future in the industry if they could somehow reign in their emotions and focus on the code.

After a week or so of being in charge I began to receive these missives, highly detailed technical instructions on features we needed to implement. Apparently the "expert" had started working but hadn't arrived on site. These documents were scary brilliant, filled with ideas and approaches I had barely even considered. We were working on a project with the size and implications of the Manhattan Project. This project, code named "Project Ao Guang" after the East Sea Dragon, a bringer of disasters, employed hundreds of thousands of people across Southeast Asia. Not many of the workers were aware of their role in this project, or even that a project exists. It's one of China's best kept secrets. The West only knows of it as "The Plot."

A few weeks later, we are all ordered to stay out of the work room. Not even I got word to what was happening. I hung out with Misty in the cafeteria, just making small talk. We had grown very close the last few weeks, sharing our hopes and dreams, leaning on each other for support. Given our more flexible work schedule, we even found time now and then to sneak off into a closet or dorm room and "be more than friends."

After lunch time the leads were called into the work room. A section of desks had been rearranged and a few unfamiliar faces sat working at them. I felt a small pit resentment fill my stomach at the intrusion in my area. On the other side of the room, a small blond woman talked to Major General Wu. She had long flowing locks and a great figure. Something nagged at the back of my head. Wu departed and she faced us.

"Hi," she said in a distinctly American voice, Southern Californian even. I felt my innards clench up. "I'm taking charge of this project effective immediately. You all will report to me. Mr. Ross will be still be in charge of day-to-day operations when I'm travelling. My team over there is here to assist us. To accommodate them, I've cut a few of your team who will be reassigned. Or killed, I don't care. Take a look at your sheet."

Something in her ice cold eyes filled me with dread. I picked up the sheet and scanned the names. Misty was listed on it. I also saw Bethany's name. Most of the names were the people I trusted most, even if they weren't the most productive team members.

"No," I said. "My team stays. All of them. We all work together or none of us will work for you."

The woman's eyes flashed at me. "Oh, Alex, you're so funny! Do you really think you have a say in what goes on here?"

Her words stunned me for a second as a dawning realization hit me. "I got General Khanan off their backs. I got them decent working conditions. I can promise them that you'll give them much worse. I know what you're capable of. It's no surprise you're working with them."

She chuckled at me. "Oh Alex. Can we let the past be the past? Haven't you been through enough?" She began to frown as she noticed my team members assembling behind me. I spotted Misty watching from a doorway. The woman's frown turned into a murderous rage. "You do what I tell you or I can have this whole group ripped to pieces."

I stared right back the blond bombshell. "Fuck you, Carrie. I have no idea what you've done to yourself, or why you're working with these people. What is it, some kind of big payoff? Did they promise you some kind of position with them? They could promise you the moon, but take a look around you. Take a look at the data. Everyone who knows anything about this project is either dead or in this camp. You might think you're safe but you're just another one of their pawns. You're probably the smartest person I know, but you have to see that if this whole thing succeeds, the world will cease to exist as we know it."

"Done yet," she responded haughtily. "You think I'm going to sit on the sidelines for this one? I'm going to be on the winning side, babe. If you work with me, I'll give you your shot too. I can get you out of here. I can make things right."

Carrie Park sauntered up to me. She had obviously had thousands of dollars of plastic surgery, everything from her nose and eyes and mouth to her breasts and hips, like a barbie doll on steroids. But no amount of surgery could mask her foul odor or her hateful eyes. She at least wore perfume to cover it up, but some weird body chemistry of hers caused her skin to excrete some bad-smelling substance, something akin to burned rubber.

"Maybe we can be together again, baby," she whispered to me as I inched away from her. "Just like old times." She grabbed my face and kissed my lips before I could pull back. When I glanced back towards Misty she had run off...perhaps witnessing the whole thing. Carrie slapped me hard in the face.

"You fuck!" she screamed at me. "You think I still give a shit about you? I can have any man I want. You're just a small little shit I plan to flush. If I didn't think these idiots here were even worse than you I'd have you sent out and shot. If you want to keep your team then find some fucking space for them. But I will have them shot if they don't perform. I will have their fucking heads blown off. You got it?"

I nodded.

"Good. Now for the rest of you, get your asses into the conference room. We're way behind and we've to get caught up. Move it!" They shuffled their way out of the door like sheep to the slaughter.

I started to follow but Carrie put her hand on my chest, waiting for the last person to leave. "No, not you. This is my team now. We'll talk later, in my quarters. You go gather the rest of your team and get them busy. This whole damn project needs to be up and running in six months. Ross, I need to know you're in this thing. I'm serious when I say I can get you out of here. But I need to know right now: are you in or out?"

I so wanted to strangle her right then. She ruined my life. She forced me to flee the USA to this godforsaken hell hole. I could probably snap her neck before the her men over in the corner could interfere. "Fine, Carrie. It's obvious we're both heading straight through the gates of Hell here. I know that you are not just here for the money, and you can't be trusted. I'm in, but I'll be watching everything you do. You're not putting one over me again." And so I began working with Carrie Park again.

After she dismissed me I went to find Misty. I looked high and low, in the dorms, the mess hall, the gym, even in women's restroom. After an hour or so I found her outside huddled under a tree in the courtyard, her eyes moist with tears.

"Go away," she said as I approached.

"Misty, what's wrong?" She didn't respond. "Is this about that woman? Carrie Park?" She looked down at the ground and sniffled.

"I saw you, Alex. I saw you kiss her. How could you?"

"Oh god, did you see when she slapped me? Misty, please." I sat next to her and tried to put a hand on her shoulder but she jerked away. "Misty, yes, she's someone from my past. She's the Terrorist. She's the one who forced me to come here. She's the one who ruined my life."

