Eleven: The Sequel of AlterMyth

Space Oddity

Prologue

July 20, 1969 - Past Midnight

Saigon, South Vietnam

The Grand Hotel

A large crowd gathered at the lobby of Saigon's Grand Hotel at the dead of night. Americans and South Vietnamese, men and women, hotel staff, guests and bystanders alike all huddled together around the lobby's one black and white television set. Among them were the indifferent honey brown eyes of Army 2nd Lt. Mumei Nanashi and the entranced blue eyes of Air Force 1st Lt. Kronii Ouro. The two lieutenants, still a few days into their recreation leave, were wearing casual civilian clothes that blended in with the Saigon crowd.

Only the passports and military documents in their pockets and the concealed-carry M1911 service pistols holstered at their hips differentiated them as American GI's.

"Kronii, it's 3AM." Mumei whispered, "I want to go back to the room."

Her words, however, didn't seem to register at all in Kronii's mind. The Air Force lieutenant had her eyes glued to the television screen like the rest of the crowd.

Is this stuff really that interesting?

Mumei heaved a sigh and decided to soldier on and watch the TV program beside Kronii.

Even in that ungodly hour, all eyes in the lobby were wide open and were glued to the black and white screen. On that fuzzy, crackling screen, a major American news network was broadcasting the most bizarre footage.

Footage from the surface of the moon.

Neil Armstrong, the flight commander of the Apollo 11 mission, was stepping out of the lunar lander wearing his bulky yet state-of-the-art space suit in real time, albeit with a few seconds of delay for Saigon. The news anchors covering the historic moment, the radio chatter from the Mission Control Center and the dozens of folks crammed into the Grand Hotel lobby all fell silent.

Then, came the memorable, albeit scuffed words that would ignite a generation.

"One small step for man. One giant leap for mankind."

The Grand Hotel lobby erupted with cheer. Every ounce of anticipation bottled up in that room burst out like champagne corks. People started singing, dancing and cheering all around the place. Even Kronii was leaping up and down, energized by the whole affair.

Mumei, on the other hand, remained silent. While everyone else was lost in their own little world, her golden brown eyes were still glued to the television screen.

The pinnacle of Civilization, huh? I wonder what Lady Knowledge would have said about this?

Before long, the enthusiastic crowds started to disperse. Hotel staff got back to work, guests eased back into their chatter and routines and bystanders were shooed out by the guards. Mumei was about to try and talk to Kronii and, perhaps, drag her back into their hotel room when she heard a voice coming from behind her.

"You didn't enjoy the show, 2nd Lt. Nanashi?"

Mumei's eyes sharpened and she whirled around in a hurry. Kronii, too, snapped out of the waning euphoria and turned around as well.

"Major General Sparrowhawk...?" The name escaped Mumei's lips, but it tasted bitter in her mouth. She frowned and demanded, "What are you doing here?"

Kronii, meanwhile, was dumbstruck by the presence of the two-star general. She looked like a malfunctioning robot attempting and failing to salute the Major General, but Sparrowhawk shook her head.