The Radius | Book 2 | Living In The Radius

by Muga, D. M.

  Burke sighs again. “That explanation is leaving out a great amount of detail and circumstance, but it’s accurate for a short version, yes.”

  “Why, Burke?! For the love of all that is holy, why?!” Uncle Seven asks.

  “Wait! You said there’s under 500 human beings left alive from Earth Two, and from the sound of it… that’s high balling it. How many people are left here?!” Ben interrupts with his own question.

  Burke looks at him with a face of defeat. “Our numbers are not 100% accurate, with certain areas harder for us to scan, but the scan produced a number of roughly just over 2 million souls left on Earth One, aside from our kind. The actual count came out to 2,003,076 souls left after the scan following the military installation incident…”

  2 million? How many did we start off with when this whole thing kicked off?

  “Holy hell! Only 2 million of us left?! We started out with close to 9 million, according to Commander Yang’s message!” Eileen blurts out.

  “Yes, that is accurate, Eileen. And is one of the reasons why Captain Abraham Jackson holds your kind in such low regard and plans to rebuild what is left of your civilization.” Burke replies.

  “Well, isn’t he the hypocrite! If I was a betting man, I’d have money on him being the reason why Earth Two’s down to a few hundred people left, if any at all! And he thinks he can just come out here and start fresh with becoming a tyrant?!” Uncle Steven replies.

  “Yeah! What exactly is his actual plan, Burke?” Ben adds.

  “In reality, tensions had been brewing between the Utopian Union and Federalist Legion for the last decade. The release of your kind from the Blue Hole Radius escalated those tensions into a full-scale war on Earth Two. But yes, it was Captain Jackson that utilized the massive amount of sleepers on the population of Earth Two, when it looked like our side would soon become the losing side…” Burke explains.

  “What the hell, Alicia?! You went along with this?!” Eileen asks sharply.

  “Yes… in the beginning it seemed like the right thing to do. Commander Yang wanted to just give your kind our technology and let your kind decide what to do with yourselves. He did want to offer guidance but didn't want to step in with any real solutions. But over time, things began to unravel within the Federalists Legion ranks and many of us continued forth out of a mixture of fear and faith in the cause… the cause that your kind could be salvaged and incorporated into our kind.” Burke says, trying to plead her case.

  “Let me take a wild guess, Burke…” Ben begins to say. “Abraham said that he would provide us with the technology when we earned it and followed the ways of your kind to a tee. And when people started dying on Earth Two, shit got real and some of your Federalists had second thoughts. Then your great and glorious Abraham had to eradicate these people for your great cause and the future of humanity. In fact, he saw it fit to kill millions on Earth Two, because he was about to lose a war… Does that sound about right?”

  Burke nods and sighs. “Again, you are leaving out a lot of details. However, that’s incredibly accurate of what occurred on E2… but the population prior to the Grand Global War was over 800 million citizens. How did you come to your conclusion without knowing our history?”

  “You’ve got to be shitting me Burke! Over 800 million dead on Earth Two and you still followed this asshole here?!... And I came to that conclusion because I do know your history! I know our history! Human history! History may not repeat itself, but it sure as shit rhymes! And that’s how fucking asshole tyrants work! When they don’t get their way, they hit the reset button, regardless of how many get hurt, in the hopes that they are left standing!” Ben yells at the woman from Earth Two.

  The spaceship stays silent, as if everyone’s taking in the information and not knowing what to say.

  After an awkward moment, Ben opens his mouth again. “Shit Burke! Seriously?! Why are you following this asshat?! Why should we even listen to you?! Hell! Why did you even help us if you believe in his cause so damn much!”

  Ben sees a tear form in her left eye and it runs down her face.

  Oh, would you look at that. These all-knowing, futuristic humans still have feelings and can cry! Good! I hope I offended you, you…

  “I don’t know! Alright! I knew what he did on E2 was wrong! But what were we supposed to do?! Several of us spoke up against him, and I was getting ready to do so as well… He killed those people for even saying anything to him on our way here… He killed nine people, knowing the Renaissance was dead and gone, and we may be all that was left from E2!” Burke yells out and Ben can tell that she’s having somewhat of a breakdown.

