Shadow Seed 1: The Misbegotten (10 page)

“I’m not a writer, Flavia.  I’m…,” he stopped and the silence went tight like a rubber-band pulled to its limit.

She didn’t interfere.  She didn’t want to be the one to shatter the tension.

Then, “…well, I’m me.”

“You don’t have to be a writer, Effy; you just have to be able to put your thoughts to words.  Anyone can do that,” she encouraged, though she dared not look at him.

There came a high-pitched warble from the cooker.  She could hear her one-time step-brother, moving things around as he served them.

Her lips made a flat line at his lack of response to what she’d said.  She used her arms to prop herself into a sitting position.  She glanced at him, watched as he untied the apron from around his waist and walked toward her stark naked with two steaming plates of food, his thumbs holding forks in place, so they wouldn’t fall onto the floor.  Unable to resist, she let her vision caress his manhood as it bounced against his thighs, even flaccid, he was impressive.  She felt heart flutter in her chest, and some of her disappointment fled before the sharp tingles sparking through her body. 
He’s so beautiful
, was all she could think.

He came up to the edge of the bed, holding a plate out toward her.  She readily took hers into her hands, suddenly realizing she was hungry.  She must’ve really used up a lot of her energy making love to him.  The twist in her gut was telling her so.

The sat together, knees touching, eating in silence for quite some time and Flavia began to wonder if he had completely forgotten what they’d been talking about.  He made her heart fill with joy and not a small amount of relief when he proved her wrong a few minutes later.

“Do you think it will help?”

How can you make yourself sound like such a boy when you are one of the oldest humans to have ever lived?
  It was one of the many reasons why she fallen in love with him.  Forget the fact that, at one time, her father had been married to his mother, despite the fact they had grown up together as siblings.  As the years passed, the relevance of their former lives had dwindled into nothingness.  Her early misgivings that fermented alongside her ever growing attraction to him had diminished as well.  She – just like all the others – couldn’t resist him.  Maybe it was the Arch-Andro in him.  Maybe it wasn’t.  None of it really mattered.  Either way, she felt the longing in her heart for him.  She had acquiesced.  She took him to her bed.  Within a year, she had married him, became his eighth wife and a full equal within the Aegis Synod.

She marveled, as she sat there pondering his questions with visions of a bygone era, at the fact they’d been married now for more than two and a half centuries.  She’d given him children who had grown into adulthood and beyond.  And yet, he could sit there, across from her, and seem so much like the little boy she had stood opposite, before an altar, on the day their parents had married.

“It couldn’t hurt,” was all she said, though her mind was alight with a thousand, thousand other thoughts.

“So, I wouldn’t be any worse off than I am now?” he said with a trickle of sarcasm in his tone.

She felt herself smile.  “Yup.”

“I don’t think I could recall very much detail from those twenty-first century memories,” he said, finishing his meal.

Before she realized, she was saying: “That shouldn’t be a problem.  Jacqueline’s team over at ExTech have finally ironed out all the kinks with the Direct Memory Delve Software, they’ve been working on for some time now.  I think it was part of last month’s update package uploaded to our ‘Swarms.”  She caught herself and stopped speaking, staring at him with wide eyes.

To her surprise, he seemed to actually consider what she’d said.  “No more lobotomies?” he inquired playfully.

She grinned.  “Nope.”

There hadn’t been anything remotely like a lobotomy as a direct
result of Memory Delve usage.  Mostly, there’d been headaches and a few cases of nausea, but not much else.

“Does it still work using various levels of detail.  I mean, would I still have the ability to skim memory on moment and then, dive down into full-emersion mode to experience the
recollection firsthand?”

Sh
e was nodding.  “I think they’ve added even more varied levels and a ‘pause’ function as well.”

“Wow, like TIVO when we were kids,” he compared.

She chuckled.

He huffed, chortled and stood, his plate empty and offered to take hers.  She shoveled the last of the synthetic Chorizo into her mouth and pushed the plate into the palm of his hand.  When he turned to make his way back to the kitchen nook, she quickly swiped at him, her hand smacking his butt hard, a loud
thwack!
resounding throughout the small chamber.

He swung his upper body toward her, but kept walking, shaking his head back and forth at her brazen regard for his backside.

“Thank you for the midnight snack,” she called after him.

“You’re welcome,” he mouthed and placed the dishware into the washing pod.

She watched him for a time.  “Come back to bed and hold me,” she commanded.

He spun on a heel and made his way back to the bed.  “As my lady wishes,” he said, climbing into bed with her, holding her in his arms.

As the minutes passed, their breathing slowed, deepened.  “You think you might start a journal of our past?” she asked him, barely above a whisper.

“I’m thinking about it,” was his sleepy retort.

“I hope you do, Estefan.  I hope you do…”

Half a minute later, they were both fast asleep, lovers intertwined upon a bed.  They traversed Ang
el Free Town in secret, hidden from the rest of the Sixteen Worlds and from all who would do them harm.

For the time being, they were safe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~♦~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Fall – 1988 thru Summer - 2018)

Scourge

I can’t sleep.

