The New Reality

by Stephen Martino

  Jonathan raised an eyebrow. “Alex,” he said with his usual demeanor, “we’re just beginning our journey. Finding Guri here was only the first step. We have a long way to go. I can’t promise the path to find an answer will be fun, interesting, or even safe. But what I do promise is that if you want to find the cure, then you’ll have to follow me. And I’m going to Megiddo.”

  “That’s it,” William said frantically, “I’m bailing. I’m sorry Alex, but I belong on a couch and not in front of some nuts with guns. If you could please tell your pilot Tom to drop me off at the nearest place where I won’t get shot, I’d be especially grateful.”

  Guri held up a finger, “If you could also drop me off. My sinuses are getting clogged with the air here on the ship.”

  Alex leaned over and placed his hand on Marissa’s knee. “So, you up for a little more adventure?”

  Marissa tried to hold back a blush as she placed her hands over his. “I’m in.”

  Jonathan nodded in agreement. “The world’s counting on us.”

  Alex turned to William and said emphatically, “Yes, the world is counting on us. Plus, you are the best virologist I’ve ever known.”

  William shook his and let out the biggest shit-eating grin he could muster. After a brief pause, he threw up his hands. “I guess you can count me and Guri in for this little excursion, too. My couch can wait.”

  “But… but… ,” Guri tried to say.

  “How nice,” Samantha said, rolling her eyes. “While you all are singing “Kumbaya” and drinking your beer, I’ll be here, alone, also working to find a cure for The Disease. Oh yeah, and I’ll also try not to get eaten alive by those necroids.”

  She waved to them and said as their transmission ended, “Au revoir.”

  Alex bit his lip, knowing Samantha’s situation was precarious at best. Though he wished he could be there to help, he knew that his duties lie elsewhere.

  Chapter 16

  “Did you say Megiddo?” Alex asked. “Isn’t that the site of earth’s final battle in the Book of Revelation?”

  “‘They then assembled the kings in the place that is named Armageddon in Hebrew’,” Jonathan quoted, “Revelation 16:16.”

  “What’s Armageddon and Megiddo have to do with each other?” William quickly inquired. “I thought Armageddon just meant the end of the earth?”

  Jonathan answered, “Well the word Armageddon is actually derived from two different Hebrew words. Har or tel meaning mount and Megiddo representing the city. When you put them together, you get Har-Megiddo or more commonly pronounced Armageddon.”

  “I don’t like the sound of this!” William said.

  Already nervous, he grew that much more concerned after learning they were heading straight for the Biblical apocalypse. With The Disease’s grip on humanity growing tighter every day, it almost seemed as if Armageddon had already begun.

  Jonathan wanted to put William’s mind at ease. He noticed the man’s internal tension and knew his stress would accomplish nothing other than to weaken his mind and spirit.

  He said to William, “You need to focus on positive things instead of the negative. I see you sitting there fretting and over what? A name?”

  He looked into William’s eyes. “It reminds me of when the ancient Spartans went to battle. Many of their enemies would cower in fear or even run once they saw the Greek letter lambda painted on their shields. Do not follow in their footsteps, my friend. Megiddo is just a name of a place. Do not waste your time and energy in worrying. You’re going to need all your strength.”

  “Megiddo does have an interesting history though,” Alex said.

  A history enthusiast all of his life, he was fascinated by the ancient world. From the Greeks to the Romans up to the Middle Ages, Alex was like an encyclopedia of facts. He also boasted one of the largest private collections of ancient weaponry. Swords, arrowheads, and even the remnants of a two-thousand-year-old chariot were in his possession.

  Alex added, “Megiddo used to represent a very strategic location in the ancient world, guarding a narrow pass along the western border of modern Israel that connected the ancient superpowers of Egypt and Assyria.”

  “Yes,” Jonathan agreed. “That’s the precise reason why the city saw so much conflict over the years. In fact, the first documented battle ever recorded was at Megiddo in 1478 B.C. The records are still visible in hieroglyphics on the walls of Pharaoh Thutmose III’s temple in upper Egypt.”

