Forsaken 337 BC

by Sharon Leslie

Sound out,

  (one, two),

  Sound out,

  (Three, four),

  Who are the DreamBabes here today?,

  (We're the DreamBabes, here to stay).

  The group of females all knelt before Cain, Toni, Daphne and Bethany. Cain asked them to get up, there is no need for this. As he spoke, Circe entered the dining room. She asked the group of women to leave and spread the good news. As the last diner left, Circe threw her arms around Toni, Cain and the others of the DreamBabes and spoke.

  "Great uncle Joseph, Aunties Natasha, Dr Emily, Bright, Elise and last but no means least, Susan. We knew you would return, your children kept the faith. They helped the goddesses Cybele and Athena to lead Alexander and his legacy. We moved from the mainland and all Amazons come from the island of Lesbos, known to us as Joseph’s seat.

  "That you would return when we are due to enter battle to free our Amazon sisters. They like all in Pettit city became captives by the corporation who attacked the city. Our sisters were made slaves; sex slaves for the corporation workforce. There are over three thousand sisters, exploring the Amazonis plains, based in Pettit city. The corporation moved their army in, surrounding the city and captured every worker.

  "Pettit city is an engineering base where Dwarves turned out the mining equipment our sisters used to explore under the surface. We received word from a scout group, Alpha1 who were out of Pettit city when the corporation attacked. They have found a secure door in one ruin they were exploring. Their capture and subsequent enslavement is why your group sort out, little did we know it would be you. Joseph and the DreamBabes, you who would come and answer our prayers like you did our forbearers.

  "Come let us eat and we can talk more. Once the hundred have passed the good news, we will most likely see the majority of the crew in this dining room, thought there are nine others."

  They followed Circe as she walked over to a blank wall with a row of slots in the surface. Touching the surface above the slot Circe asked for a double Suzanna special. Reaching toward the slot it grew in size as a tray appeared.

  As they went with Circe and watched as she ordered food from the auto-dispenser built into the wall. Cain followed her actions speaking to the panel in the wall. He ordered a twelve-ounce rump steak, medium-rare, a side of fries, two corn on the cob and a large black coffee.

  Toni mirrored Cain though only asking for a chicken butterfly breast, with fries, corn and coffee. Daphne and Lesley ordered chicken and beef chow mains, Sophie went for twenty oysters on a bed of Almas caviar. Bethany was the last to order, and she asked for a quarter pounder with fries, large cola and an ice cream sundae.

  "Oh, I see you like the Suzanna special," Circe said to Bethany, pointing to the ice cream sundae. Cain remembered rewarding Suzanna after she had her cooks make him vanilla ice cream.

  ∗∗∗

  The Takeover

  Prologue

  From the information available, scientific conclusion around the world pointed to a specific date when events began going wrong. They went wrong for all the population of the world, not the poor or lower class as normal but everybody, especially the rich and influential. The date scientists noted in their research, Wednesday 21st December 2016 sometime after 22:44.

  From not much documentary evidence in scientific communities, evidence came from British national and local newspapers. Nearly two years in to the series of calamitous events somebody made police reports from the Wiltshire Constabulary available online until a majority of the world lost the internet.

  The newspapers and police reports informed scientists and criminal investigators, a shocking for the timepiece of news. A dog walker found four mutilated bodies, three male and one female at 6:48 on the morning of 22nd of December.

  Their bodies, scattered around the inner area of the square, a square within a stone circle; archaeologists only discovered the square in June 2017. Their heads were at each vertex, the female’s head was at the most northern point. The police report mentioned that somebody had recently removed their eyes, post mortem, all were looking at the centre of the square toward the obelisk.

  Someone noted it in the coroner’s report, each person had their tongues removed too, although many years previously by the state of the scarring. As of late 2018, they had not named the four individuals, even the great Metropolitan Police Forensic Division were stumped. They were unable to name the people anything but victims, atypical John and Jane Doe.

  DNA testing placed all four as immigrants from Asia Minor, from the area of Kumkale. The religious or demonic rite had opened the gateway into what people initially believed was hell. We know from the probe sent through the gateway. The probe, according to military reports passed a square shaped force field around the hell gate on a date in September 2019. It was not hell but another dimension. A dimension where magic was commonplace and substantial-sized horned creatures, called Demokind, ruled. All other creatures, including humans, dwarves and elves were slaves.

  With the opening of the gateway that reignited magic in the world. Myths became a reality, as thousands of people began displaying magical powers, throwing the world into chaos. We know from the records recovered by the brave few military and scientific forces who entered the gate in 2023.

  Those brave and unknown forces sent back two bursts of microwave data, none of the forces returned to the world. Their report said Demokind had once used the world as a resource planet for their human slaves.

  They had built one primary and two smaller person sized gates upon Earth, which they call Er’th. The principal gateway was permanently closed and destroyed during the fall of Troy while one-person sized gate in Avebury was only closed in the reign of Commius around 52 BC

  From the records recovered by those who entered the Demokind’s dimension, the third gate which was just large enough for a human to use was on the island of Krakatoa.

