Civilizations E-Book

Wallace Horta

• Herausgeber: Talentos da Literatura Brasileira
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 316

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

The first book in the Civilizations Trilogy broke new ground by introducing the protagonists of a civilization like never before. Prepare yourself for a completely new, completely original First Contact. Astronauts Susan and Michael approach an unidentified space object, which developed a close-to-the-Sun trajectory and then moved itself to the far side of our Moon. Upon making contact, Susan goes through a series of relevant events from another planet, crossing from one era to another in company of Michael, who was acting strangely, as if he was part of all of that. Centuries later, Susan no longer feels like a foreigner among that people. In company of Electrons and aboard the Eclipsed Star, she crosses the colossal Continuum Warpers, playing a role in shaping the fate of the galaxy. That is what has happened to Fount, and it is done that way because only in the clarity of whole truth exists the possibility of accepting each other within the limits of what each civilization truly can be.

Leseprobe

Wallace Horta

Civilizations

FOUNTAIN:TWO WORLDS, ONE JOURNEY

SÃO PAULO, 2020

Civilizations. Fountain: Two worlds, one journey

Copyright © 2020 by Wallace Horta (wallacehorta.com)

Copyright © 2020 by Novo Século Editora Ltda.

Editor: Luiz Vasconcelos

Editorial Coordination: Stéfano Stella

Translation into English: Marcela Magari and Ed Weiss

Revision: Frederico Helou and Ed Weiss

Graphic design/ layout and cover: Nair Ferraz

Cover illustration: Fabula Ilustrações (fabulailustracoes.com)

Ebook Development: Loope Editora | www.loope.com.br

Cataloging-in-Publication Data (CIP)Angélica Ilacqua CRB-8/7057

Horta, Wallace

Civilization [eletronic book]: fountain: two worlds, one journey / Wallace Horta; translated by Marcela Magari, Ed Weiss; illustrated by Fabula Ilustrações - Barueri, SP: Novo Século, 2020.

Original title: Civilização: A fonte: dois mundos, uma jornada

ISBN: 978-65-5561-020-8

1. Brazilian fiction 2. Science fiction I. Title II. Magari, Marcela III. Weiss, Ed IV. Fabula Ilustrações

20-2893          CDD B869.3

Indexes for Systematic Catalog:

1. Brazilian fiction B869.3

NOVO SÉCULO EDITORA LTDA.

Alameda Araguaia, 2190 – Bloco A – 11º andar – Conjunto 1111

CEP 06455-000 – Alphaville Industrial, Barueri – SP – Brasil

Tel.: [phone] | Fax: [phone]

www.gruponovoseculo.com.br | [email protected]

This book is dedicated to my beloved daughter Laura.

Thank you for making me smile every day!

CONTENTS

1 TO COME

2 CONTACT

3 PHENOMENON

4 MILLENNIA

5 DRONE WARS

6 VIRAL

7 PARADISE CITY

8 THE THIRD MOON

9 ETERNITY

10 INTERSTELLAR

11 THE OTHER

12 DEATH

13 UNSTOPPABLE

14 EXILE

15 TRANSFORMATION

16 RIFT

1

TO COME

Aware that mere remorse would not erase the scars of the past, for centuries Susan longed for the discovery of another civilization, hopeful that it might somehow relieve the deep sorrow that burdened her.

This was why Electron, whose company always brought her comfort, decided to leave her in exile with the promise of finding a new civilization.

Susan trusted the promise Electron made to her. Nevertheless, the monumental vastness of the galaxy made it clear to her that this would not be an easy goal to accomplish.

What Susan did not know was that everything she knew was about to change. Without any warning, everything around her froze. Even the stars outside her starship stopped flickering as if time itself had ceased.

It was then that she saw him.

Besides Susan, there was one other figure that seemed to be unaffected by the strange event that had just taken place. He approached her quickly through the entrance to the ship’s command bridge.

“We need to talk again,” he said. “I am sure this time you will be ready to accept everything I have to tell you.”

2

CONTACT

Susan awoke after the strange, incomprehensible vision.

The sun still had not risen, but she already felt excited for the coming day. She had been preparing for this day for over two years.

