by Kipjo Ewers
Mr. Rutherford married with two children with three priors for disorderly conduct, assault and battery, and drunk driving was also a member of the Carolina Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.
Mr. Rutherford drove his 2014 Ram 1500 truck into Jersey City, New Jersey a day before the rally and took a jitney bus into Port Authority Manhattan where he walked to the rally. On his person was a Desert Eagle .50, a Steyr SPP (Special Purpose Pistol) semi-automatic pistol, a Walther P99 semi-automatic pistol, and several clips of ammunition for each weapon.
It was a textbook shooter incident, but something in Rogers’s gut did not feel right about it.
On the flight home, Rogers sat by himself studying a video recording of the shooting incident on a tablet. He played the scene over and over again as Sister Shareef walked over sitting next to him.
“What do you see?” She asked.
“Three children got hit, but their Titan and Mercurian physiology protected them from the rounds. Then two mothers moved in to block the remaining rounds,” Rogers paused and pointed. “He keeps shooting in the same direction until Merge takes him down. One slight turn to his right and he could have hit several more targets. Nine times out of ten active shooters strive to hit as many targets as possible before going down, yet he stayed rooted and focused on the women and children.”
“More proof that he’s an evil …”
“We were here before the crowd formed, and Maxine was running scans for weapons using thermal and x-ray imaging. Yet this son of a bitch manages to evade her and stand next to one of the few Apollos in the crowd with electromagnetic capabilities to distort her scans.”
Agnes leaned in narrowing her eyes to take a closer look.
“That is odd.”
“Once we get back,” Rogers muttered. “I want to learn more about Mr. Rutherford, the EVO he was standing next to, and Vitruvian Absolute.”
˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜
May 2017, 10:20 PM Sanctuary time,
Sophia sat in the main Council Hall in a simple white blouse with pink linen pants with a dazed look on her face. Her thoughts were trapped in a loop as images of what occurred in Union Square nine month ago played over and over in her head. A large part of her did not regret going that her appearance defused an event that would have eclipsed every other riot to ever occur within the United States. However, the wrenching knot in her stomach reminded her that every news station and device within the vicinity caught a sea of people bowing to her, asking for her leadership.
Social media had a field day with the footage drawing the lines visibly dividing those who still saw her as a champion and protector and those who verbally expressed their disdain for her, projecting her as the biggest threat to ordinary humankind and the planet.
The incident which saw no end in sight to cooling down spilled into her personal life and the running of Sanctuary. Eight months later, twelve residents became former residents wishing to relocate. Sophia aided them using all of her resources with a smile and a broken heart knowing that underneath their own smiles, tears, and many appreciations for everything she had done for them, they no longer trusted her anymore.
Sophia’s woes did not end as accusations from conspiracy theorists, the Alt-Right movement, and right-wing news outlets accused her of running an occult from her island. This, in turn, broke bonds and closed doors to her from certain organizations which included churches, barring her from speaking to those in need under their roof that would entertain coming to Sanctuary for a new start to rebuild their lives.
Not to be deterred, Sophia took her message to the streets where at times she was either ambushed by either the media or protestors of the political, radical or religious persuasion. This at times sparked demonstrators to come to her defense, who either believed in her as a hero or worshipped her as a messiah igniting at times into clashes which she had to put down herself causing more turmoil for her in a world where things went viral.
These instances forced her to abandon specific states and regions she regularly frequent to help those in need to prevent violence in her name.
Many nights Sophia broke her own rule unable to sleep. Many nights she’d quietly float high enough so no one could hear her scream and cry her frustrations out as she gazed down at the Earth below feeling powerless.
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In the midst of the chaos, she went to the only safe place that would allow her to think.
Sitting in her parent’s dining room with a cup of peppermint tea in front of her, Sophia went home.
“I shouldn’t have gone,” she sighed.
“Is dat wut you believe?” Her father asked.
A bald-headed Mr. Dennison with a thick salt and peppered beard leaned forward in his chair at the head of the table with his hands clasped. His deep soothing voice that was with her when she was learning to ride a bike without training wheels was in the body of a slightly smaller older man in his early seventies that needed glasses to drive and read.
“I don’t know daddy.”
Sophia feeling lost dropped her eyes to her half drunken cup.
“Memba when yu usta git sick an ah nastee cauf, yud hide becuz I’d feed yu honey, cod liva, an leman.”
Sophia shuddered and gagged at the memory which brought back the disgusting taste in her mouth.
“Gawd I hated dat taste.”
“But cha felt good aftawads right?”
“Yeah, I did,” she begrudgingly nodded.
“Dem news reports all say if you wasn’t dere nuff peeple wud ah died. Dem wud ah killed dat bwoy, an gawd knows wut wuda happened to New Yauk.”
Mr. Dennison smirked as he reached over placing his old calloused hand over hers.
“Not everyting dat tis good will feel good baby girl.”