  Ben watches as she looks to her hands, then looks back up, with more tears in hers. “I followed him because I was afraid to die. Once I realized what he was willing to do to get what he wanted, it was too late!... My family was still on E2 when it happened, and they even supported him and the Federalist ideals!... And then he killed the rest of my friends!” She shouts at Ben, at all of them.

  After a short pause, she continues. “All the people that I have known for decades are gone now! And when he killed Brian, I was more scared for my own life than worried that he was gone! That’s why I helped you! I didn’t want to die! I know it’s cowardly, even after all of my decades of training and schooling… I still grew up to be a coward!” Burke says and then she puts her face in her hands and begins to sob.

  Ben feels himself feeling bad for yelling at her. Dammit! Why the hell do I feel bad for yelling at someone that had a hand in 800 million dead! What?! Just because she’s a woman and she’s crying?! Shit on a stick, this is some real bullshit!

  He turns his head back around and looks out his side of the spaceship. Below them all he can see is ice. After a few moments the ice gives way to snow-capped mountains and forests. Ben finds himself lost in what he’s seeing below them.

  Where the hell are we? Antarctica or some shit?

  After a few more moments of silence and quiet sniffling from Burke, Eileen asks the question that Ben thinks they must all be thinking. “Alicia, where exactly are we and where are we going?”

  Ben hears Burke sniffle and sigh in the way that people do after crying and trying to recompose themselves. “Um…” She pauses, but Ben cannot take his eyes off of the snowy scenery below him and does not look back at the softly sobbing Burke.

  “We are going over the Arctic Circle, reaching the former territory of the UNAT or the United North American Territories…” Burke says pausing again and then adding, “We should be arriving at our destination shortly.”

  “And where’s that, Alicia?” Eileen presses.

  “I located a cave system that’s big enough to hide the STARU. I found a cave opening that is open enough for us to fit in and avoid the scanning process of the Leviathan. We took the long way around the globe here, to throw off Captain Jackson. I believe the caves were once called the Upana Caves when they were much smaller… in your time.” Burke replies.

  Ben hears Burke sniffle again. “It’s in the lower North West Territory of the UNAT or what you knew as British Columbia in Canada.”

  Ben watches as the snowy scenery gives way to a darker green mixture with snow-capped mountains and forests. It’s difficult to see anything specific with how fast the spaceship’s moving.

  We went around the Earth? That quickly? How fast does this thing go? And this is Canada? I had heard that there wasn’t much up here, but this is ridiculous. There’s nothing up here but snow and trees...

  The STARU begins to slow and Ben can begin to make out water and more trees with less snow on them, but still having some spots of snow here and there.

  It’s July isn't it? I heard Canada is cold, but this cold? Really? How cold does it get up here now?

  He turns to ask Burke and sees her now standing, looking at him. “My apologies for losing my composure. I assure you that I'm here to help. I may have aided you for cowardly reasons, but I know now what path I must follow.”

&nb
sp; “Burke… We all fall down. We may not all be complicit to genocide, but we still all make mistakes. What really matters is what you do afterwards.” Uncle Steven says, unbuckling himself and standing as well, grabbing his seat as support.

  “You saving our asses back there, should really count for something… and it sure as damn does. My only question now is whether you are going to help us or are you going to have second thoughts about going against your fearless leader of a tyrant?” Uncle Steven asks.

  “Captain Jackson will kill me regardless, whether I come back or help your kind. No matter what he says. He’s wonderful with words, but I have seen him to be truly cruel at heart.” Burke says.

  Ben unbuckles himself and faces her, ready to say something. Eileen unbuckles and puts a hand on his shoulder as she rises up next to him. Ben looks over at her and she shakes her head at him.

  “What? So, we are just supposed to forget and forgive the fact that she was here to rule over us with an iron fist? Or that she had a hand in killing millions back on her home planet? How can we forget something like that Eileen?” Ben asks her.