Among the various thoughts that flooded through her mind, she held onto the simple notion of a nice, long shower.

After all, for the next six months, this would be her last opportunity to feel the water flowing over her in abundance. Soon, her showers would be reduced to a wet sponge for her body and rinseless soap. The amount of water available on the International Space Station would be limited. Even if there were a shower there, it definitely would not flow properly. Water would spread everywhere in free-floating bubbles due to reduced gravity.

Susan was an introverted young woman of quiet, sensitive nature.

She came from an ordinary family.

Her father worked at a bank and had always been a very pious man. Her mother, a pragmatic teacher, always told her since early on that life was ripe for the taking. To take advantage of it, Susan needed to find something she enjoyed, study hard, and try as best she could to reach her goals.

Supported by her nurturing family, Susan dedicated herself to her studies and achieved a doctoral degree in Chemistry at a young age. It was a qualification that would help her carry out her duties some day on her first space mission.

That day was today.

Her parents were very proud of their beloved daughter whose achievements had taken her so far. Now, they prayed fervently and earnestly for her happiness and safety above anything else.

It was seven in the morning.

Susan was already dressed in her pressurized suit and strapped to her seat inside a vessel that would soon be launched towards the space station.

Joining her were the other three astronauts on the team, all of them veterans – Michael, a colleague from NASA, colonel of the United States Air Force and mission commander; Haruto, a flight engineer with a doctorate in Aeronautics Engineering and member of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA); and Anna, mission sub-commander, a test pilot for the German Air Force and astronaut for the European Space Agency (ESA).

The ship in which they would take off was developed with the objective of restarting human exploration of the Solar System. It was fully equipped for human missions to Mars.

Susan, however, would travel a shorter distance. Her team’s only destination was the International Space Station. There they would conduct scientific experiments on board and make sure that the station was well maintained and clean, repairing any broken equipment.

One more hour remained until take-off, and everything was going as planned. The team rehearsed the mission exhaustively as Mission Control carried on with the launch status check. From that moment on, there would be some free time.

“I’m gonna take a nap. Wake me up when we get to the next station!” said Michael playfully as he closed his eyes.

Susan laughed at him. She enjoyed Michael’s sense of humor. His ability to make her laugh in unexpected situations was something she admired. Susan believed his company would make the lengthy stay on the space station, away from family and everything else she loved about Earth, more bearable.

“Orion-19, this is Control,” announced Mission Control through the ship’s communication system. “Respond.”

“Control, this is Orion-19,” answered Michael. “Proceed.”

“Orion-19, the mission has been aborted. We do not have permission for launch. Copy?”

“Control, this is Orion-19. Please say that again.”

“Orion-19, the launch is no go. I repeat, abort mission. Copy?”

“Roger, Orion-19 is no go for launch,” answered Michael. “Control, launch status check was positive. What’s the reason for abort?”

“Orion-19, you are to report immediately for briefing. Copy?”

“Copy, Control. And out.”

****

A few hours later, upon arriving at a conference room, Michael and the crew members were greeted by NASA employees who were expecting them.

A video conference system connected the crew not only to the President and a few government leaders, both civilian and military, but to the astronauts aboard the space station as well.

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome!” said the President, addressing Michael’s crew through a projected screen. “Paul, let’s brief them on the situation.”

“Yes sir, Mister President,” replied the NASA employee in charge of the presentation. “Let’s cut to the point. At dawn, approximately six-twenty in the morning, we detected an unidentified object executing a trajectory close to the Sun. The object then traveled to the far side of our Moon. What’s intriguing is what our experts have confirmed. The object’s trajectory is not natural, and its movement can not be replicated by technology known to man.”

“Are we talking about aliens?” Michael wondered out loud, half-jokingly.

“Well, Michael, the evidence we have so far does lead us in that direction,” explained the NASA employee.

“The object is currently beyond our reach and out of sight in the Moon’s shadow,” added a General who participated from Washington. “We are not capable of detecting any sort of signal or radiation that it might be emitting.”

“Is the population aware of the situation?” asked Michael. His tone of voice made his concern evident.

