Artificial Earth

                         CHAPTER 03

21

It is easy to be brave from a safe distance.
--- Aesop

Artificial Earth's Primary
Defense Center
5:00 a.m

THE COMMUNICATION ROOM IS LOCATED at the very heart of the Defense Center and is manned by seven enlisted army technicians, each seated in front of a computer terminal. A large central monitor mounted on the wall in front of the main terminal displays various information concerning the storms progress, much like E.A.R.T.H'S monitoring facility but much smaller. Colonel Henry Johnson stood in the middle of the room looking at the central monitor.
"Update on the storms progress." Henry said.
"The storm's directly above us, ten reported missing, sir." the enlisted man in front of him said.
"Update on the evacuation."
"Last report...three hundred evacuees, power crisis on evacuation center..
sir."
"Three hundred..?"
"Several large trees were reported to have fallen, blocking the path towards the evacuation center, truck loads of people are stranded in the middle of the road, sir."
"Tell Major Mitchell to do something about that and get those people inside that evacuation center."
"Yes sir."
"Update on the Majors tactical unit."
"Major Harris and team on their way to first lake, sir."
"Update on Earth's command post."
"Last report, situation's stable, waiting for further instructions, sir."
"Patch me in." Henry ordered.
"Three minutes to transmission link, sir." the enlisted man said, typing on the keypad.
Colonel Henry Johnson waited, the digital clock hanging on the left side of the wall read 5:03 a.m..
"Transmission in five...four...three...two...one....uplink commencing....uplink established,
sir."
The monitor in front flickered showing a face of an officer on the screen.
"Colonel Johnson, Major Willis here, waiting for your instructions." Major Willis said.
"Major, mission is a go, proceed to extract subject."
"Authentication code, sir."
"Alpha...00578693 Charlie....7751489 Zulu."
"Authentication code validated. Mission to extract subject authorized. Alpha, Bravo and Charlie team will head for the extraction point in twenty-four hours, sir."
"Good. Report back immediately when you reach the extraction point." Henry said.
"Roger that Colonel." Major Willis said, ending the transmission.

   Colonel Henry Johnson walked out of the communications room and headed for his office. In twenty four hours three teams from their temporary command post on Earth will be executing a highly dangerous and classified mission.
The Colonel opened the door to his office, walked in and close the door behind him. He headed straight to his desk, a modern impressionist painting hung on the right side of the wall, he held the painting in both hands, took it off the wall and laid it on the carpet. On the wall was a panel with a series of numbers, typing in a nine-digit code and pressing his thumb to a small square digital screen, the entire right side of the wall facing his desk slid sideways revealing a secret passageway. He walked inside and the entry way behind him automatically slid shut, red light flooded the corridor, it led staight to an elevator. Henry walked inside and placed his palm on a digital plate on the wall then looked up, a small green laser scanned his retina confirming his identity.
"Good Morning Colonel." a female computerized voice said.
Fifty feet underground, the elevator's door opened and Henry walked out, lights went on as soon as the colonel stepped outside. The room was a hundred feet in diameter and thirty-five feet in hieght, two glass sarcophagus were in the middle.
At the back near the center, a staircase was connected to a metal platform five foot off the ground, on it lay a cube like crystal structure. Henry walked towards the sarcophagus and stood there for a while, staring at his wife and daughter.
"Colonel....did you get what I asked for?" A female voice from the cube like crystal structure boomed out.
"We'll get it. You make sure you hold your part of the bargain." Henry said, looking up at the platform.
"A promise is a promise  Colonel." the female voice said.
"You said only a few casualties..the number's growing." Henry said, frowning.
"Everything has a price, it is unavoidable...If you want your wife and daughter back."
"Why can't you just bring them back to life?"
"The physical aspect is easy...Cells can be duplicated or cloned...but the mind, the heart...like memories, feelings and experiences cannot be reproduced. Only by bringing me what I required of you, can I bring them back to life...body, heart, mind and soul."
"And the others?" Henry asked.
"Like I said...A promise is a promise." the female voice said.
Colonel Henry Johnson looked at the other side of the room where fifty glass sarcophagus lay.

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First Lake
5:40 a.m

SEVERAL POLICE CRUISERS WERE PARKED in front of a house located on the other side of first lake near the forest. Inside sheriff Gilbert and deputy Monroe were talking with the owner of the house, former sheriff Davey Hart.
"Thank you very much for letting us use your house for a bit Dave." Gilbert said, shaking Daveys hand.
"No problem, use it as long as you need it sheriff." Davey said, "If there's anything else I can do for you just let me know." he added.
"Actually, I could use all the help that I could get right now." Gilbert said, walking towards the living room with Davey and Monroe.
"What do you need me for?" Dave asked.
"Well first, I'd like you to help me talk with those people there." Gilbert requested, pointing towards the kitchen. "Know any of them?"
"Yeah, That rough looking guy's Hal, three others are Lou, Martin and Tim."
Sheriff Gilbert, Davey and deputy Monroe walked over the kitchen and took a seat in front of the four.
"Okay, in less than twenty words...What happened out there?" Gilbert asked, looking at the four of them.
"We ummm...We were looking for the kids and the missing guy, divided ourselves into two groups...only four of us survived." Hal awkwardly said, while drinking hot coffee courtesy of former sheriff Davey Hart.
"What do you mean survive, survived what exactly?" Davey asked.
"The Creature out on the lake's huge....and fast. We were all taken by surprise, rose out of the water and headed straight for us." Martin said, still shaking.
"You mean to tell me you were all attacked by the same creature?" Gilbert asked.
"No..no...Lou, Tim and I headed in a different direction, deep in the forest. We were attacked by three ugly creatures.." Hal was saying.
"I...I...I...didn't mean for anyone getting hurt.." Hal said, hating himself.
"Three Huge creatures?" Gilbert cut in.
"No..no...I mean..yeah...three..and they were large but...judging by the way they look, they looked
young.." Hal explained.
"Young? What do you mean young?" Davey asked.
"The creature that came for us was at least twenty to thirty foot tall, Hal told me they were attacked by smaller ones, around eight to fifteen foot tall." Martin explained.
"You see...we..ummm..we...saw dozens of eggs, almost as big as horses..." Hal said.
"We barely got away...the others weren't so lucky..." Lou said, tears rolling down his cheeks.
Sheriff Gilbert, Davey and Monroe looked at each other. Deputy Monroe stood up and took out his hand radio and talked into it.
"Deputy Monroe here, Advice everyone to stay away from the lake and the forest, copy."
"That would be all...You four drink your coffee and stay there 'till I tell you otherwise." Gilbert said, standing up.
"We have ourselves a big problem here..." Gilbert said, looking at Dave.
"What now?" Dave asked.
"I want you to get everyone you can and bring them over the old Catholic Church on 14th street. I'll send two patrol cars to help you." Gilbert ordered. "The storm's really bad but we can't let them stay near the forest or the lake. We use the old Catholic Church as an evacuation center and keep them safe there." he added.
"I'll get on it. How about you?"
"We can't stay in the rain and search much longer, not with those creatures out there. We'll do the same, get as many as we can and bring them over the church. I'll head on out the station and get more men, guns and more ammo, we'll soon follow." sheriff said.

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