Orion's Children

by Rohan Moorthy

  He was about to turn back in, when he heard a low growl and slowly turning to his right he was horrified to see one the team’s captive Lions starring at him. He stood frozen and watched as the beast took a step forward with a look of extreme menace painted across its face. Ali slowly backed up towards the door of the chamber and noticed that as he did the Lion moved closer to him. He felt carefully for the door panel in order to slide it shut. At that moment, he heard a voice on his left and as he turned he was shocked to see Nigel standing there with a long metallic rod in his hand. “Ah! Ali, you poor boy, I wish you had stayed quietly in your chamber,” said the clone. Ali tried to respond but just could not. Turning back he saw that the Lion was just a couple of feet away from the both of them. “Oh Sandy’s my pet and it’d be best if you didn’t cause us anymore trouble,” said the clone. Before Ali could reply the clone jabbed him in his stomach with the rod and Ali felt a surge of electricity run through his body. He fell backwards and collapsed onto the floor convulsing slightly. The clone dragged him from under his arms and slide him back into the sleep pod. It reset the awakening process on the control panel and watched as the rays of purple and blue lights covered Ali’s body. “Not sure how this one woke up, even though I checked everything earlier,” the clone said to itself.

  It then turned to face a mirror, straightened its moustache and then walked out of the sleeping chamber. The Lion sat on its haunches and looked at him. “Great job there Sandy, there’s a big steak waiting for you in the pantry if you’ll follow me,” said the clone. As he walked away the Lion followed him towards the pantry area above. The clone opened one of the fridges and picked out a couple of large frozen steaks and flung them on the ground in front of the Lion. The animal quickly began to devour its icy meal. The clone watched it as it finished and then commanded it to wait back outside the sleeping chamber. “Go on then, beastie. You know the drill,” it said. The Lion licked its chops and turned back into the corridor. The clone then tapped on his armlet and soon saw Toby Mackinrow’s face appear. “Have you ensured that the crew are all still sleeping?” said Toby. “Yes sir. Most of them were. I’m not sure why but Ali Mehdi’s sleep pod awoke him even though I had reset the duration of his resting time. Not to worry though I took care of him and it is a good thing I had the Lion here as he alerted me…” said the clone as he was cut off. “Damn it man! Be more cautious will you? The chip we inserted into that Lion is meant to make it help you but you need to be on top of your game, is that clear,” said Toby wildly irritated. “Yes sir. That’s understood. It won’t happen again I assure you. I’ll be setting a course for Earth and will contact you as planned,” said the clone. “Good. Keep at it and do ensure I’m informed if anything untoward crops up,” said Toby.

  Toby watched the screen go blank and turned to look at Buziba Chidi. “We are on course sir. The Wildlife One crew are kept in their state of suspended animation and won’t awaken or disrupt our mission,” said Toby. “Good. I’m glad to see how well the clone has worked out for us. No doubt he will complete his mission successfully,” said Buziba. Toby nodded and gave some of his personnel further instructions. “The hour is nearly at hand Toby. I suggest you get your men ready. A revolution is about to begin,” said Buziba. Toby smiled and said “Indeed it is sir.”

  The clone sat in the cockpit of Wildlife One and watched a stream of meteors in the distance. It then focused its attention on Earth as it grew in size and soon its image engulfed the whole of the ship’s windshield. It waited patiently and let the ship navigate itself to within close proximity of the outer atmosphere. The clone then took over the controls and steered the ship to within a short distance of the Karman line. The Mandela International Spaceport control tower came in over the speakers and the clone perfectly imitated both Akira’s and Raveena’s voice, thereby throwing off any suspicion that the ship had been hijacked. It steered the ship towards the right before bringing it to a complete stop. Once in the designated spot, it then tapped a few icons on its armlet and in the hull of Wildlife One, a hatch opened revealing a massive grey box that floated out of its belly to about 50 feet below. Once there it stood stationery for a few seconds and then in rapid sequence it began to break apart into a series of smaller boxes that soon spread themselves several hundred kilometres apart from each other. From a screen of Wildlife One, the clone ensured that they hovered over a large area of the Earth that included the continents of Africa, Europe and Western Asia. Once in place, he tapped a couple of more icons and each of box objects shot out a red laser beam from all four of its sides and connected with another box, thereby forming and intricate web. Next, the boxes began to glow with a pinkish hue. This formation could be seen on the ground, owing to the fact that it was night time for this part of the world. “Wildlife One this is the Mandela International Spaceport, we have noticed a part of the ship has fallen out and there is a glowing formation just below you. Is your ship compromised?” said the control tower operator. “Compromised? Nothing’s compromised. This is only the beginning my friends,” said the clone imitating Akira’s voice. “What? Please say again,” said the operator. “What you’re seeing is a necessary step for Greenleaf and a warning for Earth,” said the clone, while this time imitating Raveena’s voice. “We have emergency teams in place on ground and are scrambling out a rescue shuttle to meet with you in a few minutes and to assist you in your descent. Do confirm your ship structural integrity,” came the response. “Oh! There’s an integrity problem all right. But that’s with Earth’s attitude towards Greenleaf. Let’s just say that there’s going to be some fireworks taking place very soon,” said the clone continuing in Raveena’s voice.