"They why did you kiss her? Do you still like her?"

"Buh. Ugh. Misty, she's a horrible person. I'd rather swallow my own testicles than to spend one moment with her. She lacks all human compassion, and frankly, she smells. Really bad. Some kind of hormone imbalance."

Misty didn't respond.

"You think I'd spend one moment with here when I could be with someone like you? Misty, you're the reason I've been fighting so hard here. You've inspired me. You're all I think about, and my mind is obsessed with finding a way for us to escape and live free somewhere. You're beautiful, you're smart, you're a good friend and a great lover. Carrie Park is evil, and could never hold one moment of interest for me."

"Even with her fake boobs and eyelashes and butt?"

"Her whole face is fake," I replied. "She's had more work done than Joan Rivers."

Misty leaned over towards me and nestled her face on my shoulder. "Thanks, I needed to hear that."

We huddled under that tree for a while, holding each other while the world descended towards chaos.

*YKW=You Know Who

Posted: Friday, November 7, 2008 @ 11:23 PM

Some Election...Some Danger

2008-11-05T22:44:00.000-08:00

Some Election...Some Danger

I leave the country for eleven months and look what happens! A black man is elected President. This is incredible and unbelievable. This is also terrible. Let me explain.

"The Powers That Be," the people who I'm working against, the people who held me prisoner for the last eleven months, poured a lot of money and effort into making sure Republicans stayed in power, so they could continue their evil plots. Republicans could be bought off and made to look the other way. Most of the Democrats running for office also had been compromised. But not Barack Obama. He was a complete wild card they couldn't anticipate. As of a few months ago, while I was putting the pieces of The Plot together, they completely discounted the ability of a black man to gain the Presidency. They figured it was a fluke or a fad. People would get tired of him. They even tried to plant incriminating evidence against him, but those reports got buried deep in blogs no one reads. It became almost impossible to divert that kind of funding without jeopardising McCain's run. They really underestimated the peoples' anger at the current administration.

I fear that the result of this election will be to move up the timetable even more while George Bush is still in office. They will be afraid that when Barack is inaugurated, he'll find The Plot and put and end to it...even it means WWIII. But I'm going to fight it. I'm doing everything I can to put a stop to it. If I could get in touch with Obama I would. Maybe someone can point this blog to him. He needs to know what's about to happen. Things that you take for granted are about to be shattered.

I'm only a couple days away from my destination. Travelling by fishing boat is not the fastest commute I've been on but it's giving me time to write this up. When I get there I'll get a better sense of what we're really up against. Meanwhile let me catch you all up.

As I entered our work area, I hadn't decided what to do. I could certainly set my foes up for at least a beating. Something inside me hesitated. I really wanted some revenge but it seemed like a dangerous precedent. I knew I couldn't trust the others in the room but a constant battle would most likely leave everyone dead...a lot sooner than we'd die otherwise. It had been weeks since the last "example" although I felt that was more due to our work becoming more important to them rather than a lack of fuck ups. There did seem to be a growing level of patience with us...as if we were providing invaluable data that they dared not mess with.

But I couldn't let the betrayal go unpunished. I heard the snickering as I walked into the room. To my relief it appeared Misty arrived unscathed and she shot me a quick glance and brief smile. My first task was to undo the damage from yesterday. Fortunately Misty quickly pointed to a bunch of hints and I discovered the infected files and removed them. As I started to catch up on my workload I coded up a script and silently deployed it.

The leader of this little gang was a Belgian named Franz Hendricks. He led the team responsible for detecting instant-message patterns. He divided the tasks among his team. I shifted the task list so all the tasks fell on one guy. This of course is not one of the capabilities I'm supposed to have. Within minutes the guy starts bitching and moaning. Franz fixes the issue and redistributes the tasks. I give them to another guy who again starts bitching at Franz.

"I didn't do it," complained Franz.

"Hey, Franz has no tasks," said Madie, and Indian women on his team. "What the hell are you trying to get away with?" It's obvious they don't trust him.

I block Franz from editing the lists any more. Now one person on the team would get punished while the others would have a lazy day. Franz hacked away on his workstation.

Finally he stood up and glared at me. "Hey Hero! You fucking behind this?"

"Fuck you and you shithead friends," I cursed at them. "Don't fucking dick them over and blame me, you ass."

Franz started typing furiously but he got nowhere. He slammed down his keyboard and rose to face me, his visage a red contorted mess of Belgian fury. As he walked towards me he pushed people, papers, and equipment every which way. The cameras in the ceiling whirred to track us. In a moment the guards would be on us, and something bad would happen.

Then I saw it in his hands: a stolen kitchen knife. This could be over very quickly. As he jumped towards me, I felt something pressed into my hand. Misty had gotten behind me and passed me her knife. But before I could use it to defend myself, the door burst open and the guards tackled Franz. Misty grabbed back the knife and hid it before it could be discovered.

Dozens of guards flooded the room, shouting at everyone to get down on the floor with our hands on our heads. Franz fought with them for a minute before one of them cracked his skull with the butt of his rifle. Franz collapsed like a sack of potatoes. The guards dragged him away. We never saw him again, but the rumor was that his feet were crushed and he was set outside the camp to die in the winter cold, eaten by wolves. We never knew for sure, and I suspect he was either shot or reassigned to one of the other camps around here.

After about ten minutes of lying face down on the floor, a number of uniformed men walked in, men I hadn't seen before. From what I knew of Chinese insignia, they were some high-ranking intel officers. They talked amongst themselves for a moment while one of them scanned a stack of papers on a clipboard. The guards began rounding up the team leads one by one. They all left for a couple minutes while we lay on the floor. I looked at Misty and she shrugged subtly.

