Eleven: The Sequel of AlterMyth

Are You Going To San Francisco?

Note: This story is the sequel of AlterMyth! Chapters 1-5 will be the prologue series, "The Feathers In Your Hair", which takes place before Irys appears in the Vietnamese DMZ. Each chapter will focus on a candidate for the Eleventh Council. The main body of Eleven's story will start in Chapter 6!

Book cover will be updated eventually!

Enjoy!

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Prologue

December 1968, Evening

Presidio of San Francisco

California, USA

Outside of the Lombard Street gates of the Presidio of San Francisco, under the gaze of the twin sandstone pillars carved with the bald-eagle emblems of the United States of America, a myriad of lights illuminated the streets punctuated by shouting and fighting. Steel drum bonfires and candles scattered amongst the sea of protesters illuminated protest signs that called for the end of the Vietnam War.

A line of San Francisco Police Department officers, augmented by Military Police from the Presidio formed ranks and held the line against the protesters with batons and shields. The vicious barking of guard dogs held back by long leashes competed with the anti-war slogans, punctuated by the flashing red lights on police cruisers and the intermittent sweeps from the Presidio's searchlight towers.

Moments later, the police officers pushed back against the protesters and cleared a path through Lyon Street. In response the protesters began throwing tomatoes at the officers. One of those tomatoes struck the right pillar of the Presidio's gates and sullied the talon of the bald eagle holding the arrows, while the others struck police cruisers and the helmets of military police.

Undeterred by the chaos, a brown 1966 Ford Thunderbird coupe crossed through the tomato-strewn pavement of Lyon Street. Its headlights cut through the darkness until it reached the wrought iron gates reinforced with chain-link fences. One of the MP's hurried over to the side of the car, ducked under a flying tomato, and knocked on the driver's seat window.

After a short pause, the window lowered and a hand brought out a small passport-like document. The MP took the document and scanned through it. He then promptly returned it to the driver and gave a stiff salute.

The gates of Lombard Street opened for the Ford Thunderbird and the vehicle shifted from neutral to first gear. All the while, the bright honey brown eyes of the driver regarded the tomato-stained arrows in the bald eagle's talon.

Blood on the keys, and not an olive in sight. What are we to do?

With that, the Thunderbird carried on down Lombard Street and the gates closed behind it. The fervor of the fiery protests disappeared and gave way to the relative silence of the military base at night. That silence urged the driver to reach for the knobs of her radio and turn it on. Scott McKenzie's song, San Francisco , sounded from the Thunderbird's speakers.

" For those who come to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair. " The driver sang along with a placid voice and hummed to the tune of the rest of the song.

Before she could finish the song, however, she reached her destination that evening - the headquarters building of the Presidio on a hill overlooking Crissy Field and the Golden Gate Bridge. The driver pulled the Thunderbird into the parking lot and shut off the car and its radio along with it.

The car door opened and a pair of well-shined army boots hit the pavement. Lights from the Presidio's headquarters illuminated the driver's pretty face, her head of long brown hair tied into a ponytail and a pair of brown owl's feathers that stuck out like cowlicks. She was dressed in an olive drab US Army officer's coat with a matching green tie and dress shirt and well-pressed green trousers. The shoulders of her coat were adorned with patches of brass bald-eagle pins and a single gold-colored bar: the marks of a Second Lieutenant.