Liberty's Heirs

Chapter 0

"Get out!" The wiry middle aged man yelled as he pointed at the door.  It slid open automatically, as if on cue.  His motion highlighted the subtle iridescent sheen in his purple trimmed black robe, reminiscent of ancient Chinese formal wear. The robe with excessively baggy sleeves and the Roman-style purple tunic it overlayed were standard for a man of his position and he spoke with all the authority they bestowed.

"Please, Advocate. You've taken our children, now who will raise them?  We have nowhere to go. What kind of beasts are out there? What kind of criminals? We won't survive. Please, have mercy!" protested the thirty-year-old man as he faced the black-robed figure. His arm was wrapped around the slightly younger woman next to him. Tears streaked her downcast face, as she sobbed silently. The cold, damp air from outside washed in to the warm interior causing the Advocate to wrap his robe tighter around him.

"Fools! Don't you understand? This is mercy. Freedom is what you wanted, and now freedom is what you shall have. Go!"

A towering silvery figure stood on each side of the Advocate.  They were not human creations, but skeletal machines in a form vaguely resembling men.  They strode forward in perfect synchronization. Their mechanical arms, driven by irresistible electroactive polymers, outstretched to herd the pitiful couple out of the door. Opposition to their legendary strength would be futile, so out the couple stepped into the impenetrable darkness.

"You'll be executed if you try to return unbidden," announced the Advocate, a silhouette, still standing in the doorway of the flying machine they had arrived in. "My advice is: try to fit in. Like you, the people here speak English," he smirked disdainfully.  "Make the best of your new life." With that, the door slid shut and the propulsion units of the boxy vehicle began pushing it effortlessly upwards into the night air.

The man looked around, already the frigid dew from the tall grass was soaking into his socks. The bright lights from the vehicle gradually faded as it receded into the pitiless clouds.

"Our poor babies!" cried the woman, her hands covering her face. "What will you do without us?  What will we do without you!"

The man tried to comfort her with a tight hug.  The emotional warmth of the hug was hardly sufficient to penetrate the insufferable cold of the damp air. "It would be better if we could forget them," he said to himself, but he knew it would be impossible to forget the beloved infant son and daughter that had been wrested from their loving arms. "We need to focus on the future.  This place is our life now."

They walked a few steps and huddled together under an exceptionally large oak tree.  The tree was unusual, three trees trunks had grown and merged together forming a U shape providing a slight bit of shelter in the middle.  In the dark, there were no signs that humanity had ever been here, though they knew the land had once been the home of one of the Earth's greatest empires. They were inexperienced with the wilderness and they were unarmed with no food and no shelter. He heard a loud, ferocious howl not too far off. Was it a wolf?