He’d told them to rest for a few hours, until dinner later that evening. He should probably get to know his new unit better, but he’d never been any good at that sort of thing. He could feel the adrenaline crash coming. The last two days had been…..insane, but the three of them had survived. Not only survived but found a small base, recovered medical supplies, and more importantly been treated for the bites they received from the…..zombies, for lack of a better term.
Now they were supposed to just….rest, without questions answered, without truth and knowledge. How they were supposed to do that was beyond him. It really wasn’t the way his mind worked.
He slipped from the chair in their shared room to the floor, balancing on this knees and toes. Mother had always stressed prayerful meditation as a calming influence for the noise of his mind.
The claims these people made about alien attack, and the destruction of the minds of their victims, were outlandish in the extreme. It didn’t make them wrong, or liars, just….difficult to accept.
Truthfulness and secrecy, a dichotomy that had been hard to keep his entire life, given his family’s place in society, and their lives so far from others. People really didn’t understand their faith, and their faith did not push for understanding or converts, so that didn’t matter. But centuries of persecution from both Christians and Muslims meant…..secrecy and adaptation. Besides, it would not do to pray in Arabic in the middle of an apocalypse in the United States, so in his native tongue he began.
Que la lumière de la vérité me guide pour protéger ceux qui m’ont aidé. Je vous implore de vous guider dans la recherche des vérités de notre nouvelle existence. Accordez-moi la force de protéger l’humanité du fléau de ce diable extraterrestre et des maux qu’il a causés à mes amis, à ma famille et à notre monde.
Accordez-moi la force et le courage de protéger le monde du mal.
Accordez-moi la force et le courage de protéger le monde du mal.
Accordez-moi la force et le courage de protéger le monde du mal.
One Year Earlier
“We should both volunteer,” Amy said out of the blue, interrupting their study for the military ethics exam tomorrow.
“Volunteer for what?” He hated philosphy. It was never as straight forward as the truth of mathematics, spatial analysis, engineering, the complexities of environmental engineering in skyscraper design.
“The one year NORAD exchange program, you know, the one that has us train a year with the Americans. Gives us a leg up down the road after our initial tour”
“Delay flight school? I mean delay flight school for me?” She hated flying.
“Nicolas, you should really pay attention. Major Deveraux said those coming back from the NORAD program get preferential credits towards those who are aiming higher than just flight training.”
“Amy, we’ve had this conversation before, I don’t really care about what rank I eventually retire with.” He really wasn’t paying attention, which is why the smack on the back of his head completely surprised him.
“Hey!”
“Listen to what I’m saying Captain of Cadets Regaux. I’m talking about higher…..you know, as in altitude. Space flight programs, you damn fool. Plus, for me, it would be NBC school, hopefully.”
“Really? Why didn’t you say so to start with?”
He opened his eyes, still kneeling, smiling faintly at the memory, the pain of loss muted slightly.
“I guess space came to us, Amy.”
Then he stood up to look for a notebook. The new CO had given them an assignment.
Last Dreams 