Friday Fiction: 2055 – Peace

Image courtesy of Vincentius Matthew. Copyright 2010 – 2016 (deviantart.com)

“Abie Prinsloo. Welcome to the assimilation.” Akinyi Cisse said.

Assimilation. The word sounded cold and cruel, like a process carried by emotionless machines in a cold storage unit. Instead, families ambled across the wide expanse like they were on a field trip to the zoo. Smiles and laughs all around walking across the pristine tiled floors and glass windows, like the store fronts in a mall. Behind the windows were realistic mannequins of families, each of different races and each dressed in various garb – it looked like a store selling family clothing sets… or perhaps families altogether. He walked towards the first stall that featured a dark skinned family dressed in traditional Hausa-Fulani atteire, the sign at their feet read: West Africa – Peace. The male mannequin lifted its head and Abie jumped back in shock. An electronic voice rose from the exceptionally human-like mannequin, in a thick accent,

“Hallo friend. My name is Chidiebere Abuchi and this is my wife and our kids. We are living in peace here in Western Africa thanks to the power of assimilation. Crime has gone down by 75 percent, domestic violence by 82 percent and we have never been happier. Join the assimilation and make Africa whole again.”

“Wonderful isn’t it?” Akinyi asked from behind. Abie spun around and looked at the man before him.

“Is this what you mean by assimilation?”

“Of course. We seek to unite Africa and perhaps the world in the same way. Does it not make for a wonderful world to live in? No worries of crime or violence. You know your children are safe, your spouse is safe. You are safe.”

“At what cost? What part of ourselves do we lose?”

“What part of yourself have you lost Abie Prinsloo?”

“But… I haven’t been assimilated…”

“Haven’t you?”

Abie hesitated

“Well -”

“Of course you haven’t!” Akinyi laughed heartily and a few people turned to look towards them as they walked past. Abie for the first time flustered. He didn’t like feeling foolish and for a soldier it was a rare experience. Akini stepped up beside him, leaning in until their shoulders were touching,

“Not yet anyway.” he whispered. Abie recoiled, staring hard at the man.

“Don’t play with me.” He meant to sound menacing but it came out as a whisper and he hated it. Inside this compound, he was alone and on enemy territory. Even his military training didn’t prepare him for such a scenario. Aliens. It was such a foreign concept even in this age of technology and advanced warfare, where the enemy could very well be human-like robots that bleed oil instead of blood – the Terminator come to life. Yet humans were as close to discovering life on other planets now as they had been forty years ago.

And here he was talking to one.

“Indeed you are Abie. Remember that if nothing else, that you are in the presence of an extra-terrestrial and on the cusps of a new age. The age of assimilation. The age of peace.”

“The age of slavery.”

“Ha! Slavery? My great-grand father and his father once personally knew what slavery was and I can assure you that this is not what they experienced. There is no master and slave. No degrees of importance. We are all the same.”

“Except of course the extra-terrestrials in our heads.”

“We are more along the line of shepherds, no greater than the sheep. For what are we without them? Yet there has to be some form of authority don’t you agree? As a military man you understand?”

“These people are not sheep. Or soldiers.”

Akinyi waved him off and walked away.

“No matter, I’m showing you all of this so that you understand that we want peace as much as you do. The means we employ are far better than using weapons as you are so apt to.”

And yet it was a weapon he followed back when he was rescuing Bravo squad,wasn’t it. The little girl had a mechanical arm that was definitely a weapon.

“And what of the girl I met?” Abie asked. He hoped to gain some upper hand. Akinyi stopped and turned around.

“What girl?”

“The girl with the metal arm. She…” Abie felt the memory fade, watched it darken as the clear image he had slipped away. He mentally fought against the fading memory.

“What girl with the arm?” It was the first time Abie saw a new emotion in the man. No longer calm and collected. Abie shook his head,

“Her hair was tangled with something like tentacles. They were attached to her metallic arm and…” the image was fading faster and he couldn’t grasp it until it simply didn’t exist anymore. He tried to picture it but his mind was coming up blank.

“What did she say? What did she do?”

“I can’t remember. I can’t…” Akinyi suddenly lunged at him and held on to his head. He was about to attack, a simple maneuver in fact, but a white hot pain seared the inside of his head. He screamed. The sound echoed across the mall and people turned to look for a second, in passing really, and carried on. Abie was far too preoccupied with the burning in his mind to notice.

