Chapter Five

Earth. Home. Jimmy was going home.

The thought pinged around in his head like a Pong ball. Although being one of Earth’s Select Few meant someday he would have to return to Earth, he never really thought it would happen. No one had left the Millennium Program that he knew of. No one. And that begged the questions… Why him? Why now?

Jimmy glanced quickly at the three working quietly to get the deep space cruiser ready for launch, oblivious to, it seemed, the reason why they were there.

Trained, practiced, Jimmy had no doubt they could do whatever it was Mul-Rok had them preparing for, but Mul-Rok shared none of the reasons for their quiet, hurried activity. Mul-Rok lived by rules, survived through strict diligence and adherence to the Order. Nothing in the Order explained what Mul-Rok had them doing. Jimmy knew the verses of the Order better than the Pledge of Allegiance. Mul-Rok, for the first time in ten years, showed a kind of humanness Jimmy didn’t think possible for his Master.

A warm tingling spread across the back of his hand. He’d almost forgotten about the pain from earlier. The hangar, protected from the cooled catacomb air, provided Jimmy with an opportunity to examine his hand a little more closely, so he pulled the glove from his hand to try and determine the reason for the irritation.

As Jimmy’s hand came free of the glove, he focused on the veins beneath his pale skin. The veins moved like liquid blue ink, spreading slowly up his arm. He flexed his fingers, staring at the markings he’d only ever seen on a Terraling. When he looked up, Julz was watching him and he heard her voice in his head.

“What do you think?” The question was playful, flirty. She’d never been flirty before. And then the oddest thing happened. Jimmy could feel himself inside her mind, feel her thoughts, her fears and desires. “Say something.”

“What should I say?” He blurted the words out, startling himself and the other three in the room. He was no longer in Julz’s mind, that was certain, but why hadn’t he been able to communicate the way she did?

“You talking to yourself again, Jimbo?” Hima’s sarcastic growl brought a crooked smile to Jimmy’s face until he saw Mul-Rok watching him intently. Julz was also watching him, intently.

“Ya. Call me crazy.” Jimmy pulled the glove back on, covering the blue spreading up his arm.

Hima laughed until the hangarbay door swung open and a squad of nanotech Terra-elite soldiers filled the open doorway.

The Squad Leader stepped forward, blaster rifle held at a low ready, the red power cells fluxing like a heart and the trigger finger of his left hand indexing the weapon.

“Master Mul-Rok. You and your team are to stand down.”

“Stand down?” Hima turned to face the soldiers, every muscle in his body beginning to swell. Hima could smell a fight coming before any one else.

“Stand down and have your students return to their dwellings.”

Mul-Rok turned toward the squad, “I’m afraid, Trooper, I won’t be doing any such thing.”

“We have orders, sir.”

“Do you, now?”

Hima threw himself at the arrest squad as the energy bolts flew from their rifles. He grabbed two of the soldiers by their heads and rammed them together, taking them quickly out of the fight. The remaining soldiers scattered to other vantage points around the hangar, filling the air with the red bolts of energy that destroyed everything they touched, everything but Hima.

Bolt after bolt of the liquid energy rammed into the blue-fleshed Nevarrian. And each time a blast struck him, his body absorbed the energy, causing him to swell to three times his normal size.

Mul-Rok attacked with his bare hands, disabling soldiers one by one while his daughter shielded him from energy bolts with her psi-abilities.

More soldiers button-hooked through the doorway, laying down suppressing fire and moving tactically into the firefight. As good as his friends were, the end of this fight was not far off. Jimmy watched from under the cruiser where he’d been loading fuel cells. He didn’t have the super-skills Hima and Julz had, and hadn’t mastered the fighting arts of his instructor.

“Help us.” The plea entered Jimmy’s mind with quiet confidence. They needed his help. “You can end this now. End this.” The back of his hand burned a little. He knew what to do, knew how to do it. They trained him.

“Jimmy.”

Chapter Four

The cold air rushing through the catacombs at this hour stole the breath from Jimmy’s lungs. Hima stepped in front of Jimmy, blocking the icy blast and giving him enough time to pull the suit’s sock-like hood over his head. The blood-freezing temperature in the catacombs existed to deter any nocturnal activities. For most, it worked well. But for some, like Hima and Julz, cold was a way of life, a rite of passage.

Even with the hood over his head, protecting him from the freezing wind, Jimmy collapsed to his knees, his lungs and throat burning. Hima caught him as he fell forward.

