Young Skies: The Black Acts

CH10

February 21st, 2006, 9:30 am.

"J-J-J-J!" I stammered, lost for words, my eyes watering with tears of joy. For, there before me stood my best friend. He was now a whole lot different from when I saw him last. Taller, Caribbean black hair, muscular and impressive. He was wearing camouflage clothes like everyone else on the carrier. But I could never forget his warm cheery face. "Jadian! Is that... really... you?"

"Of course it's me! Long time, no see, huh?" He confirmed. "Come on over here!" I went to him and we fist pumped then shook hands. "How long has it been?"

"We haven't seen each other since I was twelve! I'm seventeen now, so that makes five years!"

"Yeah, five years," he repeated. "I was eleven when I travelled to the States. So how is good old Dominica?" I became noticeably less happy. I clenched both fists. Jadian gave me a funny look, "whoa, what happened? Was it something I said?"

"Jadian, it's terrible!" I spoke up, looking straight into his shining brown eyes. "Dominica was attacked! I have no idea what has become of it in the last three years!"

"What! It can't be!" He replied in shock. "Don't tell me! There's only one force in the world who'd do such a thing!"

"You know who did it too?" I asked.

He nodded. "They call themselves the 'Black Acts' and their leader hates people just for hating sake! They are an anti-religious organization who believes in money and power. They're very advanced in the making of weapons of mass destruction... including nuclear weapons."

"No way! You never mentioned any of this to us!" Commander Kurtman butted in. "How come you know so much about them!?"

"Everyone gather around! I'm going to tell a story!" Jadian shouted to round us up. The Commander, my friends and I sat in a semi circle around Jadian as he cleared his throat. "Ahem. On December 28th, 2005, I was spending a day of relaxation with my father at a park in Atlanta. It was Christmas, and snow covered everywhere! It was weird, since Atlanta hardly gets any snow at all. Of course we played with it. Had a full on snowball fight, too! Suddenly, a huge shadow loomed over the park, blocking out the sun. I looked up to see hundreds strange aircrafts flying over the city. Next thing I knew, they took out these cannon thingies and started laying waste to the city!" I cringed at that. Jadian cringed too, as if remembering a bad memory, but continued, "it wasn't long before the military showed up, and a big battle raged. But they were powerless against the onslaught. Somehow I managed to survive. I of course got captured with hundreds of other survivors, though I was sad as my father wasn't one of them."

"I'm sorry for your loss, man," I spoke with solemnity. "Please, continue." He nodded.

"I spent about under a year on board that ship doing hard work, undergoing frequent torment and mistreatment. While many others grew weaker and died, I had clung to life with every fiber of willpower I could muster. One day, when the ship was flying over the Pacific Ocean, I took risky decision and dove into the water in a last ditch effort to escape, and it worked. But for many days, I drifted to and fro, until this nice carrier picked me up. That's how I came to be here. It may sound convoluted, but that's the story."

"So you've been here ever since? Fascinating!" remarked Nikki.

"But there's more! During my time on that dreadful airship, I learned many things about these people... including their plan to hold a full scale war with America by invading again secretly then sparking up a provocation attack on New York State."

"WHAT! Then we need to contact the President right away. The military needs to be prepared in advance," said Kurtman worriedly. "From what you told of the attack on Atlanta, I've deduced that these guys mean business." Jadian nodded.