“Gaaaah!” He felt liquid seep from his ear, spill down the side of his face and a moment later his ear popped. The heat stopped as suddenly as it had appeared. He attempted to keep standing but his legs felt rubbery and in the next moment he was on his knees. He managed to raise his hand to his ear and it pulled away wet with a thick black liquid. Akinyi above him was staring in sick horror and it felt as though the whole compound had been plunged into silence. Abie turned to see what everyone was staring at and he fell back away from the hulking black mass. Had that come out of his ear? That tentacled monstrosity. He didn’t know where it began and where it ended, just a mass of slithering black coils writing there under the light. It was almost as tall as the ceiling.

<Assimilation.> The thing said. It was the same monotonous voice that been in Abie’s head. <I fear there will be no assimilation here, only subjugation.> 

<The moment we saw what Abie Prinsloo could do, and what he had done to our satellite, we had a feeling it would be you. That’s why we chased you.> Akinyi said, only it was the same monotonous voice that spoke. His mouth shut with a snap.

<So much work for little old me.>

<A necessity. You are here in our grasp and that’s all that matters.>

<Sadly not. I’m not the only one on this planet.>

Akinyi faltered.

<We’ll find the others too. It’s a matter of time.>

<Time you don’t have I’m afraid to say. While you were chasing me, the rest of us were setting up camp. Russia. North Korea. Germany. India. Australia. Ireland. Brazil. Mexico. Cuba. America. It’s already too late.>

“Too late for what?” Abie managed to ask, his whisper loud in the silence.

<Peace. As I said before, there will be no assimilation here, only subjugation.>

The creature raised it’s tentacles, a myriad of them all slick and oozing. Below them were more writhing coils, as though the creature was nothing but them.

<Oh lord> Akinyi cried. The compound was plunged into darkness. Abie listened to the continuous whispering slithers of all those tentacles moving around him, covering the sound of his short gasps. He felt them slither across his body, wrap around his arms, chest, neck. They trailed over his face. He struggled against them but they were too  many, like he had fallen into a sea of wet, wriggling snakes. He tried to cry out and felt one coil over his lips, a rancid coppery taste filled his mouth. As he felt completely consumed, he heard the thing whisper in his head,

<Abie Prinsloo of Sector Swartkoppies, Southern Republic of the United Commonwealth of Africa, your presence has been requested.>

---

What happens next? Who knows? I don’t know either… but it is merely the beginning! *cue scary music*

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Friday Fiction: 2055 – Assimilation

Artwork courtesy of Ben Mauro: http://benmauro.deviantart.com/art/Altered-Carbon-Zao-252938892

The helicopter silently glided over dilapidated buildings stretching into the distance. It seemed to be a city of some sort but one that seemed foreign to Abie. He turned towards the man sitting opposite him who was also looking out at the destroyed city. Akinyi Cisse of Juluo. Here. One of them.

“I guess it is quite difficult to believe that a statesman would be one of them, as you so kindly put it.” Akinyi said, turning to face Abie. “Then again, you would think all these movies would make you look towards leadership first in the event of alien encounter.”

“It’s the most obvious.”

“Certainly.”

“So what’s your plan?” Abie looked back out into the open space. The city was fading into brown grassland.

“Assimilation.”

“Oh… I thought you only employed ‘voluntary hosts'”

“As you are of course.” Abie remained silent. Now that he was once again faced with the reality of an alien being lodged in his brain, he couldn’t help imagine what its intentions were. It also tried save him. To help him escape and like a fool he let his own judgement fail them.

<I’ve also kept you in control this entire time.> The voice in his head said

“For what purpose? What reason do you have for letting me be?”

<To show you that we are not all the same.>

“Are you not?”

“I cannot speak for you, but we are.” Akinyi said. The grassland was making way to a fenced off area, tar breaking the monotony of grass where a compound came into view. Building sand, white stones and various machinery where scattered around the building where half of it was still under construction. It looked like a warehouse of some sort but it was difficult to say what it was for, considering the barren landscape around it. It was too obvious. The helicopter began to descend.

*****

There were no soldiers or personnel when the helicopter landed on an empty parking bay. In the distance the sun was peeking from the horizon in an orange haze that lit up the area, making their shadows long. Only Akinyi and Abie stepped off the helicopter. Akinyi led the way with Abie following close behind. He knew he couldn’t escape, where would he go. He had seen no vehicles other than the construction vehicles and with that he wasn’t going to get anywhere fast.