I have too much on my mind.  I don’t even know why I’m typing my thoughts.  Isn’t there anything else I could be doing?  Though, the love of her arms and the warmth of her body usually ease my mind and lulls my body to rest, sleep isn’t finding me this night.  The constant vibration of the ‘Unit’s ultra-quiet mechanisms have nothing to do with it.  Neither does the newness of my surroundings.  I am restless.  My thoughts continue to wonder – subject after subject.  My mind will not stop.  I can’t find solace in anything.  I can’t stop worrying.  I keep seeing my wives and my family, and I can’t shake the fear of losing them.  This fucking Shadow Spark business has wound my ass up tighter than a first year felon locked in a maximum security prison.

We haven’t faced anything like this in recent memory.  I keep wondering if we’re up to the task.  It is true, we have the tech and the training, and of course, the years and years of wisdom.  Still, it has been so long.  Are we ready?

I’m not certain even I am after my ridiculous tirade yesterday.  I have always been capable of controlling my emotions – always!  My long dead uncles taught me how to master myself centuries ago.  I know better than that.  It was foolish.  It was reckless.

I can’t explain what came over me.  I never knew my
memories were still so raw, so unexpressed.  It has been such a long time.  And yet, I find myself asking, why do I miss them so much?  Why does it still hurt?  Why am I still mourning their deaths?

Maybe Flavia is right.  Maybe I should explore the sick thoughts in the corrupted gray matter in my head.  Maybe…
I should use the Delving program.

The idea of beginning a journal and recording my sordid past seems like the thing to do, but will it work?  Will it matter?  How is
sifting through the past going to stop anything from happening to my wives?

Why am I so afraid…?

*****

It has been the better part of an hour and, still, I can’t sleep.
  I’m using the program now, but only on its shallowest setting.  I need to explain some things first.  A deep Delve makes true narration impossible.  I need to be able to speak with the full capacity of my mind, so I can build the scene, the setting, the
feel
of the twenty-first century.  None of you, have known it like I have, you need the background, some detail and a rather large dose of history.  I’m not talking about the bullshit you read on your holo-screens or from storage decks.  You need the real McCoy – the smells, the tastes and raw emotion from the time of my birth.

Later, I will dive deeper, but for now… I will narrate.

As I have already stated, I’m uncertain, by writing this down, I will see any real benefit come out of putting memory to word.  I do believe though, as Flavia has mentioned, I have nothing to lose.  Because of this, I have come to the decision, it couldn’t hurt.  She has convinced me of that at least.  Maybe on some basic level, this will help me understand some metaphysical part of myself, which, in turn, will help me comprehend some of the import in the present.

Though it sounds like hocus pocus to a man such as me, am I not the
fucking
Keeper of the Peace or what?

Why are you stalling?

Ok, ok… well, here it goes.

Let me say this before I go any farther with this project, before you attempt to make heads or heels of what I am trying to write
. I must confess.  I have never done anything of this nature before.  I’m not one to sit still, in one place, and jot down thought after thought.  I am not a writer.  I do not want to be a writer.  I have never had dreams of one day putting ink to the quill and letting the world know of the wondrous things within my brain.

This is due, for the most part, what goes on in my head is
n’t typically very nice.  I’m almost always enraptured in one quest or another, eagerly trying to figure out who will be in my bed next.  Flavia was right, you know.  I am
always
in the mood.  Now, I see where some of you may be as perverse as me and, therefore, interested in such pornographic musings.  Nonetheless, I’m sure a majority of you wouldn’t like to peruse such topics in detail.

So, there you have it.  I’m not a writer, and yet I am writing, because I can’t shake the notion what my wife has told me a few hours ago.  Apparently, this is something I must do, even though the very idea of resurrecting the old me makes me want to puke.
  But, I don’t like sitting and doing nothing.  I never have.  I have been restless ever since the summer of 2018, though I know the reason why.  I don’t like to think on it overly long, because makes me angry.  I tend to hurt things when I’m angry. 
Being a Heavy isn’t always roses and freshly washed pussy.

As you might have ascertained by now, I’m not a role model or even a particularly good person at that.  I’ve done so many bad things over the course of my long life.  I don’t have the time to numerate them here.  You’d be bored to death and throw this tomb aside in frustration.  Let it be sufficed to say, I am crass, uncouth, and insatiable, and I’m not –
in the least
– a nice guy.

What can I say?

I am loathed.  I am depraved.  So, if you are squeamish or covetous of your religious beliefs or easily offended, I beseech you – STOP HERE!  You will not be pleased or enlightened by what I’m about to put to pen (or Neuro-Nanoswarm, whatever you prefer).  The things you will read, though based in the solid foundation of truth, will offend, since I have no intention of sugar-coating any aspect of my past.  Lying or glossing over events would defeat the purpose of this mental exercise.  Therefore, you will be forced to consider such subjects as teen sex, teen drug-use, incest, addiction, group sex, murder, rape, child abuse, genocide, prostitution, molestation and countless other horrid conditions of the human existence.  I have lived through them all.  I have experienced more than a few and held others under similar yokes.  Many of them, I have made my slaves.

