A New Tomorrow - Written by Alex Johnson

A New Tomorrow


Part Three of a Six Part Series

Joan M. Little grinned. Or, she grinned as well as she could at the time. She hadn't slept for more than 48 hours, there were too many things to do to waste time sleeping. Besides that, half her face was covered in metal.
"My fellow crewmembers... today we make a huge step, a radical step, in the advancement of the synthetarians over the biotarians. We have the means for the ultimate first strike in a war which will last much less than a decade, and today we start it, today we end it. Today, we make history. Today, we make a better tomorrow." Again she grinned at her crew. She then stood erect and shouted "To your stations, we depart now!" The man at her right shuffled nervously. His name was [to be decided yet] and he knew what was really going to happen. He was the only other person on the ship who knew it besides her and some select personnel. He was the First Mate, and a good one at that.
"Captain," He whispered nervously, "Are you CERTAIN about this? After all, if you DO go through with it, not only will our lives be lost to the law, we will have a great deal of bloodshed on our hands. Furthermore-"
She brushed him off, waved at her crew once more, and bravadoed to the bridge, [the guy without a name] trailing her nervously. he was a good First Mate, he just didn't know when to shut up.
".....and then we will have the LAW to deal with. Do you know how many laws we are breaking by just BEING here? I would also like to point out that..."
She made it to the bridge, and took her seat in the cramped area. First Mate Chatterbox sat in his seat beside her. She hushed him, and they waited in (near) silence for the next 20 minutes, as Earth came into veiw.
"Ensign? You know what to do."
"Yes, Ma'am."
The ship slid silently around to what was now the dark side of Earth. It slowed down and centered itself over the Western side of the Formerly United States Of America. This was the Biotarian side of the continent.
Joan wasted no time. Why stall, anyway? She had thought it over, thought it over very hard. She had spent a long, long time in her quarters thinking about it. There were too many arguements. She chose one, and that was the argument of Victory, and that was the conclusion that she kept. Consequence first. Victory later.
She considered all that thought, and decided she was stalling. Stalling was a waste of time, and the bridge was tense. Everyone was waiting for the order.
She shook her head. *Consequence first, Victory later. Consequence first, Victory later. Consequence first, Victory later...*
Her head snapped over at the weapons crewmaster. "I trust the firing bay has been prepared?"
"Yes, Ma'am. Ready to fire when ordered, Ma'am." "Fire." *Why wait?* asked one half of her, while the other one kept chanting *Consequence First, Victory later. Consequence first, Victory Later. Consequence First, Victory Later....*
Yet, as she watched the little red ball in the front veiwscreen, she couldn't help but feel awed. So Awed, that her brain quit thinking just to stare at it, to wonder what would happen when it hit. Even the First Mate was quiet for once.
The little red ball finally hit, and there was a brilliant flash. In one giant ripple, a red ring went all the way around the planet, and met in a dot on the other side. It turned everything it passed into black, just black against the rest of the universe.
As she watched, she finally began to understand that the Consequences, and that they were incomprehensibly worse than expected. She could think of only one thing to say. "Today," she whispered, "....we make a better tomorrow."



Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6
Written By Alex Johnson


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