His words brought a soft smile back to her face as she picked up her father’s hand and gave it a kiss.
“Thank you, daddy.”
Sophia narrowed her eyes as she saw a brighter smirk than usual on her father’s face.
“Oh my god …dad, are you having a Jor-El moment?”
“Nah mon!” Mr. Dennison snorted. “More like Mista Kent!”
Sophia’s eyes became misty as she erupted into uncontrollable laughter which became infectious to her dad who let out his trademark chuckle.
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“Soph.”
She snapped out of her trance not from Earl’s voice, but the soft touch of his hand on her shoulder. Slowly she looked around the room at the concerned looks the other council members gave her as they bore witness to her spacing out.
“You okay?” Earl asked.
“I am so sorry,” she swallowed. “What was the last thing that was said?”
“Um, it is becoming difficult to expand Sanctuary’s infrastructure without damaging too much of the foliage,” Hector Lopez, Sanctuary’s Head of Construction reiterated. “With the twenty-five hundred refugees we granted asylum from North Korea, we’ve gone from a large village to a sizeable town. I know you want to keep things ‘green’ Sophia, but it’s going to be difficult to get to people who might get sick or injured outside the vicinity of the main town without proper roads, especially if you or Kimberly is not around. Our only two options to keep the town centralized is to move the preserve so we can expand in that area since its closer to the village, or start turning some houses in the central village to townhouses similar to the new constructions we’re currently doing.”
“That would take a lot of people out of their comfort zones, I don’t want that.” She huffed. “Any chance we can add a fifth addition to the newer houses?”
“Not advised after the last hurricane we had to endure,” Hector shook his head. “The taller the construction, the more likelihood of swaying, especially with those crazy winds we got
. The trees also being higher than the construction helped cut down the force of the wind that hit us. We go any higher; we’re going to have some serious problems.”
She leaned forward placing her elbows on the table as her chin fell on top of her clasped hands. She sat there for a moment focusing on her decision.
“Hector, if you could evaluate for me how much of the wildlife preserve we could reasonably push back to get more space I would appreciate that,” she said turning to him before addressing the rest of the council members. “As far as building up, I would like to quietly leave that up to each resident that has an old home. If you each can go from house to house within your sector and ask if they wouldn’t mind having their homes converted into the new three-story townhouse style so that we can make additional space for new residents, then we will consider the upgrades and how to proceed. Let them know it is strictly voluntary and they are not obligated to upgrade if they do not want to.”
She turned with a pleasant smile to the two newest members of the council.
“Bong-Cha and Chung Ae how are the people in your sectors adjusting to their new life here?”
Bong-Cha Yi was a twenty-five-year-old with long beautiful jet-black hair and green eyes from Pukchin. Her father paid the ultimate price to slip her and her little sister across the North Korean border into China for a better life.
Twenty-seven-year-old Chung Ae Rey with his newly grown hair and soft smile that brought sunlight to the room was from Sinhŭng County, and a former soldier turned deserter. Chung Ae left after he savagely beat an old man for stealing food because he was hungry, and then was ordered to execute him where he laid. The act haunted Chung Ae and opened his eyes to the cruelty of a regime he no longer wished to serve under. So like Bong-Cha, Chung Ae found an opportunity to escape into China.
Unlike Bong-Cha, Chung Ae had a bounty on his head for being a deserter. He counted the days until he would be caught and dragged back to North Korea for torture and execution. That day would never come due to Sophia.
One visit with the Prime Minister of China, and she was allowed to walk as many North Korea refugees out of China giving them true asylum from their former country.
In total, she took eight thousand North Korean refugees out of China with cargo planes that she owned, and a couple that she rented. Twenty-five hundred opted to come to her island and start a new life where they felt truly safe, while the remainder was divided between South Korea and Australia in a joint relocation effort.
Her actions not only shocked the world but brought both a mixture of praise and scrutiny to her, especially from the Republican candidate.
Majority of it came through a slew of late-night tweets he unleashed on her. She never responded, and two of them actually made her laugh.
It was not a decision that she made on her own, she brought it to the feet of all the villagers of Sanctuary. Majority of residents were for it, while there was a sprinkle that had their reservations. In the end, it was put to a vote.
The cost was three other villagers requesting relocation.
From the first day, Bong-Cha stepped foot on the island with her little sister; she took charge helping the rest of the refugees to get acclimated while stepping in to help break down language barriers. Chung Ae did the same joining in with the construction workforce. When he was not helping to put up another structure, he was out on a boat fishing.
It took some time, but he eventually became one of her patients as he worked through his demons in regards to his past life, while finding forgiveness within himself for what he had done. As the months rolled by, she watched that stone hardened jittery soldier he walked off the plane as melt away to a young man who loved rock music and sailing with an infectious laugh.
When invited to become a part of the Council, Bong-Cha jumped at the opportunity. Chung Ae was more hesitant believing he did not deserve the right to order or command anyone. In the end, Sophia coaxed him to join, to show him that he had excellent leadership skills that could be utilized for good rather than evil. That he could be someone people looked up to, not feared.
