by Todd Fries
In the struggle, guns were scattered everywhere, but being in such close proximity, it was impossible for anyone to let their guard down long enough to retrieve one until Hannah patted the stranger on the shoulder and said.
“Looking for this?”
The man reached around for his pistol and once in hand, he ordered the other man to stand down. The challenger instantly pounced with his knife, hoping his adversary would hesitate, but a single shot sent him flying into a set of shelves, causing an avalanche of books that left him covered in volumes of military history.
It was over. Everyone stared at the scene before them. Broken tables, spilled books, tumbled chairs and Mark in the fetal position, holding his nose as the blood flowed between his fingers. That momentary distraction was just the break General Taylor needed and opening a drawer to his desk, he drew his revolver and fired at the stranger, who fell to the floor gasping for breath.
Before the General could enjoy his victory, Jacob grabbed him by the throat and slammed his head against the wall so hard that several pictures hit the floor in a cascade of glass and wood. The General fell unconscious across his desk, Jacob’s bible slipping from his hand and onto the floor, where the blood of the stranger slowly soaked into the open pages.
Not knowing what to do, Jacob rushed to his benefactor and pulled back the mask and marveled.
SILENCE
Nickolas sat in the darkness. The lack of light was making him hallucinate and in the blackness, he visualized quick flashes of light and floating spots as if his brain was trying to make sense of the void. How many hours had it been? When was the last time he had contact with anyone and was it day or night? He had no idea and so he forced himself to concentrate on old memories, books he’d read and even contemplated his own death should it occur.
As to what was happening with his friends, he didn’t know. He prayed that they were safe and wondered when he might see them again. He missed them already and having lost both General Reynolds and Kathi, he hadn’t found the time to grieve, but now, sitting alone in this cell, their loss was keenly felt and he found it hard to believe that they were gone. This wasn’t the outcome he expected and if he had to do it over, he might have made different choices.
Maybe he could have seen the danger sooner or recognized the signs all around him. How could he have been so blind? He just assumed that everything would go according to plan, for who would have thought that General Taylor would sweep in like a bird of prey, pummeling their tiny group like mice in a field. It was a surprise attack that left them irrelevant and weak.
Now they could only watch as SM1 was absconded by the military for purposes yet to be revealed. His own efforts only resulted in failure and he felt light in the head and a cold sweat broke out on his brow. Even his hands tingled from the stress and had he been standing, he would have laid down and propped his legs, allowing the blood to flow to his head. It was almost more than he could bear.
Using his ears, he strained for any hint of sound, but there was nothing. This sensory deprivation was making him crazy and he began to fear for his sanity. It was like having something evil in the room with him and he would do anything to get back to the real world of sight, sound and smell. He understood how this might be a form of torture and wondered if this was intentional or just an unplanned side effect of his captivity. In either case, he couldn’t stay here much longer or he’d go totally mad.
The last time he felt this way was when he killed that cosmonaut on their first mission to Stellae Mysterium. It was the last thing he wanted to do and yet, being in that position and seeing him running toward the LM, he felt he had no choice in the matter. They had already been struggling in their pressure suits, rolling around in the regolith and stretching the limits of their seams, and any further attempts to physically overcome him might have resulted in their own death by a torn stich or broken hose.
When he fired the gun, he didn’t know for certain it would hit the target. Given that he couldn’t raise his arms, it was like shooting from his hip and there was no way of accurately pointing the weapon. When the bullet struck the side of the cosmonaut’s helmet and blew a hole in it, it was a miracle and a deadly one at that.
He never shared this with Jonathan. His comrade was too far away to see the expression on the Soviet pilot’s face when he turned around to face him after the shot. It was a combination of fear and surprise. Perhaps he never believed that he would actually fire the pistol or even if he did, the chance he might be hit was almost nonexistent. The man was taking a risk by trying to board their craft and now the results of that effort were apparent. He was dying and there was nothing he could do about it.
His only hope was to run back toward his lander, a Soviet LK sitting a few yards away, but it could have been a mile for all the good it would do. With the atmosphere of his suit rapidly escaping to space, he was unconscious in seconds and dead just moments later. By the time he and Jonathan approached the body, it was over. There was nothing they could do and in that helplessness, he felt as he did now. Lightheaded, sweaty forehead, weak hands and a feeling of anxiety that probed the very back of his brain, making him fear for his own life. For who could live with such guilt.
By trying to take SM1 by force the other day, he had taken a calculated risk and like firing that gun on the Moon, he was and did put another life in danger. For all practical purposes, he fired that shot into Kathi Fried, for it was his lack of foresight into her mental state that lead to her death, and that was on his hands and nobody else’s. While he might blame the General, she never should have been in that hangar.