“Where are we going?” Akinyi lifted his hand and twirled a finger. Behind them, the helicopter started up silently, the gust of wind it generated the only thing giving it away. Abie turned around and watched it fly off in the same direction they had come. Reinforcements? Was it fetching the creature he had shot in the guise of his old flame? Was it dead? He doubted it.

“Oh don’t worry, it will take more than just bullets to kill us, and yes, it is fetching our mutual friend.”

“For what? Where are you taking me?”

“You will see…”

Akinyi led him into the warehouse, where Abie noticed the large black and white billboard announcing the building of a mall. The name of it had been torn off on purpose it seemed, and only the date survived the tear: 2058.

“A mall huh?”

“Mall” Akinyi said, raising his hands to create quotation marks in the air.

“So what is it then?”

“A mall, obviously, but also a base of operations where we will push our plans forward.

“The assimilation plans.”

“Precisely.”

Abie wondered why Akinyi was telling him all of this, basically giving him the plan. If he were to escape he would have vital information should he go public. If he were to go public. If he could. Perhaps they would wipe his memory or force him to join. That made sense. He was already a “voluntary host” so it would make sense.

The inside of the “mall” was brightly lit, the skeleton frame stretching into the sky where the next floor would begin. Their footsteps crunched sand underfoot as they approached an elevator.

“An elevator. Of course.”

“We took most of our ideas from all the ‘alien invasion’ books and films that you humans created. I must say you are all very creative.”

Abie could only nod as they entered the elevator and Akinyi pressed the single button. Abie felt the slight lurch of the thing, it was an old fashioned elevator rather than the quiet modern ones. He thought of the invasion. What more would they need when humanity had given them all they needed, only this time there would be no hero to save them. No magic virus to destroy the super alien computer. No hero to foil the alien plot. Or perhaps he was the saviour, in the right place to foil whatever plot was in the pipelines; but what plot was it. He would need more information.

The elevator stopped.

“You do realize I can hear your every thought… right?” Akinyi asked. He stepped out of the elevator as the doors swung open. Abie remained still.

“There is no hero in this story my friend. Come along, we are almost at our destination.”

He followed. The alien in his head was transmitting his thoughts. It was so obvious how did he miss it. So caught up in the events happening around him that he didn’t think of that one vital thing when it was so obvious.

<Very obvious> The voice replied to him.

<Why didn’t you say?>

<I was prevented from speaking up. Don’t you think I would have tried?>

<I don’t know what you would have done.>

<You still don’t trust me?>

Abie wasn’t sure. He could. He should perhaps but… his thoughts were open. Bare. They walked down the narrow corridor, lit by gas lamps that Abie had only seen in history pictures.

“Are you allergic to modern technology?”

“Modern technology is traceable. Electricity. Wires. We don’t need any distractions right now.”

“Distractions from what?”

Akinyi didn’t answer and instead stepped aside to let Abie walk in front of him.

“You’re not going to knock me out are you?” He smiled. Wary.

“Of course not. We’re here aren’t we.”

“Hmmm.” The corridor ended at a metal door that swept open when he approached it. Abie stood for a long while. Unaware that his mouth was hanging open as he took in the sight.

“Abie Prinsloo. Welcome to the assimilation.”

Friday Fiction: 2055 – Hosts

 

“Hallo liefie. Kom sit.”

Abie stood still for a very long time, gazing at the rolling sea-sand curls framing the pale face before him. Soft, hazel eyes he’d fallen in love with gazed back at him; a hand was raised to gesture at the chair in front of him.

“Ana-marie. What…” the words felt heavy in his mouth, weighing his bottom lip down in shock.

“Abie, please, sit.”

Abie eventually shuffled into the seat and fell into it hard. His arms stayed still at his sides, the heavy pistol slipping from his fingers to clatter onto the floor.

“What are you doing here?” He managed to ask. His mind was still reeling from the sight of the woman before him, a face from a memory that still haunted him so long after its occurrence.

“I came to find you. To save you.” She smiled as she sat forward in the chair, placing both her arms on the table so that her open hands were pointed towards Abie. He looked at them, afraid to hold them even as they seemed to be pleading to be held.