  “Didn’t General Edmund Allenby also defeat the Ottoman forces there in 1918 at the end of World War I?” Marissa asked.

  Alex’s interest in her went up a few notches. Not only was she beautiful and intelligent but she was also a history buff.

  “It was the battle which solidified the British conquest of Palestine,” she added.

  “You’re interested in World War II?” Alex inquisitively asked.

  “I do find it fascinating, but my real passion is in ancient Greek and Persian history. I actually minored in the subjects while in college.”

  It was a match made in heaven.

  “I’m also… ,” Alex began to say just as the Stratoskimmer took a noticeable dip in altitude. Despite the gravity dampeners, the momentum was sufficient to almost knock everyone off their couches.

  Alex rushed over to the cockpit and pushed open the door separating the two compartments. Behind him he could hear Guri complaining about there being no seatbelts and William grumbling about the beer spilled over his shirt.

  “Tom,” Alex asked. “What is going on up here?”

  The pilot sat behind the intricate control panel, hands clenched onto the steering wheel. His grip was so tight that his veins popped out of his hands and wrists. He barely noticed Alex’s entrance as he fought to keep control of the ship.

  A few red lights flashed on the control panel while a low buzzing echoed throughout the cabin. Alex immediately sat down in the copilot’s seat and grabbed hold of the other wheel.

  Alex was a world-class pilot and had flown many different types of planes and airships during his spare time. Clocking in over five-hundred hours of airtime behind the Stratoskimmer, he was certainly not a novice to this particular vehicle.

  They were flying twenty miles above sea level, just above the ozone layer. Because the Stratoskimmer usually cruises at thirty miles, Alex realized they must have taken a tremendous descent, enough to overpower the gravity dampeners in the cabin.

  Tom finally realized he had a guest. Though in his early sixties, the man barely looked his age. With a full head of thick, black hair, tanned skin, and a boyish grin, he was sometimes mistaken for a cadet and not a seasoned flying veteran.

  “We were just hit by a long range magnetic cannon blast,” Tom finally said. “It almost fried our entire electrical system here. Thank God for the redundant circuits or we’d be swimming with the fish.”

  A three-dimensional holographic image of the ship that fired the blast appeared at the bottom of the windshield. Despite being over twenty miles in distance, the image remained crisp and appeared as if taken from a close distance.

  The ship had no markings to delineate its origin, but Alex knew it had to be UAA. It must have been spying on them the whole time while on Crete and had just broken its geostationary orbit to attack.

  It was a commercial XR-2 class ship designed for low-altitude space flights. With an elongated white-colored body, short wings to either side that ran most of its length, and a small double tail fin, the vehicle did not appear threatening in nature.

  “Do you have us in stealth?” Alex asked.

  “Of course,” Tom grumbled.

  Tom banked the Stratoskimmer hard to the right, trying to place more distance between the ships in hopes that the stealth device would work better.

  “Incoming!” he yelled.

  The XR-2 had just unleashed another shot from its magnetic cannon. With a forty-mile conical spread of distribution, they were still well within its field of fire.

 
; They’re not going to like this one, Tom thought.

  The Stratoskimmer suddenly took a nosedive. Alex could hear the beer bottles and the glasses from the bar smashing against the walls in the cabin. He also noted the cries from Guri claiming he was going to throw up and the prayers from Jonathan saying the Lord’s Prayer. William also chimed in with a few this is its and we’re all done fors.

  Despite their ship being directly in its path, the magnetic blast unexpectedly passed by them without causing any noticeable damage. The Stratoskimmer rocked only slightly, revealing the blast’s presence. It was like a small wave flowing by that had yet to crest.

  Tom continued their rapid descent. The nose cone of the Stratoskimmer heated up until it began to glow red with friction. The ship was not made for such drastic maneuvers, but he had no qualms about pushing it to the limit.

