Excerpt From “Whatsoever You Do”
Except for a few trips to see each other Jack and Phylicia had mostly stayed in their apartments after bringing the site up. For weeks they maintained and updated the software and site remotely. But now they had been invited to a meeting at the CDC by Dr. Hughes. Jack called Phylicia about the invitation. Because it would require them to fly, neither was looking forward to the trip. Still they prepared for travel with a feeling of excitement.
Their first long range venture outside their apartments since the epidemic had begun shocked them with what they saw. Streets deserted of people except for troops and automated delivery vans. Checkpoints that had to be negotiated. Robotic drones overhead and robot security on foot. Barricades and barriers seemingly everywhere, nothing they had seen on television could compare with what they were seeing with their own eyes.
At one point Jack took Phylicia's hand absentmindedly.
“Jack?”
“Yes Phylicia.”
“This is frightening isn't it?”
“Yeah that pretty much sums it up,” said Jack. “It's amazing how fragile is civilization. Normality gone in a moment. I'm thinking I may be more afraid of the measures taken to meet this emergency than by the cause of the emergency itself.”
Excerpt From “War Through the Pines”
March 13, 2055
In March the US launched air strikes on the Turkish army advancing into Poland. Casualties were high. In April the Germans moved against the Poles with the encouragement of the Turks. The Russians, left weakened after years of a bad economy, refused to be drawn into the struggle. By May the British with an almost intact air force entered the war against the coalition, flying sorties against the advancing German armies in Poland.
________
Amir Atakan held the rank of Ustegaman in the Turkish military, equivalent to a First Lieutenant in the US Air Force. He had been in his battle suit now for two days without relief. The attacks from the air and the supply difficulties had finally caught up with the Turkish forces.
Amir had watched in disbelief as the Poles had deliberately destroyed their power system. He could understand such actions from a military strategy point of view. But such deliberate destruction not only affected military combatants but also the civilian population. The Poles were willing to endanger the lives of their families, their wives and children. Would he have the nerve to do such things if Turkey were threatened? He didn't know. One part of him admired the Poles dedication, the civilized part of him was repulsed.
But he had more immediate worries. His battery pack was getting dangerously low. Without that power he would be stuck in this field without defenses. He had called for a backup supply but they were certainly taking their time.
Then he saw movement at the edge of the field. He saw the Polish soldiers emerge from the woods. But he relaxed when he saw they weren't carrying anything other than their assault rifles. The battle suit could easily handle those weapons, thought Amir.
He went to work.
As usual the Poles were dropping with ease. The suit could take on more than two dozen targets at a time and coordinate the return fire. With Amir focusing on the battle he didn't notice the soft alarm as the battle suit begin to shut down. The bullets slamming the suit's bulletproof sheathing began to sound like a hard rain as the suit went silent.
Then the Poles stopped firing as they noticed the battle suit had stopped. Amir was feverishly working to extricate himself from the suit when he saw one of the Poles stand up and walk toward him. In the suit he stood nearly six feet above the head of the approaching Pole. Amir could see the young man's face. He saw him detach a grenade from the grenade belt which he wore across his shoulder like a sling. Amir was transfixed as the young man pulled the pin from the grenade and gently laid it at the suit's feet. He then slowly backpedaled, all the while staring fiercely into Amir's eyes. Then Amir saw another Polish soldier approaching reaching for a grenade, then Amir saw the first young man and the approaching soldier hit the ground, then Amir felt the concussive force of the explosion at his feet and saw the field disappear in smoke and flying debris, and that was the last he saw.
Excerpt From “Vigilance”
Suddenly John found himself on his back with his chest hurting. He sat up slowly and looked around. The EV was several meters away from him, and there was a cloud of smoke rising above it. Rothmeyer was off to one side in pieces, he couldn’t see his dad. John arose and looked down at his suit, it was darkened across the chest area and his ribs ached but the suit hadn’t breached. He began walking, then running towards the EV.
He arrived at the EV and began yelling for his father before he realized he hadn’t switched on his mic. He switched it on and ran to the other side of the machine. There some meters away was his dad face down. John ran and kneeled down beside his father. Before he turned him over John noticed his dad's back rise and fall. He was breathing. John turned his dad over and was shocked by the condition of his suit. The outer layers around the stomach were vaporized. All he saw was a thin inner layer that the nano-machinery embedded in the suit had quickly replicated. The environmental system was working to replace lost air and maintain body temperature but it couldn’t keep up with the demands placed upon it much longer. John had to get his father to Candor City as soon as he could.