“There are a few images that have been captured by telescopes. These images have been floating around the internet and are starting to show up in the Press as well,” answered a severe-looking individual who was also in Washington. He was the Director of the CIA. “The situation is a bit hectic at the moment.”

“You can see them on the monitor,” the NASA official interrupted, pointing at the screen. “These were obtained by a NEO Program telescope, in charge of detecting and tracking objects near Earth. It is the clearest image we have as of yet.”

The crew looked at the screen and saw a metallic object in the shape of cylinder with spherical extremities. It had a silver, glowing surface that was completely smooth. On both front and rear ends the object appeared to be emitting beams. The effect recalled two powerful Tesla coils.

“Let’s take a leap and say this object comes from a civilization with technology advanced enough to reach our planet,” Haruto supposed. He had a calm yet resonant voice. “Wouldn’t their ship also be capable of avoiding detection by our equipment?

“Everything leads us to believe that whatever is up there is not making an attempt to disguise itself. We need to find out why,” said the General. “But, as I said before, the object is beyond our reach and out of our sight.”

The Director of the CIA looked at Michael’s crew, coldly. “Since the military doesn’t have the means to reach the object at the dark side of the Moon, and our satellites can’t observe it directly, we want you to fly there and study it,” he said.

“It’s a simple operation,” added the NASA employee. “One of the first Orion missions consisted of a flight to the Moon, around it and back. The ship has repeated that mission more than once.”

“Michael, you’re an Air Force colonel and an experienced astronaut,” said the General. “Therefore, we want you to lead the reconnaissance mission.”

“What about the other members of my crew?” asked Michael.

“Commander, I’ve been informed that your team is ready for this kind of assignment and that you are already prepared for launch,” said the President. “We’ve been in talks with the governments of Japan and Germany and both have signed off on Haruto and Anna’s participation. In this moment of uncertainty, I ask that we overcome this challenge together, by the grace of God.”

“Of course, the final decision is up to each one of you,” added the NASA employee as he looked upon Michael and his crew. “But we are counting on you.”

****

That very evening, Michael requested a meeting alone with his crew so they could talk more at ease about the new circumstances of the mission. They sat in a small lounge reserved for them.

Susan was the first to speak.

“I have to admit, this scares the living daylights out of me,” she said. “Aren’t you guys afraid?”

“I am terrified,” answered Haruto. “But what scares me the most is what might happen if we do nothing. If by any chance, whatever up there is a threat to my family, I’ll do everything in my power to stop it.”

“I agree,” added Michael. His demeanor was more serious than usual. “That thing up there could be a threat, unlike any we’ve ever encountered. We have to know what humanity might be up against.”

Susan looked down in introspection. “You know, this reminds me of a conversation I had with my dad once,” she said, sighing. “He used to say that everything in existence comes from an infinitely benevolent God. If he’s right, I have to believe that an advanced civilization capable of traveling the stars would be a good one. Better than we are, at least.”

“Your father was a wise man!” said Michael, with a warm smile. “But we also need to consider the possibility that there is no divine master plan. Chaos, not benevolence, might have created that object up there. We can’t be sure of its intentions.”

“I prefer to believe that mere chance does not explain existence,” argued Susan, “Even chaos must have originated somewhere and for some reason!”

“Certainly, the existence of existence itself and, therefore, of anything comprehensible or imaginable, or not, in any level of abstraction or perception in which you might want to speculate, is the most fundamental of all questions,” agreed Haruto.

“Fair enough…” said Michael with a puzzled look on his face as he attempted to understand half of the arguments Haruto made.

Anna, in turn, looked at Michael with an equally perplexed expression.

She received from him a badly-disguised wink that made her uneasy in front of her astronaut colleagues.

Anna was a very attractive woman. Susan would often describe her as the “best looking blond she had ever seen”. An opinion that Michael most definitely shared, albeit never in public.

Susan suspected there was more between Anna and Michael than met the eye.

“Don’t look at me,” said Michael with a smile on his face. He then redirected his gaze to everyone in the room and tried to address them with as much seriousness as he could, “I’d rather not jump to conclusions as, uh, hasty as Haruto’s, despite agreeing with him in principle.”

