Colony Wars 1: War Never Ends

Chapter One - The Dark Lab

15th February 2076 – 1st Galactic Step

Viktor Shenka's Laboratory

New Dawn City

Earth

Solar System

It was dark inside Doctor Shenka's laboratory; gloomy shadows ran up and down the walls menacingly. Sometimes they flickered over the surfaces in sharp swift motions, or occasionally they crept slowly, stalking the other shades that had preceded them. The dull reddish light that was casting the shadows was coming in from a small window at the south end of the room. It was a tiny porthole, which looked out over the slowly dying world, known as Earth. The sphere of rock was the birthplace of humanity and quite possibly its final resting place now that the populace had almost succeeded in mass planetary genocide.

Outside, it was blowing a gale, the wind was howling, blowing toxic storm clouds over the desert wastelands, where what was left of the human race battled against the elements to survive. The holocaust had been sudden, throughout every major city in the world; the power of the atom had caused a wall of fire to surge outwards from the bomb blast epicentres. The great burning barriers incinerated everything and everyone in a flash of super-heated fury. However, despite this, there were still survivors that had managed to escape the cities, but they faced a new horror, the fallout from the explosions had made everything radioactive. So, most of the remnants of humanity were sick with radiation poisoning, or they were starving, due to the lack of edible food to eat. Wandering the wastelands, the survivors would eventually come across New Dawn City, in fact, every day more survivors poured into the city seeking medical attention, fresh food and clean drinking water.

The city was a mass of hastily built uniform box houses that were situated in a ravine, which shielded the inhabitants from the deadly toxic winds and dangerously contaminated storms. More of the basic dwellings kept springing up day by day, to accommodate the masses of people that were arriving on the city's doorstep.

The laboratory was one such box house, perfectly square and about six meters long on each side. The walls were made from cast concrete panels that made the room feel cold and made its occupants feel like they were living in a musty cave. To describe the house as basic was an understatement. In a world where resources were in short supply and even the knowledge on how to make the most rudimentary items was dwindling; it meant that most people were given just what they needed to survive and nothing more.

Most of these buildings were shared by up to four occupants at a time; however, this particular house was different. It only had one person living in it and the main room was divided into four distinct areas, each with a main function. There was a small basic kitchen, which consisted of a stove, a sink, and a few small cupboards at the north end of the building. The sleeping area was to the east, it was essentially just a single bed with plain white ruffled bed covers and was covered in wrinkled clothes. Opposite that on the west side of the house was the bathroom, a small room with just a trickling shower and a chemical toilet. The laboratory took over the rest of the house; there were various desks with different machines and contraptions on them. The walls were covered in blueprints, designs, and other pictures of a scientific nature, which filled the room with wonder and awe.

A portable computer terminal was on a corner desk, the screen was flickering as it displayed green alphanumerics on a black background. The vibrant emerald words stood out distinctly in the dusky crimson hued room. The desk was covered in slightly burnt books, papers, and numerous other writing implements. Next to the computer on the messy desk was a mug of warm tea and near to that was a hand, a man's twitching hand. The man was sound asleep; he sat slouched over a small stool with his arms on the desk, propping up his head.