by Bruce Burk
“Sir, this dog tag has the old terrorist inspired constitutions inscribed on it,” the guard said as he looked up from his equipment. “Splendid, we will cleanse the world of terrorism with one clean stroke. Take a look outside the window,” Aiden said. Outside, the OSS had taken all the bodies of the captured prisoners who were all now dead, and placed them in a giant pile in the prison yard. Aiden handed the books and the dog tag to one of the OSS officers. They carried the books and the dog tag and placed them on top of the dead bodies of Christians, Muslims and other patriots who had defied the One State.
“God will not allow this. He will stop you! I know it,” John said. He looked up to the sky and cried out, “God please! Please stop them! They are going to destroy your message on Earth! Save us! Strike them down now!” John said. “Hahahaha! Do you really believe he is listening?” Aiden said. Dark clouds began swarming around the prison. Lightning and thunder filled the skies. “You see! He will not allow the destruction of the last Bible! He will not allow the destruction of the constitutional republics!” John cried out.
Aiden lit a torch and threw it towards the pile of bodies that were doused in gasoline. The world slowed down while John and Gavin’s hearts stopped beating for just a second. The torch landed onto the pile and set it ablaze. The fire spread to the whole pile and the bodies were incinerated. The fire traveled to the top, where the last Bible on Earth caught fire. It felt like it took ages to burn. The thunder shook the skies, while John and Gavin watched in complete disbelief as their most sacred things were destroyed.
“Noooooo! John and Gavin both yelled. John looked up to the heavens, “How could you let this happen? What is to happen to this world!?” John shouted. “Hahahaha ... John don’t cry yet,” Aiden said. He took a page out of his pocket. It was a page ripped out of the Bible. “I wanted to savor destroying the last page of the Bible right in front of your eyes. I want you to see for yourself as the One State asserts its dominance over the globe through the control of information. It just so happens the page I ripped out is . Matthew … Matthew 22. It says, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ How nice! But we can’t have people knowing they have a soul, or obeying something other than Eidolon, that could cause rebellion,” Aiden said. Aiden took a lighter from his pocket and flicked the end, revealing a small flame.
“What’s going to happen, Shepard? Is god going to strike me down? Prevent me from burning this book?” Aiden asked. “Don’t!” John said with anger and tears in his eyes. “Long live the One State!” Aiden yelled as he set the page on fire. The page quickly turned into ash in Aiden’s hand, which he threw into John’s face. “You know, Eidolon told me to have you three put into the gladiator pit to be made an example of … but I don’t listen to everything he says. I’d rather see you left to burn alive. The One State has grown strong and is the first true Global Empire but the guards are loyal to me now more than him. Soon this empire will be under my control and Eidolon will obey me. Soon I will be the Emperor of the world … too bad you won’t be around to see it! Torch this place,” Aiden said. With that, Aiden left the room and the guards set the room on fire and left. The fire spread to the walls and the entire room slowly caught on fire. “John what are we going to do?” Gavin said. “Try to loosen your cuffs. Clark! Clark! Wake up!,” Clark said. He loosened his shoe and kicked it into Clark’s face. Some of the boards of the ceiling began to collapse and the fire started to grow. Sophia was also slowly waking up. “What?” Clark said as his eyes opened. “Fire!” Gavin shouted. “Clark can you get us out of here?” John said.
The guards had removed all of Clark’s traditional technological gadgets, but a good hacker in the 22nd century always has an ace in the hole. Clark began moving his eyes all around in his head like he was looking for something. Finally, Clark had moved a small contact lens that had been stored in the back of his eye onto his pupil. Then, Clark turned on a small computer that he had in his contact lense, which was untraceable to the guards. These tiny computers were controlled by eye movement. Clark began moving his eyes up and down left and right to try and hack into the prison’s system.