The man with the clipboard returned and talked to a guard who came and pulled me up. They escorted me out and over to a conference-type room I hadn't been in before. It consisted of a rough wooden table, folding chairs, and bare electric light bulbs. A small gray-haired man addressed us.

"I am Major General Wu, and I have taken charge of this facility as of today. You may be wondering why you have been brought here. You are our number one producing group, more than double any other cell. These people tell me you are responsible, Mr. Ross."

I looked around the room at Bethany and the other leads. I didn't respond.

"We have given you great latitude, allowing even the greatest transgressions to go unpunished," he said, looking directly at me. "But today I find this cell on the verge of war. Mr. Ross: can you fix the scheduling tool?"

I nodded. "Good. We are willing to let your cell function without interference. In return, we will be bringing in an expert to make this cell work efficiently."

"Does that mean no more General Khanan? No more beatings," I asked.

The man leaned forward. "If you achieve your objectives."

"And if we achieve them, what is our reward," I continued, waving at the members of the room. "It's hard to be motivated if we'll be executed in the end."

The man considered me for a moment. "You can never return to your homes. That should have been made clear as a condition of your asylums or plea deals. If you can deliver us this project, we'll ensure that you live out the balance of your natural lives."

I looked around the room. It seemed as if the leads had somewhat accepted me as their spokesman. "Somewhere nice, like Shanghai."

"I'll see what I can do. Now Mr. Ross, since you seem to be talking for everyone, you'll be taking over this project until the expert arrives. I'll have my associates debrief you for the remainder of the day. Starting tomorrow, you'll be expect to deliver this project."

"Hold on," I said quickly. "I'm going to need to set my own schedule, divide out my own tasks, and we need access to far better equipment than this. In fact, if you want us to work on some kind of real project, I want twenty-four access to the men's and women's dorms, no locking us in at night. We may need people working all hours of the day. I want the kitchen stocked at all times, and no more assemblies in the courtyard. If I even see a glimpse of Khanan around, we stop work and you'll have to kill us all. Leave the discipline to me. And trust me, I'll be setting up a kill switch on the system so if anyone dies, you lose everything. Anything else guys?"

The leads started listing off things: toiletries, needed software, a bar-be-que, disk arrays, a football, laptops, and lounge chairs.

Maj Gen We nodded. "No Wii. But I'm amenable to the rest...as long as you produce. The more you produce, the more I can provide. Now I must address my other cells. I will return in a week for a progress report."

After the meeting, I spotted Wu talking with Khanan. Khanan seemed extremely agitated, pointing and stomping but with a little whine in his voice. When he spotted me he grimaced, and became even more animated, but Wu stayed calm with him. He did then say something that made Khanan grin in a way that sent chills down my body. Some people reported hearing shots later in the day. I guess some of the other cells weren't as lucky as us.

For the rest of the day, the first secrets of "The Plot" were revealed to me. They didn't say as much, but I could sense it based on the level of secrecy. I could only tell my leads so much, they could only tell their people so much. But I heard much more. I heard of deep underground works sites employing hundreds of thousands of laborers...who never were heard from again. I heard of power sources so exotic they were capable of powering entire aircraft carriers without any fuel. I heard of some kind of gasless nerve agent that made people into virtual zombies.

And we were to build the control system for all of this. We would build the targeting system for the most devastating weapon the world has ever known. And once I had heard all this, I knew deep in my soul that once completed, we would all be eliminated. Every bit of evidence of this Crime Against Humanity would be destroyed. And last week, this whole plan fell into chaos. And I'll give you one guess as to who's behind it.

Posted: Wednesday, November 5, 2008 @ 10:44 PM

Betrayal and a Kiss

2008-11-03T22:11:00.001-08:00

Betrayal and a Kiss

I can't believe I've missed the whole election thing this year. Being from San Fransisco, you can imagine how I'd vote in the election tomorrow. People take this stuff for granted, but just having a vote is such an important part of being a citizen. I miss arguing over which candidate is a bigger idiot. Most of the time it feels like the bigger idiot wins.

A few days after the incident in the courtyard, I found something wrong with my workstation. By late afternoon, I felt something was deeply amiss, and I had fallen way behind on my daily assignments. I worked feverishly on finding the cause, but I couldn't both try to catch up and diagnose the issue at the same time. I felt the cold beads of sweat form on my forehead, and at one point Misty messaged me "what's wrong" but I couldn't stop to answer. As the final bell sounded I let out a shriek. The guards quickly caught me and dragged me into the quad. I didn't know how or who, but given some of the looks that followed me, I knew I had been set up.

General Khanan laughed with a deep rumble when he read my output report. "Finally, the Hero has fallen," he chuckled. He grabbed me by the neck. "Not so heroic now, are we?" He threw me to the ground where the guards held me down. One of them produced the electric prod and handed it to the General.

"I've been waiting for this for a long time, Hero," he said with glee. He punched the business end of the staff into my back, with exploded with pain and convulsions. I screamed and nearly blacked as the piercing electric worms coursed through my body.

"Stop it! Stop it!" screamed a voice in the distance. Misty!

"Bring her here," ordered the General, pointing a fat finger at Misty. I rolled over in pain as Misty was dragged mostly by her dark hair.

The General grinned evilly at her. Misty wrapped her thin arms around herself against the cold wind that ripped through the Quad. "So, the Hero has a Heroine. Ahh yes...you are the girl he saved that day. You've done fairly well since. Very well...better than your peers even. Perhaps he's given you so help, no?"

Misty shivered in the clutches of the harsh men. "A little," she admitted. "He's a good person!"

"Hmm." The barbarian ran his greasy fingers through his greasy long beard. "You like him, no? Friends? Lovers?"

Misty refused to respond.

"Do you love this man?" he barked at her.

