The Radius | Book 2 | Living In The Radius

by Muga, D. M.

  She pauses for a second to catch her breath and collect her thoughts. Feeling her blood begin to boil. She looks around and none of them are trying to interrupt her.

  “My point is that this ass-backwards of a new world really sucks! And if some arrogant pieces of shit think that we have made it this far, just to be put to sleep or turned into slaves, or whatever the hell they have planned for us… they have another thing coming! I won't allow them to take away what life we have left! What life the children have left, like those two girls in that cabin! My point is, I'm sick and damn tired of this shit! If they want a fight, let’s give them one and kick them the hell off our planet!” Eileen says this last part as she runs out of breath.

  She has so much rage and anger building up inside of her from everything that has been going on.

  I just want to live my life in freaking peace! Is that too much to ask for?! She screams inside her head.

  Steven pats her on her shoulder and nods to her. “I’m right there with you, Eileen...”

  “Me too, babe.” Ben adds and looks at everyone else. “She has a point, gents. A very angry point, but it’s valid. I’m sorry hon… were you done talking? I don’t want to interrupt your rage rant.” He gives her a grin at this last part.

  She eyes him as he puts up his hands in self-defense. “Yeah, I’m done.” She replies. “For now…”

  “Well, without trying to piss you off anymore, you’re a hundred percent right, but I don’t think you should be talking to the two Federalists posted over in Big Bear. What were their names, again?” Ben replies.

  “Mahoney’s the robotic intelligence and reconnaissance guy, and Burke’s the logistics and supply gal. Mahoney seems like a real stick in the mud, but Burke didn’t seem half bad… aside from lying to us about Edwards and why they are actually here.” Steven responds.

  This focuses Eileen's mind on Sergeant Alicia Burke. She had liked the woman, but she had also felt like she was holding back information from them. She can feel herself calming down.

  She sighs and adds, “Yeah, I got the same feeling about the two of them. Burke was nice, but something definitely seemed off.”

  “Alexander what’s your take on these sleeper things? Robots? Jedi Ninjas? Monsters?” Ben asks of Alexander.

  Before Alexander answers, he looks at her. I did kind of bite his head off… but in my defense, he did correct me on something that really didn’t matter.

  She sighs, “I’m not going to yell at you again. Sorry, Alexander. It was just bad timing for you to be correcting me.”

  Ben laughs. “Yeah, man. I thought you were a married man. You should know better than that…” Then Ben goes quiet, likely realizing that he just brought up his dead wife.

  “Sorry, Alexander. Didn’t mean to be insensitive.” Ben adds.

  For the first time, Eileen sees Alexander’s mood change and he narrows his eyes for a split second at Ben, but then his face returns to the normal academic Alexander that they all have grown accustomed to.

  Did he just get mad? Did I see that right? Makes sense for Ben to be the one to piss off the calm and poised Alexander Mathis.

  The moment of slight anger was there and then it was gone as Alexander began to speak. “Well, I have given it some thought before this new information about Edwards Air Force base and the surrounding towns and cities. Whereas, it cannot be definitive, it’s apparent that a sleeper is some sort of weapon. I don't believe it to be robotic but to be made of machinery. I definitely don't think that a sleeper is a monster or any other form of living creature. This is primarily because the bodies sound as if they are unharmed and untouched. In fact, they appear to be sleeping.”

  “So, what do you think they are?” Steven asks him.

  “Currently I have two dominant theories. One is that it’s some sort of viral agent released into the air. However, I recall reading something similar to that in a previous war, here on Earth One, that had to do with the Rh factor... So, whereas, that may be a possibility and they could have improved on the previous design of those biological weapons. I'm leaning more toward my second theory of a massive explosion from a modified bomb, based on technology that we didn’t have yet.” Alexander explains.

  “I don't know Alexander. Don’t bombs and explosions leave destruction and not dead people that look like they are sleeping?” Eileen asks.

  “She has a point, Alexander. That’s not like any other bomb or explosion I have heard of. The biological weapon theory kind of makes more sense.” Ben adds.

  “That’s what I thought at first as well. But I was leaving one key factor out of the equation, which is the Blue Hole Radius… We know that the technology developed by the SXS Project and the advent of the Blue Hole Radius forced a paradigm shift from the Einsteinian Paradigm to the Harris Paradigm. And in our previous paradigm, the one where we came from... we had nuclear weapons that could be modified to detonate a massive electromagnetic pulse that could wipe out electrical grids in entire regions. Seeing as we showed them how to slow down time on quite a large scale, it’s not too far-fetched to assume that they improved upon that science.” Alexander further explains.

  This time, Eileen has no response and neither do Steven or Ben.

  After a short pause, Alexander continues. “This is why I think it’s some sort of futuristic bomb that detonates a massive wave that doesn’t wipe out electronics and destroy cities, but rather… it only wipes out humans.”

  Eileen’s eyes go wide at the realization of what Alexander’s saying and she hopes that he’s not right.