It was not obvious to Haruto that Michael struggled to contain laughter.

“Whatever our beliefs, I believe we can all agree on the importance of this mission,” Anna said objectively. “Therefore, I suggest we finish our preparations as soon as possible. We have no time to lose.”

Michael and Haruto nodded in agreement.

They all looked at Susan, who appeared to be lost in contemplation.

She paused for a moment before looking back at them.

“I’m in.”

3

PHENOMENON

“Ten… Nine… Eight… We’re clear to ignite main engines… Five… Four… Three… Two… One… Ignition… Orion-19, you’re clear for take-off,” announced Mission Control. “Good luck, Orion-19. May the hopes and prayers of humanity follow you on your journey!”

The Orion-19 capsule that carried Susan, Michael, Haruto, and Anna entered orbit a few minutes after take-off.

Susan then looked outside the window and saw Earth from above for the first time. The view was magnificent, and she had only moments before being once again struck by the absolute beauty of the Sun, rising rapidly and exploding in flames.

A short while later, the Orion-19 capsule attached itself to the Deep Space Transport which was launched separately and already awaited in orbit.

The Deep Space Transport provided additional habitation modules and other facilities for a four-man crew on deep space missions that lasted up to sixty days. The fully assembled spacecraft, approximately 56 feet long and 16 feet wide, had a compact scientific lab as well as a small auxiliary space exploration vehicle, capable of transporting two men.

After two more orbits around the Earth, the ship’s main rocket was fired, and they now faced the Moon.

Three days later, when the ship finally approached its destination, the propulsion system initiated a gradual process of deceleration, concluding the 239 thousand mile trip from the Earth to the Moon’s orbit.

Upon receiving the green light from Mission Control to proceed with their assigned task, the astronauts could finally see the alien ship straight ahead of them.

They then realized its enormous magnitude, making their own ship seem minuscule. The cylindrical, alien object stretched for almost half a mile in length.

One hour later, Michael and Susan put on their spacewalk suits, a safety precaution, and boarded the small auxiliary vehicle which they accessed through a hatch located in Orion-19’s service hall.

Using this auxiliary vehicle, they would approach the alien spacecraft while Anna and Haruto, on the Orion-19’s bridge, would remain at a greater distance.

“Control, we are ready to undock,” said Michael.

“Copy, Commander,” answered Mission Control. “We have permission to proceed with Mission Hermes.”

“Starting to undock,” informed Susan while the auxiliary vehicle detached itself from Orion-19.

“Hermes on its way, Control,” added Michael, moments later.

“Roger, Commander. We’re all hoping you return safely.”

“Thank you, Control. So are we.” Michael added, smiling at Susan.

“ETA is 10 minutes to destination,” informed Susan.

“Control, we have a clear picture of Hermes and everything looks smooth,” reported Anna, attentively following their trajectory from the Orion-19.

“Five minutes to the object,” notified Susan.

“Control, I see a luminous dot forming on the object’s surface,” reported Michael.

“Two minutes to the object!” continued Susan.

“Control, the object has cast a bright light on Hermes,” reported Anna.

“Are you OK, Commander?” asked Control.

Brief yet agonizing seconds of silence followed.

“Yes, everything looks fine,” answered Michael, finally. “But the light is too bright, and it’s blocking our sight.”

Susan, barely able to keep her eyes open due to the excessive light enveloping the Hermes, tried to improvise a visor over her eyes with her hand. She soon noticed, however, that the attempt did not have any effect whatsoever. It was as if the light was being emitted equally from all directions around them.

“Michael, I can’t see straight. The light is blinding,” said Susan. “I have to stop the Hermes.”

Soon after, Susan noticed that the light started to produce a strange pattern, like a river in motion, with different levels of density and intensity. She was also able to percieve focused beams forming inside the Hermes. They appeared to be flexible and elongated tentacles formed by light which scanned her body.

Several of these beams began coursing through Michael and Susan’s bodies until finally stopping over their eyes. These now seemed abnormally dilated, almost bulging out of their sockets.

Even at the center of such a terrorizing event, Susan began to feel as if someone or something tried to soothe her. An enigmatic and fruitless attempt.