Now it was silent. Silence seemed to permeate all of the horrible things in his life. On the Moon, when the Soviets sent their man to steal Stellae Mysterium, it was the vacuum of space that masked the sound of the shot and the screams of the man. When he was in SM1, hovering above the Moon during that nuclear blast, there was no sound of an explosion, just a flash of light that signified the death of his friend. When his wife died, it was the sound of silence in a quiet room in the sanctity of their home and when they first saw Kathi on the floor, despite the screams of Hannah, he only remembered the noiseless scene before him as he realized the consequence of those decisions.
Now in the silence of this tomb, he imagined himself buried under six feet of earth, laying in a coffin, unable to see and unable to breath and he felt his chest tighten as he retraced his life and understood the reality of his actions. He had caused the death of many and all for his belief in something larger than himself. Now he understood the mistakes of Moses when he didn’t trust the Lord and struck the rock instead of speaking to it. Because of that one thing, Moses wasn’t allowed to bring his people into the Promised Land, so how was he any better or worse than Moses.
While he wanted clear direction from God, he could only speak to Him through prayer and not directly as Moses did. Moses certainly had it easier in that he was speaking to God in person and in doing so, his face glowed from the experience. When he returned, the people saw his radiant face, so putting a veil over his head, he hid the luminescence until returning to speak with the Lord.
How nice it must have been. However, even as he languished in this darkened cell, he still felt close to God. In his heart he believed, and he had faith in a better tomorrow. He simply had to survive each minute, knowing that while time was moving slowly for him, his captivity would end only when God decided and not a moment before. It was his job to simply hang onto the horns of the alter, praying for mercy and willing himself to accept whatever God provided, even if it wasn’t what he wanted or expected.
It seemed that God had a way of throwing his life into utter chaos, especially when He wanted to mold him into something better or stronger. How many times had he walked through fire, only to emerge on the other side a much better person, more equipped to serve in a capacity worthy of a true believer. If it was his destiny to lead these people into a new land, God would continue to refine him, even up until the very moment they
left. If they ever left.
He felt the anxiety building again and prayed until the sweat fell from his head like blood and his fingers ached from clasping his hands. To keep from passing out, he prayed with his head between his knees, just like the Muslim’s in Mecca. He prostrated himself before the Lord and begged for mercy, confessing his many sins and admitting to his lowly position as an imperfect human, incapable of doing anything of his own accord, putting his naked depravity on display.
And being naked in his own depravity, he was referring to his natural condition apart from the grace of God, who alone had the ability to restrain and transform him. He had no doubt that he was capable of many acts of evil against his fellow man, but if he restrained himself by motives of his own desire, and not owing to his glad submission to God, then even his self-imposed “virtue” would be evil in the sight of the Lord.
What he needed was a humble attitude and perhaps he’d lost that in his zeal to execute God’s command. He put too much emphasis in himself and not enough in the King of the universe, so weeping in his despair, he laid his heart bare, knowing the Lord would take it into his presence as a symbol of total submission to His will. It was only here that He might cleanse the soul and free the spirit. As for trusting God’s plan, he remembered a verse from Isaiah.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
He understood that his own wisdom was inadequate for this situation, and once he dismissed his selfish ego, he felt His Grace as a warm and powerful wave that energized his mortal shell, giving him the strength to sit up and count his many blessings, which included his time in this cell, the darkness and the silence. God sent these as blessings, designed to bring him to a new point in their relationship. All past deeds were forgiven and he accepted the fact that the path forward wasn’t in his control.
In acknowledging his Lord and submitting to his will without reserve, he imagined the trumpets of heaven, heralding a new beginning, but instead of trumpets, the silence was broken by the shrill sound of an alarm which pierced his cell like a knife, cutting into his ears, forcing him to cover them in his attempt to drown out the noise. Something was happening.
BOMBSHELL
Jacob removed the hood and stared at the face in front of him. It only took a few moments for his mind to clear, but then recognition and finally joy.
“Henry? Is that you?”
The man smiled weakly and raised a hand to Jacob’s face.
“Yea, it’s me, but I go by Hap now. Hap Washington.”
Major Brooks stepped over them.
“You know this man?”
“Yes. He’s my half-brother. Henry. I mean Hap.”
“So that’s why you have two different last names?”
Jacob motioned to Hap.
“My father was a Logan and his dad was a Washington.”
Jacob looked back down at him.
“What the heck are you doing here?”
“It’s a long story.”
“You’ll have to tell me when we get the time.”
Hannah checked him for wounds and finding a bullet hole, she packed it with an old shirt and applied pressure to stop the bleeding. Hap reached over and picked up Jacob’s bible and handed it to him.
“Sorry I bloodied your bible again. Looks like you lost some pages.”
