Alas thou mistress cruel
Chapter 1:
"And wilt thou leave me thus?
Say nay, say nay, for shame,
To save thee from the blame
Of all my grief and grame;
And wilt thou leave me thus?
Say nay, say nay!
And wilt thou leave me thus,
That hath loved thee so long
In wealth and woe among?
And is thy heart so strong
As for to leave me thus?
Say nay, say nay!
And wilt thou leave me thus,
That hath given thee my heart
Never for to depart,
Nother for pain nor smart;
And wilt thou leave me thus?
Say nay, say nay!
And wilt thou leave me thus
And have no more pity
Of him that loveth thee?
Hélas, thy cruelty!
And wilt thou leave me thus?
Say nay, say nay!"
Isn't it strange how the words of the past can be so relevant in the future?
I mean, you look at the works of Shakespeare (one of the most famous playwrights in all history) and every one of his stories have elements that appear in today's stories. Romeo and Juliet, all about love which is universal. Hamlet, all about revenge which is again understandable by today's audience. Emotions are human, understandable by all. The only difference between books now and then is the talent behind them to manipulate these emotions and how effective a being is at playing with them. To me, it's that talent that makes a artist not the circumstances around them. I would hardly give a damn about flying whales in space as long as there's a significantly strong moral around them. In the end; a writer's job is to tell morals; nothing else. Words can change. Style can change. Heck even the alphabet we write these stories in can change given time. But the one thing that remains constant is people.
People make stories. Stories then create people.
That's why I love the works of Sir Thomas Wyatt. I just get the guy; in a way not many people do. He is a great individual don't get me wrong; introducing the sonnet and basically surviving in a time that if you even breath differently could result in your head being chopped off. Wyatt just is honest about himself in a way that's rare in that time. He tells you his grief over people's death, he expresses his love for his 'fair mistress' and the fear he has of being lonely. I love the honesty he has; showing his emotions purely without restraint or delicacy. Not to mention the musical quality of his words …
"Reading again, Nicole?" my head researcher came nearer to my position; which at the moment was sitting with my back against a tree with my book in hand. Taylor; a energetic man with a curious yet humble view of the world. He's smart; very much so, but quiet about his intelligence so as not to cause offence. He's like me in that respect. "He's here; and asking for you!" I snapped my book shut and got up immediately. Why does he hunt me like this? Doesn't he know I don't want to help him by now?
I am the leader of this expedition and I must act now with dignity and composure relevant to that position. That doesn't mean I can't give him hell though. Or a backhanded slap if he get's out of line.
I marched forward, towards our campsite. For a few months now; my team had been stationed on the footfalls of Yellowstone observing the wildlife and ecological factors of a ecosystem near a dormant super volcano. All of the camp was temporary so as not to effect the natural surroundings, with canvas tents tied around the tree trunks and positioned strategically so that they could be taken down in a hurry if there is the need. We were supplying electricity using solar panels and small batteries but power had to shared sparingly. We did this by the ancient methods of both pen and paper, tiring and perhaps a little recourse squandering but necessary. My crew numbered about two dozen including various people from different nations and ethnicities. I had handpicked every one of them as the brightest bunch of scientists I had ever met. They were diligent, and for good reason. If Yellowstone ever erupted; our data compiled here may be invaluable in the future as a way to ensure the ecosystem is able to re-balance out. We studied the plant life, soil, water and air particulates in the area while working out what we can do to terraform a barren wasteland like the hill of a volcano.
I marched into the main command tent to face a man that I had hoped never to see again. He was leaning on a chair, my chair, with a casual air about him. His hair was messy spread across his head like a chocolate wave across an angry sea. His eyes were a lightning blue and looked warily my way. And for good reason; the arrogant, self-centred, egomaniac idiot really pissed me off last time we looked each other in the eye. No, pissing me off is an understatement. He made me feel wrathful, and ask anyone but usually if anyone achieved that it was this moron. Danny, my utter selfish big brother. What the hell are you doing here?
"Ah, Nicky! I was-" he started before I cut in. Even his voice has grown annoying with time. God I hate him!
