Shadow Seed 1: The Misbegotten

by Richard M. Heredia

  For the time being, they were safe.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~♦~~~~~~~~~~~~

  ~ Chapter 5 ~

  (Fall – 1988 thru Summer - 2018)

  Scourge

  I can’t sleep.

  I have too much on my mind. I don’t even know why I’m typing my thoughts. Isn’t there anything else I could be doing? Though, the love of her arms and the warmth of her body usually ease my mind and lulls my body to rest, sleep isn’t finding me this night. The constant vibration of the ‘Unit’s ultra-quiet mechanisms have nothing to do with it. Neither does the newness of my surroundings. I am restless. My thoughts continue to wonder – subject after subject. My mind will not stop. I can’t find solace in anything. I can’t stop worrying. I keep seeing my wives and my family, and I can’t shake the fear of losing them. This fucking Shadow Spark business has wound my ass up tighter than a first year felon locked in a maximum security prison.

  We haven’t faced anything like this in recent memory. I keep wondering if we’re up to the task. It is true, we have the tech and the training, and of course, the years and years of wisdom. Still, it has been so long. Are we ready?

  I’m not certain even I am after my ridiculous tirade yesterday. I have always been capable of controlling my emotions – always! My long dead uncles taught me how to master myself centuries ago. I know better than that. It was foolish. It was reckless.

  I can’t explain what came over me. I never knew my memories were still so raw, so unexpressed. It has been such a long time. And yet, I find myself asking, why do I miss them so much? Why does it still hurt? Why am I still mourning their deaths?

  Maybe Flavia is right. Maybe I should explore the sick thoughts in the corrupted gray matter in my head. Maybe… I should use the Delving program.

  The idea of beginning a journal and recording my sordid past seems like the thing to do, but will it work? Will it matter? How is sifting through the past going to stop anything from happening to my wives?

  Why am I so afraid…?

  *****

  It has been the better part of an hour and, still, I can’t sleep. I’m using the program now, but only on its shallowest setting. I need to explain some things first. A deep Delve makes true narration impossible. I need to be able to speak with the full capacity of my mind, so I can build the scene, the setting, the feel of the twenty-first century. None of you, have known it like I have, you need the background, some detail and a rather large dose of history. I’m not talking about the bullshit you read on your holo-screens or from storage decks. You need the real McCoy – the smells, the tastes and raw emotion from the time of my birth.

  Later, I will dive deeper, but for now… I will narrate.

  As I have already stated, I’m uncertain, by writing this down, I will see any real benefit come out of putting memory to word. I do believe though, as Flavia has mentioned, I have nothing to lose. Because of this, I have come to the decision, it couldn’t hurt. She has convinced me of that at least. Maybe on some basic level, this will help me understand some metaphysical part of myself, which, in turn, will help me comprehend some of the import in the present.

  Though it sounds like hocus pocus to a man such as me, am I not the fucking Keeper of the Peace or what?

  Why are you stalling?

  Ok, ok… well, here it goes.

  Let me say this before I go any farther with this project, before you attempt to make heads or heels of what I am trying to write. I must confess. I have never done anything of this nature before. I’m not one to sit still, in one place, and jot down thought after thought. I am not a writer. I do not want to be a writer. I have never had dreams of one day putting ink to the quill and letting the world know of the wondrous things within my brain.

  This is due, for the most part, what goes on in my head isn’t typically very nice. I’m almost always enraptured in one quest or another, eagerly trying to figure out who will be in my bed next. Flavia was right, you know. I am always in the mood. Now, I see where some of you may be as perverse as me and, therefore, interested in such pornographic musings. Nonetheless, I’m sure a majority of you wouldn’t like to peruse such topics in detail.

  So, there you have it. I’m not a writer, and yet I am writing, because I can’t shake the notion what my wife has told me a few hours ago. Apparently, this is something I must do, even though the very idea of resurrecting the old me makes me want to puke. But, I don’t like sitting and doing nothing. I never have. I have been restless ever since the summer of 2018, though I know the reason why. I don’t like to think on it overly long, because makes me angry. I tend to hurt things when I’m angry. Being a Heavy isn’t always roses and freshly washed pussy.