  Tom leveled off the Stratoskimmer only a few hundred yards above the Atlantic. With such a vast ocean underneath them, the stealth device had a much higher probability of concealing their presence.

  The ship suddenly buckled and swerved back and forth.

  “You doing that?” Alex asked.

  “I wish I were,” Tom responded. “The Stratoskimmer here hasn’t behaved well since departing Neurono-Tek. The blast from the magnetic cannon didn’t help anything either.”

  The ship continued to fly erratically, and despite its computer-guided systems, it became more difficult to control. At one point they were only a foot above the ocean, skimming its surface.

  William stumbled up to the cabin. Appearing much greener in the face, he obviously did not appreciate the accommodations thus far. “What in the world is going on around here?” he sputtered.

  Alex’s eyes were continuously locked on the image of the XR-2. While holding the steering wheel with one hand, he used the other to point to the offending ship. “Our friend here just hit us full blast with his magnetic cannon.”

  “But that’s just a commercial spacecraft,” William said. “What do you mean it fired on us?”

  Tom looked over at William, “That ain’t no ordinary XR-2. That baby comes with an extra punch, and I don’t think it’s carrying any civilian passengers.”

  Before he could respond, Alex signaled him to go back into the cabin. “You better sit back down. We may have to make a crash landing. I don’t think this ship has much more flying time left.”

  Crash and landing were two words William never wanted to hear together.

  He jolted back to the cabin. Instead of telling the others to remain seated, Alex could hear him yell in a boisterous voice, “O.K. everyone! I just talked to Alex and he said we’re all going to die!”

  That went well.

  “I think we lost him,” Tom said while nodding to the XR-2. “It looks like the ship’s heading back up into the mesosphere and in the opposite direction. Maybe he thinks we crashed or something.”

  Unfortunately, Alex knew that might not be too far off from the truth. If they didn’t reach land soon, there was a chance they would have to abandon the Stratoskimmer in the middle of the Atlantic.

  “Nice flying,” Tom said. “What was that thing you did when the second magnetic blast came our way?’

  “It was a trick I learned when aero-bike racing. I just reversed the magnetic polarity of the Stratoskimmer.”

  “You what?” Tom asked, flabbergasted. “That could have gotten us all killed. That’s the first thing you learn not to do in flight training. Don’t reverse the polarity of the ship!”

  “Well, the other option of getting hit with a full blast from a magnetic cannon didn’t seem much better.”

  Tom nodded his head in approval. “You know, I knew I liked you for some reason. That was a pretty bold move. How’d you know it would work?”

  “I didn’t,” Alex answered, shrugging his shoulders. “When I saw the magnetic blast had only a monopolar field, I figured if I reversed the polarity of the Stratoskimmer to match that of the incoming pulse, it might pass by without causing any harm.”

  “That’s one for the books!”

  The satellite map on the control panel showed they were not far from an island called Madeira off the western coast of Portugal. It was their only option.

  “You see that?” Alex asked, referring to the island.

  “I heard they have good wine there.”

  “Let’s just hope they have a place to land.”

  Tom and Alex continued to fly the injured ship towards Madeira. The usually smooth ride was interjected with dips, bumps and uncontrolled swerves.

  Within minutes, the beautiful landscape of Madeira came into view. There were lush mountains full of green vegetation and exquisite coastlines. The sight seemed especially breathtaking as it also represented their only salvation from a watery grave.

  “Let’s set her down in the opening in the forest next to the mountain peak,” Alex said. “We’ll hide there for a day while fixing the ship.”

  “Will I be able to get some wine?”

  “If we’re able to land this thing, the first bottle’s on me!”

  Chapter 17

  The men still gasped for air. Soot filled their lungs and blackened their faces. Their green uniforms were singed and now charcoal in color.

  These maladies were the least of their troubles. After having lost four of their elite soldiers on what should have been a mundane mission, they felt humiliated. Death at this point seemed a more viable option than living with disgrace.