  If he’s right… the people have the ability to wipe us out without us being able to even put up a fight. Dear God! I hope he’s wrong…

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa! So you saying that these people from Earth Two created an eco-friendly nuke that just wipes out people? Seriously man, why the hell would anyone create something like that?!” Ben blurts out.

  “I'm uncertain if the blast affects other creatures as well, but it’s apparent that it’s extremely effective against the human body, leaving everything else in the area intact.” Alexander adds.

  “What the crap, man! Really?!” Ben says, obviously thinking of their odds if Alexander’s right.

  “Alright… So, Alexander… this is what you think these sleepers are?” Steven asks.

  “Yes, Steven. I can’t say for sure. But I have put a lot of thought into it.” Alexander replies.

  “Well… If either of the theories that you have said are true, that’s all bad news for us. But if you are right, there’s a silver lining.” Steven says.

  “Silver lining?” Eileen interjects.

  “Think about it… If they have this technology, then why haven't they used it. They used it on Edwards, but not here… That tells me that they need us for something.” Steven replies.

  “Or hopefully… they ran out of the damn things.” Ben adds.

  “Yeah, there is that… but either way, those are good things. So, either they ran out or they need us for something. If we find out why they need us… that gives us an edge.” Steven responds.

  “Well, how the hell do we figure that out?” Eileen asks.

  “My apologies, I thought it was obvious, Eileen.” Alexander replies.

  “We ask them, my dear.” Steven answers.

  “Yeah, okay… Hey Federalist people, are you here to kill us all? I don’t see them answering with a Yeah! Good job on figuring it out!” Eileen replies.

  “Remember, it doesn't matter if they tell us the truth or not, but it does matter on how they answer our questions. Hell, if we are close to the real answer, it may trip them up enough to let something slip.” Steven explains.

  “Dammit! We know they are here to hurt us. I wish we could just go in guns blazing… Take out all of these Federalists assholes!” Ben says, annoyed.

  “Yeah, but we don’t know what kind of weapons they have and how they work. We have just seen the aftermath of one of their weapons. It’s safe to say they have others.” S
teven replies.

  The things on Burke’s and Mahoney’s right arms… what were they called?

  “Oh Yeah! Those MECCU things on their arms!” Eileen blurts out.

  “My thoughts exactly, Eileen.” Steven replies. “But first thing's first… we need to figure out how we are going to explain all of this to the people and how to convince them that these Federalists are bad news.”

  “That should be pretty obvious, once we tell them about the sleeper that they used on Edwards.” Ben replies.

  I don’t know… we were offered, well not immortality… but damn near close.

  “No, Ben. Your Uncle has a point. Captain Jackson spoke about new technologies to help us. Hell, he claimed to be 74 years old and he looked my age. People would do anything for that sort of technology and medicine…” Eileen explains to her bullheaded boyfriend.

  This guy! Wants to go in guns blazing when we don’t have a freaking clue what we are up against! I know I’m pissed too, but really?! Come on, Ben… at least try and think out a plan! Eileen thinks as she shakes her head.

  Ben must have sensed that she was becoming annoyed with him, because he looked her in the eye, then down at the ground.

  “Oh right… yeah… that makes sense. Shit! This does really suck!” Ben blurts out.

  “You can say that again...” Eileen replies.

  “Either we can piss and moan about it or we can go figure this out. Let’s head inside, check on the girls, and then try to wrap our heads around what we are going to say at the emergency meeting in town.” Steven replies.

  The man has a point. Whatever the hell these sleepers are, these Federalists have another thing coming if they think they can just come here and screw up our world worse than it already is. I'm sick and damn tired of people thinking that they can take from others, just because they think they deserve it! Eileen thinks to herself as she follows Alexander, Ben, and Steven into the cabin to try and figure out a plan for the people of Crestline.

  17

  Benjamin Reilly

  God, I hope that Alexander’s wrong about the sleepers. What the shit? They made freaking fracking eco-friendly nukes that only wipe out us… or they built a biological weapon that does something very similar. Either way you look at it, it seems like we don’t stand a chance. Ben thinks, as he navigates the winding road toward the dried-up lakebed of Big Bear to speak with the two Federalists that Captain Jackson had left behind, Mahoney and Burke.

  I guess we’ll find out soon enough… Ben thinks as the drive with Eileen and his Uncle Steven is a silent one, with all of them likely as deep in thought as Ben was. Alexander had opted to stay back with the girls.

  Two cars were following Ben, making a total of nine of them going to see Staff Sergeant Mahoney and Sergeant Burke. Each vehicle had three passengers. Ben, Eileen, and his Uncle in his truck, Deputy Joseph Gomez was following them in his vehicle with the young couple that had joined the DFC, Briana and Christian. Ben was impressed that the young couple stepped up to the call for arms and joined the DFC after everything that had transpired with the stockades at the Lake Arrowhead Village Marketplace. Deputy Janice Fuller was in the third vehicle with two other DFC members. Ben could not recall their names at the moment.

  With being about ten minutes out from Big Bear, he checks his clock. It’s 0910… and I believe it’s Thursday already. Geez, time flies.