“You were captured. You were…” His eyes stared at the pale hands held out to him, he could almost feel their soft warmth. At his sides, his arms had begun to shake but he didn’t seem to be aware.

“Here I am Abie. That was the past and we are here in the now.”

His arms lifted, drawn to the outstretched hands before him of the girl he’d once thought he would marry. The girl who had been there before he’d joined the army as another soldier in the UAC. The girl who… the girl who…

<The girl who died!> 

Abie jolted back in his seat in shock, sending his body and chair tumbling back in one swift motion.

<She died Abie! This is not her, do you not sense its presence?>

Abie was attempting to breathe following his fall, the wind had been knocked out of him and as he lifted his eyes, he found that Ana-Marie was standing beside him, only it wasn’t completely Ana-Marie; from her waist down she was a mass of wet, grey tentacles. He wanted to scream. Instead, a wheeze escaped his open mouth.

“The shock wears off soon enough, and as a soldier you should be able to get over it fairly quickly.”

Abie’s eyes fell away from Ana-Marie’s face and down towards the slithering limbs as they slid back towards the chair. He could still hear them swish and suckle even when they were out of sight behind the table.

<What the heck is that thing? What the heck is it?> Abie cried at the voice in his head. It was frustratingly silent once again. He managed to sit up, his breath coming in better as he spotted the pistol on the floor ahead of him. He picked his chair up while he was sitting, grabbing the pistol on his way back onto the chair, careful to keep the weapon hidden. The Ana-Marie-creature looked at him in mild amusement.

<If you’re going to help, you need to speak!> Abie whispered into his brain. The voice remained silent.

“It can’t hear you. I’m making sure of that.” Ana-Marie said but the voice came out in the same monotonous tone, both out loud as well as in his head. “Also, I would put away that toy, it has no effect on me.”

Abie looked down at his shaking hand, and shook his head

“It gives me comfort…”

“Well good, then perhaps you won’t be as pathetic as your soldier friends down below yes?” Abie lifted his head,

“Who are you… what are you?”

“Ah for that, we would have to travel light-years away to an ancient planetary speck on the outskirts of the milky-way, and we just don’t have the time. Instead I’ll give you answers to questions you’ve blatantly avoided. First and foremost, we are an alien race. Extra terrestrial. Hence the tentacles as you so aptly described my limbs.”

Abie continued to stare, his mind listening. Absorbing.

“Secondly, we are not a hostile race as you may be inclined to believe. It seems that America has fed much of society’s expectations when it comes to extra terrestrials and their quest for Earth’s domination.”

“So what is it that you want? How can I trust anything that you say?”

“Well you aren’t dead, for one, and secondly, you haven’t seen or heard anything about an alien invasion have you? And let me guess what you’re thinking; we wouldn’t allow our presence to be known until it was too late for mankind to do anything about it?”

The creature didn’t need to read Abie’s mind to know what he was thinking of course. It waited for Abie to respond and when he didn’t, it continued,

“Currently there are about… five of us… on Earth, including the one in your brain right now. We were summoned. It seems that the UAC is in need of assistance when it comes to bringing peace across its vast, beautiful plain…”

“And you and your alien squad are going to unite Africa peacefully? No hostile take over? Nothing?”

“Well I wouldn’t say nothing. Everything comes at a price.”

“And what price are we to pay for your so called peaceful involvement?” The creature that was Ana-Marie smiled.

“Voluntary hosts.”

Abie stared hard at the creature before him, no longer distracted by its facade even though it unsettled him,

“Will you change appearance please, I can’t handle looking at my dead ex?”

“I fear you wouldn’t get over the shock of what you will see if I were to do that. Ana-Marie here is to pacify you, make who I am more acceptable.”

Abie nodded as though he understood even though he didn’t. He stared hard at the body before him, taking it all in, trying to find anything that would give away the creature’s true self

“This is a mental projection. I am not wearing her body as you once experienced with the little girl before, I have not found a suitable body to attach myself to, as one has attached to you.”

Abie remembered the voice in his head.

“Who are you?” he asked the voice.

<Run Abie! Run!> The voice quivered.

“Why is it always telling me to run?”

“I fear it is trying to…”

Abie’s arm shot up suddenly out of his control, the pistol gripped tight and sure. His body rose on its own accord and fired two quick shots into Ana-Marie’s face as it moved around her. Ana-Marie lurched back, the chair tilting backwards until it was impossibly leaning on its two back legs without falling. Abie saw the top half shimmer slightly, a sliver of grey waning in and out of existence in the space between Ana-Marie’s gaping face and the floor. His fingers pulled the trigger twice and then they were pushing out of the other door and into a long, dark corridor.