You will not be pleased…

...Yet, if you have heart and the bravery necessary to broche these topics, then I say to you, reader of my story, continue and learn what has gone before, during the lifetime of Estefan Ernando.  He is me, a one-time, careless, rich kid with too much time on his hands, too much money in his pocket and too many little girls vying for a swing on his jock.

*****

Much has happened since the heady days of my youth, a whole barrage of historical events many of you may not recall in detail, because history is typically written by the victors or, at least, the ones who have the most to gain by hiding as much of the truth of it as possible.  Since I am of neither group, I will give you the benefit of reality, though I’m not going to sit here and lecture this point or that like some university professor.

Rather, I
’m going to give you a list of highlights, detailing the most important events occurring from the very first days of my birth until the summer of 2018 when the shit hit the fan and, it seemed, the entire world tipped on its’ ear.

Below is a brief historical timeline of the correct past.

Don’t be too alarmed by what you might learn.

You should recall knowledge is power.  What I’m about to give you can free you of the shackles of your past; because they aren’t real… they are manufactured.

*****

The Historical Definition of the Shadow Seed

By Estefan Ernando, Keeper of the Peace


      
Nov. 1998 –
Amateur Australian Astronomer, Frank B. Zoltowski, creates a computer program that can guide electronically controlled telescopes automatically, making it much easier to track celestial objects in the sky.  He calls it CCDTRACK.


      
Dec. 1998 –
A side benefit of CCDTRAK discovered – Astronomers unveil that the software program can track the movement of a given body and with time eventually plot the objects trajectory.


      
January 13
th
, 1999 –
Using the Linear Telescope Survey and CCDTRACK Software, Mr. Zoltowski discovers that asteroid 1999AN10 has a 1:40,000 chance of striking the earth on August 7
th
, 2027.  Later calculations push the change much higher, but the world’s interest is peeked as the search for other rogue celestial doubles, funding of such projects quadruples.


      
Oct.
2001 –
The LTS (Linear Telescope Survey) discovers Comet2001ct2 and CCDTRACK determines that the huge ball of ice will pass earth within the orbits of the GPS Constellation on July 17
th
, 2015.


      
Dec. 2007 –
NASA, using improved tracking software, is able to recalculate that Comet2011ct2 will not pass by earth; rather it will strike earth over the Pacific Ocean on October 29
th
, 2014.  This news is not shared with the public and the
entire
project is militarized.


      
Sept.
2008 – Feb. 2009 –
The government of the United States of America deliberately sabotages its own economy, issuing two enormous “stimulus” packages to counter the so-called economic crisis, effectively covering up a massive space-based mobilization.


      
June 2011 –
NASA shuts its own publically acclaimed Space Shuttle Program, while it secretly initiates Operation Global Shield with new Spacecraft, using multiple forms of propulsion.  The age of the Solid rocket booster comes to an end.


      
August 2011 –
Russia deliberately crashed its own resupply jet carrying provisions for the International Space Station and halts all publically acknowledged space activity, formally entering into Operation Global Shield along with China, Japan, India, the European Union and the United States of America.  The International Space Station is abandoned the following month.


      
March 2
nd
, 2012 –
Amateur Astronomer, Jessie Montgomery of Montana, spots Comete2001ct2 and reports his findings to college professor.  Word explodes around the world that the comet is on a collision course with earth and with hit in the summer of 2014.


      
Apr. 2012 –
The United States withdraws from Iraq and Afghanistan within a week, leaving chaos in its wake.


      
Summer 2012 –
Civil war breaks out in seventeen African countries.


      
July 2012 –
Iran invades Iraq and takes control of the country within two months and unites both countries under one flag and calls itself the Islamic Confederation and vows to destroy Israel.


      
Oct. 2012 –
Brazil goes public when it is denied inclusion into Operation Global Shield.


      
Nov.
2012 –
Mexicans overwhelm U.S. Border Patrol all along the border as nearly four million illegal’s cross into the U.S.


      
Dec. 2012 – Feb. 2013 –
The Islamic Confederation
invades a war torn and weakened Syria and obliterates all democratic resistance.  The world does nothing more than slap the newly formed country with sanctions.  All eyes are still looking skyward.


      
Mar. 2013 –
In North Korea, famine spreads across the entire country as China stops sending oil and other aid.


      
Mar.
2013 –
Israel vows unilateral action (nuclear weapons not ruled out) if the Islamic Confederation does not withdraw from Syria by June 1
st
, 2013.


      
Apr. 2013 –
Members of the Global Shield sign formal treaties of peace and economic unity as they from the Northern Intercontinental Alliance, incorporating NATO and the militaries of India, China and Russia as its military wing and declare that any further aggression by any foreign power against any sovereign nation will result in invasion by the NIA.


      
May 2013 –
The Islamic Confederation begins troop build-up along its border with Jordan.  Israel reiterates its unilateral position, while the NIA mandates that retaliation with be swift and thorough.


      
June 2013 –
The Islamic Confederation does not withdraw from Syria, but does pull back its troops and says it will no longer be an aggressor, but will be open to any nation of Islam that wishes to come under its protection.  NIA places Peacekeepers in Jordan at the request of UN.