Prologue
The year is 2105 and with the rising population of the already-crowded Earth, humanity has been forced to populate most of the large celestial bodies in the known universe. All of this was achieved in 2025 with the invention of the stine breaker, which allowed for bending of space. Bending of space lets people travel light years in just seconds. There is no longer any war. If one nation does not agree with another, one of the nations just moves into a different star system. Because the territory of each of the 13 nations is so large, the nations must govern their people with an artificial intelligence (AI) monitoring system. There is an abundance of natural resources, food and jobs. Everything appears to be perfect.
Chapter 1
"The time is now 8:45 am. Wake up protocol is now in effect. Please proceed to the intended area." A calm voice emanates from one of the many white-washed panels that make up the small one-bed, one-bath apartment, which Andy McGuire calls home.
Once again, this time in a little bit louder, the calm voice says, "The time is now 8:48. Please proceed to the highlighted area."
A groan of discontent tumbles from the bed, followed by the slightly muffled voice of a person who has never been - and never wants to be - a morning person. "Computer, enter snooze mode."
"Snooze mode is restricted for today, Mr. Andy," said the computer in an irksome calm voice.
"Ughhh! Fine," spoke the bed once more.
And with that, a small, lean and average-heighted figure slid from the bed and slumped over to one of the many blank walls that occupied the room.
"Computer open blinds." With that, the large white panel slid to one side, allowing the room to be flooded with with artificial sunlight bouncing around the inside of the large clear dome structure that covers Andy's home as well as everything else as far as the eye can see.
Andy yawned and looked up and out to the dome overhead, through which he can see out into the deep darkness of space. In the far distance, Earth, once home to the human race, spins in the distance like the unwanted yoke of a hard boiled egg. The once beautiful blue and green sphere that Andy had seen photos of in his school textbooks, was long ago destroyed by war, and pollution and the uninhabited distant planet is now the repository for the universe's trash.
Andy shuffled away from the window and into his overly small bathroom.
"Computer, set shower to 101 degrees fahrenheit."
A cylinder descends from the ceiling, enclosing Andy in the clear shaft that extends from the ceiling to floor. Reaching down, Andy pulls up a scuba-like respirator and places it in his mouth. Biting the tube in his teeth, Andy relaxes as the cylinder fills with water. He allows himself to become immersed in the cleansing water, where he will float freely for several minutes.
Just as fast as the cylinder filled, the water pours back out, gently dropping Andy back to the bathroom floor. The tube retracts into the ceiling as Andy dries off and then gets dressed.
"Breakfast sir?" The computer detected Andy's movement as he moved from the bathroom into the main room.
"The same thing as always, and turn to channel 17.6," Andy said.
A light in the corner of the room flickered on and flashed onto the far right wall. There a high definition TV screen appeared.
"Today is October 23, 2105. Today's Dome weather will be 76 degrees fahrenheit with a slight mist at approximately 1 pm."
"Switch to channel 32.6."
The TV flickered to another picture. "With the recent attacks on starports in the Earth Zone area, authorities are ramping up security in all Moondome entrances. Expect delays when entering and exiting the dome. With us today is …"
"Turn off," Andy called over his shoulder as he stepped from his apartment into the busy street just outside.
"Have a good day Sir," said the AI computer as the door closed behind Andy.
The day was indeed a nice 76 degrees and the artificially created humidity added just the right amount of moisture to the air. Just as the TV had cautioned, there was an increase in the number of security bots lining the streets. "Today is too nice to worry about such things," Andy thought to himself as he walked along the sidewalk toward the heavily populated square, where he worked a job at the KATS repair shop.
A flash of black shoots overhead. Andy sees the flash out of the corner of his eye at almost the same instance the windows in the stores and buildings surrounding Andy explode into little shard. Then another black mass zooms over, dropping objects in its wake.
Andy looks to the sky and is instantly blown back by the wake of the objects that landed nearby exploding. Andy feels a painful jolt as his body is thrown backward and smashed into a brick wall about ten meters away.
Andy's moved his hands to check if his body was on fire. The hands wouldn't move. All he could do was lay there, propped against the wall, watching through fading vision the chaos that was unfolding on the once-peaceful street.
Gun fire barked in sharp succession in the distance and the latest black object flying overhead suddenly curved down sharply and plummeted into one of the nearby shops, exploding into a ball of flames.
As the last of his consciousness faded, Andy saw a figure climbing out of the craft, only to be blown back as the craft explodes once again.
When Andy finally came too, everything is cold. So cold. He can't feel the ground around him. He opened his eyes to find that the once-serene sunlight that had been bouncing around the interior of the glass dome had been replaced by one large flashing red light, which illuminated the surrounding area.
One by one, Andy's senses slowly came back. But his sense of touch didn't feel quite right; And he could no longer feel the ground beneath him. Andy realized why: He can't feel the ground because it's no longer there. He looked around and found himself floating about ten feet off the ground.
