The War Satellite

Chapter One

Miles

My eyes shot open. Something was wrong. A rushing wind flew by me, cooling my sweat slicked forehead. My heart raced and a phantom pain throbbed in my neck. A faint buzzing reached my ears as I studied the clear sky. Aside from the faint buzzing, everything was quiet. The silence seemed to warily warn me of something.

I pushed myself up from the ground and looked around, trees sprung up randomly from the soil all around me.

I rose to my feet and wearily watched the woods for something or someone, I wasn't sure what. A haunting feeling rose in my subconscious: something was definitely wrong.

My brow furrowed. Where was I?

My eyes swiveled back and forth. I felt like I had been here before, but I couldn't reach the memory. I had no recollection at all - of anything. The lack of memories only added to the unease. Something was wrong.

I grew more frantic as I tried to find any personal information inside my brain. Maybe a name, a face. . . anything. Everything was gone, covered by a thick curtain I couldn't see through. Fear washed over me, chilling my bones. I searched around for something to use as a clue, praying that anything would come to me. What was going on?

I didn't know whether to run or hide. As I continued to gaze around in dazed confusion, I spotted something. In the mud by my feet, were the words, "You are Miles - In much danger - Find Skye." The letters tapered off in a way that seemed to indicate the author had scrawled them hastily.

My thoughts became a whirlwind as I read those words.

Had someone left it for me? I looked around the area where it was scrawled and noticed deep imprints in the mud. A handprint, pressed into the mud, was off to the left side. I looked at my own hands and knees and saw the mud covering them. Did I write this message? No one else was here. I slowly put my knees in the imprints.

I moved my left hand into the muddy handprint. They were a perfect match. I knew I was going to lose my memory? How?

Maybe I got hit on the head? But, if I had had a concussion I wouldn't have been able to write that, would I? I felt at my head for any bumps or bleeding. But I felt fine, my head didn't even hurt - only my neck had a soft ache to it.

A branch snapped behind me and I froze. Was this the danger I had written about? Another branch broke to my left. My head flew up and I looked at where the noise had come from. Something black flew behind a tree. Instinct told me it wasn't a bird or an animal. My heart beat faster as I stared at the tree it had gone behind.

It was a person, it had to be. I slowly got off my knees crouching, as I walked forward through some overgrown brush. I grabbed a stick, stretching it out as a weak weapon. I heard the crunch of leaves and tilted my head towards a noise coming from the opposite direction. If it was a person, there was more than one, and they were surrounding me.

Why were people coming after me? Questions danced in my brain and I closed my eyes momentarily to try to regain focus. I looked around for something to use as a better weapon. Nothing. And if what I wrote was true, I was in danger.

It wasn't too hard to believe anymore. I looked again to where I had heard the noises. I saw a flash of black and realized it was much closer than before, but still hard to see. Another burst of fear struck me. I pushed it away, desperate to stay calm.

I looked up at a tree, making a quick decision. I glanced back at where the sounds had come from and took a couple of steps back.

I raced forward, feeling somehow lighter than air. I jumped, and my fingers grasped the tree branch. I pulled myself higher into the foliage and hid behind a dense branch of leaves. I positioned myself so I could see the clearing and focused on controlling my breathing. Within a minute the men in black crashed through the forest brush.

"Find him," commanded one of the men. "He can't have gone far!" I pressed tighter against the tree as they looked around the area, their guns pressed against their faces.

All of the men wore black body armor with a yellow band on the cuff of the jacket. It appeared to be the same emblem embroidered on their chest and shoulder, but from the tree I couldn't tell what it was.

They looked like SWAT teams that the Americans used to have, but something was different about them. They tugged at my brain, teasing me with the prospect of a memory. How did I know what American SWAT teams looked like? Yet, couldn't even remember who or where I was?

Did someone do this to me? Why? The questions swarmed in my head, as I reached for nonexistent answers.

Confused voices below brought me back to earth. I couldn't catch what they were saying.

The soldiers walked around still looking for me. From their stance, I could tell they were ready to shoot and kill on sight. I trembled, causing the branch to shake slightly. I clenched my teeth, willing myself to stay still, as they made their way closer to me.

Finally, one of the yellow banded men stepped into the small mud clearing where the words were scrawled. He slowly took his foot out of the mud and yelled towards his team, "He's been here. Let's move out."

My hand tightened against the branch. The soldiers fell back, looking back through their scopes, heading away from the clearing. A lone man hesitated and turned back. He swung his gun towards the trees peering through his scope.

He pointed his gun towards my tree and slowly scanned the tree's foliage. I tried to shrink back even farther into the leaves. He scanned past me and I breathed a sigh of relief. Then he stopped again and turned back to me. His eyes narrowed and he lowered his gun to see clearly, staring at the place where I hid.

Without registering what I was doing, I had jumped from the tree. I dove into a roll and bounced back to my feet, and began sprinting towards the soldier.

He took a few steps back in surprise and tried to raise his gun. Before he could, I tackled him. He fell with a grunt. I heard a dull thud as his head hit the dirt, his eyes rolled back in his head. I stood up, staring at the man I had just knocked unconscious.

I let out a deep breath as I tried to process what had just happened.

I grabbed the man's gun and peered through the scope at the surrounding forest, searching for his team. I tore his backpack and vest off and ripped them open, throwing wary glances behind my shoulder to make sure the rest of his team weren't coming back.

I searched his vest pockets first, and found various medical supplies, padding and ammunition.

I ransacked his bag and was rewarded with food rations and water. I looked back in the direction the soldiers had headed. Maybe they could lead me to something... anything. I started to creep forward, but realized in my haste I hadn't checked to see the emblem on his arm was. I slowly walked back.

On the band was a small black hornet, its stinger displayed prominently. As I gazed at the hornet, pain danced across the back of my neck. I could feel my heart beating inside my chest as I took deep breaths. These men were dangerous, I knew that much. But why were they after me?