“Julz.” Julz turned immediately, saw Jimmy on his knees, and raced to his side. “Forgot to cover up that pretty little Earthling head of his.”

“Jimmy?” He didn’t respond. “I can’t see his eyes in this hood, Hima. We need to get him to a sickbay.”

“Negatory, beautiful. Give the suit a sec to warm our little Earthling back up and he’ll be ripe as a Nevarian winter peach. Little frostbite in the lungs never hurt anybody I knew.”

“He’s not from Nevar, Hima.”

“Could’a fooled me. He’s like the little brother I never had, only with over-sensitive skin.” Jimmy coughed, then gasped for air as he grabbed hold of Hima’s massive arms. “There, there crazy Earthling. What were you thinking going out in the cold without your hat on? What would your mother say?”

“Very funny.” Jimmy’s hoarse reply was reassuring for both Hima and Julz.

Julz placed her head to his and Jimmy felt a fiery blast of warmth surge through him like an electrical current. Then he heard her voice, “Don’t do that to me again, James. I cannot lose you.” Then the warmth and voice were gone. He stared at Julz. She gave him a quick smile and went back to business. Hima helped him back to his feet.

“What was that all about?”

“Tell ya later.” No one had ever called him James. But when Julz said it, he kind of liked the way it sounded.

“Right. Then let’s get moving tough guy.” Hima wouldn’t let this moment go without some further explaining, but to his credit, he knew this wasn’t the time or place for prying questions. Jimmy had no secrets from Hima. Hima knew that and respected him all the more for it.

The trio of curfew breakers found Mul-Rok waiting for them in the lower catacombs near the hangar bay. His eyes flickered in the incandescent light coming up from the floor lamps. Jimmy hadn’t been this deep in the catacombs. Passage into the lower catacombs by any of the Select was forbidden, although Jimmy found there weren’t many security measures preventing them from moving freely through the catacombs. Perhaps the Terralings believed a little too much in their cold air security system.

Mul-Rok walked forward and embraced his daughter. Although most of his body was covered with a taught, black flightsuit, Jimmy watched the blue veins in his neck pulse with light as the two embraced.

The back of Jimmy’s hand burned white hot suddenly and he clinched his fingers into a fist to fight off the pain.

Mul-Rok’s eyes flashed to Jimmy as he released his daughter, and although Jimmy’s breath caught in his throat, he was glad his eyes and face were hidden from his Master. Hima’s unique suit proved its worth yet again.

“It’s time for us to go.” Mul-Rok turned and started down the catacomb toward a nearby launchbay door.

“Where exactly are we going?” Hima, never afraid to ask a question of anyone, stopped short when Mul-Rok turned and glared at him. Then Mul-Rok’s hard look fell on Jimmy, and lastly turned on his daughter.

“Earth.”

Chapter Three

Whispered words oozed into Jimmy’s ear as a soft, warm hand slipped over his mouth, “It’s me. Mul-Rok sent us. We have to get out of here tonight.”

The dream still burned in Jimmy’s mind as he rolled out of the bed, his feet falling soundlessly to the frosty floor. He could feel the skin-like energy suit he wore come to life as soon as he left the warmth of the thermabed. The suit was the only thing protecting his sensitive earth-grown skin from the harsh Terra winters. It had been ten years since that fateful night when he decided to leave Earth with Mul-Rok and come to Terra. Ten years…

Jimmy grabbed the two leather satchels held out for him while his eyes adjusted to the darkness in the bunkhouse. And as his night vision kicked in, Jimmy smiled. The nanite implants proved worth the three days of blindness he’d suffered through. He focused on the massive blue hand holding the satchels and looked up into the grinning face of Hima, his hulking, prankster of a bodyguard from the planet Nevar.

Everything Hima had ever told him about Nevar suddenly rushed into his mind. The frigid ice planet he once called home had been vaporized when the sun in its solar system went Red. Hima was one of the last of his kind, a gentle blue giant without a home, without a race. Hima reminded him of Dr. Henry McCoy, the X-Men’s Beast. He had a mind for science, a knack for fighting when the situation required, and a sense of loyalty second to none.

Jimmy imagined Hima was the best of everything his race had to offer, blue skin and all. He felt lucky to have his friendship, a friendship forged his very first day on Terra.