  Ben smiles as he drives. Yeah it does, considering it’s frigging July 11th of 3433!

  Ben’s mind circles back to the emergency meeting, yesterday.

  The meeting had gone as well as Eileen had predicted. Ben had hoped that she was wrong and people wouldn’t be blinded by promises of youth and salvation, but it turned out that he was the one that had too much faith in people’s common sense.

  Everyone on the DFC seemed to be on the same page, but Ben could still see several of the members of the newly formed militia contemplating the medical advancements of the people from Earth Two. He just hoped that when the time came to fight, they would choose the side of their fellow man and woman.

  The town of Crestline, on the other hand, was close to a fifty/fifty split. The crowd was enormous, compared to what Eileen had told him the crowd was for the last meeting. Uncle Steven had said that this was mostly due to the lack of communication... with there being none, but word of mouth still working fine and well. It made sense to Ben. People were scared and wanted to know what was going on.

  His Uncle didn't hold back any punches. After the four of them had discussed at length what to tell the town... they had all come to the decision to be as transparent as possible. They had all agreed that the old ways of holding back facts and only providing half-truths or misguiding people were the old ways and should not be followed any longer. It had been Ben that had pointed out that if they have gotten this far, they deserve the full truth and nothing less. Everyone else agreed that the people should know what they believed themselves to be up against.

  Ben was confident that they would see common sense. They had to. These people from Earth Two had wiped out an entire area of people with unknown casualties. These people had also, likely, knocked out their communication.

  What Ben had explained to Eileen was accurate. This was a textbook invasion strategy. Take out the military, take out communication capabilities, make promises to divide the people… all that was left was for them to strike.

  That was the main part that worried Ben. He had not figured out why they had waited at all. They had the firepower.

  What were they waiting for? What was stopping them?

  In Ben’s mind, Alexander had to be onto something with Captain Jackson needing something from them. Whereas, Ben had no idea what that was exactly, he had a good idea that it was not anything good. At least good for the people of Earth One, which was their home.

  Ben had ended up being very wrong about people and common sense. He was astonished with how many of the townspeople had begun to defend the people from Earth Two... without even knowing them, really. Sure, there were those that made the trip to go meet Mahoney and Burke. As it turns out, Eileen was not the only one that thought Sergeant Alicia Burke seemed like a good person. This had ended up swaying many of the people’s opinion.

  There were shouts of, “How do you know it was them?” “They said they are here to help?” “They promised us our youth back!” “How do you know that the military weren’t the ones that struck first and they were just defending themselves?!”

  Ben was taken aback by how easily people were misled. Eileen had been right. Many of them were blinded by their technology and promises.

  Ben had to admit, it did sound pretty cool being over seventy years old and looking and feeling to be only in his thirties. However, that didn't dismiss the very likely scenario that those same people that are making all of these promises committed an act of genocide. And he figured that if they were willing to do it once, they were willing to do it again.

  By the end of the meeting, more people had begun to think of the promises from Captain Jackson, Staff Sergeant Mahoney, and the kind and angelic Sergeant Burke.

  His Uncle had to take the stance of going to find out more information and promised to return with more accurate information. This was replied with, “Go ask Sergeant Burke! She’ll explain everything!”

  His Uncle promised to get more information and down to the actual truth of it. Ben was scared as hell that the people were more worried about being young again, compared to the devastation of their sleepers and God knows what else they had developed over 1,410 years.

  It was obvious by the time the meeting was over that they had all felt somewhat defeated. The evening had been rather quiet, with the group going along with their evening dinner and then standing their respective watches.

  On a positive note, Ben was happy that the girls were getting a little more talkative. Whereas, they mostly spoke with Alexander and Eileen… It was a start.

  Before they all got ready for bed and their shifts, hi
s Uncle remained adamant that he was going to get to the bottom of this and prove to the mindless mob of sheep that Captain Jackson and the others were here to do them all harm.

  Ben was uncertain that the people would come to their senses any time soon, even with all of the facts. It had become evident to Ben, back in 2020, that people can be easily misled, and it can take a long time for the real truth to sink in. Ben truly hopes that his Uncle’s right and they come back with the information needed to convince the others.

  Seeing the dried-up lakebed as they enter Big Bear, Ben realizes that none of them have said much during this drive, and even this morning.

  Ben sighs heavily. “Alright. So, what’s our game plan? That way, we are all on the same page?”

  “The game plan is to ask them the direct questions about the sleepers and communications. We need to be polite and courteous, but still have a plan to take those two down, if need be. We still don’t know what those MECCUs actually do.” Uncle Steven explains.

  “Polite and courteous… sure thing, Steven. But I'm telling you that Sergeant Burke is two-faced. There’s a reason why so many of the people trust her already. She’s as sly as a fox.” Eileen replies. “And if they do get out of hand, I'm shooting at their MECCUs, before we find out just what the hell they do. If what Alexander said was right, there’s no telling what those oversized bracelets do.”

  Yup… she’s still pissed. Ben thinks about how fiery she was yesterday.