Susan looked at her hands and, at the same time, the beams followed her head movements. She struggled to raise her hand and move her fingers. She felt as if time had slowed and everything was moving lazily.

Susan’s heart began to beat vigorously as she heard a sudden, high-pitched sound that alternated with muffled thumping. Her head began to move involuntarily in a semicircle, allowing her gaze to move from one point on the Hermes’ ceiling to another.

Then, Susan heard a sharp cracking sound and felt abruptly ripped from her seat. She thrashed upwards and backwards, accelerating at incredible speeds. In an instant, she saw the ship’s dashboard moving away from her, then the Hermes itself, then the alien ship and then Orion-19, where Anna and Haruto awaited, and finally the Moon. At that moment it seemed like a tiny dot until it too disappeared.

Susan screamed in despair.

As Susan travelled faster and faster through empty space, a plethora of distorted light beams passed quickly around her.

Soon after, everything went dark and empty as if nothing else existed besides a bright circular light, far away and approaching fast in the direction she was moving. It was as if she was travelling through a long tunnel. The feeling was not unlike an account of a near-death experience.

“Am I dead?” she asked herself as the strange event unfolded before her.

The light approached faster each second, becoming brighter and brighter.

Suddenly, eternal whiteness surrounded her and took hold of everything.

Her eyes began to feel heavy and closed slowly against her will.

Susan finally gave in and lost consciousness.

4

MILLENNIA

Susan opened her eyes.

Dizzy and disoriented, her vision was still blurry. Her head felt heavy and hung low.

She sat, leaning against a wall behind her, bending her knees and propping her hands and head over them.

When her vision finally began to clear, Susan, with her head still down, was surprised to see she was no longer wearing her space suit.

Strangely, she was now wearing clothes, bracelets and rings she did not recognize. They were weirdly shaped and in light-grey tones, unlike anything she’d ever seen before. She did not have any idea of how or when she had put all of these things on.

Looking around her, Susan realized she was sitting against a wall on a sidewalk surrounded by modern buildings. Even though her sight had not fully returned, she noticed a large crowd on the opposing end of that street several feet away. She could discern vehicles with flashing lights blocking entry on either end.

It was then that, still not knowing what was expecting her, Susan looked at the horizon and was able to distinguish, far away in the sky, a large and shining star with three moons surrounding it.

The largest moon was more than double the size of the other two.

Susan closed her eyes and moved her right hand over the sky, as if trying to correct or erase an image that did not make sense and should not exist.

A few seconds later, however, her sight now much better, she glanced again at the horizon and saw that the big star and the three moons were still there.

Scared, her heart beat fast and she felt an intense headache. Susan closed her eyes and tried in vain to breathe slowly and deeply.

She did not know then that not only was the planet different but the millennia as well. If she had in that same instant realized that the time difference was of thousands of years, her confusion might have overwhelmed her.

Regardless of feeling very ill at ease, Susan’s attention managed to focus on a man standing next to her on the sidewalk.

That man, who until that moment had his back to her and was looking away, now turned towards Susan.

Despite him wearing a strange-looking hat and coat that Susan had never seen before, she recognized him immediately.

It was Michael.

He moved towards Susan and began to talk, but she could not understand what he was saying. The sounds coming out of his mouth were weird and guttural and did not make any sense, despite being transmitted in a well-structured manner, following a rhythmic pattern that she did not find unpleasant.

The feeling of dizziness and disorientation once again took hold of her. Her sight blurred, and she nearly fainted.

Before her body could hit the ground, Michael wrapped her in his arms, embracing her with an invigorating hug.

“Please, darling, try to stay calm,” he said.

Susan could finally comprehend him.

“Nothing is going to happen to our daughter. I’m sure she’ll be fine,” he added after kissing her forehead. “The authorities will find a way to release the hostages.”

Confused by what she had just heard, but still comforted by his embrace, Susan managed to distinguish with more clarity the image that until then was just a blur.

She then saw about twenty men, all dressed in black uniforms and equipped with high-caliber weapons. They were positioned across the street several feet ahead in front of what looked like a restaurant with a few external tables.