  South African Ministry of Defense Office

  On the ground, the control tower alerted the South African Ministry of Defense about the unfolding situation. “It seems that we are dealing with a possible hostile situation. Initiate Defense level one. And for God sake get me both the UN Secretary General and the head of TASNSA on the phone immediately,” said Minister Amber Campbell. Her personnel logged onto their terminals and began issuing orders for teams to be ready. Amber stared at the various images being displayed. “A terrorist threat,” she said with disbelief. “May God have mercy on us all,” she added as she picked up her hotline to speak with the South African Air Force.

  ◆◆◆

  Mutiny At Axedon

  Temple Of The Sun

  Kenneth Anderson was at his desk reviewing some documents on his monitor, when he heard the click made by his office door. “Come in Barbara,” he said without turning his eyes away from the holographic screen in front of him. Barbara Winters trembled as she slowly walked into his room. There was a long pause and Kenneth finally turned realising that she had not begun speaking as she normally did. He turned to look at her and saw a horrified look on her face and noticed her hands were shaking terribly. “Barbara, what’s the matter?” he said as he rose from his desk. As if on cue, from behind her, a small group of armed personnel entered draped in black attire from head to toe, with the emblem of a Cobra encircling a red pyramid located at the forehead portion of their face masks. They all carried back packs and each held an automatic rapid fire rifle. Kenneth slowly pressed his foot against a button on the floor located near his chair. “No need to press the alarm button President Anderson. We’ve disabled all security systems across Greenleaf. You and your staff are all now prisoners of the New World Legionnaires,” said one of the masked personnel walking towards him. Kenneth scoffed and said “You expect me to believe that you can just walk in here and hold my office hostage?” “Perhaps you didn’t hear what I said earlier clearly enough. Let me help you with that,” said the man as he suddenly punched Kenneth in the side of the face. Barbara screamed as Kenneth fell back into his chair and stared wildly at this attacker. “As I said, we have disabled all security systems across the city. We aren’t just holding your office hostage. We are holding the whole city and we will liberate it once we have received confirmed proof from E
arth that our world…your world President Anderson is free and independent. Where we will have no more dealings with that wretched planet and where Greenleaf can create a new order of its own. Do you understand now?” said the assailant.

  Kenneth slowly straightened himself and stared at Barbara, who had tears flowing down her cheeks. “What makes you think you’ll get away with planning a coup like this?” said Kenneth. “Think? We don’t think sir. We know this will work. And this is not a coup but an act for independence and freedom. And might I add that even your precious Assiross can no longer help you now,” said the assailant. He then hauled Kenneth up from his chair and began pushing him out of the room. Kenneth walked past Barbara, who stared back at him helplessly. Once outside, he saw several members of his staff lying on floor with more black masked personnel standing over them. “Oh, and in case you’re wondering. We aren’t alone in this. We have the backing and full support of the Triadians,” said the assailant from behind him. Kenneth stopped and turned to look back, just as he felt of surge of panic run through his veins. “Yes that’s right. The day of judgement is fast approaching President Anderson. So you best get ready to atone for your sins,” said the assailant as he pushed Kenneth forward again.