“It’s nothing I haven’t lost before. A little tape and they’ll be good as new.”
Hap addressed him in a serious manner.
“I should have helped you the first time, but I was weak and afraid. But today, when I realized what was happening to you, something inside me snapped and I couldn’t hold back the years of guilt and shame. I can still remember looking down at you from that window and secretly wishing I could help, but I wasn’t ready and when I relived those events today, those feelings burst from inside like a broken dam and all I wanted was to protect you.”
He smiled.
“I’m sorry my reaction time was a little slow. Looks like you’ll have a black eye for sure.”
Jacob held his hand as he responded.
“I’m sorry you felt that way. I never blamed you for what happened. I only wished that you could see things as I did, but I felt powerless to help. If anything, I let you down. I should have been a better example and shared my faith, but like you, I was afraid. I was afraid of what you might think or what you might do. In short, I let my selfish desires get in the way of what was right.”
Hap shook his head.
“No. It’s ok. I’m a Christian now, but there was no power in the world that would have made a bit of difference back then. I was too locked up in my own sin to ever consider what you had to offer. Correction. What He had to offer. It took the weight of a world to get me to break down enough for Him to help me, so don’t kick yourself. You’ve been punished enough.”
Jacob looked over at Hannah.
“How’s he doing?”
“He’s lost a lot of blood. If he doesn’t get some medical attention soon, he’s going to bleed out. We need to get him out of here and down to the infirmary.”
Jacob understood what it meant to save him. If they called for help or carried him into the open, they’d be recaptured in minutes. If they were going to have any chance of getting back to SM1, it had to happen now - before they were discovered. If they took the time to see to his needs, the opportunity would be lost, but if they escaped to SM1, he would die. He remembered from proverbs 16:9:
“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord established his steps”.
They had tried so hard to do this by their own reason, but in the end, several people had died and now he was facing the death of his own brother. A brother he hadn’t seen in years and who now lay before him. While he understood what the Lord wanted, he also realized that he had to trust God for what came next. He remembered Deuteronomy 30:19:
“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live.”
Jacob looked at this brother and understood that God’s plan was far beyond his own reasoning and if he was to accept what the Lord had in mind for him, he had to step aside by choosing life over perception. If God wanted them to fulfill his plan, he’d find a way. So making his decision, he looked up at the Major and spoke.
“We need to save him. I don’t care about SM1. If you want to go, I’ll stay with him until he gets help.”
Hannah interjected.
“No. We all stay or we all go.”
Hap addressed Hannah.
“Go! It’s the Lord’s desire. I know it from listening to your discussions and by retracing your steps. It’s clear that the Lord has something unique in store for you, but you must leave while you still have the chance. I’ll survive.”
At that moment, a siren started blaring. It was loud and permeated every nook and cranny of the structure. They looked at each other in anticipation. Was this a security alarm? Had they been discovered and were armed men on the way to deal with them? Perhaps the General had triggered an alarm - or a security camera had witnessed their little revolution. In either case, it couldn’t be good. Lori was the first to speak.
“What’s the racket? I’ve never heard anything like it before.”
She covered her ears as Jillian looked out a window toward the corridor below.
“People are scrambling, running around like chickens. What’s going on?”
Hap grunted as he continued to speak.
“I was trained on this. It’s a nuclear threat alert.”
Lori responded.
“Nuclear Threat?”
“Yes. In the event of war, the base goes on ‘lock-down’ for the duration of the immediate crisis.”
Major Brooks confirmed what he said.
“He’s correct. In all my ti
me here, I’ve never heard it go off, so this is highly unusual.”
Jillian became concerned.
“Are you saying that missiles are on the way? Are we at war?”
“I have no idea, but the entire facility appears to be disappearing before my eyes. Everyone is heading toward the shelter.”
Jacob questioned him.
“What shelter? Where?”
“It’s dug deep into the surrounding hills, similar to The Cheyenne Mountain Complex, but much smaller in scale. I’ve never actually seen it myself, but it’s been there since the 1950’s.”
“Why weren’t we told about it?”
“Typically only the ‘lifers’ are told and it’s our responsibility to get any contractors to the shelter in the event of an emergency. They don’t want the public aware of what’s out here and since nothing has happened in over 60 years, why bring attention to it. However, it certainly seems like an opportunity for us.”
Jillian took the bait.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that we have a clear shot to the hangar and no guards or soldiers to deal with. The entire population of this base is heading toward the fallout shelter. We just need to get help for Hap and then we can get out of here.”
Jacob liked the sound of that.
“Will they come in the middle of an alert?”
“If we call them now, they aren’t going to leave someone behind, especially one who’s injured. Also there’s a full medical facility inside, but we have to act now.”
Hannah inquired about their friend.
“And what of Nickolas?”