Several other equally uniformed and armed men were around what she imagined to be police cars that were blocking the entrances to the street.

Some of these uniformed men argued amongst themselves agitatedly, as if trying to find an urgent solution to a problem. Others, more dispersed, tried to fend off the curious and reporters that insisted on filming everything up close.

One of the officers, however, stepped away from the group and approached Susan. He was followed closely by a very attractive reporter with blond hair and her cameraman with oriental features who did not shy away from pulling out his recording device to get a close-up shot of Susan and the man embracing her.

Their faces were strangely familiar, yet Susan could not remember where she had seen them before.

“Ma’am, I need you to explain to me what your daughter was doing inside there alone,” asked the officer.

“My wife is still really shaken up,” Michael interrupted, staring at the officer incredulously.

“Are you aware of the gravity of the situation, sir?” insisted the officer with an impatient tone. “We can’t afford to waste a single second!”

Michael was visibly frustrated and, after taking a few moments to breathe deeply, managed to calm himself down to answer the policeman.

“Well, my wife told me that they had left the restaurant after having lunch, but our daughter asked to go back in so she could use the toilet,” answered Michael. “Instead of going back in with her, she preferred to wait for our daughter on the sidewalk where she could enjoy some fresh air...”

Following that last word, Susan heard several gunshots coming from inside the restaurant, right next to where the other officers were.

Michael, the police officer, the reporter and the cameraman immediately turned to see what happened. Their faces were tense with both surprise and concern, worried about what the noises meant.

Susan then saw the group of officers hastily breach the restaurant. Several more gunshots were heard moments after.

“Headquarters, negotiations have failed,” said the officer who had questioned Susan after drawing his personal communications device, which looked like a walkie-talkie. He left them, hurriedly walked towards the restaurant. “Our men are breaching the enclosure. We need backup!”

A distressing, seemingly eternal silence then followed.

It was only broken by a massive explosion, powerful enough to throw both Susan and Michael to the ground, even though they were many feet away. Debris from the restaurant rocketed into the air and splattered all over the street. Smoke and dust quickly filled the air, making it hard to breathe.

In the midst of all the chaos and confusion, Susan could easily hear a cacophony of agonizing screams. People were dying.

Stunned and unable to move, she felt thick blood running down her forehead, once again blurring her sight.

“No!” screamed Michael. He was sitting next to Susan, bloody and dirty from the blast, and had broken into tears. “My God!” he bellowed, his tears mixed with his own blood. “My daughter! My innocent little girl! She’s dead! Why?”

Susan extended one of her hands to touch his, in an attempt to offer consolation.

Then, without warning, Susan was once again ripped from where she was. She saw Michael and everything else around him moving away from her.

“Michael?!” Susan called out as she once again traversed a long, seemingly eternal tunnel. Distorted light beams surrounding her gave way to darkness and with it a feeling of utter emptiness and denial.

A circle of light once again approached with dizzying speed. It became increasingly brighter until it enveloped everything with endless whiteness.

Susan’s eyes became heavy again, and despite her efforts to keep them open, finally closed as she once more lost consciousness.

5

DRONE WARS

Susan came to.

Weirdly, she felt as if a long time had passed since her previous experience with the hostage situation at the restaurant with Michael at her side.

With no other alternative, Susan took a deep breath and opened her eyes.

She looked around and saw that she was in an immense room, nearly 250 feet long and almost as wide. Its walls were painted in homogenous white. There were no windows, only a robust ventilation system and a massive armored access door several feet away from her. Susan identified cameras on the ceiling recording everything taking place.

In the room with her were almost two hundred men and women dressed in uniforms similar to one that she was also wearing, relatively well-fitted to their bodies and apparently made of some synthetic fabric colored in light-grey tones.

All of them were armed with pistols made of an ultra-light material which they carried in holsters. Susan looked down and realized that she had one as well.

Most of the room’s occupants were sitting in rows of comfortable white armchairs spread throughout the room. They maintained serious expressions while busying themselves with transparent, glass interfaces. Four of them in front of each armchair. Strange images were projected on the interfaces. They also talked amongst themselves, exchanging information or requesting the presence of one of the people standing. These, in turn, issued orders and answered questions.