She hesitated, and looked into my eyes for a moment. "No!"

"Fine. Then you won't mind if I kill him." He whipped out his pistol.

Misty dropped to her knees and clutched at General Khanan's pants. "No! Please! OK! I love him! Just don't hurt him any more! He's ten times the man of anyone here. He's smarter and braver than any of you! He's being punished for not completing the work that most of you worthless shits can't even approach!"

"Ha ha. Well, young lady, then I won't hurt him."

"Oh thank you, thank you," said Misty, still clinging to his pants in supplication.

The General cruelly slapped her away onto the ground, then glowered over her. "But you will. You give him the prods until I tell you to stop. If you hesitate, I will kill him! I will shoot him in the gut and he will lie dying out here for hours, maybe even days, while his cried of pain pierce your sleep. Now do it! DO IT!"

He shoved the prod in Misty's hands and pushed her towards me. She shook her head and tears streamed down her face. The General shouted in ear and waved the gun at me.

"Misty, please, just do it," I begged. I grabbed the prod and placed it on my stomach. "Do it!"

She closed her eyes and pulled the trigger. Once again I convulsed in pain as my guts thrashed around my belly.

"Again! Again!" I think I got ten shots but I really don't remember much after the third. I hear by the tenth my body barely responded as I lost consciousness. I came to as a couple of the prisoners were dragging me to mess hall, not caring whether my head bounced against the stones or my shoulders hit the corners. Right before we arrived at the entrance the prisoners stopped and threw me on the floor.

"Fucking Hero," said one of them close to my face. "Fucking show-off. You will get us all killed. You think you're smarter and tougher than us? We'll fucking show you."

"Let's finish the job Klingon started." I felt fists pummel my face and kicks landed all over my body. I curled into a fetal position to try to avoid them.

"Stop! You fucking animals! Get the fuck off him." Misty jumped into the fray brandishing some kitchen utensils. She slashed at a couple of the men and they backed off. "Get the fuck out of here!"

I don't know if it was her ferocity or the imminent arrival of the guards that startled them but they slunk off like startled hyenas. Misty wrapped her arms around me and helped me get up on my shaky feet. My head swam, my body ached, and I think I had soiled myself a bit.

"I'm so sorry, Alex," she said to me. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know what to do. I shouldn't have said anything."

"No," I said through split lips. "No, if I was getting the prod, I'd rather it be from you. Those don't hurt as much." She helped me collapse at a table. My stomach hurt too much to eat, but she helped me drink some water, then walked me back to my dorm, technically a rule violation since women weren't allowed in the dorm, but the guards sometimes looked the other way. None of them liked the General much either.

She helped me clean myself up, a delicate and somewhat unpleasant task, keeping a kitchen knife handy in case the gang jumped me again. She helped me into my room and into my cot. She turned to leave but instead turned off the light and pulled the empty cot over next to mine. For moment I thought about how much trouble she would be in, but then I realized that if this was to be our last moments on Earth before the guards noticed her missing and broke down our door, then this was how I'd like to live them, with her.

For the first time we just started talking, about our lives before China. What we'd like to do if we ever escaped this horrible place. We talked about how much she missed New York, about how much I missed San Francisco. We talked about which movies we loved, which songs are our favorites, which restaurants we would kill to visit just once more. We drew quiet at every sound we heard in the hall, but the quiets seemed even more intense than the conversation as I looked into her dark Asian eyes in the dim light coming in from under the door. I knew she hadn't told her whole story, especially how she came to be here, but I felt such a strong connection to her.

I must have dozed off as one point, because when I woke up she had left. I prayed that she would arrive back at her dorm without incident. In a moment I heard someone at the door and I froze. Had she been discovered? The door opened and Misty slipped back in.

"Sorry, Nature called," she giggled.

"I was afraid you had left," I said.

"No, but how am I going to get out of here in the morning?"

I thought for a moment. "I think you should wait here until wakeup, then sneak out while everyone's in the shower. Just head directly to the mess hall. If a guard stops you just say you're on some errand but you forgot something. They'll check for you, then say they don't need you or something. If you're caught, I'll figure out something to keep them occupied. I've added some programs to my scripts that will take out our office and corrupt everyone's box. I'm still working on something to take out the firewall. But first I need to figure out who messed up my workstation."

"Let me take care of that," said Misty with determination. "It was one of the jackals who jumped you in the mess hall. I'll find something on their computers and send it to you, then you can trace it and remove it."

I smiled. "You're getting the hanging of this hacking thing, aren't you?"

"Yeah, well, I have a great teacher. Besides, you can code those guys under the table. In fact, you should take their program and turn it against them. Make then get the prod."

"No," I replied firmly. "No one gets the prod. Those guys are just scared."

Misty sat up. "Are you serious? How long have you been here? If you have enemies you need to eliminate them. If people think you're weak then they'll be all over you."

I nodded. "Yeah, I see that. But I'll do it in my way, in my time. I want to get out of here. I need to start winning more friends."

"People will be friends with whoever they perceive is the strongest. Alex, you need to show them that you run things. You need to be the top dog. You need to show them that you can't be crossed without serious repercussions. If it were me I'd find a way to have them all before the firing line."

"Jesus," I gasped. "I don't want anyone to die. Except Klingon. But these guys are just prisoners, just like me."

"It doesn't matter," countered Misty. "I don't like the idea. I don't want any deaths either. But the less of them, the more they need us. They can't do this without us. They've let us slide so far, but they can't let obvious fuck ups like today go by. You need to show them you're the meanest and toughest of them all. Hell you survived interrogation, you survived a beating by Klingon and by a gang of thugs, you're in a great position now. Do not back down now. This is when you stick in the knife and turn it. Get those guys killed, and make sure everyone else knows you did it and there's nothing they can do."