"AHH" Andy yelled, expecting to slam to the ground. But nothing happened. Andy opened his eyes again only to realize that not only isn't he falling, he is actually hovering in the air.
"Oh S**t," Andy cursed as he came to a horrifying conclusion.
"If the artificial gravity is out, that means there's a problem with the dome's life support system…...and it's about to get really cold in here." Andy said, thinking out loud. "There's gotta be some way out of this situation"
And with that thought, Andy started too desperately twist his body, trying to shift his center of gravity. But there was no avail, in the end he could only angle himself to face the opposite way he started. Andy let out a sigh of defeat and was about to start again when something caught his eye. On the other side of the street, only about 10 yards away, was the motionless form of a person. The body was dressed in a thin black suit, a lot like the ones that were used by pilots before the great peace.
"If what I learned in school is right, then that suit has a built-in gravity tether that will allow the pilot to walk around the ship in zero gravity." Andy whispered to himself, with a renewed hope. "But how do I get over there?"
Andy pulled off his left shoe and gave himself hope. "This might work" Andy said to himself, aiming his shoe at the side of the brick building that was just outside his reach. With a grunt, Andy sent the shoe flying at the wall. With a good deal of force the shoe bounced and sailed back by Andy, but it was just outside his reach. Andy took off his other shoe and got ready for his next try.
"Last chance," He muttered as he flung the shoe at the wall with a great heave. The shoe bounced and flew back just like the first one did, but this time Andy was able to reach out and grab it as it flew past. The momentum of the shoe took Andy with it.
It may have been slow going, but the momentum gained from the shoe gave him just the right amount of speed to propel Andy right over to the floating body.
"Uh I would hate to be this person, now where's that gravity tether…. Oh here it is,"
Andy flipped a switch on the pilot's suit and both Andy and the body collapsed to the ground. Andy stood up and pulled the watch device that held the gravity tether off of the pilot's wrist and slipped it over his own.
But just as he was about to walk away, a whimpering voice came from the voice laying on the ground at his feet.
"H...EL….P"
Andy spun around in surprise. What he saw stopped him dead in his tracks. There, laying on the ground at his feet, was a girl around the age of 19. She had golden blond hair stained red with blood. The pilot mask that once keep her identity a secret had been retracted back into the the suit when Andy had pulled the watch off.
"H...E..LP," Came the voice again, Her bright blue eyes stared up at him and her gloved hand reached up as to grasp the stars, but then fell back to her side. And her eyes close once more.
"Well we can't stay here, so I guess you're just gonna have to owe me one." Andy said as reached down and picked up the pilot girl, switched off the gravity tether and jumped into the air.
But just as the thought of where they should go crossed his mind, the intercom in the dome buzzed to life.
"Citizens of habitation dome 2, I caption George Williams of the star port protection unit regret to inform you that we are under siege by an unknown enemy. Please proceed to the evacuation centers located in the east wing of the dome in an orderly fashion."
The intercom buzzed off.
"Well that seems like a good place to go." But just as Andy pushed off the ground in the direction of the evacuation center, an explosion echoed through out the dome. A flash of blinding light illuminated the east wing and a rocket blast of air sent Andy and the girl spiraling through the air. They spun around like rag dolls until they smashed back into the ground.
Andy looked up to see fire as tall as the dome itself engulfing the east wing.
Chapter 2
The smoke from the fire in the east wing spread along the top of the dome, blocking out the stars and plunging the already dark dome into an even darker night.
"Great so now we have heat, but the air is filled with smoke. Now what?" Andy muttered mostly to himself as he pick the unconscious pilot off the ground and slung her over his shoulder.
"If I remember right, there should be an emergency shelter in the center of the dome. But from here it would take a full day to get there and I don't think we have enough time for that."
As Andy spoke, the sound of more explosions shook through the dome, only this time much closer.
Andy stared blankly down the road that lead into the inner city limit, which was now filled with rubble and flipped cars that lay strewn all over the street.
"Now if only one of these cars still worked." And with that Andy sprung off once more in search of a way into the city.
It wasn't long before he found one. It was a dark black car, with only two seats and tinted windows. It was the type of car that so many people, including Andy, dreamed of having. But only a chosen few could actually afford.
The car had a few dents here and there from shrapnel of the exploding buildings, but after a few minutes of clearing concrete from the car and its surrounding rubble, the car looked good as new.
Andy reached for the car's door and and to his surprise it was actually opened.
"I guess owner left in a hurry when the bombing started" Andy said as he lifted the still unconscious pilot girl into the passenger seat.
"Ok, lets see if this thing still works," Andy muttered to himself as he reached forward and flipped a sliver switch on the dash board. The car buzzed to life and the feeling of floating once again returned. Two black leather straps emerged out of the seat back and formed an 'X' shape over Andy's chest.