“What the hell are you doing!?”

“Saving you!?”

“From what?”

“What do you mean from what!? Did you really think this whole thing is about voluntary hosts?”

Abie let the words sweep through his mind. He wasn’t sure what he believed anymore. They barged through a heavy door at the end of the corridor while behind them, they could already feel the soldiers losing the hold Abie had over them. Ana-Marie wasn’t chasing them.

<We are all of the same mind, the five of us on this planet. That is how our planet works.> The voice continued. By now they were inside an office block of sorts with bright florescent lights lighting their way. It was eerily quiet

<A call reached our planet and we were tasked with investigating the commotion. What we had not anticipated, however, was the human tribal group standing before one of our communication pillars, in what was once our ancient calling ritual. We were summoned alright, but not by the UAC.>

“You were on our planet before?” Abie was suddenly feeling overwhelmed

<Of course. This time around we decided not to stay, to tell our overseers that it was a false alarm. So far from our planet, we found that we could influence each other’s thoughts as one; this was something only our overseers could do. One of us overpowered the rest and sought to remain on the planet as an overseer.>

Abie was beginning to catch on. The one in Ana-Marie’s body was calling the shots outside of home planet, and now was clearly trying to “oversee” the UAC under the guise of voluntary hosts.

<That’s exactly it!>

“So what now?”

The voice remained silent as they pushed through the doorway at the end of the corridor, and ran right into a squadron of soldiers with rifles pointed at them. Statesman Akinyi Cisse, of Joluo, the Eastern sector of the UAC, stood before the men in a shiny, silver, three-piece men’s suit. Behind them, a large helicopter stood waiting.

“Abie Prinsloo, so glad to finally meet my fellow host.” Akinyi stepped aside and gestured towards the waiting helicopter.

“Please…”

Understanding that it wasn’t so much a request as it was an instruction, Abie walked towards the helicopter; this was turning out to be much bigger than he’d thought.

---

Although not inspired by the prompt this time (I actually wrote this story yesterday), it fit the theme so… https://rachelpoli.com/2016/04/15/time-to-write-tension-rises/

Friday Fiction: 2055 – Imprisonment

Image courtesy of http://www.historicalcrimedetective.com/forgotten/

Abie Prinsloo opened his eyes. The grey ceiling had not changed in the last couple of weeks since his incarceration. Yet in his dreams, the ceiling had been replaced with clear blue skies, and a single ray of sunlight streaming over the stubble growing on his chin. Birds would chirp. The wind would rustle nearby trees. He could breathe in lungfuls of fresh air. He sighed and turned away from the solid concrete slab above him, to the solid wall now bearing dark etches of symbols and markings he didn’t recognize.

<Escape!>

Abie ignored the voice. Eventually it would keep silent, but in the last few days it had become annoyingly incessant.

<Escape! Abie! Escape!>

“No!”

His voice thrummbed along the wall in visible sound waves that made his teeth buzz. The, almost male not really female voice, made its first appearance when he’d walked out to meet Bravo squad in the enemy compound. It seemed so long ago now, like a childhood memory seen through fogged glass. The only thing he remembered was the voice telling him to accept the power, to feed off it and be victorious. In the next moment, he was being cuffed and thrown into the back of a transportation vehicle at the Swartkoppies base, as a fearful Bravo Squad cast furtive glances at his struggling, shouting form.

And then he was here.

<You must Escape! They come for you!>

“Who is coming!” He rolled over and threw his legs off the bed into a sitting position; it made the sound waves more bearable in the empty cell. In the distance, crawling across the surface of the walls towards him, came the sound of boots. A lot of them.

<Let me in! I can help us escape!>

The voice was not panicked as it was agitated. He could feel it’s anger radiate across his skin like harsh sunlight.

“Running makes us look guilty.”

<Guilt isn’t on their minds. Only power.>

The sound waves were growing louder, followed by the grating, erratic wave of a metal gate sliding open. Abie held his jaw between his fingers, hoping to ease the reverberations coursing through them.

“I will not run. If we have to escape, we will.”

<We won’t>

“Why not?”