Communication between the two groups seemed to follow a sort of protocol in which everyone tried to maintain a tolerable level of chatter. Wireless microphones and headphones were used to engage with others further away.

Susan glimpsed at the screens of an Asian man sitting closest to her.

She first looked at the lower left screen which displayed what appeared to be a three-dimensional schematic of an aircraft similar to a helicopter. While the digital representation of the vehicle slowly rotated on the screen, details of various components popped up one after another, presenting data in real-time about the craft’s function and performance.

The bottom right screen, in turn, showed a text log of all the information presented on the previous screen. New lines appeared as new data showed up on the first screen. Users could, at any moment, scroll through this log by touch in order to locate specific intel, recent or old. With another tap, they could add new observations.

As for the upper screens, the one on the right exhibited a map of the area in real time with a top-down view of streets, bridges, buildings as well as the names of geographic locations. These names became highlighted as soon as the locations were in sight.

The left top screen showed the point of view of an aircraft in flight. On that one, Susan could see that the sky was clear with good flight conditions. The night was well lit by the three moons high above. Adding to the natural lighting, powerful headlights on each aircraft illuminated others flying ahead of them in formation, highlighting their fine silver fuselages.

Susan was able to observe that the machines, similar to helicopters, did not have cabins. This was due to the fact that they were unmanned, remotely controlled military drones. Thus the ‘helicopters’ did not require pilots on board. Two protrusions in the lower section of their fuselages, shaped like little wings, housed the aircraft’s missiles. Two frontal protrusions formed the aircraft’s nose, one above the other. The bottom one, shorter, contained a radar system as well as rotating cameras, while the top one flaunted a powerful rotary cannon. Finally, two very thin and overlapping elongated rods formed the aircraft’s tail section.

Susan’s brief observation was suddenly interrupted by a foot tapping on the floor behind her, drawing her attention.

She turned around and saw a man standing next to her on an elevated platform.

She had no doubt that he was Michael.

Susan wanted to talk to him, but she found it difficult to do at first. However, her determination was strong and she did not give up.

“Michael?” Susan called out.

She did not receive any sort of reply.

Michael continued to stand in an imposing manner. His feet were spread shoulder-width, and his arms were crossed behind his back, chest out and shoulders back.

His gaze was focused on a large glass projection screen that was ahead of them, positioned less than 3 feet away from the back of the room. It was several feet in width and its height stretched from the ceiling until nearly hitting the floor.

“Michael?” Susan asked insistingly.

He kept his gaze on the screen ahead.

Susan followed his stare and also focused on the image displayed on the screen.

It exhibited, in detail, the aerial perspective of a futuristic metropolis.

What grabbed Susan’s attention the most of the image was the majestic spectacle of night lights cast by large buildings.

Six gigantic skyscrapers, each at least 1600 feet high, distinguished themselves on the city’s skyline. Their lights fully engulfed other buildings. Two of these, closer to each other than the others, appeared to be twin buildings equipped with large spotlights on their roofs. These cast potent blue lights at the sky.

Interspersed among the taller skyscrapers were other buildings, not as grand, but more numerous. They added up to at least fifteen, with heights varying between 300 and 1000 feet. They were also well-lit, with some completely covered in digital billboards displaying ads for consumer products.

On one of these buildings, a sports car sped through the rounded facade. On another, a young and beautiful woman was charmed by a glorious diamond ring. A couple of mountain climbers taking a break halfway up a mountain was displayed on the exterior of a third building. The image was split, one mountaineer refreshed himself with an energy drink and toasted his friend on the other side of the same edifice.

At last, several smaller buildings, most of them not as well-lit, were scattered among the larger ones along the main avenue which split the metropolis in two.

The main avenue stretched until reaching a beautiful, colossal bridge with crossed arches. The bridge, in turn, extended over a river that crossed the city.

As she observed this sprawling, magnificent metropolis, Susan was confident her initial feelings were real. Indeed, many years had passed since the tragic hostage situation at the restaurant.

She was sure of this even though she was not able to explain how the transition had not taken longer than the blink of an eye, at least from her perspective.