“What are you looking around for, Clark? get us out of here!” John said. “I’m using lens computer, but the prison’s computer systems are down – the fire must have short-circuited the wiring,” Clark replied. “We can’t die here today!” Gavin said. “It’s time to call in for back up … initiate R4V3N Extraction Protocol,” Clark said. Within seconds, several robotic ravens flew up to a barred window of the prison and pecked threw the bars. The ravens then flew towards Clark and pecked his chains away. Next, they did the same with the chains holding down John, Gavin and Sophia.
“Clark, you son of a bitch I love you,” Gavin said. The rebels’ chains fell to the ground. John grabbed Sophia and threw her over his shoulder. The Thunderbird lowered onto the prison ground. John looked to his side as he ran to the ship to all the burning bodies where the last Bible had just been burned. He felt anger in his heart towards God and everything that he had been taught. They entered the Thunderbird and took off. Three OSS fighter jets were scrambled that took off flying high into the sky after the Thunderbird.
“We got company!” Gavin yelled. Several blasts hit the ship shaking and sending it tumbling. “Shields up!” He turned the plane in summersaults, soaring across the blue sky. Then, he headed straight up towards the sky while the fighter jets followed. One of the fighters locked onto their ship and fired a missile straight for it. “Missile on your tail,” Clark said. Gavin quickly released missile decoys and which sent the flying torpedo off course exploding in a fire across the sky. John was still devastated and could barely keep himself upright. He was truly tormented inside from what had just occurred. “I have failed you … I have failed you,” he muttered into the heavens.
“Let’s see how you like this,” Gavin said. He steered the ship into a sharp, banked turn, blasting the wing from a side-mounted blaster and sent it tumbling to the ground in a blaze of fire. “Come on … come on … come get me!” Gavin said as he took the Thunderbird into a mountainous area. Laser blasts hit rocks above the ship, hardly missing them. The ship turned through a steep set of rock and the other ship missed the turn and crashed into the mountain. Then, he quickly headed into a canyon of rock over water. There, several drones came flying into the sky that rained blaster fire over the ground where they flew.
“Alright, time to disappear,” Gavin said as he pressed the cloaking button. However, a few circuits shot out of the button. “Crap, it’s not working!” Gavin shouted. Clark plugged into the plane and began trying to fix it. One of the drones shot a mountain near them sending rocks in front of the ship. Gavin ducked and dove around them but some of them hit the cockpit and scratched the glass. “That’s my ship,” Gavin said. The last plane on his tail locked on and fired a prototype missile towards the firebird. The missile followed closely right behind the ship. The rebels dodged several more blasts from the drones above. The ship left the canyon and headed high into the sky. Gavin wanted to get above the drone fire, while the missile still followed closely behind. The fighter shot multiple fighters as they headed towards the sky. “Clark … anytime now ….” Gavin said. “There we go! It’s on!” Clark shouted. The ship disappeared into the sky. Gavin flipped the plane and headed straight forwards the remaining fighter and flew right over the top of it, sending the missile directly into the ship. “That was a close one,” Gavin said. “John where to? John?” Gavin asked. He was still in shock from what had occurred. “John, I need you buddy. Stay with me,” Gavin said putting his hand on John. Head for grandfather’s house,” John said. “You got it,” Gavin said as he punched the throttle.
Aiden punched one of the guards in the One State capital. “Fools! How could you let them get away!” Aiden shouted. “They outflew us, sir. They’re very goo
d,” One of the soldiers said. Aiden blasted him in the stomach. Then, on the holo-screens, Eidolon’s face emerged. “Aiden, have you killed the terrorists? Have they been destroyed?” Eidolon asked. “A small group of rebels managed to escape the prison. But no matter – we have destroyed the last remnants of the terrorist literature. All the people of Earth will ever know is what the One State tells them,” Aiden responded. “See to it that the terrorists are disposed of Aiden. We will not have complete control until the Knights are completely whipped out,” Eidolon commanded. “With pleasure my Lord,” Aiden said as he walked away. In his head, he was planning on how he was to overthrow Eidolon.