  “I know, Ben. I know. But she did save us, and you know it. We were all but dead without her. She may have done it to save her own skin, but she brought us here too… alive. We should at least give her a chance, Ben.” Eileen replies.

  Ben looks at her with a look of confusion and then looks to his Uncle. “Uncle?”

  “She’s right, nephew… and you have to look at brass tacks… we are definitely screwed without Burke’s help. At least with her, we have a chance against Abraham and the others. Hell, she just gave us a great amount of intel on them. We outnumber them like crazy!” Uncle Steven replies.

  Ben looks at his Uncle, with confusion... processing the reality of what he has said.

  Has the world gone completely batshit crazy all over again?

  “Ben Reilly, if I may… I have been doing a lot of thinking while being on your planet alone with Brian Mahoney. A lot has changed in the last couple of days and I have seen that we are not all that different. If Captain Jackson… if Abraham has his way, most of your kind will die and he will pick and choose who repopulates Earth One and that will only be the beginning.” Burke says to him.

  “Well, I'm sure as hell glad that you see us as the same as your kind. That’s great!” Ben snaps back.

  “What I'm trying to say is that I think I know what one of your old idioms truly means now… It’s better to die on your feet than to live on your knees…” Burke replies.

  Son of a bitch… Ben thinks about the woman in front of him saying a quote he knows very well and to be very true. Annoyed and impressed that she even knows the saying.

  Before Ben can reply with a comment that he can’t think of yet, he feels a vibration in his jeans.

  Huh?

  The vibration happens again, and then again.

  Ben reaches into his pocket and pulls out his iPhone that he still had kept charged and on him on a daily basis. Despite it not working for the last few days, it was hard for Ben to part with it. In fact, he still had not parted with his wallet yet either. Some old habits were hard to get rid of.

  “My phone’s ringing…” Ben says.

  The phone vibrates in his hand.

  “What?! Who is it?! Answer it!” Eileen shouts at him.

  Ben looks at her and then back to his phone with Alexander Mathis’s name on the caller ID. Everyone on the STARU spaceship is dead silent. Ben finally picks up after the fifth ring.

  “Uh, hello… Alexander, is that you?” Ben says.

  “Yes, Ben. It is. Are you guys alright?” Alexander replies.

  “Uh, yeah. But why are the phones working again?” Ben questions.

  “Captain Abraham Jackson must have stopped blocking the network to get a message out to us.” Alexander replies.

  Message? There’s another one?

  “Huh, what message… wait. Hold on. Let me put you on speaker so everyone in the ship can hear you.'' Ben says to Alexander.

  Ben then looks back to Burke, “Burke, do you have Bluetooth or anything like that to have us all hear him on the ship?” Ben asks her.

  “Bluetooth? Do you mean like a speaker for your comm?” Burke asks.

  “Yes, do you?” Ben presses.

  Burke nods and hits a few buttons on the wall behind the transparent screen. “There, your comm should work for the entire STARU, now.”

  “Thanks Burke.” Ben tells her.

  “Okay. You're good to go, Alexander. We can all hear you now. It's all of us that left for Big Bear, plus Burke... now.” Ben explains to Alexander.

  “Oh okay… Interesting. So, I take it that it was you guys flying away from the Leviathan not too long ago.” Alexander responds.

  “Yeah, Alexander, that was us. But what's this about a message from Abraham? Whatever he said, don’t listen to him. He’s a liar and tried to kill all of us.” Ben replies to him.

  “Actually, Alexander… The son of a bitch wants to kill most of our men and anyone that doesn’t fall in line and take our women and children! If you see that POS, shoot first!” Uncle Steven adds.

  “Okay. Well one of his Lieutenants just sent out a message over the radio, telling all of us to go to Lake Gregory. It was not a request but sounded like an order and warning. He gave us an hour, saying he’s showing us mercy and salvation. It sounded like it was directly toward the people of Crestline, and only us.” Alexander explains.

  “What?!... That’s crazy! Don't listen to a damn word that crazy maniac says! Stay put in the house, and you should be fine, Alexander.” Ben replies.