  As you might have ascertained by now, I’m not a role model or even a particularly good person at that. I’ve done so many bad things over the course of my long life. I don’t have the time to numerate them here. You’d be bored to death and throw this tomb aside in frustration. Let it be sufficed to say, I am crass, uncouth, and insatiable, and I’m not – in the least – a nice guy.

  What can I say?

  I am loathed. I am depraved. So, if you are squeamish or covetous of your religious beliefs or easily offended, I beseech you – STOP HERE! You will not be pleased or enlightened by what I’m about to put to pen (or Neuro-Nanoswarm, whatever you prefer). The things you will read, though based in the solid foundation of truth, will offend, since I have no intention of sugar-coating any aspect of my past. Lying or glossing over events would defeat the purpose of this mental exercise. Therefore, you will be forced to consider such subjects as teen sex, teen drug-use, incest, addiction, group sex, murder, rape, child abuse, genocide, prostitution, molestation and countless other horrid conditions of the human existence. I have lived through them all. I have experienced more than a few and held others under similar yokes. Many of them, I have made my slaves.

  You will not be pleased…

  ...Yet, if you have heart and the bravery necessary to broche these topics, then I say to you, reader of my story, continue and learn what has gone before, during the lifetime of Estefan Ernando. He is me, a one-time, careless, rich kid with too much time on his hands, too much money in his pocket and too many little girls vying for a swing on his jock.

  *****

  Much has happened since the heady days of my youth, a whole barrage of historical events many of you may not recall in detail, because history is typically written by the victors or, at least, the ones who have the most to gain by hiding as much of the truth of it as possible. Since I am of neither group, I will give you the benefit of reality, though I’m not going to sit here and lecture this point or that like some university professor.

  Rather, I’m going to give you a list of highlights, detailing the most important events occurring from the very first days of my birth until the summer of 2018 when the shit hit the fan and, it seemed, the entire world tipped on its’ ear.

  Below is a brief historical timeline of the correct past.

  Don’t be too alarmed by what you might learn.

  You should recall knowledge is power. What I’m about to give you can free you of the shackles of your past; because they aren’t real… they are manufactured.

  *****

  The Historical Definition of the Shadow Seed

  By Estefan Ernando, Keeper of the Peace

   Nov. 1998 – Amateur Australian Astronomer, Frank B. Zoltowski, creates a computer program that can guide electronically controlled telescopes automatically, making it much easier to track celestial objects in the sky. He calls it CCDTRACK.

   Dec. 1998 – A side benefit of CCDTRAK discovered – Astronomers unveil that the software program can track the movement of a given body and with time eventually plot the objects trajectory.

   January 13th, 1999 – Using the Linear Telescope Survey and CCDTRACK Software, Mr. Zoltowski discovers that asteroid 1999AN10 has a 1:40,000 chance of striking the earth on August 7th, 2027. Later calculations push the change much higher,
but the world’s interest is peeked as the search for other rogue celestial doubles, funding of such projects quadruples.

   Oct. 2001 – The LTS (Linear Telescope Survey) discovers Comet2001ct2 and CCDTRACK determines that the huge ball of ice will pass earth within the orbits of the GPS Constellation on July 17th, 2015.

   Dec. 2007 – NASA, using improved tracking software, is able to recalculate that Comet2011ct2 will not pass by earth; rather it will strike earth over the Pacific Ocean on October 29th, 2014. This news is not shared with the public and the entire project is militarized.

   Sept. 2008 – Feb. 2009 – The government of the United States of America deliberately sabotages its own economy, issuing two enormous “stimulus” packages to counter the so-called economic crisis, effectively covering up a massive space-based mobilization.

   June 2011 – NASA shuts its own publically acclaimed Space Shuttle Program, while it secretly initiates Operation Global Shield with new Spacecraft, using multiple forms of propulsion. The age of the Solid rocket booster comes to an end.

   August 2011 – Russia deliberately crashed its own resupply jet carrying provisions for the International Space Station and halts all publically acknowledged space activity, formally entering into Operation Global Shield along with China, Japan, India, the European Union and the United States of America. The International Space Station is abandoned the following month.