By now the boots had become audible thumps across the hard floor. Familiar soldiers crowded the outside of the cell in a clump, weapons raised pointing at him. He noted that a few of them had a slight shake to their grip; one wrong move and a nervous soldier would put a bullet in his brain.

<Hey. Can you put them to sleep?> Abie asked the voice in his mind. Silence was his reply. <Hey!>

<It won’t speak in my presence.> A mellow voice that was more female than male filled his head. Abie looked at each of the men outside the cell, hoping to see who had spoken. None of them seemed a likely candidate judging by their posture. For soldiers they were a disgrace.

<Yes they are, aren’t they, a disgrace I mean. And should you wonder whether I read minds, let me assure you. I can.>

“Who are you!?” Abie asked out loud. One of the men flinched and almost pulled the trigger; Abie could feel the vibrations of the rattling trigger in his left wisdom tooth. He wanted to stand up, see if there was someone else behind the troupe but he feared the soldier’s nervousness now more than ever. He stayed perfectly still.

<You are the reason they are so fearful, your oh so greatly indebted Bravo squad.> The voice continued. That explained the recognition Abie had felt, but who was controlling them now?

<Who are you? Where are you?>

<For that you should ask the parasite in your system. Perhaps you haven’t seen it as a parasite yet… or maybe you have.>

Abie stared at one of the men, the one who shook the most and happened to be the one with the jingling keys in his hand. He pushed his mind towards the man. That was the only way he could explain it, and what he would tell others who would ask him about it in the future. A push. Did he know it would work? No, but it was better than waiting to be killed by the very men you had saved.

Within moments he was in the man’s mind, more as an electrical pulse than a coherent thought.

Stephen van der Walt. Age thirty two. Single. Lives in Kroonstad. The middle of three children. Joined the army when his youngest brother was killed by enemy troops during a school outing. 

Abie calmed the man down and let him lower his weapon as he steadied his hand to open the cell door. He let the rest of his mind push out towards the two on either side of Stephen van der Walt.

Kagisho Mpelani. Age forty. Married. Lives in New Transkei, on the border of an enemy base. Oldest of four children. Joined the army to keep his family and siblings safe.

Lucas Lesufi. Age twenty five. Single. Lives with girlfriend in Thokoza City. Last born of three. Forcibly asked to join the army by his parents when he lost his job and home.

He pushed his mind across to the rest of them, learning of their pasts and fears as he went, until he had the whole group under his influence. He lulled them into a quiet calm and had them lower their weapons. They stared glassy eyed at the space where he was.

<Oh the man is talented. I look forward to meeting you Abie Prinsloo.>

<I’m coming for you! Are you in the compound? Where are you!> Abie left the guards in their stupor, grabbing a pistol from a slack hand before running past them towards the exit. He pushed his mind out across the compound as far as he could, hoping to sense the owner of the voice in his head. A single mind waited in a room at the top of the stairs. An impenetrable mind. He ran all the way to the top and barged through the door with the pistol held out, ready to pop a bullet in whoever’s brain. He stopped just inside the brightly lit detainment room, eyes widening. His grip on the pistol loosened. His arm fell to his side in one fell swoop.

“Hallo Liefie. Kom sit.”

---

*Liefie is an Afrikaans term of endearment which basically means my love.

Feel free to vote and comment on my Wattpad account as well as here if you enjoyed the story. 

My Wattpad Profile: Nthato Morakabi

 

Friday Fiction: 2055 – Council

I got enough requests to continue this little story to decide that I will make April Friday Fictions the 2055 story. I’ll also be adding the chapters to my Wattpad.

---

2055 by Nthato Morakabi

The leaders from all five commonwealth states were in attendance for the 10th official leaders meeting. État central de l’Afrique was playing host, in what was once known as Central African Republic in the old days. They were located in an underground bunker, erected during the course of unifying the African countries. There would be no security breach.

Although the dignitaries had sworn to never withhold any information that would hinder the UCA from gaining the upperhand against other countries, Statesman Lungelo Mkhize was not willing to give up Abie Prinsloo to the United Commonwealth of Africa. Not yet anyway.

“That man was able to subdue an entire compound on his own, without ever firing a weapon. He is an asset the UCA must have in their possession.”

Akinyi Cisse had folded his arms across his chest during the brief, but now they were held above his head in frustration. The sleeves of his shirt had slid down to reveal a tattoo along his arm.