An instant later, the image on the main screen changed. It continued to show the metropolis in high definition but now from a more elevated and distant perspective than before.

The image was apparently satellite-generated and updated in real time. It showed a set of airborne objects similar to unmanned helicopters flying in formation. They flew northbound, each marked by a different blue number on the screen.

Susan correctly inferred that those flying objects were, in fact, drones controlled by the individuals sitting in the room.

Susan then saw two subscreens flashing red and white. It appeared to be an alert. They overlapped on the upper half of the image displayed on the glass projection screen. Seconds later, each of these subscreens began showing different clusters of objects marked in red. They were also moving in formation but were more numerous than the unmanned helicopters shown on the main image.

Soon, it became clear that the first subscreen displayed a horde of flying aircraft. These were similar to jet planes, painted in dark-grey tones.

Such as the unmanned helicopters Susan had previously observed, these new craft were equally devoid of cockpits, indicating that they too were remotely controlled drones. They possessed radar systems, rotating cameras, and missiles. However, unlike the helicopters, these jet-powered drones did not have a front cannon but instead possessed a considerable amount of conventional bombs, emphasizing their primary role of attacking ground forces. Their weapon systems were mounted below wings shaped in the form of a triangle. Powerful central turbines took over most of their fuselage’s interior.

The objects displayed on the second subscreen, however, were much more peculiar.

Susan, if asked, would describe them as mechanical, graphite-colored, four-legged, arachnid-shaped armored tanks, running through the streets at dizzying speeds. In their running position, these ‘spiders’ stood more than 13 feet tall and nearly 20 feet long.

Their elongated and flexible shapes gave them increased agility and maneuverability. This structure also endowed them with abilities not available to vehicles with tires or tracks. They had the capacity to jump over large ditches, climb over urban obstacles by stretching their ‘legs’ or even crouch to sneak below barriers and maneuver inside narrow pathways.

Like the unmanned helicopters and jets Susan had previously seen, the mechanical spiders were also drones devoid of cockpits and possessed radars and rotational camera systems. Not to mention the two powerful rotary cannons that could quickly be aimed in any direction.

This was a lot of information for Susan to process, taking place in a blink of an eye.

Michael rapidly alternated his gaze from one subscreen to another. He was analyzing the situation, trying to find a solution. Sweat poured off his brow as he struggled to decide on the proper strategy.

At that moment, an attractive blonde female officer dressed in an apparently high-ranking uniform approached the platform Susan and Michael occupied.

She saluted Michael as she stomped her foot on the ground, calling his attention.

“Our pilots are awaiting your orders, Commander,” she alerted. Her tone expressed urgency, subtly demanding that her superior officer overcome his hesitation.

“All pilots…” he said nervously, “adopt interception trajectory and engage enemy jets!”

Michael gave the order using the wireless comms device he wore. At no moment did he take his eyes off the screen ahead of him.

“Why don’t you answer me, Michael?” Susan once again insisted.

She received no answer.

Susan turned towards the female officer and tried to talk to her.

“Excuse me,” Susan said. “Can you help me, please?

She received no response at all.

Far away, an enemy jet fired a missile at a helicopter flying ahead of its formation.

At that moment, the screen of that helicopter’s controller flashed a warning in red: “Incoming EMP missile”.

The missiles used by both opposing forces were equipped with small EMP charges which emitted a short-range electromagnetic pulse interference powerful enough to disable closeby military drones.

The controller then tapped on the image of a rotary cannon highlighted on the interface in front of him, engaging the helicopter’s anti-missile defense system. The helicopter began tracking the enemy missile while firing a hail of bullets, which in a few seconds destroyed its airborne enemy.

The other enemy jet-powered drones, still approaching, fired their own missiles and flooded the sky with a sea of projectiles.

All the unmanned helicopter controllers in the room with Susan then engaged their automatic defense cannons as well, firing at the enemies.

The drone wars had finally begun.

The unmanned helicopters’ auto-cannons managed to take down many of the enemy missiles crossing the sky in their direction. Several other missiles that passed through the initial defense barrier and which were closing in fast were neutralized by blazing hot flares, also fired by the helicopters.