   March 2nd, 2012 – Amateur Astronomer, Jessie Montgomery of Montana, spots Comete2001ct2 and reports his findings to college professor. Word explodes around the world that the comet is on a collision course with earth and with hit in the summer of 2014.

   Apr. 2012 – The United States withdraws from Iraq and Afghanistan within a week, leaving chaos in its wake.

   Summer 2012 – Civil war breaks out in seventeen African countries.

   July 2012 – Iran invades Iraq and takes control of the country within two months and unites both countries under one flag and calls itself the Islamic Confederation and vows to destroy Israel.

   Oct. 2012 – Brazil goes public when it is denied inclusion into Operation Global Shield.

   Nov. 2012 – Mexicans overwhelm U.S. Border Patrol all along the border as nearly four million illegal’s cross into the U.S.

   Dec. 2012 – Feb. 2013 – The Islamic Confederation invades a war torn and weakened Syria and obliterates all democratic resistance. The world does nothing more than slap the newly formed country with sanctions. All eyes are still looking skyward.

   Mar. 2013 – In North Korea, famine spreads across the entire country as China stops sending oil and other aid.

   Mar. 2013 – Israel vows unilateral action (nuclear weapons not ruled out) if the Islamic Confederation does not withdraw from Syria by June 1st, 2013.

   Apr. 2013 – Members of the Global Shield sign formal treaties of peace and economic unity as they from the Northern Intercontinental Alliance, incorporating NATO and the militaries of India, China and Russia as its military wing and declare that any further aggression by any foreign power against any sovereign nation will result in invasion by the NIA.

   May 2013 – The Islamic Confederation begins troop build-up along its border with Jordan. Israel reiterates its unilateral position, while the NIA mandates that retaliation with be swift and thorough.

   June 2013 – The Islamic Confederation does not withdraw from Syria, but does pull back its troops and says it will no longer be an aggressor, but will be open to any nation of Islam that wishes to come under its protection. NIA places Peacekeepers in Jordan at the request of UN.

   Sept. 2013 – At a joint British Petroleum and Exxon Mobile press conference, the companies unveil a deep drilling research operation project that has discovered a new element, what they term Diatainium. It lies at the edge of the earth’s crust very near the Mohorovičić Discontinuity (or simply called, the MOHO), which comprises the uppermost reaches of the Mantle and lies at an average depth of 7 km (4.3 miles) beneath the ocean floors, and 30 to 75 km (18 to 46 miles) beneath the continental surfaces. They have determined that Diatainium can be smelted into a super-strong, radiation resistant metal and be used as an energy source as well. When its atoms are smashed together at ultra-high speed, they produce a huge amount of energy at nearly 0.1 of a kWt per atom. This has given the NIA an unlimited power source.

   Oct. 2013 – OPEC dissolves.

   Nov. 2013 – NIA announces that it had made a super-high yield Diatainium infused Fission Bomb that it will use to destroy Comtet2001ct2.

   Feb. 2014 – Saudi Arabia seeks entrance into the Islamic Confederation, which causes a windfall and within months Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Dubai follow suit.

   Apr. 2014 – North Korea, pushed to the brink, asks South Korea for a formal ceasefire and truce, coupled with a new Free Trade Agreement.

   May 2014 – Jordan and Afghanistan seek entry into the Islamic Confederation.

   June 2014 – Israel granted entry into the NIA.

   July 15th, 2014 – The NIA’s stockpile of Diatainium Fission Bombs successfully explodes Comet2001ct2, which falls to earth in a shower of a million, million microscopic fragments. (In Later Days, this event is termed: The Shadow Seed)

   Aug. 2014 – With the threat of the Comet gone the NIA solidifies into a more permanent organization by unifying economic ties between North America, Europe, Asia and Indo/Australia, designating them its four regional zones.

   Oct. 2014 – The United Korean Peoples Republic emerges from the ashes of war and famine and immediately seeks aid form the NIA and gets it.

   Nov. 2015 - A new, heretofore unknown disease begins to surface in just about every corner of the world.