The thunderbird flew into the forest where Grandfather’s house was. However, they saw a plume of smoke coming from where the house was. “Grandfather!” John cried out. The chambers were covered in rubble and black smoke. Gavin quickly landed the Thunderbird and John rushed to the house. He started pulling large pieces of wood and rock from the rubble. “Grandfather! Are you there? This can’t be happening,” John cried. The sky opened up and rain fell on John’s angry and devastated face. It always seems to rain at times of transition: times of tribulations in your life. He managed to find a hole in the rubble and entered the secret chambers as he always did with the others. John ran through the hallways looking for Grandfather. He finally came to the chamber where they had completed their training. All the paintings were a torn mess on the ground. Grandfather was there on the floor moaning in pain.
“Grandfather!” John cried out as he ran to embrace him. He picked up his head as his eyes became tearful. “I’m here Grandfather. I promised we would be back. Everything’s going to be ok,” John cried. “I’m finished my son,” Grandfather said as he coughed holding his side which had been badly wounded. A trail of blood covered the floor from his desk to where he was laying. “No! You’re going to be ok! I promise!” John said with tears in his eyes.
Grandfather coughed between words, “Quickly son, we haven’t much time. Under my desk, there is a tile that can be lifted. Open it and bring me what’s inside it,” Bellos asked. John ran to the desk looking for the tile. He brushed the dust and sand from the tiles to reveal a tile different from the others. Placing his fingers into the crevice, he lifted it up to reveal a small hole under the tile. He reached in his hand to reveal a very old black book. “Here it is,” John said. Bellos looked at John with such joy and hope as he grazed his hands across his face.
“John, the Knights of the Living Earth have been wiped out. Somehow, Eidolon found out our hiding places and have killed off most, if not all of our members. There are some things I haven’t told you about the order. A man named Aristotle founded the Knights of the Living Earth in Athens, Greece,” Grandfather said as he coughed. After the law of power was revealed to him, he knew it was necessary to create a Knighthood to preserve the natural balance of the planet. He also began researching the other natural laws. His research is documented in this book … ‘The Book Of Remembering.’” Grandfather handed the book to John. John looked down at the book in amazement. He opened it to see vast pictures; drawings of the universe and math equations; and geographic locations.
“He foretold that the ancient tribes had discovered the natural order of things in their connection with nature. He believed the locations of where these natural laws are kept hidden in sacred places throughout the Earth, to be revealed in the time of greatest darkness. It is said that these natural laws are the basis from which all religions are built on. “Here take this,” Grandfather said as he handed him a pin with an eagle on it. “You are now the Chief of the Knights of the Living Earth. I pass the title to you, as it was passed to me. Before you die, you must choose a successor and pass it to them as well. The Chief of the Knights of Living Earth is equivalent to the Pope of the Catholic Church, but for nature. Protect the planet John. You must uncover these natural laws and reveal them to humanity. That is the only way to save the planet from the One State. These natural laws are the very footprint of God. Promise me you will find them … promise me,” Grandfather said.
“I’m not good at keeping promises. I can’t do it! I don’t even know if I still believe in God. If there is a God how could he let all of this happen? How could he all his followers to be slaughtered, his word burnt to ash, or the world to be controlled by an evil empire? Humanity needs him. I need him. Why is he not here? Where is he?” John asked. Grandfather looked up at John and smiled.
Grandfather’s eyes became still and the light of his soul left his body. John took his hand and closed his Grandfather’s eyes. John, full of anger and despair, carried his Grandfather’s limp body outside as the rain poured down on him. The rebels berried him and said their prayers as the rain poured. John again looked up into the sky with a sense of disappointment – that feeling you get when the reality in front of you is much less then you feel you deserve – then you feel should be. Almost as if the reality that you had imagined is better and more soundly created; that you have more awareness as to what should have occurred than the powers that sewed the universe together. John felt like there was nowhere for him to go; the drones could be watching him as we speak – Aiden watching his every move. Again, he touched the cross around his neck. He looked down at the book in his hand. Gavin, Clark and Sophia looked at him with anticipation, waiting as if he was the obvious chosen leader. John grabbed their hands as they stood in a circle with their eyes closed.
“Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by,” John prayed.
PART II
CHAPTER 13 - REMEMBERING
John’s thoughts were a tired phoenix meandering through the philosophical layers of Inferno. The Book of Remembering lay in his lap. Clark was, as usual, working on his computer while Gavin sat sharpening a knife. The Thunderbird was a larger plane that had room for them to walk around. The interior was silver and there were various gadgets and gismos attached to the walls of the ship. They were sitting in the center of the ship where there was a larger room with a table. John opened the Book of Secrets and began coughing from all the dust that was produced. There were various pages of handwritten words and beautiful paintings of nature. It was quite likeable to the Voynich Manuscript. “The Law of Power,” John said as he read aloud Aristotle’s words, “No person or group shall control either directly or indirectly more than 25 million square kilometers of land, including the human occupants of that land, on planet Earth. The Earth is uniquely divided by nature into seven distinct geographic areas of land and those regions shall be allowed sovereign, autonomous, and separate institutions of government or control. No person or group shall control either directly or indirectly more than half of two of the seven natural divided lands or the occupants of those lands on Earth.” The page then had a drawing of the seven natural areas of divided land. “Well I guess Eidolon's in trouble. I'm pretty sure Eidolon’s controlling more than that,” Gavin said. “Wait! The paintings!” John said. John’s memory surged with images of all the paintings he had seen throughout his Grandfather’s house - world leader's painted with long math equations over the top of them. John remembered seeing Napoleon, Alexander the Great, Caesar, Hitler, Stalin, and several other leaders.
“They were measuring these leaders and their connections for potential violations of the law of power," John said. The book listed all the leaders the Order of Shadows was responsible for bringing down.
John continued to read, “The book says that the ancient Tribe of Iam discovered the seven natural laws. They inscribed these laws on the branches of a tree and hid them all throughout the world. Aristotle believed that one is right here in America in Old Upstate New York. He believed the Oneidas tribe came into possession of it and hid it in a temple somewhere around lake Ontario.” Anxious, Gavin replied, “Well what are we waiting for?”
“We must proceed with extreme care,” John said, “Aiden is going to be looking for
us. He cannot know of this book, or of the content of our findings. We will go to these seven locations, find the seven branches of the tree, and reveal them to humanity. This is our duty as Knights of the Living Earth and from Grandfather's dying request. When humanity is again aware of the natural law, we lead the Global Rebel Army in war against the One State, kill Eidolon, and restore the rule of law to the Earth. Then, Gavin fired up the Thunderbird, cloaked and immune from drone detection, and the rebels headed for the old Oneida settlement.
Bob Loyalist opened the door of his prison cell and found nothing but a black pile of destruction. Perhaps he was just lucky. He brushed himself off and found a transport home. Bob was the spitting image of the average citizen of the One State. He spent his day at a meaningless job doing clerical work. He would come home, watch the holo-screen, and believe everything the news reporters would tell him. He indulged in entertainment, the gladiator fights, and never brought his awareness out of the monotony and less important things of life to question the world around him. He left his house to go watch the gladiator fight at a bar and saw that the entrances to the nature squares had been blocked off. On his way to the bar, he called his father from his head mounted computer. His location was recorded in the Universal Database, along with the audio of his conversation. The words he used were they keyword searched by the One State to assure there was not any dissent, discussion of nature, religion, or whatever matter they wanted to scrutinize you for. He would post videos and pictures to social networks. The social networks were the easiest way for the One State to spy on the populous. Just think, people willingly giving away their privacy to the people who control them. Any attempt to question any of this and you likely be called a traitor and kidnapped by the OSS. Then, the media would follow by a well-crafted FREEDOM IS SECURITY campaign. But all was well for Bob. As long as his basic needs of food and shelter are met, and he is kept unconscious and thinking in the reptile part of his brain, he will not question authority. The One State would keep him constantly in fear of attack from the rebellion; of the “terrorists.” In the pursuit of these terrorists, everything was justified, everything was necessary, and everything was honorable. At least that is what they told him.