  A druid mage in the eighteenth century called Apuliaus, his day-to-day name: Steve Fordyke. Apuliaus postulated ten or more of the Demokind slaves were trapped on Earth. Trapped after the destruction of the Krakatoa gate. They spent hundreds of years waiting and working for the correct time to open the closed gate at Avebury.

  I agree with Apuliaus, something trapped several Demokind slaves and servants upon Er’th after Krakatoa, biding their time to open the last remaining gate to bring the Demokind back to rule over all humanoids.

  An excerpt from Grand Prof. Alexi Hingleben’s book, Introduction to the Galaxies Travellers, (Third revised edition). First published by Tau Ceti university in 2345.348-09.15.45

  1

  Lazy Walk

  Keeping to the buildings’ shadows she neared her cut-out point on Tompkins Avenue, Alice kept her senses pushing out in front of her. Sending out a search pulse using 0.02% of her Essence, Alice looked at the top down view of the local area on her eye HUD. Her Head Up Display was something all magicians since ever had, as somebody taught her. They had had an HUD to see information and maps so her teacher said,

  "The magician’s HUDs are used for reading their stats, skills and abilities. You young lady need to become accustomed to using yours, one day it may just save your life."

  Seeing no hits on her HUD, Alice kept a low profile as she walked down Tompkins as close to the buildings as she could; heading to her third safe house in New York.

  Alice previously realised there were fewer car wrecks on Tompkins than most other roads, especially in this part of New York. Although on some main roads all the vehicle wrecks had been pushed onto the sidewalks; making walking there difficult and dangerous.

  An unusual noise reverberated in the air, from behind Alice, causing her to hide on the basement staircase of the former Baptist church. She had just run and jogged all the way from the deadly accidental and uninitiated contact, in Building 92, the rundown museum of the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

  Hiding in the shadows below side walk height, Alice listened for a repeat of the noise. As she waited, her mind reran the event
s of the accidental conflict. She had gone to Building 92, to answer a post from another watcher and hopefully find out what was happening in the wider area.

  A military police vehicle drove down DeKalb Avenue, heading toward Bushwick at high speed. As the vehicle drew nearer, passed and drove away Alice thought about the six security officers and nine troopers she had left there,

  :Some more than likely are still searching for me, or taking care of their dead ones. I had no option,: she justified to herself. :My use of force strikes, even weak ones, disabled two of the guards as they carried out their patrol. My stronger strikes forcefully removed those three who nearly caught me, and I moved them out over the edge of the unfenced floor. Investigators will try to work out why three security officers jumped over the edge of a long drop.:

  Thankfully their screams hadn't lasted long since she had used her force strike then levitated them over the floor edge into the apex of the atrium. Alice tried shutting out her memories of the looks and screams the men made while they fell the five stories crashing to the polished concrete floor below.

  As there was no repeat of the noise since Alice had hidden, she moved away from the Baptist church basement staircase. Alice cleared her mind with her own design self-heal spell, using 0.4% of her Essence. Looking at her HUD she noticed all her main stats were good, apart from her Essence. Alice had her first level protection spell running.

  Health: 98.23%

  Stamina: 96.58%

  Essence: 96.76%

  Protection 1: 100%

  An amber flashing icon of crossed fork and knife, informed Alice she needed to eat and hydrate, within the hour. Should the icon flash red she would slowly lose her stamina, solid red and all three main stats would reduce.

  The green flashing bandage icon informed Alice she was nearly back to full health. After being shot by one of the guards, which caused Alice to lash out with a force strike, sending him and his two partners on a five-floor drop.

  Dismissing her HUD, she continued down Thompkins as the noise of another large fight rolled over the city. Her passive locate ability, let Alice pinpoint where the noise was coming from. If she looked at her HUD's wide area map projection, it would show the fight came from the area of Greenpoint, some two or more miles away.

  :I pray that is not another watcher, although it could easily be,: she thought as she stopped under the tree next to the three-floored red house on the corner of Tompkins and Lafayette. The large overhanging tree provided extra cover from prying eyes, human or electronic; its branches almost reaching the middle of the road. Listening for cars although there were fewer of them since the invasion and subsequent takeover.

  Alice was thankful for her hearing ability although annoying, she easily picked out the buzz of the small drones used by security foot patrols. A single earpiece, attached to the electronics kit in her backpack was ominously silent. It scanned terrestrial police, military bandwidths and even the magical realm, the ether which all mages used to fill their Essence.

  :I really need to move,: she thought, :Once I get to the safe house I’ll clear everything I need then go to the bears in the morning.: Taking a steady breath she pinged ahead, checking the result she walked across the road and into Herbert Von King Park. As she neared the park’s entrance a loud crash rippled over her hearing, coming from down Lafayette.

  :Old habits die hard,: she thought as her hands gripped her hidden Sig P226s, her magical gifts temporary forgotten. Relaxing and releasing her guns Alice walked under the overgrown trees. She moved a little more relaxed as she placed a hand on the nearest tree, her thoughts eased. Thanks to the lack of park maintenance the park had become a sanctuary for wildlife and those wanting to keep out of the new police forces eyes.