  SattAr, however, knew this recent debacle had been entirely his own fault. He was unprepared for the assault. He thought he could just walk into the building with a gun at his side and Alex Pella and his colleagues would surrender without a fight. He had not realized what a formidable force they would be. In fact, he had witnessed less resistance when he once squashed an entire Egyptian revolution.

  “I underestimated Alex Pella,” SattAr said, while gasping for air, “and… all of them escaped. This… is entirely my fault.”

  He continued to suck vigorously on the oxygen pellet, trying not to get lightheaded when talking. The oxygen diffused quickly into his bloodstream and down his lungs, making it somewhat easier to breathe.

  SattAr and his men were sprawled out on the deck of a small UAA transport boat. Designed to appear as if it were a simple fishing trawler, it was large enough to accommodate all of them.

  “So you’re trying to tell me they all got away,” Ari Lesmana said.

  His red, holographic image was barely visible on the secure line, but his voice retained its boisterous nature and the air of self-promotion.

  “Malik, I am sorry. My resignation will be sent to you immediately.”

  The news did indeed disappoint him, but failure was no reason for dismissal. Just like in other governmental positions, shoddy work ethics, sub-par outcomes, and a poor attitude were not grounds for getting fired. In fact, the only person Ari had asked to leave was actually superb at his job. However, he hated the man’s criticism, even if it was made “off the record”.

  “That will not be necessary!” Ari exclaimed. “What I do need, however, is Alex Pella and the cure for The Disease. Where is he now?”

  “The XR-2 that transported us here attempted to bring down their Stratoskimmer but lost them somewhere over the Atlantic. I have sent out two of our spy planes to aid in the search but for now I have heard nothing.”

  “Then I want you and your men on full alert. If those planes cannot find them, then our inside sources may be able to. Be ready for action soldier.”

  •••

  Ari was no longer two miles underground and had joined Masika in the foreman’s quarters. Cool air-conditioning and breathable air were a welcome change from the hellish conditions he had just left.

  The Minister of Construction, Razmi, had joined them to finalize the last details for their bunker. The man wore the traditional Arab garb with a white ghutra on his head. Razmi reminded most people of a weasel. With a thin face, narrow eyes, recessed jaw, an
d scruffy goatee, even he could not deny the resemblance.

  “You must understand Minister Razmi,” Ari went on to say in a boastful tone, “this bunker is of the utmost importance to the UAA.”

  “Yes Malik!” Razmi responded in an unusually high-pitched tone for a man. Still not understanding the need for such an extensive bunker, he obeyed orders without hesitation.

  “Because much of our country’s valuable resources and manpower have been filtered into this project over the last six months, its success is vital. Show me what’s left to be done.”

  Above the circular table loaded with papers and binders a holographic image instantly appeared. “This is where you just were, Malik,” he said while pointing to a large oval-shaped space on the hologram.

  The entire image showed a cross-sectional view of where Yemen met the Arabian Sea. The rocky crust of the land appeared blackish-brown in color while the water was deep blue. Multiple tunnels within the crust running both perpendicular and parallel created an enormous checkerboard pattern with the oval tunnel at its very bottom.

  “The foreman stated that this space will be inundated first thing in the morning,” Ari said.

  “Exactly at 6:00 A.M. the aqueducts will begin to open,” Razmi responded, pointing towards the hologram.

  Water from the Arabian began to slowly fill the oval space with its blue hue until it completely filled the area. The process appeared effortless, but the technology and manpower behind it was incredible.

  “The whole procedure will take about a day,” Razmi went on to say. “This water will then circulate throughout the entire two mile deep bunker, creating a simple method for both cooling and heating the entire complex.

  The audacity of the project certainly impressed Ari. He had never imagined how colossal the undertaking had become. His wife was in awe. She savored Razmi’s words, imagining at each step how she and her husband inched that much closer to achieving world domination.

  Born into nothing, she always aspired to greatness. She swore to herself that she would never again be that poor little girl in a desolate village with no hope for a future or possibility of getting ahead. Though her father tried to adequately support his family, each day was a difficult undertaking just to survive.