  “That’s not entirely accurate Deputy Reilly. I mean Ben Reilly.” Burke adds.

  Ben shoots Burke a quick look.

  “Who’s that Ben? And why?” Alexander questions.

  “Hold on, Alexander…” Ben replies.

  “Dr. Alexander Mathis. My people have the technology to scan large regions for human life. Hiding in your dwelling is not ideal. You will be located.” Burke answers him.

  “Okay… What should we do then? And who is this?” Alexander asks.

  “My name’s Alicia Burke, Dr. Alexander Mathis. Formerly part of the Federalist Legion, myself. Up until earlier this morning… If the message is only for your settlement, then retreat from your settlement, and do so quickly. Before my brothers and sisters cut off exit points.” Burke explains.

  Shit! They’re in Crestline!

  Ben looks over at the young man named Christian, and the young man instantly bows his head.

  Dumbass! Telling them where we live!

  “Where should I go?” Alexander asks over the speakers of the STARU.

  “Alexander. This is Ben again. You said the network is back up, right? Use the SuperNet to take the 138 Highway to Silverwood Lake. It’s about half an hour north and slightly west of us. But you need to go now.” Ben tells his friend.

  “Right. SuperNet is working for the time being, and they gave us one hour. So, it will hopefully be up for the entire hour, since the message is to repeat every five minutes.” Alexander replies.

  Good, but he needs to get out of there… like now!

  “Sounds good, Alexander. Now get off the phone, grab what you can, and get you and the girls the hell out of town. Stay safe bud.” Ben replies

  “Yeah, Alexander… stay safe and watch those girls for me.” Eileen adds.

  “Alexander, we are making plans to return shortly. Just get out of Dodge and we’ll figure it out.” Uncle Steven adds.

  “Will do. You all stay safe as well. I'm glad you guys are alright. I was starting to worry.”

  “We’re good, Alexander. Close call, but good. Call us when you get to Silverwood. Now get off the phone and get going, bud.” Ben replies.

  “Right… bye.” Alexander says and the phone call ends.

  Ben looks up to Burke. “What’s Abraham up to, Burke?”

  “Knowing Abraham, he wants vengeance for killing some of ours, but mostly f
or disrespecting him the way you spoke to him during our last encounter.” Burke replies.

  “Yeah, that sounds like that arrogant POS. What would he do in a situation like this, Burke?” Uncle Steven asks.

  Burke pauses for a moment and sighs as she seems to be concentrating. Ben notices that she looks deeper in thought than he has seen with Alexander. Alexander has seemed like he was lost in thought, but Burke seems like her mind is actually somewhere else.

  Ben looks over to Eileen and she shrugs. “I don’t know…”

  Ben looks back at her and then she focuses on him, coming back from wherever she just was.

  “Looking back at his previous engagements and training records, he’s most likely going to use the people of your settlement as negotiating tools to flush us out and capture and kill us.” Burke answers.

  “What?!” Eileen replies.

  “Oh, that’s just great… he’s going to use the people of Crestline as hostages and kill them if we don’t give ourselves up. Just fricking-fracking-fucking great!” Ben replies.

  Burke nods in confirmation. “That is the most likely scenario, given his traits and history.”

  Ben turns to Deputy Joseph Gomez. “Hey, Joseph… can you call Todd and tell him to get Jamie, Claire, Chloe, Jen, and Holly out of there and up to Silverwood and meet up with Alexander?”

  “Sure thing, Ben. Good thinking.” Joseph replies.

  Ben looks at the others. “If anyone else has friends and family back home, call them now and tell them the same. Tell them to drop what they are doing and get out now.”

  Janice nods her head along with the other two DFC members that Ben doesn’t know or remember their names. They walk off and use their phones to call their friends and family back in Crestline.

  Ben pauses and so does everyone else, noticing that the STARU has completely stopped and he looks out the viewing glass opposite of him to see trees and the opening of a cave. He then looks behind him, to see the inside of a massive cave.

  “So, I take it we are here?” Uncle Steven says.