   Dec. 2015 – By the end of the year chaos rages across Africa once again as civil and regional wars erupt in Indochina.

   June 2017 - The NIA revamps its charter to include an overarching paramilitary component with unlimited jurisdiction within the borders of its chartered members. China, India and Australia object to the draconian change, and drop from full membership to that of associated members with strong economic ties. The true Northern Intercontinental Alliance if formulated, which includes the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Britain, Japan, Israel, the Nations of the old European Union and Russia. It designates its’ world-wide capital at Houston, Texas and with regional capitals in Moscow, Paris and Tokyo. The NIA gives favored nation status to its former members – China, India and Australia to keep trade strong. The NIA then declares war against this new disease, combines the CDC with all of its member nation’s medicinal assets. The World Health Organization is crippled by a 72% drop in funding.

   Since June 2017 – The Disease continues to grow, unabated, but it’s what it leaves in its wake that begins to change the world… The NIA, desperate to get an upper hand, begins to resort to ever more drastic measures to eradicate it form the face of the earth.

  *****

  Now, with your history lesson over, you can begin to understand the setting within which I, and a few of my closest friends, lived in the summer of 2018. But, if you really wanted to know where this story truly begins, I will have to begin in the proper place. I will have to begin many years earlier… and not with myself.

  It began with a girl. She was rambunctious little rebel, who, from the very first day I met her, stole my heart. I think it was because she loved to get into trouble. Boy, did she ever, it was like a hobby to her. She excelled at it.

  Yes! If you want to know the true beginning of this story, then I will have to tell you the story of her - Katie Lorraine Chaz… the first love of my life.

  *****

  [His fingers dip to touch the Intrusion Dial. He finds himself sinking deeper into his own mind. The software is amazing. Fuzzy reflections solidify, become tangible. He is ready. His fingers fly, the words are formed.]

  Katie Lorraine Chaz, from the moment she hit puberty and her breasts began bud into something more than just t
iny bumps on her flat chest… well, she became something of a wild child. That was sort of expected, though. Even at an early age, she was promiscuous and talked dirty all the time. Every other thing she said was “eat my pussy this” and “eat my pussy that”, way before any of us really knew what it meant to “eat pussy”.

  She had undoubtedly heard it from one of her older siblings, who were, at the time, already in their middle teens. It was well known even to us younger kids that her oldest sister was sexually active. She already had one abortion by the time she was fifteen. So, I guess the blame could be piled on them to some degree. Although, I’m not really sure what Katie was thinking when she said things like that. I was a curious little scamp. I often wondered if she really did want someone between her little, tweenie labia’s slurping up the juice. She could say it so dirty sometimes. I remember getting semi-hard every time she uttered such nasty things in her child-like voice. Her eyes were so direct.

  You see, I was born a pervert.

  Back then, Katie had light brown, wavy hair, very thin. It always wafted in the play of the wind. She didn’t have the synthetic shit she has implanted upon her scalp today, capable of changing color on a whim. She was much more natural in those days… before the hiding and the running…

  Anyhow, she had wispy hair and a light complexion, harboring good skin. Even through the hormonal ravages of her teen years, she never really developed a whole lot of pimples or blemishes on her face. She was more on the small side when compared to other girls her age, but medium-sized when compared to the females of her family. She was thin and well-proportioned even as a child. As womanhood descended upon her, Katie’s hips formed nicely and her butt rounded; she transformed from a girl to something I could barely look away from. Back then, to me, the most desirable feature about her was her breasts. They were perky, a large “b-cup” or a small “c”, depending on the designer of the bras and clothes she wore. They were pointed slightly upward and firm. In my eyes, they were perfect, just enough to fill your hand and not waste a single bit of spongy flesh. At least that’s how I imagined they would feel like. She had big hazel-colored eyes and a long thin nose that tapered to a point, almost as if she had plastic surgery inside her mother’s womb. Her face was more angular than broad, her cheekbones set high on her face, her chin chiseled to a dainty point. She was beautiful, in every way, even with her bad mouth and her surly disposition toward anything that reeked of authority.