“We are aware of this.” the oldest of the leaders said gently. His dark eyes, however, were bearing down on Lungelo. The older man’s lips tightened before he spoke again,

“Explain to us once again why Abie Prinsloo is being kept prisoner, worst of all, within your own precinct.” The other leaders sat forward. Lungelo cleared his throat and reached for the glass of water on the table to gather his thoughts. Once he placed the glass back on the table, he also sat forward.

“We do not know what happened. As far as we can see, Abie has no recollection of the events following his meeting with this girl he keeps mentioning. We do not know what he is capable of. It would be unwise for us to send him back into the field untested.”

He was hoping the leaders would be nodding in agreement, or at least showing some emotion other than distrust, but clearly that was asking too much.

“We do not need him in the field,” Stateswoman Olamide Turay finally said, “What we need is a way to dispel all notions from the other nations, that we are incapable of defending ourselves as the UCA.” She sat back in her chair as the other leaders nodded their agreement. She continued,

“The technological advancements of the USA far exceeds our own. Bio-mechanics in Asia put them as industry leaders with their renowned Artificial Intelligence. The UK have literally fortified their walls. Europe is in bed with all the other nations and can’t be touched. And what do we have? Nothing!

“We are the only ones who appear weak and Abie Prinsloo is the first step towards not only strengthening Africa as a nation, but leading the power race.” Lungelo reached for his glass of water again but kept it in his hand,

“And that is exactly why we must keep him from the others until we can truly test his capabilities. Do you not see this?” Lungelo was losing his cool, which was never good in these situations. The other leaders were as ruthless as he could be had the tables been turned.

From the other end of the table, Akinyi ran his finger across his side of the conference table. A satellite image of the incident appeared in front of all the other leaders. They watched as Abie Prinsloo made his way out of a building, each step a laboured effort, his arms straight down at his sides as though held there. Not a single bullet was fired even though he was surrounded by enemy forces and a moment later, everyone except Bravo squad had fallen down. Simultaneously. At that moment, Abie turned his head towards the sky, towards the screen they were all staring at, footage from a satellite orbiting the earth. It was without a doubt what he was looking at. Them.  A moment later, the screen turned dark.

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I hope you enjoyed the next chapter of the tale. Let me know what you think and any suggestions you might have. 

My Wattpad Profile: Nthato Morakabi

 

Flash Fiction: 2055

Image courtesy of Neil Blade – Deviantart.com

He slammed on the brakes.

“Move! Move! Move!”

“Alpha squad cover us!”

“Delta squad move on my mark!”‘

“Charlie, Bravo? Respond and verify location, we’re coming in hot!”

The chatter of the commands flew through the crackle of the two-way radio on his dashboard, barely audible through the tat-tat-tat of gunfire.

“Abie! Abie! Come in Abie!”

He heard his name but it didn’t register, not at that moment. It would register months later when he recalled this particular day to the authorities, however at that moment his mind was elsewhere.  The black haired girl couldn’t have been older than ten. Her left shoulder pulled her body forward from the weight of the gleaming metallic arm; it looked far too big and heavy on her young body. Even through the dusty, cracked windshield of the jeep, he knew she wasn’t human; the long black hair twirled into tentacles that attached to the gargantuan left arm.

“Abie Prinsloo of Sector Swartkoppies, Southern Republic of the United Commonwealth of Africa, your presence has been requested.”

He sat in his vehicle, unsure as to what he should do. This was clearly not the enemy. He knew his enemy was human and this young creature before him (he assumed it to be young) was not anything he was expecting. She spoke again.

“Abie Prinsloo of Sector Swartkoppies, Southern Republic of the United Commonwealth of Africa, your presence has been requested.”

His shock wearing off, he managed to open his door and step out into the harsh sunlight, aware that he heard no gunshots nor any sounds of war where he was.

“Who are you?”

“There is no time to explain. My vessel slumbers soon.” The little girl turned around and he, could see the gaping wound in the girl’s head as she began to walk away. Feeling the skin on his arm tingle with tiny pinpricks, he followed the dying girl into one of the buildings. From here he could see what had attached itself to the hole in the girl’s head. He shivered.

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I know it’s like Sunday but obligatory Flash Fiction short courtesy of Rachel Poli’s prompt.

Start the story with the following sentence: “He slammed on the brakes…”

Time to Write: Sentence Starter 8