Mealtime was the only time when all the Select Few came together from their respective Millennium programs. Even their Terraling Masters knew meshing together all the many races they’d gathered throughout the galaxy would create problems, the biggest problem being the death of one of the Select. Gathering new Select was a dangerous business for the Terralings, a price they paid willingly but one they tried to avoid. Mealtimes were the exception and Hima had been there at Jimmy’s first mealtime when a trio of Graumalings decided they should get a second plate of food before Jimmy had gotten his first. Jimmy stood his ground, but if Hima hadn’t stepped in when he did, the beating he would have gotten might have been the last. As it happened, Hima was more than up for the action and after that, Jimmy's problems with anyone ceased.

“So, you’re sleeping in that pansy-suit now, I see.”

“Well, if you hadn’t made the thing so comfortable…”

“Shhh. What part of this makes you think we’re playing a game?” The sweet chastisement came from the perfect lips of the most beautiful girl Jimmy had ever seen. Julz-Rok was Mul-Rok’s daughter, his youngest daughter of age, as he had been reminded one time when inquiring about her. A Terraling’s youngest daughter of age was taken into the Covenant for service to their God. There could be no marriage, no children, and all ties to family were severed at anointment. Julz took him, once, to the Temple to show him what her life would be like. He knew it was a life she didn’t want…for a lot of reasons.

“Hey Earthling. You’re skin's turning red. That suit too hot?”

Hima was always quick to point out the obvious, especially if it meant making someone a bit uncomfortable. Jimmy flashed the grinning brute a stern look. They both knew how strong Jimmy’s feelings were for Julz. Neither knew for sure how Julz felt. Jimmy suspected there was something there, but she was a Terraling, the daughter of their Master, and destined for religious servitude. Even if she did feel something, Jimmy knew she would never act on it. She couldn’t.

“Enough. Let’s go.” As she spun to lead them out of the room, the long braid of silvery-white hair hanging over her shoulder, swung to her back. She wore an energy suit as well, also a gift from Hima, although it looked rather amazing on her.

She really was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen, flawless.

Chapter Two

Jimmy woke to the flash of red, white, and blue lights blazing through his still open window. It took him a minute to wake enough to process what was going on; then, he wondered why his parents weren’t already in the room. Red, white, and blue lights meant only one thing to an eight year old: police cars and fire trucks. And Jimmy loved both.

The cold wooden floor stung his bare feet. It was colder than it normally was. Jimmy stared at the floor and saw his breath billow out in front of his face.

“James Antwan Miles.”

Jimmy turned toward the window when he heard his name. The lights were gone and the cold air burned as he breathed it in, but in the darkness near the bedroom window he could see a figure standing. Tall, thin, whoever it was had appeared in his room without making a sound.

“Who are you?”

Obviously not bothered by the sudden appearance of the stranger, he'd asked the next most important question. He was eight and something told him this stranger didn't pose any danger, so why not find out who he was and maybe even why he was here. The thought occurred to him to call out to his father, but it was fleeting. If the man was here to hurt him, it was already too late for help.

“I’m the future, James. Your future.”

Jimmy watched the man, still nothing more than a silhouette in the darkness of his room. The stranger’s voice was calm, kind. He wanted to see the stranger’s face, but the man remained hidden in the shadows.

“Why are you here?”

“To offer you the chance to save your world.”

Jimmy’s mind was quickly trying to process that enormous thought. A chance to save my world? What was that suppose to mean? He was eight years old! Eight! How in a million years was he someone even remotely possible of saving the world? Then Jimmy stopped mid-thought. He said save his world, meaning Jimmy’s world, so, then, what world did this stranger belong to? And suddenly Jimmy realized it was time to call for Dad. But before he could open his mouth to speak, the man stepped toward him, coming into the light and speaking again.

“You’re a peculiar race of humans. All you create seems to destroy who you are. We have watched you for a long time, gathered those we felt would give your people the best chance at survival and trained them.”

Jimmy heard the words. They didn’t make a whole lot of sense to him, but he heard them. It was the man’s face that held Jimmy captivated. His feet hit the floor again. He didn’t notice the frigid layer of frost now gathered on the polished wooden surface. He didn’t see how each of his quick, excited breaths condensed in the air in front of his face. Jimmy couldn’t take his eyes off the man talking to him.

The stranger was Human, but unlike any human Jimmy had ever seen. His skin was flawless, and looked soft like his mom’s Fuzzy Pants. And each of the man’s facial features was perfect, his ears, mouth, nose, they were all perfect, and his eyes were a blue Jimmy had never seen before.

“You’re beautiful.” The words slipped from Jimmy’s lips before he'd even thought them. It seemed like the only way to describe what he felt when he looked at the stranger.

The stranger smiled. “Will you come with me to my world, Jimmy, and let me teach you how to save your people and your earth?”