Her chest heaved up and down in excitement and bloodlust. I was part turned on and part repulsed. The aching in my bones and the stirring in my loins began talking to me. I rubbed my face, trying to restore a sense of reality. It was close to 4am, only minutes before wake-up.

We heard someone stirring in the hall and Misty placed a hand on my lips. I felt her soft fingers trace the contours of my face. My hand rose to her face as I sought her warmth. She pressed her lips against my palm then my wrist. I wanted to kiss her right then but instead I pressed her close to me to feel her warmth.

"Alex," she said huskily. "God, Alex." She drew back and her lips found mine, just for a moment.

We heard more stirring in the hall. Some of the early risers had started making their way to the showers which lay pretty much directly across the hall. I knew any moment a guard would knock on my door and discover us.

We hid Misty under the cot and draped the covers to conceal her.

As I left her I wondered if we'd ever be this close again.

Posted: Monday, November 3, 2008 @ 10:11 PM

Misty

2008-11-02T23:55:00.000-08:00

Misty

I hope this post helps you understand how I know about this awful event which may happen in a few days.

The next day started like almost all the rest to follow: Wake up at 04:45, hurried group shower at 04:50, followed by a quick breakfast at 05:00. Somewhere in there you are expected to use the toilet. Breakfast consisted of sweetened rice or congee, a porridge-like substance.

My back and side had stiffened considerably, and I could barely walk. What I could see of my face wasn't pleasant either. I looked and felt like I had been run over by a truck. At breakfast no one wanted me near them, but I did manage to slide into a seat next to the girl whom I had saved.

"Go away," she said with misery in her voice.

"Listen, I just want to know your name."

She regarded me for a second, perhaps debating whether she really wanted to talk to me. "Ok, Hero. It's Misty Nguyen." She actually extended a hand to me.

"Alex Ross. Yes, the Alex Ross. The 'New Unibomber' or whatever they call me now."

"Listen, Hero," she said softly, "your stunt yesterday could have gotten more than yourself killed. I've heard of entire teams executed because one guy wouldn't shut up. If they think some team is working against them, they'll just wipe away everyone and start again."

"Harsh," I replied, stirring my congee sludge. "So they're really just looking for excuses to kill us. Why?"

"Jeez you really are new here. You'll see. We are given access to the most sensitive intelligence in all of Asia. We're supposed to process it. We learn things that could topple governments if it ever got out. Every one of us is a threat. If one of us were to escape, you'd probably see the largest manhunt on the planet. Our job is to process interrogation transcripts, private conversations between Party members, secret government proceedings and transcriptions, as well as general communications between citizens. Not to mention all the foreign material, but here at K2 we specialize in the internal Chinese espionage."

"So we're just some disposable human-intelligence computers to them, and they dispose of us once we wear out."

Misty hesitated a moment and looked around and then leaned in towards me. The mess hall wasn't surveilled as much as the work room, but she talked as quietly as she could to me. "There's this rumour, that once you've worked here long enough...you put the pieces together."

"What pieces?"

She talked even softer. "The Big Picture. The Big Secret. The thing they're trying to cover up by killing us. They divide the work up so none of us really know what's going on. But given enough time...they're working on something huge and I think our main job here is to stop each and every leak. It's said that once someone figures it out...they go insane from the knowledge. There are things worse than death apparently."

"How much do you know," I blurted. At that moment the horn sounded, and Misty practically jumped out of her chair.

"Alex," she said hastily. "You need to be careful. Don't trust anyone. Don't mention this to anyone unless I tell you they're safe. Now I've got to run and finish yesterday's and today's tasks or I'll be out on the quad again." With that she turned and rushed off.
After attending a class and calisthenics, which proved exceedingly difficult with my injuries, I finally arrived at my desk. Bethany handed me a sheet.

"Today's for real," she warned me. "I hope you paid attention in class. You don't want to meet Klingon again."

I began processing my task list. I rifled through conversations, looking for certain word patterns, all Chinese. In my spare moments, which were few and far between, I hacked through the system software. Whoever had designed this made it air tight. I couldn't get anywhere. I felt a presence behind me.

Bethany glowered at me and hissed through her teeth. "What the fuck are you doing? You want the guards in here? Stop fucking around. They watch every keystroke. And since I'm your supervisor they'll ping me too. You know they rarely kill people. But they are firm believers in whippings, beatings, cattle prods, and other things I don't want to think about."

Needless to say I stopped my prying into the system. Although what I had found gave me the germ of an idea on how to bypass their security. It would be risky, and obviously if I were to be caught it would go poorly.
Starting on that day I began constructing some system files. One character at a time. It took me almost a month to complete it without detection.

I called it my "backspace hack." Every time I hit backspace, to my observers it would look I corrected a typo. But my computer would copy the deleted letter to a hidden in-memory buffer. Then an innocuous keyboard combination would execute the buffer. The results would show up inside of transcripts of peoples' conversations. It was a huge gamble, and at first it proved hard to write two programs simultaneously, but my brain eventually mastered it.

Every day turned into a parade of pain and torture. I tried my best to keep to myself. Invariable, almost every day someone failed to finish an assignment, and the General would mete out some punishment. And every time he almost dared me to challenge him. Even with my extra-curricular activities, I managed to finish my tasks ahead of the allotted time.

One day towards "the closing bell" I looked over and noticed Misty struggling again. I had just completed my tasks and was working on my backspace project so I got up and slid over towards her workstation.

"What are you doing," hissed Bethany. "Get the fuck back here." I waved her off.

"Go away," wheezed Misty, sweat pouring down her face. Her hands shook so much she could barely type. "This isn't allowed."