John yelled through the comm-link, “Dad, dad, can you hear me?” His father didn’t respond. John immediately lifted the unconscious body, bent and draped it across his shoulder. He began running towards the nearest rock outcropping.
He placed his father against the rocks facing the setting sun. It was the best he could do for now. He plugged in his Annie to his dad's suit and checked his vital signs and saw they were stable though far from normal. He needed to contact Candor as soon as possible, but how?
John thought.
Excerpt From “To Tend and Watch Over”
“You two shouldn't be here,” said a man's voice.
Arlo spun around to see a man dressed in a white smock. “I, I was just curious,” said Arlo. Pauli nodded.
“We know about you two, especially you Arlo, we've known about your 'curiosity' for some time,” said the man. “May I show you boys around?”
Arlo was a bit stunned. “Yes please,” he said quietly.
The man lead Arlo and Pauli around the periphery of the room. He said, “And what you see here are the fast Ems. Being closer to the cooling system they can run their hardware faster than other Ems higher up because the processor cooling is at maximum in this room. These Ems are typically running a million times faster than the ones at the top and are running problem solving simulations which if involving time can be run at about one-hundred years of simulated time in an hour of real-time. Communications with other Ems on this level allow even vaster simulations.
“The Ems farther up in this building are running slower and working on less computationally intensive problems until you get to the top where the emulated brains run only slightly faster than human equivalents. Those Ems are useful for interfacing with humanity as you might expect.
“The equipment you see is encased in a clear material especially designed by the Ems for efficient heat conduction. You may touch the material if you wish,” said the man to Pauli.
Pauli looked from the man to the encasing material. With a somewhat worried expression he slowly reached out to touch the material. The material felt cool to the touch and somewhat nebulous, like touching a thick cloud. Pauli pushed a little harder and the tip of his finger disappeared into the material, almost as if it had been severed.
Excerpt From “Union”
; In a few minutes Martin heard Almon say, “They've got the code on the outer airlock. They'll be coming down the corridor to the inner airlock in a few seconds.” Then Martin heard him say, “They're here.”
Martin heard Almon raise his voice. “Amity crew, this is Almon Kipler, you are trespassing on my property. Move away from the airlock before anyone gets hurt.”
“Kipler, this is Lieutenant Warson, you and those with you are under arrest by order of Captain Cumberland, commanding officer of the UN ship Amity. Do not resist, I repeat, do not resist.”
“Well come on in then,” said Almon. “And we will have a little fun.”
In a few seconds Martin heard Almon's voice again warning someone to stand still but he couldn't see him. Then he heard a shot from Almon's old fashioned weapon. There was a brief high pitched buzzing like an overhead power line in summer. Then he heard Lt. Warson say, “You in the safe room open the door that is an order.”
“I'm sorry lieutenant,” said Martin. “We aren't under UN jurisdiction here.”
“You are now,” said Lt. Warson.
The five stories in Volume 1 of the Future Chronology Series of short stories “From the Earth” follows members of the extended family from Earth to the farthest reaches of the Asteroid Belt.
A future Volume 2, “To the Stars”, will continue the chronicles as the Jackson family leads the rest of mankind to the stars.
This is hard science fiction, old-school.
Volume 1:
Whatsoever You Do (Near Future)
War Through the Pines (Near Future)
Vigilance (22nd Century)
To Tend and Watch Over (22nd Century)
Union (23rd Century)
Volume 2:
Circle of Retribution (24th Century)
Freedom from Want (25th Century)
Breakup (25th Century)
Kuiper Station (28th Century)
The Cloud (29th Century)
First Interstellar (30th Century)
From the Earth
Vol. 1 of the Future Chronology Series of Short Stories
D.W. Patterson
Copyright © 2017 Hiawassee Publishing
All rights reserved.
1st Edition
Cover – Copyright © Hiawassee Publishing
Cover Image - © Rolffimages | Dreamstime.com - Earth From Moonscape Photo
No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission, except in the case of brief quotations for the purpose of review. For information please contact – [email protected]
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and events are products of the author's imagination and should not be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events and people, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
DEDICATION
To Sarah
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Whatsoever You Do
War Through the Pines
Vigilance
To Tend and Watch Over
Union
Afterword
Appendix1 – A Future Chronology
Appendix2 – Character Chronology
About the Author
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Robert, Arthur and Isaac.
Ideas about the geopolitics of the war described in War Through the Pines follow closely those outlined in the book The Next 100 Years by George Friedman, highly recommended.