  Alice could smell the burning on the wind as she walked, blown across the park from the 79th precinct building; still a smouldering wreck. Weapons the invaders used in destroying the building, still burning through the bricks and concrete, five years after the takeover. Checking the time on her HUD as she walked, she realised she had three-quarters of an hour of reasonable light left before sunset.

  The wind moved the leaves of the trees, and the smell of decaying rubbish and burning buildings wafted past Alice. She walked in the tall grasses following the trails animals made parallel to Greene Avenue, toward home, her safe house at number 550.

  :Not long and I’ll be secure, warm and fed, then I can work out what happened and went wrong down at Building 92,: she thought as she walked. Looking across the junction, she moved out of the grass to the edge of the trees and looked up and down the roads. Seeing no sign of people, new vehicles or hearing the buzzing drones Alice sent out another pulse. Checking the results before she sprinted diagonally across the street to number 550 and home. Entering the lobby, she paused to listen before making for the broken lift.

  :If only,: Alice thought. :If only somebody or several somebodies had not broken all the stairs between the second, third, fourth and fifth floors. I would have used them. This way though is more secure in reaching my Brooklyn hideout.

  I remember my Phys Ed teacher, Elinore Jones saying in her Scottish accent, always use the stairs, girls, lifts are for wimps.: Laughing under her breath at that memory, she turned around one last time to make sure nobody was watching.

  She slid her booted foot against the right hand door until it clicked, only then did she push the slightly ajar door fully open. Smiling to herself and taking a firm grip, she grabbed the small wire caving ladder which hung down the left side of the lift shaft. Gently letting the door slide back behind her, making sure it clicked again in place, slightly ajar, she quickly climbed to the fourth floor.

  Stepping out through the opening, where the lift doors were Alice did not know, she made her way past the broken stairs to the higher levels and entered a long disused office. Quickly checking under the floor mat she’d placed at the door, she noticed no footsteps in the static charge set there when she left earlier in the day. Locking the door then sliding the two wrist thick metal bars across the door, Alice walked into the ample open spaced office.

  Not a huge office, nor was it brightly decorated, apart from a few posters on the corridor wall. The room was a good eight to ten strides from the door to the windows and sixteen across its width. Alice walked past the three plastic chairs clustered around the old card table, a rumpled bedroll and a small camp stove were tight against the outside wall.

  Room With A View

  All the windows overlooked Marcy Avenue, covered in strips of old green tinted computer printout paper. The tiny holes at the edge of the paper let in fingers of dying daylight. Alice peered out, looking toward the park and the red-bricked house at the corner of Marcy and Greene. Taking a deep breath, she relaxed, nobody had followed her today, unlike yesterday. Those goons must have been new to the job, she thought as she still looked toward the park. I’d have t’ a been deaf, dumb and blind not to hear and notice them following me. My search of the school was a bust, no sign of the three people someone had told me were there. Finding where they lived in the building, plus locating where they had hidden all their gear. Still safely locked away in an office storage closet, on the buildings top floor. Yet there was no sight not sign of any of the three.

  My contact said they’d stopped reporting in sometime in the last week. Kicking the wall in frustration, she tried like yesterday to work out where they had picked her trail up from. There were only two or three places populated which I passed through. So many people missing, young and old alike, Alice surpassed a shudder as her memories threatened to overwhelm her mind.

  Getting her mind under control, she ran through the interaction from two days before. It cannot have been before I got to their gear, else they would have died there. It had to have been on the return leg. All the way from Grover Cleveland High School, more than likely somewhere after the old Myrtle Broadway station. Why the military police, security forces need such a large checkpoint there, staffed by the new citywide, PDF (Para Defenc
e Force). Those little buzz drones, zipping in a full criss-crossing pattern, flying right up to people and scanning their faces. It is a good job they depend on them in the city, not the larger predator drones of the now defunct, USAF.

  It is only by luck you even get to see them or hear the electronic communications they use. The three-man snatch squad was the standard capture unit of the new powers, ideal for most people. But not me as they found out to their cost. They did not even use the two drones they were carrying.

  Alice lost count of the days she had spent hiding in this room over the last year. Reading once the small booklet called, A Complete Guide to Health Insurance Coverage for Older New Yorkers 2018 and the FIDA Trifold Brochure on Medicare and Medicaid. Alice found a storage room full of boxes of the documents, hence her covering the fourth floor with them. Both covered the whole of the fourth floor, pasted to the walls, windows, floor and ceiling.

  The security forces’ patrols seemed to be everywhere during the first three years of the takeover. This room used to belong to another watcher. The invaders call us disrupters, disrupters because we put a spanner into what they do. Alice knew the previous watcher moved before they had even called her.

  They moved before her gifts became noticeable. She peered out of the window again, looking back toward the park and its baseball zone, hidden behind the large trees that had sprung up in the last couple of years.

  It pleased her knowing the three-man squad, buried in a shallow grave the sandy soil had been easy to dig; would not be found for a long time if not ever. The squad must have thought it would be an easy capture, a simple bonus to capture one of the wanted disrupters, she thought.