"I'll risk it." I studied her output for a minute and found the blocking issue. "Here's the problem. Just summarize these stats here and here and you're all set."

"Oh my god," she breathed, "you're right. I'm so fucking stupid. Now get back to your station before they come."

As I sat down, Bethany whispered to me. "You fucker. Just wait. We'll all catch hell for that."

I ignored her. An idea hatched in my head that I began working on feverishly.

Before dinner we had our usual assembly in the freezing courtyard with the General. And as usual, someone failed their task.

"Mr. Salvinsky," he addressed the Polish man. "This is the third time you've failed me. We do not tolerate failure here. Ten strokes of the prod."

The guards held him down. One after another they prodded him with an electric stick. He writhed and screamed with each prod, puking and seemingly losing control of his bowels. Once complete, they stood the man in front of the General, who then uttered words I immediately regretted.

"Why can't you be more like Mr. Ross? He's barely been here a month, and he completes his work before almost everyone else. Maybe we've been too lenient on all of you. Maybe we need to up your daily quotas. What do you think Hero? Do you think they can do it?"

He stared at my direction. I scarcely dared to say anything. After a moment of silence, the General walked over in front of me. I tried to maintain eye contact but failed.

"Nothing to say, Hero? Yes, we know what you've been up to." My heart leapt to my throat. Had they discovered my backspace trick? "We know you've been helping others with their tasks." I inwardly sighed relief. "Every man and woman pulls their own weight. So, to keep you busy, your workload will now double.

"What?? How am I--" He slapped his giant paw across my face, sending me careening into a pile of icy snow. I felt warm blood trickle out of my nose.

"Silence, cur! You American dog! You do your tasks or the prod will be the least of your worries. Now all of you, out of my sight!"

At dinner I waved Misty over, as I had been doing more and more. She examined my nose, but fortunately it hadn't broken. I guess I was feeling protective of her, but we couldn't be seen together too often, as that was punishable. Maybe once or twice I week we could sit together without arousing suspicions.

"Just act casual when I tell you this," I whispered to her. "I've modified your workstation so we can send messages to each other." She gasped but quickly regained her composure. I gave her detailed instructions on how to access it without alerting anyone.

"Alex, how are you going to manage your workload? If anything should happen to you, I don't know--"

"Ssh. I'll figure it out. It may take a day or two of punishment, but I'll do it." I squeezed her hand under the table out of sight as I stared into her wide brown eyes. With her free hand she wiped some of the blood off my face, with her hand lingering for just a moment on my lips before she withdrew it quickly. Now that was a severely punishable event. Coworkers could not co-mingle under any circumstances. Anyone caught touching or kissing would be placed in unheated solitary...after their hands were broken. Almost no one survived.

The next day I sent my first message to Misty while I feverishly worked on my increased workload. We had worked out some subtle signals, like head scratching or coughing to indicate we had sent messages. I tried not to stare at her all day because I knew they watched everything and that would be suspicious. Here's basically the conversation messaged over the course of the day:

Alex: How are you?
Misty: Scared. And lonely.
Alex: Hang in there. I'm here for you.
Misty: I want to die. But not here.
Alex: Someday we'll be free.
Misty: If you are planning escape, promise you'll take me. I'd rather die escaping than die by Klingon.
Alex: I will. And if I have to, I'll kill you before he can lay his hands on you.
Misty: Thanks, Hero :). Are you going to finish your tasks?
Alex: Yes, but just barely. I'm stealing some cycles from idle computers but its working.

Needless to say there was a loud groan in the Quad when the General didn't apply the prod to me. I think that's when I made some serious enemies. Now every one's workload doubled, and they had me to blame.