  Greenleaf Northward Prison Facility

  Nigel paced across the prison cell in which he was in. For the past six months, he had been locked up in a dingy space that saw very little sunlight during the day and for most of the time, it lay dark and silent. Though sometimes, he thought he could hear the faint sound of birds chirping. But other than that he had never seen nor interacted with another human being or living creature. Nor did he know what day or month it was anymore. When he had awoken after been knocked out in the garden, he had found himself in this cell. He had screamed his lungs out and pounded on the door for two whole days but no one had come. After bruising himself quite badly he had given up on tearing away at the door and instead spent his time trying to figure out another way to escape. He received three meals a day from a shoot in one of the walls. He had in fact tried to see if he could climb through it but realised when he tried to, he received electric shocks. After surveying the space and trying to use every possible means of escape, he finally sank into a bout of despair for a while. It was only when thoughts of Carmen started returning to him that he vowed to not give up and to find a way out. He worried extensively about her and wondered where she was. More importantly, he was at a complete loss as to why John and the rest of his team had not made any attempt to locate him. But he soon pushed those thoughts away and began to focus on finding newer ways to escape his prison.

  Now on this day as he paced his cell, he thought he heard a click sound from the door. He paused and watched. Soon a burst of light shone through, which made him half blind. Slowly he regained the clarity of his vision and made out the silhouettes of four men in front of him. “Nigel Greenback, you are to come with us,” said one of them. Nigel initially thought of fighting his way out but thought better off it and simply nodded. The guards stood aside and let him walk past them. He noted the powerful rifles that they held and breathed slowly as he stepped out into the brightly lit hallway. He had on a basic t-shirt and a pair of shorts along with a pair of old sandals. He followed the guards as they led him outside through a small garden and towards another building that lay a few meters away. The time spent in the cell had taken their toll on his robust physique. He had lost a considerable amount of weight and his hair and beard were quite long and badly in need of a wash.

  As he neared the building entrance, he read a sign next to it that read, Block A - Greenleaf Northward Prison Facility. “Bloody amazing,” he mumbled to himself. The guards led him to small waiting room area and gestured for him to sit. “Coffee Mr. Greenback?” asked the same guard, who spoke to him earlier. “Yes, please,” said Nigel softly. As the guards left Nigel quickly looked around at the windows to see if he could pry them open. They were sealed tight. He grunted and walked to the door to see if he could open it. But it was locked. “Bloody hell. Damn this place,” he said to himself. Just then another door to his left clicked and Nigel decided to ready himself to spring onto whoever came through with a hope that he would be able to overpower them and escape to a safer spot outside the facility. As he watched, the door opened slowly and to his amazement revealed the figure of General Khalid Ansari. “Ah, Nigel there you are. Thank goodness you’re alright,” said Khalid as he approached him. “You stay the hell away from me you hear! What the hell is going on in this bloody place? You’ve made me rot in prison all this time, you and your Greenleaf people? Huh? Well I’ll teach you to mess with an Earth human” said Nigel as he raised his fists and coughed harshly. Khalid Ansari raised his hand to calm him down. “Nigel. I understand. I’m not the one who locked you in here. I’m here to get you out. Please don’t waste any time and follow me,” said Khalid. “Why the hell should I trust you?” shouted Nigel. “Because I’m your only chance of getting out of here that’s why,” said Khalid and he turned and walked back to the door he had just come through. “If you want answers I suggest you come with me,” he added as he held the door open for Nigel.

  Pine Forest (Northern Section of Alita Island)

  The jet black Falcon S sedan whizzed past a line of trees and headed towards a row of mountains in the distance. “Nigel you can’t imagine how relived I am that I found you,” said Khalid while handing him a can of chilled beer. Nigel looked at him sceptically and then took it and pressed it open. He took a big swig of it and then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Khalid smiled and watched Nigel drain the can in another gulp. He took the empty can from him and handed Nigel another one. As soon as Nigel was through, he tossed both cans in a trash bin in front and then handed Nigel a wrapped ham sandwich. “Let me tell you what I know so far Nigel. Earlier this year when your crew was set to depart I had gone to see all of them off at the spaceport. You were the last person I was wishing goodbye too, or at least I thought it was you. I noticed that you didn’t have your tranquiliser gun strapped to your shoulder, which I know you love so much. I asked you about it and you just said that it had broken and that you threw it away. I would have bought that but it didn’t seem like you to treat something like that so indifferently. So, I decided to check back at the Hangar, where the Air Hawk team had been stationed to see if I could find it. To my surprise I couldn’t locate it in any of the garbage disposal units in Hangar 18. But rather, it was found in a steel cupboard hidden away in another hangar. One of my men happened to be looking for something else and came upon it. That of course raised my suspicions and I immediately informed President Anderson. Together we pushed our intelligence unit to try and uncover something we had long suspected but had never found any proof of. Finally, a week ago we got our break. We found a top secret cloning facility located just off the coast of Alita, on one of the smaller islands east of here,” said Khalid. “A what?” said Nigel. “A cloning facility. You may recall that when you first came here there were blood samples taken of the entire crew. Both President Anderson and I learned later on that some of those samples were stolen. Not just that but many other samples were taken of other Earth visitors and of key people from Greenleaf society in order to create clones, which can replace the people that they either murder or abduct. And mind you, not just any regular clones. These ones are specially programmed much like how mining robots are. But aside from that we were finally able to discover, who some of the people are who are running this facility,” said Khalid. “Who are they?” Nigel burst out. “I’ll tell you soon enough. But let me just saw that it seems that a portion of the population of Axedon are a part of a group known as the New World Legionnaires. They are the ones who put you in prison and they consist of quite a few of our senior most people working in the government, army and police force. But I’ll tell you more of that later. For right now our party awaits us,” said Khalid as he gestured towards another parked Falcon S a short distance away.