“Your world? Where are you from?”

With a gesture of his hand, the stranger lead Jimmy to the bedroom window where he pulled back the curtains to reveal the same night sky Jimmy was so familiar with. But Jimmy’s eyes never made it to the sky, lingering instead on the stranger’s outstretched arm. The loose white garment the man wore had short sleeves, leaving exposed the bare skin of his arm. The veins in the stranger’s arm seemed to course with a fluorescent liquid, blood Jimmy supposed, but certainly not blood like his. The web of glowing veins looked like an intricate tattoo made with ink that moved across the skin.

“There’s a cluster of stars just outside the Orion constellation where my world, Terra, has been hidden for seven thousand years. We are a people who have found peace in the Millennium of our time, but it cost us…”

Jimmy stared up at Orion. He knew the constellation so well he barely took notice of it anymore. Everyone knew Orion. Jimmy never thought there was anything special about it, until now…

“You want me to go there?”

“Yes.”

“Can I think about it?”

“No, you must choose tonight. Go, or stay.”

Jimmy thought when the time came to make this choice, there wouldn’t be any choice to make. He’d made his decision the first time he looked up at the stars. Space was his future. But he wasn't supposed to be choosing now. He looked at the stranger. He was standing so close, looking down at him with those weird blue eyes, kind eyes, but weird. How could he make this decision now? It wasn’t time, wasn’t his time…or was it?

A Peculiar People - Chapter One

James “Jimmy” Antwan Miles the Third laid across the foot of his bed, head hung over the edge, eyes staring at the open window that looked down on the neighborhood park. It was a hot summer night, hotter than usual he’d heard his parents say as they’d shut the door to his room on their way out. The heat didn’t bother Jimmy so much, not on a night like this, when the sky was clear and every star was out, eager to be seen. Jimmy saw them, saw them all and wanted nothing more in life than to know each one of them by name and visit them.

Jimmy rolled himself up onto his bed and lay staring at the ceiling. Two days ago, he and his dad spent the afternoon pasting a giant star map to his room’s ceiling. He already knew where to find each constellation, knew the constellations by name, even knew the names of the major stars in those constellations.

Space. The final frontier. Jimmy heard the familiar Star Trek line playing through is mind, then it was Star Wars…in a galaxy far, far away. Space… could there be anything more beautiful? Jimmy didn’t think so, not at eight years old.

He rolled onto his side, eyes now on the packed bookshelves lining the wall at the side of his bed. Books on everything you wanted to know about space, models of various shuttles, a shadow box with a handful of NASA mission patches secure inside, a menu and an alien keychain from a café near Area 51, the shelves were a wealth of dreams and fantasies.

Jimmy exhaled deeply as a smile crept across his face. He was going to space. Not now, of course, his dad said if he played his cards right (whatever that was suppose to mean), Jimmy might be ready to go into space in twenty years.

Twenty years…that was an eternity for an eight year old. Why would it take twenty years? Jimmy knew the answer of course. He’d read everything there was to read for an eight year old on the topic and had even purchased a few books a little out of his league so he’d have them to read when he was ready for the more advanced stuff.

He was a smart kid, a genius by some accounts, but he was still very happy being eight, no need to hurry things along too quickly. But twenty years…surely he could get into space faster than that. Surely…

His eyes began to blink slowly as his lids got heavier and heavier, pushing him closer to sleep. He was tired, just not ready to sleep yet. Twenty years, he kept thinking. He couldn’t wait twenty years. Who could?

With a New Year Upon Us...

With a new year upon us, and Part One of The Redemption Series posted, those who our readers are probably wondering what's next. Although I have several ideas already in the works, my time has been given in great part to my youngest son who was recently diagnosed with Autism.

As an aspiring writer (aspiring for the past 23 years), the hardest thing about my son's diagnoses has been his struggle with words. It seemed a lot of the dreams and hopes I had for my son were dashed on the rocky shoreline of Lake Reality when my wife and I were told he was autistic. Our life and home are filled each day with therapy sessions, but also with the hope that we are doing all we can to help our son overcome the difficulties he has, and perhaps give him the opportunity to live a fulfilling and engaging life.

And I am sure, if he could talk, he'd want me to continue to write, knowing the joy it brings me. He is an amazing boy, full of life and curiosity. So, for him, my next story will be A Peculiar People, a story about the sci-fi dreams in every little boy.

For you, Hunter, and your older, Star Wars fanatic brothers, Ethan and Caleb.