BETWEEN TWO WORLDS

CHAPTER 1: THE NEW WORLD ORDER

Fate is inevitable. It sweeps across the universe like a tidal wave. Decimating all that is in its path. No amount of time in the world can escape fate.

Germaine's heart sank as the warm blood rushed through her long dark hair. Her alabaster skin now stained red. 6 feet away stood a hand holding a gun, hammer recently depressed and freshly spent shell laying on the floor. Germaine could not make out the man's facial features, it was too dark. But he could see the gun. A silver inlaid grip with blued metal, The words '1911 Colt' was sure to be carved on the barrel. The model was familiar to him.

Every ounce of love drained from his soul as death slowly overcame the one he loved. A clash of the gun hit the ground near his feet as the faceless man fled. Footsteps pounded down the hall behind him like a thousand wild horses storming through a battlefield. He could hear the rush of drones flying overhead. Surly to be at his location within seconds.

Softly Elaine whispered her last breath, "Run, my love". As if she knew something Germaine did not. Footsteps grew closer. He looked toward his watch, it read 7:15. June 8th, the year 2039.

The ice cold handcuffs leaving his skin was a relief. Even in this new 'World' there is a need for jail cells and detectives. Germaine Jackson explained the events that evening and the detective seemed to believe him. But with a gun lying at his feet no one seemed to care, the punishment for possession of a firearm was just as bad as using one. Red Army Enforcers would conduct their research, find prints and discover his recollection of the events to be true. It was just a matter of waiting. Fingerprint examination can be a long process in the frigid vacuum of space.

300,000 miles from earth they floated in a massive hunk of steel. Only it was not steel really, by the year 2031 the great scientists of the world had developed a superior lightweight metal. Tuff to the point it could not be penetrated by the asteroids that it was sure to come in contact with. Complete heat control allowed a sustainable temperature and a pressure controlled system. The sun's rays could not penetrate nor could the frigid atmosphere of space. Over 60 miles of indoor apartments, restaurants, bars, and anything humanity could cram into a floating city. The USS Lusitania, such a ship could not be built on earth. There was no fuel that could carry it from the atmosphere. No this was a ship that was built outside of the earth's gravitational pull. With one sole purpose... Surviving humanity in the case of earth's destruction.

The cell was cold and full of unfamiliar faces. Germaine sat in the middle of a gray metal bench. The walls gray themselves and a hardened steel. The same steel that held the floating Lusitania together now pressed against his back, practically impenetrable. To his right sat one of the largest men Germaine had encountered. To his left a stout woman with a wild eyed look. He could tell she was hungry and had been in the cell a while. She looked as if she could gnaw his leg off in an instant. Grasping at a familiar feeling, he touched a soft metal ring to his face.

"Why are you here?" voiced a gauntly short figure sitting in the corner of the cell. Germaine perked up at the man's raspy voice. He remained silent. The man clearly commanded respect in this room, not a single set of eyes would look his way.

"Mr. Grey asked, what the shit are you in for?" roared the grizzly gentlemen to Germaine's right. The man stood from his seat. All eyes now on Germaine.

"He did not, and besides I shouldn't be here long... I am innocent" Germaine mumbled to the grizzly fellow. Laughter filled the cell as the grizzly man stood. He was a behemoth. Nearly 7 feet tall compared to Germaine's measly 6'1" muscular stature. Germaine always thought he was large, but this man gave the word definition.

Germaine had not met a man this large before. Germaine's dark bronze skin looked pale compared to the giant. Hands the size of bowling balls that could crush a man's skull.