  Nigel looked at it and felt
unsure of what was going to happen next. Their car slowed and then stopped in front of the other vehicle. Khalid stepped out and asked Nigel to follow him. Nigel still weary from his ordeal got out and walked towards the other car. As he approached front of Khalid’s vehicle, the other car door burst wide open and he saw Carmen run out towards him. His eyes went wide with excitement and he raced to her and held her tightly in his arms. “Darling oh god, thank god you’re still alive,” she said as she kissed him passionately. “Love, you have no idea how much I’ve missed you,” said Nigel. “I had managed to find Miss Carrillo a day ago and she told me everything about the two of you and what happened on the night you both went missing,” said Khalid. “General I can’t thank you enough but how did you know where to find us and how did you get me out of prison?” said Nigel still holding Carmen. “Ah trade secrets my dear friend, which I can’t reveal,” said Khalid with a wink. He gestured for both of them to join him in his car. Once they were in, he instructed both drivers to head towards the Shamila ridge. Both vehicles soon set off further down the road at top speed.

  Shamila Ridge Sanctuary

  Later that afternoon, Khalid sat with both Nigel and Carmen and explained in detail who the New World Legionnaires were and how they came to be. “They were formed by Buziba Chidi’s family, whom we have only now discovered, were members of the Defenders of Amanora. After arriving on Greenleaf as a young boy, his family began a slow and careful induction of members into their inner circle. How exactly were they able to keep all of this a secret for so long, I don’t know as yet. My suspicion is that they had help from an external party. Unfortunately, now due to our late discovery, the group has acted fast and has captured the whole of Axedon city as of this morning. I was unable to reach President Anderson in time and so I instead turned my attention to getting you out of prison Nigel before it was too late,” said Khalid while sipping his coffee. “The whole city hasn’t seen anything violent take place as yet but all government houses and police force stations are shut. About half of the military units have also followed Commander Chidi. Quite a few high ranking officers are members of the Legionnaires. Those who were not a part of his dirty business have joined me here at this sanctuary that Kenneth and I had created in secret over a couple of years ago, as a backup measure should the city fall. You’ll notice that we are well concealed and entry inside is impossible,” said Khalid. He then reached across the table and flipped open a wooden box that contained a uniquely styled glove. He slipped it on his right hand and then turned towards Nigel. “Give me your hand Nigel,” said Khalid. “Eh what?” said Nigel. “Please trust me,” said Khalid as he extended his hand towards him. Nigel hesitantly stretched his hand forward and felt the same sensation as John did when he gripped Kenneth Anderson’s hand on the night he was rescued at Dorenland. Nigel quickly retracted his hand and saw the same triangle on his skin. “Hey what’s this about mate? You off your rocker or something,” said Nigel angrily. “Don’t be mad. That was a necessary measure,” said Khalid and he explained why, while also recounting to Nigel about what happened when John’s helicopter crashed in the jungles many months ago and his meeting with the Assiross. Nigel listened intently and never said a word. When Khalid had finished, Nigel turned and stared at the ocean below from the window he was leaning against. “If what you say is true then Johnny boy, Mike and the rest of them are in serious danger,” said Nigel. “Yes I am sure they are,” said Khalid. “But what I’d like to know is what exactly are these New World freaks after?” said Nigel. “Oh, well that’s very simple. They want total independence from Earth,” said Khalid. A Greenleaf soldier entered the room as they were speaking and saluted General Ansari. “Yes! What is it Staff Sergeant Reynolds?” asked Khalid. “Sir, you had better come watch this,” said the soldier.