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

"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

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

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 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 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 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

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