Although they did their best to integrate the newly constructed houses in with the homes already there to prevent any sense of separation, the North Korean defectors were now the largest population on the island. A tiny part of Sophia’s mind whispered that she may have bitten off more than she could chew; a part of her heart told her what she did was the right thing to do.
What she did know was she was at the point of no return. She had to work the problem.
“Everyone is pleased to be here,” Bong-Cha nervously smiled while looking around. “Many have said this feels like a dream come true, like paradise. It’s just that …”
She paused wondering how best to say what she wanted to say.
“I believe everyone wants to do more,” Chung Ae jumped in. “To help …to become a part of the community.”
“Which is awesome to hear and brings us to our next problem,” Sanctuary’s new Head of Finance jumped in. “This Island needs to start producing …”
He paused as he caught Sophia once again fluttering her eyes in irritation, not really wishing to hear his ominous projections for another month. She begrudgingly reigned it in putting back on her adult hat.
“What are projections, Indrajit?”
Indrajit cleared his throat before explaining while everyone followed along reading the report on their respective computer tablets.
“With our next project coming up in weeks, our population is going to grow to that of a small city. Luckily the funds in our treasury are equivalent two New York States, so we will still be deep in the black. However, if we don’t start generating a viable income in the next year to maintain the treasury, we’re going to run into some problems. Our issues are going to be general infrastructure maintenance, hospital and medical supplies, and future natural disasters among other things.”
Sophia kept her poker face on while nodding, as her inner voice unleashed every foul, putrid language she could imagine.
“Set up some time for us to sit down and go over the numbers line by line.”
Indrajit nodded as he checked her calendar on his tablet setting up time. In the midst of it, she noticed the other members of the Council glancing at each other deciding who was going to speak.
“Out with it,” Sophia rolled her eyes. “You guys know how much it irks me when you do that.”
“We had a town hall meeting last week while you were away on one of your missions,” spoke up a silver-haired Ms. Gertrude, the Head of Sanctuary’s Agricultural department.
Sophia became a nervous child as she sat back in her chair.
“Okay.”
“Everyone on the island agreed we want to start paying some form of tax to sustain the treasury and the island.”
Her revelation brought on a slight scowl on Sophia’s face.
“Why would you have that discussion without me?”
“Because we knew you wouldn’t want to have that discussion in the first place,” Ms. Gertrude calmly answered her back speaking for everyone else. “Or, you would word it where people would not feel obligated to do it. For many of us, this is our home Sophia, and we’re not children to be coddled. We have a good thing here, and we want to see it grow into something wonderful.”
“It will be the first time in my life I’d be both happy and proud to pay taxes,” Earl grunted. “I’m seeing first hand where my money is going to.”
Everyone except for Sophia laughed and nodded at Earl’s joke in agreement. Sophia glanced at each of them with a look of injured betrayal.
“Stop with the pouting,” Earl admonished her with a fatherly tone. “You cannot keep this place going by deep diving for gold and gems near the center of the Earth every couple of months. God knows what that is doing to our planet. This is positive progression.”
Her inner toddler came out while she folded her arms.
“Not pouting,” Sophia muttered.
She bl
ushed realizing who she was around and sat up in her seat becoming an adult again as light chuckles went around the room.
“So, I take it you all have ideas,” Sophia asked with defeated clasped hands.
“Well for one we can start with our nonconflictual diamonds, the ones the size of footballs I mean,” Indrajit shrugged.
This time everyone minus a confused Bong-Cha and Chung Ae glared at him making Indrajit feel as if he was under a spotlight.
“What?”
“Spoken like a true Wall Street Broker,” Hector scoffed with a headshake.
“I was also going to suggest Organic farming and seasonal fishing,” Indrajit sneered at Hector. “We can also go into the natural energy manufacturing business, we’ve practically mastered producing environmental energy efficient homes.”
“Let’s consider those options and put the diamond business on the backburner for now,” Sophia jumped in mediating. “I would like everyone here to start the discussion around the island as to what export industry they would like the community to take on as a venture. We’ll take the best four and then narrow it down to a community vote. I know I don’t have to say nothing illegal, but that also includes alcohol and tobacco, anything that needs FDA approval, or harmful to the environment.”
“What about cannabis?” Indrajit asked with a raised hand.
Once again everyone minus the new members sitting with confused looks on their faces groaned and glared at him. Indrajit continued to stand his ground.
“Before you all take my head off, it’s slowly becoming a billion-dollar industry. States like Colorado have been caking it in revenue ever since they made it legal, you can make a vast number of products from it, like milk, paper, and oil, and as a doctor, you know better than anyone else its medicinal purposes Sophia.”
Sophia’s jaw slowly shifted from left to right as she searched to find an answer to refute Indrajit’s defense. The physician within her would not let her.
“I …will consider it.”