After the invention of maglev technology in the late 2000s, most cars had no need to touch the ground to move around. And with the help of positive and negative magnetic forces, cars like the one that Andy was in could hover up to three feet in the air.
Andy pressed down on the accelerator and the car lurched forward. Hovering above the ground, the car passed over the rubble scattered streets with ease, and proceeded onwards in the direction of the inner city.
Andy drove quietly over ruined streets and the unconscious passenger stayed mostly quiet except for the few words she occasionally muttered in her sleep.
The type of the car that Andy had acquired could normally drive/hover for days at a time without having to be recharged. But the previous owner must have forgotten to charge the car the night before, because the car's remaining power supply was dwindling.
Andy who just then realised that his escape vehicle was about to fall out of the air due to lack of power drove the car over to the side of the road, which conveniently had a power station attached to it.
The normal car takes three to five minutes to fully charge its battery. As Andy got out of the car he looked back over his shoulder at the still fast asleep passenger. Fortunately, the recharge process is extremely easy. All Andy had to do was plug the thin carbon fiber cable that stretched from the back of the car into one of the many power charger outlets that littered the ground nearby.
As Andy waited for the car to finish charging he looked out at the horizon. Black smoke was still spreading across the east side of the dome and now areas in the north east section had started spewing dark smoke as well.
A hard metal click echoed behind Andy dragging him out of his day dream.
"Turn around slowly and don't do anything stupid" Came a dry and cold voice from behind Andy.
Andy felt the cold and hard touch of steel on his back.
"OK. OK" replied Andy raising his hands above his head and turning around to face the mystery person.
What Andy saw made his stomach drop. Standing before him was a middle age man with long wavy black hair. The man was standing at an awkward angle, Andy's eyes were instantly drawn to the man's right leg. Large parts of his flesh had been torn away, only being held together by crudely wrapped layers of a mix of medical gauze and regular tape.
The man's eyes flashed with insanity as he spoke. "I know you have them,...GIVE THEM TOO M….E."
Andy took a step back and the man raised his gun. "Ok, just tell me what you want" replied in a shaking voice.
"The PAIN KILLERS… GIVE THEM…."
"Ok I have them here just let me get them" Andy said reaching behind the car.
"AHHHHHH" screamed Andy as he grabbed a conveniently placed rock from behind the car and launched forward at the man.
Andy's blow just skimmed the man's head, and with a swift kick to the chest Andy was sent sprawling backwards into the ground.
"Stupid boy I told you not to do that…..I'll just take them my self" Screamed the man, eyes wide with anger as he brought up his gun and pointed it at Andy's head.
BANG….. the man fired sending a bullet flying centimeters from Andy's face. Readjusting the guns aim so that it would undoubtedly strike Andy, the man prepared to fire once more.
BANG…..
Chapter 3
Andy removed his hands from in front of his face and stared dumbfounded at the scene playing out in front of him. The man stumbled back for a few seconds then fell face forward, landing just inches from where Andy lay on the ground.
In the passenger side of the car, the pilot girl was sitting up, in her shaking hands she held a small two shot pistol.
"I guess you owe me one now," she squeaked out, letting the pistol drop to the floor and collapsing back into the seat.
Andy was still trying to comprehend what had just unfolded in front of him. He slowly reached forward and grabbed the gun out of the dead man's hands.
Andy tucked the gun into his back pocket and slowly stood up. He stared blankly at the girl sitting in the car. She was now conscious, sprawled out in the seat, with a grimace on her face.
Andy looked down and joined in her grimace. On the floor of the car a small pool of red liquid had formed. When she had fired the gun, the shock ripped open her wounds, which were now heavily bleeding.
"You just gonna stand there looking stupid or are you gonna help? Throw me your jacket," the girl squeaked the question as she ripped off the sleeve of her flight suit, revealing a deep gash in her left arm.
Andy, still confused about what she was doing, obediently took of his jacket and tossed it over.
"Thanks." She pulled a knife out of the flight suit pocket, and proceeded to cut both sleeves off of the jacket.
"Hey!" Andy objected. Not wanting his favorite jacket to become confetti.
"Oh shush. I'll buy you a new one," The girl grunted through clenched teeth as she tied the strips of fabric tightly around her arm.
"Oh that's what you were doing"
"Ya Einstein, now let's move before that smoke gets here." She gestured to the large cloud of smoke steadily spreading closer to them on the top the dome.
"Ya" I think that's a good idea" Andy said back, as he unplugged the charging cord and stepped into the car.
Impressively the girl had been able to stop most of the bleeding, and with a shigh of accomplishment slumped back into the seat.
Andy who had been quietly watching the girl patch herself up finally spoke up. "Does this happen often