Posted: Sunday, November 2, 2008 @ 11:55 PM

Kastle Klingon

2008-11-02T16:22:00.000-08:00

Kastle Klingon

Posted: Sunday, November 2, 2008 @ 4:22 PM

I've been reading up on the US election in a few days. I really like the quote from Sen. Biden that goes something like, "Obama will be tested in the first 6 months."
Well, whoever gets elected, the next crisis won't be in six months. It could be as soon as six days. If we can't find a way to avert it, the next President may not have a whole lot of country to inherit. But enough about that. There's not much I can do right now, at least not until we arrive at our destination.
On my first day after my release from interrogation, I met the woman who would be my guide. "Hi, my name is Bethany. I run part of this operation. I am your immediate supervisor, but really, I'm not in charge of a whole lot here. I'm just here to help you any way I can."
She managed a wan ironic smile, but in her eyes I gathered a deep sadness and extreme fatigue.
"I've been here almost a year now," she continued, pulling over a chair so we could sit and chat. "Which is ancient. Most people last a month, two at most. Then they invariable break down, and then they are led out back and shot. Usually in front of the whole team. Either that or someone rats them out."
I glance around the room. Furtive eyes snatch peeks at me but no one makes any effort to introduce themselves. I get the feeling like I'm the fat cow ready for slaughter.
Bethany hands me a sheet of paper. "This is your assignment for today. It shouldn't be difficult. However," she sighs, "if you fail to complete it by 1700, well...just get it done. I've got to get back to work. We might be able to talk a little bit at dinner."
I rolled over to my workstation, a non-descript computer with randomly manufactured parts. My checklist consisted of install tasks and online security requests. As I worked I studied the room. I didn't see any guards but the ceiling bloomed with cameras that tracked people as they moved around the room. I could tell by the cabling that someone watched everything on my monitor, and captured my keyboard strokes.
My tasks proved to be fairly simple, thankfully. I created my accounts, installed my software, and boxed up all the papers around my desk. At regular intervals guards would unlock the doors and allow access to bathroom facilities. Heaven forbid you couldn't hold it long enough.
Bethany wasn't the only woman in the room. I spotted a few others here and there, of all races and nationalities. The entire room seemed to be a mixture of people all over the globe. I wondered how many were asylum seekers and how many were prisoners. I doubt anyone worked here voluntarily...maybe not even the guards.
I could tell dinner was approaching because the clicking of mice and keyboards grew frantic as well as the cursing in all languages. All the computers locked up a the same time, refusing further input. I heard a few screams of exasperation and fear chorus through the room.
"No," cried one of the women, a small Asian-looking woman who sounded American. "No, please! I'm almost done!"
The doors burst open and in strode a number of burly guards, who grabbed the woman roughly. The remainder of the guards hustled us out into a quadrangle formed by the surrounding buildings.
A huge bear of a man with long hair and a wild beard strode out and assessed the huddled mass. He face bore the scars of battles, and he seemed like something out of a pro wrestling match. I sought out Bethany and quietly asked her what was happening.
"Ssh. He's General Khanan. Since his name sounds Klingon, someone started calling him General Klingon, and this place because Kastle Kingon, or sometimes just K2. You do not want to cross him. Shh."
General Khanan began speaking in rough English as the girl pleaded with her captors, one who cruelly slapped her across the face and threatened her with a closed fist.
"Comrades," he started in a thick Chinese accent. "Your progress has been most disappointing. The Premiere is counting on you to deliver, yet you persist in delaying and not giving your best effort." He drew a gun and the crowd drew their breaths. The girl screamed.
I didn't know what the hell was going on. It was like the world had gone crazy. Death for missing deadlines?
"I thought you had learned your lessons yesterday. Apparently you continue to delay and fail. Why must you need more examples? Why must I continue to do this? Once again I must demonstrate the price of failure."
He walked over to the girl and aimed his gun at the back of her head as the guards held her down.
I don't know what I was thinking. I don't think I was thinking at that moment. My mouth just opened and I shouted, "Hey! Leave her alone!"
The General spun on his heels like he'd been hit with a spitwad. The crowd shrank away from me, even Bethany. The General motioned to the guards to drag the girl over to me.
"Ahh. Mr. Ross. We finally meet. Your reputation proceeds you." Of course he pronounced it "Meesta Woss". As he approached I got a sense of the true size of the man. Probably six-foot six and close to three hundred pounds, his muscles practically bursting his uniform open. I felt like a little kid next to him. He fingered his pistol for a moment. He didn't seem like a guy who even needed a gun to do his dirty work. He could wring my neck like a chicken.
I held up my hands and grinned sheepishly.
"It's your first day and you think you can run things better than me. You want to be a hero now? After blowing up half your home town, you now want to be a hero? OK then, hero."
He motioned to the guards to let the girl up, then they strode over to me, forced my wrists behind my back, nearly wrenching my arm out of my sockets, and pushed me down to my knees. I felt the cold end of the barrel of the pistol against the back of my neck.
"You feel like a hero now? You willing to give your life for hers? You say the word, we let you go, and she dies. Who is she to you anyways? She nothing. You gonna die here? After all, I probably just kill her tomorrow."
I struggled against the guards. I looked at the girl. What was she to me? I looked at the rest of the crowd. They simply stood and watched the spectacle.
"What's it going to be, hero?" The man placed a giant paw around my throat and stared into my face. I felt his hot breath against my face. "Does she die, or do you die?"
For a moment I felt hot tears run to my face. I didn't want to die out here, where ever the hell I was. If I died here, no one would know what happened to me. I'd never be able to fully clear my name.
But...
I couldn't have any more deaths on my conscience. Whether or not I caused any of those deaths, I was involved. I was responsible.
I spat full in the face of The General.
I don't think many people have done this before. In moments his face turned beet red. A deep rumbling emanated from his chest. He grabbed me by the shirt, lifted me over his head like a rag doll, and threw me about ten yards away. I crashed heavily on the ground, rolling a few times. Before I could gather myself up, he jumped on me again, grabbing me by the back of the neck and throwing me across the quadrangle. This time I was able to roll and jump to my feet. I tried to rush the monster, plunging my shoulder into his belly, but I might as well try to knock down a cell tower. He threw his arm into my back, nearly breaking it, and then slammed his foot into my gut.
I writhed on the ground in pain. I didn't know if my back or my ribs were broken. His foot pushed me over onto my back and then he placed it heavily on my chest so I could barely breath.
"Look at this hero," he spat on me. "Anyone else want to be a hero?" He motioned to a guard to hand him his pistol. "This is what happens to heroes around here."
He aimed it at my head. I closed my eyes.
Just then I heard some music. It sounded like Sinatra, "Fly me to the moon". The General fumbled with his pockets and produced a phone. He chatted in Chinese for a minute, then his voice began whining a bit. He waved his pistol emphatically at me, but then closed the phone and shoved it back in his pocket with a grimace on his face.
He chatted with his men for a moment, then announced, "looks like it your day, hero. You do your work, you and me won't meet again. But one day you'll make a mistake, and I will eat you alive."
He left me with one final kick to the jaw, perhaps trying to kill me with a well placed blow. The guards retreated, and the dinner bell rang. No one helped me up as the crowd scrambled to make the mess hall in time. I pulled myself to my feet, wiping the blood off my broken lips. Somehow I limped to the mess hall,
last in line, and managed to only procure some slimy soup and some overcooked rice. As I walked through the hall, I tried to find a space to sit, but not even Bethany would make room for me at their table. I tried to wave to the girl I had saved, but she shrank away and huddled against someone.
I finally shrunk down in a corner of the room, and managed to gulp down my food. After dinner they herded us back to our dormitories where I could finally rest, after examining the welts and bruises all over my body. It was the first day of many extremely long and punishing days at Kastle Klingon.

