Chapter 1
Date: The Distant Future
Location: Classified
They were running out of time. A man and woman were running down a dimly lit hall while explosions rang out around them. Their uniforms were as dark as night, almost illuminating the blood that seeped from recent wounds. They had been attacked out of nowhere, their agency crippled with no defenses. The ceiling was crashing down as missiles slammed into the side of the mountain which held their private facilities.
“Go! Into the chamber!” A voice bellowed behind them. Then a loud roar careened down the hall after them as another missile crashed into the mountain. With each passing moment they knew that time truly was of the essence. But this wasn’t supposed to happen. When they had learned of the one crucial piece that completed the puzzle of impending destruction it was already too late. At last, the couple reached the chamber that would take them away from all of this.
“Come on! Get in!” The man yelled as he ran towards the opening door of a large silver pod in the center of the room. The woman stopped when she was just a few feet from the opening. There was a look of distraught etched across her bruised, yet beautiful face.
“What? Let’s go!” He ordered. Even though his face was wrought with agony, anyone could tell by his eyes that his priority was the woman he loved. Nothing was going to separate them; not now, not ever.
“I’m sorry.” She said abruptly, then shoved him into the pod and took a step back. The door began to close as he yelled.
“What are you doing!? We can do this together!”
“The plan would fail! It was the one thing the Commissioner didn’t tell you! You have to do it alone.” She began to tear up as she realized that her time drew near. She brushed aside her dirty brown hair and gazed into his eyes.
The man was torn apart inside. What seemed like betrayal was actually logical to him; it had to be done if things were to be changed. Even though he could still drag her into the pod with him he didn’t. Her sacrifice would give him the chance to correct what had gone wrong. The door had almost closed, creating a claustrophobic feeling around him.
Tears filled his eyes and blurred his vision as he spoke. “I’ll never forget us.”
“You will…but you won’t.” A faint smile crept across her face as the door sealed shut. Immediately, the metallic chamber began to spin. Nothing could stop him now, for in just a few moments he would be gone. His mission was clear, but the question remained whether or not he could change things. Just then, a missile crashed into the room. The woman screamed.
The entirety of his body and soul cried out. And then he was gone.