Whatsoever you do
Image - © Kjpargeter – Dreamstime.com - 3D Medical Background With DNA Strands And Man Photo
1
Miri first noticed the baby's symptoms that morning, a wheezing sound when he exhaled. By afternoon Miri was worried enough to call the pediatrician.
A nurse set up an appointment for the next day and instructed Miri to keep Jack Jr. hydrated and his nasal passages clear, with a bulb syringe if necessary. She told Miri to take the baby to the emergency room if symptoms worsened before the appointment.
By the time Jack got home from the university that evening Jack Jr. seemed a little better. But Jack's usual cheerful smile evaporated as Miri told him about the baby's illness.
"What did the doctor say?" asked Jack, stroking his son's cheek.
"I setup an appointment for tomorrow. The nurse said to give him plenty of fluids and keep his nasal passages clear.” She turned away and coughed as Jack tried to kiss her.
"You don't sound too good yourself," said Jack. "I hope you are taking something."
"Same thing as the baby," said Miri.
They were preparing to turn in for the night when Miri's smartphone alerted. She took a look at the phone and started for the nursery.
Jack heard her yell for him to come quickly. When he walked into the nursery he saw Miri with Jack Jr. in her arms. She turned and said, "We have to get him to the emergency room, his breathing is rapid and shallow and he's not waking up!"
Jack looked at his son and shuddered. He was sure the baby's lips had a bluish tinge. "Okay honey," he said quietly. "Wrap him up and bring him into our bedroom, I'm getting dressed."
Jack already had his pants and shirt on and was pulling on his socks when Miri walked into the room. "Give him to me honey while you change," Jack said quietly. Miri handed over the baby and rushed into her closet.
Jack looked at his son and almost cried out, the baby's fingernails were turning blue. Jack knew his boy wasn't getting enough oxygen - they would have to hurry. He fought to maintain his composure, if he panicked Miri might also, but he couldn't wait another minute.
"Miri!" he shouted. "Meet me at the car."
Jack placed his sleeping son on the passenger's seat and put the car in manual mode. He backed it out of the garage, his right hand never leaving his son's chest. The time he spent listening to the baby's labored breathing seemed like an eternity to Jack even though Miri arrived moments later.
“Please hurry,” she said as she took the baby in her arms.
“We'll be there soon,” said Jack placing his hand on her shoulder. Miri was about to acknowledge but turned her head away to cough.
________
The emergency room was crowded. The admitting nurse was about to hand Jack and Miri paperwork to fill out when she saw the baby's face. She immediately stopped what she was doing and yelled to another nurse to take the Jackson's into an examination room while she called for a doctor.
Doctor Stilhs entered the examination room, took a quick look at Jack Jr. and said, “Mr. and Mrs. Jackson would you please step into the waiting room? I'll be there as soon as I've finished my examination, thank you.”
Jack and Miri looked at each other and turned to leave. Miri looked back at the doctor. “As soon as possible doctor please,” she begged. The doctor nodded.
________
It was almost an hour before the doctor came into the waiting room. “I was beginning to worry doctor, what have you found?” asked Jack.
“Mr. and Mrs. Jackson your son has a bronchial infection. I've ordered tests but it will be tomorrow before we have the results. Meanwhile I've also ordered that he be given fluids and oxygen to prevent dehydration and help him to breathe. We'll know more when we get the tests back.”
“He's going to be okay isn't he doctor?” asked Miri, coughing to clear her throat.
“Mrs. Jackson I'm afraid your son is very sick, but he seems strong and I think there is every reason to believe that he will recover. But it sounds like you may be coming down with something yourself, you should try to get some rest,” advised the doctor.
“Thank you doctor,” said Jack blankly.
After the doctor left Jack and Miri sat down. Jack said, “We should do as the doctor says honey. You need rest before you get any worse, and I think you could rest better at home.”
“Jack, I cannot leave this hospital as long as my son is in here. I'm staying,” said Miri, head in hands.
“Okay honey I understand,” Jack replied. “Let's try to make ourselv
es as comfortable as possible.” He gently guided her head to his shoulder.
________
The morning light was flooding through the hospital window when Jack awoke. Miri was asleep beside him, her breathing labored. Jack got up carefully and went to ask the nurse for some coffee. By the time he returned with two cups Miri had awakened. “Good morning honey, how are you feeling?” he asked.
Just then an orderly rushed up. “Mr. and Mrs. Jackson?” he asked.
“Yes,” said Jack.
“The doctor wants to see you, follow me please.” Jack and Miri followed the orderly to a different exam room from before, there they found the doctor waiting. He looked like he hadn't slept.
From the Earth: A Future Chronology Anthology Page 1