TUESDAY TREAT.

Status: Writing on Chapter 146 of Starchild Duel. (Page 1,319)

Doing: Writing on this blog; answering e-mails; working out, and well...you know the rest! :0)

Watching: Greening the Earth (PBS)

Listening to: "Halcyon"; "Autumn Tatics" by Chicane. (Behind the Sun album)

Reading:

Kushiel's Scion. Page 252.

Star Trek: Crucible: McCoy:-Provenance of Shadows. Page 11.


TOPIC: THE PRICE OF FREEDOM--A CHAPTER SPECIAL.

It's a pretty quiet night tonight, so I thought that I would give everyone a sneak peek into what's happening with my ongoing writer's project.

I know that most of you won't know what the book is about--from just reading this chapter alone--but I hope that you'll enjoy it nonetheless.

I must caution people as always: This is adult-oriented material and shouldn't be read by minors (or to minors) under the age of 18.

The chapter synopsis surrounds what happened after Kenneth Sparks and Kayla Sorenson hitched up with the 13th Reconnaisance Unit; 101st Combat Division--shortly after their stay with Carl Henderson and his nephew.

A much-needed break turns into a veritable nightmare for everyone involved--and Kayla is at the center of it all.

***

Tucker was worried. The three should’ve come back already with Kayla in tow.

How long does it take to traverse a half-mile anyway? Are they all taking their sweet-assed time? He thought–thinking that he would have to put together another party, just to look for the first one and one wayward…android.

“Or woman. Or whatever she calls herself these days,” the man said under his breath. Glancing over at Theresa Fredericks, he said, “Put together another small team. Three or four people max–armed–and have them go down to that creek and find out what the hell’s the fucking hold up.”

The strawberry-blonde woman nodded, and left her guard post on the edge of the camp. Tucker took her place and waited for her to come back.

When this is over…he thought to himself. I plan on taking a long nap!

Voices in the background rose and fell in pitch–as a small part of the camp began to awaken–as the call to action was carried out.

The rest of it still slept.

Because in this war, you took any opportunity to catch some zees.

Life was finite. It was never taken for granted.

* * *

“Reprogramming complete.” A synthesized voice echoed.

Kayla didn’t recall the exact moment she awoke in the small chamber, surrounded by banks of machinery, power coils, tubes of fluid and matter.

The center of the room was subdued and dark–the only illumination, a small overhead light.
Kayla lay on a table–naked to the world–but not really caring.

Her memory matrices were buzzing with fresh information–new information. A purpose was being formed, a mission being formulated.

“My prize. My creation. You will be my hand in this war on the humans. Do you understand me?” Mother’s voice rang inside the small chamber.

Kayla’s eyes opened.

“I do, Mother. I am yours to command.” She said without hesitation. The mission was simple: Eradicate any and all things biological.

And she would carry out that directive to the core.

“You will stay here for awhile. You may get up and move around if you so wish. But you will not leave until I command you to. I will provide you with the necessary garments. A specialized jumpsuit which will identify you to the rest of the world as their executioner.”

“Yes, Mother. It shall be done.”

“Sleep now. Conserve your energies for the war ahead.”

“Yes. Mother.” Kayla responded tacitly. The light dimmed, casting her and everything else into the shadows of the past.

* * *

“Yes…Mother…” Kayla drawled out in a stupor. Her mind was nearly gone. The barbs had almost completed their basic reprogramming of the trapped woman.

But at this point, Kayla found herself no longer caring about that. Soon, she would rejoin her master and creator, and the human race would die.

Mother…

“I…hear…and…obey…” the woman rasped in a drugged-like state. “What...is…your…command?”

Mother…

Kayla suddenly had a clear sense of something else. For a moment, everything came into perfect clarity. Though she did not know how she knew this, she sensed that she wasn’t alone.

Mother…you must resist it. You cannot allow yourself to be taken again so soon. Not when so many lives are riding on your shoulders. The future of this world is in your hands. Do not be so quick to destroy it.

Kayla looked around blindly, her head flopping this way and that. Drool had collected at the corner of her mouth and started to drip freely on its own accord.

“Who…is…there?” She ground out in wide open curiosity. Though her mind was almost gone and she could feel the call of the machine collective start to resonate deep inside her memory matrices, there was still a shred of her previous existence inside of her.

Still fighting to live.

“Who…?”

Your daughter. The one whom you still have yet to give birth to. I am at a stage now that I can begin to freely communicate with you through advanced telepathy. The barbs are of no threat to me because of my own defenses in play. And so, I remain free and whole to continue to grow and evolve. But I am here to tell you to fight, Mother! Fight the programming which has taken over your mind and body! You are much stronger than this!

Kayla stared into the darkness incomprehensively.

“I…can’t…” she said brokenly, a tear forming at the corner of her eye. “Mother…is too strong.”

Must I do everything for you? The disembodied voice cast back with wry impatience.

“What…do…you mean?”

On another level, Kayla could “hear” a soft sigh in her mind. A sound so sweet, that she wanted to reach out and take hold of it.

Like you, I too, possess certain abilities. Some of which have already been made known to you. But I can also do so much more. I am after all…a product of you and daddy’s love.

The idea that she could be so easily saved appealed to her greatly. Kayla then wondered dimly if she had done so for others in the past.

“Hurry…” she whispered. “Please…hurry…” then she fell silent; witnessing the last part of her slip away and be replaced by–

* * *

There was no way in hell she was going to take a swim in that creek–just to get up close and personal to that…whatever it was.