I'm Not a Terrorist

2008-11-01T01:50:00.000-07:00

I'm Not A Terrorist

The world is in terrible danger. Everyone is running around fussing about the Financial Crisis and the Election. I'm here to tell you that there is a threat developing that makes those issues look like a sunny day. I'm finally free again after 11 long months of captivity, and very recently I've become aware of an emerging danger that could destroy the world.

My name is Alex Ross. My friend Iapetus999 has set up this blog and email address for me so I can communicate with the world once again. Do not take these threats lightly or treat them as some kind of fictional characterization. This threats are as real as rain. These threats can and will hurt or kill all of you if they come to fruition.

Yes. I've seen all the stories. So I'm on the FBI's Top Ten Most Wanted. I'm on Interpol's watch list. I'm on Homeland Security's "no fly" list. I've seen the doctored footage. Anyone who's read Iap's blog knows who's responsible. We are not going to go over all of that again. I didn't blow up any buildings; I did everything I could to stop it. I'm not going to talk about what happened any more. You can try to find me, you can try to catch me, but I've been long gone. I think the world needs to focus on catching the true culprit.

But enough of the past. I've tried to put that all behind me. Right now I'm in transit, heading to an unknown destination. A couple days ago I received a note giving me explicit instructions on how to escape. I followed them all to the letter, and here I am, heading to who knows where for some unknown purpose. Fortunately they provided me with internet access and I've been trying to catch up with world events. It's going to take a couple more days to arrive, which will give me some time to write down a few things.

So you're probably wondering where I've been since last Dec. 1. You might recall that Ellie and her cohorts smuggled me out of the country. Well it was really in a cramped shipping container on a Chinese freighter. That was also the last time I've seen Ellie. I haven't heard a single thing from her in 11 months. I did hear some rumors about her. I also just found a blog that might be hers as well but right now its empty.

Let's go back to the beginning. For a week I sat alone in the cargo container while it plied the Pacific Ocean. I had a supply of food and a lavatory, as well as a small flashlight, batteries, and old magazines. I had a lot to think about, but the lack of human contact began driving me crazy. I didn't know if it was night or day, and I couldn't hear anything but the sound of my own breathing and the creaking of the surrounding containers as the ship swayed back and forth. I began talking a lot to myself, and occasionally screamed and pleaded for someone to take me out of there. Unfortunately those pleas were finally answered.

Upon arriving at port, they dragged me out of there, and placed me in the back of locked truck. For days the bounced along what felt like the most abused highway in the world. It felt like they drove me across the entire continent. They would let me out now and then but guarded me carefully with drawn weapons.

After this arduous journey, they finally transferred to a facility that looked like a supermax prison with guards and dogs and barbed wire that seemed to stretch for miles. My heart sank at the thought that I'd escaped prosecution in the US only to be confined to some kind of Chinese Gulag.

Well I was only partly right about the Gulag part. It certainly was forced labor...but of a different kind. The first few weeks there I have almost no recollection of. It was simply one interrogation after another, days upon days without sleep or food, beatings, drugs, just about everything. I think it was well into the new year until they were satisfied that they knew everything about me or had broken me or whatever. It's just really hard to think about.

They let me rest for a few days. I think I literally slept the entire time. I also suspect they may have given me some drugs to help erase or at least obscure my memory of the interrogations. They then assigned me a dormitory room in one of the camps. It contained two cots, a sink, a set of drawers filled with grey prison-like clothes, a pair of ill-fitting shoes, a toilet in a tiny room, and a small mirror. I almost didn't recognize my face in the mirror, with two months of scraggly beard, uncut hair, and I'd probably lost close to 30 pounds. I found a small shaving kit in a cabinet under the sink and went to work cleaning myself up. The blade was dull and lifeless but little by little I got the job done. I still needed a hot shower but my door proved to be locked from the outside.

After a few hours of napping my door clicked and in walked a smallish man followed by two burly guards. He had thinning hair in a comb-over and his face hid behind overly large thick glasses.

"I am Captain Sou of the People's Army," he said in fairly understandable English. "I am here to orient you. Follow me."

He led me through the barracks that was to be my home for the last ten months. He reeled off instructions: Breakfast, lunch, dinner at 0500, 1100, and 1700. One minute late and you may not enter. Orientation classes at 0530-0700, project work 0700-1000, calistenics 1000-1100, more project 1130-1400, orientation, etc throughout the day. I had one hour before lights out at 2100 to myself, although most days I simply feel asleep from exhaustion.

After an extremely thorough and exhaustive introduction to my assignments, Cpn. Sou brought me to the room that would serve as my "office." I had half-expected to be put in chains and given a hammer and told to break rocks, but instead the door opened to a long hall filled with desks and racks of computers with wires flying everywhere. A din of electric fans filled the air. I could see dozens of people cramped into the small space, probably sixty people working in a space meant for 10. And this equipment was fairly state-off the art as well.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and rose to attention when one of the guards blew his whistle. The Captain pointed to a woman over in the corner and motioned her over. I saw a tall blonde with short cropped hair rise and approach us. I could see the fear in her eyes as she regarded us. The Captain informed her that I was now in her charge and he expected me to be productive in a short time if she valued her position.

With that he turned on his heels and strode out of the room.

The woman extended her hand, more of a perfunctory gesture than with any sense of greeting.

"Great," she mumbled with a pronounced English accent as she glanced through the file the Captain had handed her. "We've been expecting you. Welcome to Kastle Klingon. You can sit over here." She motioned me over to a desk filled with papers and notebooks. "Don't worry about that stuff, the previous occupant of this desk was executed yesterday. If you're lucky you'll end up the same way."

Posted: Saturday, November 1, 2008 @ 01:50 AM