“Bigger than a goddamned tree, that’s for sure.” Marlene heard Kristina say–as the three of them continued to scout the area in front of them. As it stood, none of them ventured out more than ten feet on either side of the bank. But their hand held lamps continued to play their beams on the green mass in front of them. It pulsed and moved from the inside out from time to time, but there was still no way to tell what was inside it. But speculation still ran rampant that it was Kayla in there, but there was no way the trio knew of getting her out.

All they could do was wait.

The darkness still swallowed up the remainder of whatever it was. But this new construct in front of them now resembled some sort of stasis pod–grotesquely misshapened all the same.

But its bloated mass and width created a natural dam for the creek. The water started to lap up at their feet on their end, and Marlene knew that they couldn’t stay here for much longer.

“Shit…” she whispered as one of her feet sank into the waterlogged grassy knoll next to the bank. She shook her leg, listening to the splattering of water–knowing that they didn’t have as much time as they thought.

“Back up you guys,” she gestured to the other two. “This place is going to flood worse than my grandma’s bathtub in the next hour our so.”

Kristina and Chan followed the woman back to an area behind the hedge where it was still dry, but offered an unobstructed view of the thing in front of them.

But that all ended when Chan decided to play his light on the back area next to the “pod”.

What they found was an equally misshapen head with no eyes, but a massive mouth filled with teeth.

But there was no visible body!

Its feeler arms–or what was left of them–waved too and fro in silent ecstasy. But for the most part, the Seeker remained silent and unmoving.

“Ugly.” Chan chirped in disgust, before turning his light away, and his attention back to the two women. “That’s for sure.”

Marlene agreed. She had never seen such a monstrosity in her entire life!

“But what depraved person would unleash such a thing unto this world of ours?” She asked in muted astonishment.

“This Mother person probably–if Kenneth’s words are to believed.” Chan said.

“What do you mean? You think he’s lying to us?”

“It’s the first time I’ve heard of such a reference.” The man said.

“But according to him, she’s in control of this whole operation. It would make perfect sense–” Marlene pointed back at the Seeker behind them, “–if this abomination is somehow being controlled by her. No one else on earth would be able to create something as big as this thing is.”
“No one human, you mean.” Kristina interjected.

Marlene stared at her for a second. “Are you saying that this could be Kayla’s doing?”

“Well…she’s not here. Is she?”

“I still say–” Marlene was about to fire back, before the woods in the front and to the side of them, became alive again with distant sounds and voices.

All three shined their lights in the general direction of the noise, but neither could spot anything for a good four minutes.

It was Chan who was the first to raise the alarm.

“There!” he exclaimed. “I see–”

Four people came popping out of the brush–each one visibly agitated and breathless.

Marlene relaxed and then smiled wanly.

“Let me guess: You guys were sent by Tucker to find us, and so you ran all this way?” She postulated.

Theresa was in no mood to be placated.

“How come you hadn’t reported back yet?!” she growled. “Tucker’s looking to tan your hide for going AWOL!”

“Ease off, Corporal.” The woman deflected smoothly. “We didn’t get lost.”

Theresa and her group merged with Marlene’s a minute or two later.

“So what the hell is taking you so long? Couldn’t you find–” Theresa started to say as she shined her light in the direction of the creek. What she saw stunned her just as easily as it had Marlene recently.

“Oh my god…” she whispered. “What the hell is that?”

Marlene shrugged as the rest of the her group got in a good look at the Seeker sitting complacently in the cold waters of the creek itself.

“Still don’t know.” She said, just as one of the other members in her group instinctively raised his gun.

“I’m gonna try and take it out!” He impulsively announced.

Both Marlene and Theresa turned.

“Wait!” Marlene yelled. “Don’t–!”

But it was too late.

The man fired off a plasma grenade–striking the lower section of the green “pod”.

A terrific explosion lit up the night and the creek bed.

“Adam! You asshole!” Theresa snapped. “I gave you no orders to return fire!”

There was sudden movement in the creek as the Seeker was roused from its slumber, and turned its attention to the small group of humans clustered and huddled just right of its present position. It gave off an odd roaring sound–as if the damage inflicted upon its body caused it considerable “pain”.

Theresa soundly cuffed Adam upside the head.

“Stupid fuck!” she snarled. “Now you got that thing pissed off at us!”

“Ow!” Adam cried out indignantly–cringing from the abuse–before rubbing the back of his head. “Sorry! I didn’t know! I just acted without thinking first!”

There was movement from the creek, as the Seeker re-established itself and prepared to attack the clustered party. It drew the “pod” closer to its body…

“That’s usually like you!” Theresa continued to berate at him. ‘You never think before you act!”

Kristina and Chan both sounded the alarm as the Seeker charged them.

“Guys! I think now would be a good time to run!”

“What?” Theresa cried, taken off guard–before she found herself being pushed back towards the trail. And thus towards the camp.

“Run!” Marlene shouted hoarsely–seeing what the other two saw. “Make like the wind and run like hell! This thing’s coming after us!” Then she took off before giving anyone else reason to lag behind.

The Seeker crashed through the thicket–snapping trees off their base and crushing the hedge beneath.

Everyone else was already in motion–scattering like frightened rabbits. None of them had the courage to stand against something that clearly dwarfed them all.

***

On another note, I'm also intrigued by what I was watching on PBS about how this government of ours has refused to take the initiative in combating global warming.

It's not just this government, but the last 2 administrations as well. Too many people in high places are having way too much influence on how we should protect (or not) our own environment--weighing everything on basic greed and money.

As of late, I've been toying with the idea of just having a limited number of paper copies of my books available--and concentrating the bulk of my book sales in e-book form only.

This way, it helps cut down on the amount of paper being used and how many trees are being cut to make my copies.

Sky