"I'm not going. I don't care what you're trying to convince me to do and I don't care what you think I owe you but I won't go. Leave, now!" I went over to my desk, which was messier then usual. As the leader of this venture; my job is basically half doing paperwork for the government. The rest is to cover the asses of my team and to make sure they don't accidentally cross the government or EPA - who are the pain in my ass this year. My desk normally is littered due to this, with files and documents to be signed off by yours truly. Danny sighed, and I noticed the bags under his eyes finally. Never took much care of yourself before, and it seems you haven't changed your stripes.
"Nicole, we need you. Please just trust me on this; but this opportunity is worth everything and you won't regret going. You'll be doing things that will change the world, and you'll be able to see things no one has seen before. Trust me when I say, it's what you want!" My brother, the convincer with the voice of soft peanut butter that can stop armies with the correct word. Yet with all of his charisma; he has never managed to fool me. I'd rather trust a snake then him.
"What I want is to live a long and happy life while cataloguing my plants; not running across the universe being shot at by aliens from different galaxies who either suck the life out of you or make you their hosts!" I examined a form; a request actually for one of my team to take a hike up to the top of the volcano for a soil sample. I knew of course, she was an experience hiker but our agreement with the government not to take any unnecessary risks prevented me from agreeing with her request. After all; the nearest hospital is pretty far out if she falls and hurts herself. Plus there's the local predators to worry about and the risk of her getting lost. I wrote a quick note of apology and signed my name with a decided flourish to deny the request. She'll understand … hopefully.
"Who told you about that?" His posture indicated to me his surprise at my knowledge of the Stargate. Doesn't he know me enough to think I wouldn't want to know about parasite monsters from other galaxies and strange new worlds? Some brother he is!
"Oh please, do you have any idea how easy it is to get into Stargate through an non-traceable hack? Took less then five minutes to write the appropriate algorithm for the job!" Actually more like half an hour. With a lot of coffee. And a lot of background research. Ok; it was more like a day or two in reality but still for a secret it's not hard to find. The government really needs to update their systems and stop using those stupid lock out codes that can be accessed by a two year old rather then a terrorist community with dreams of grandeur. Not to speak ill of their scientists of course, who I suppose are at least trying to keep out prying eyes.
"You hacked into Stargate operations?" Danny's eyebrows nearly wandered off on their own before he finally re-called them for duty. Am I really related to this buffoon?
"Of course, I wanted to see what my dork brother was working on! You know I hate secrets more then anyone and I wasn't about to let some snot-nosed government burrocrates take you away from me again. Not after last time ..." I trailed off as VERY unpleasant memories surfaced. Memories of those two years after those suits told me that my brother had been classed KIA in a situation they weren't allowed to talk about. I let go of the breath I didn't remember holding before realising the pin prick pain shooting through my palms as my nails dug into them. I released my grip and tried to relax. Block it out. Sunshine. Dolphins. Breaking Daniel's nose. Happy thoughts. Just happy thoughts.
"I said sorry, what else could I have done?" There he goes again with the buffoon behaviour. It's childish and unbecoming of him. What does he mean not have done? Doesn't he understand by now what his actions have caused? Doesn't he understand what his actions have caused to me? His own sister? God; he's stupid.
"Not faked your death? Not have two government agents come to me during a very important trek through the Nevada desert to inform me that you had died? Not have made me spend two years in a mental hospital because you thought you could run around with your little friends!" my voice was bitter and for good reason. What sort of jackass does that? To his family no less. I thought I knew him; more then anyone. I was the one after all who saw him grow up. I was the one who helped him open up once in a while. I was the one who had to contend with the mockery of having a mad brother who thought the pyramids were made by aliens. Me! And yet he can stand before the one person who truly knows him having done that. I hate him.
"I'm sorry Nicole, but I had to do it. You know that! So please, sign the damn form and stop being so stubborn! It's not like you'll be working with me any way!" I calmed myself. Ok; I'm slightly overreacting. After all I am being assigned to the Pegasus galaxy instead of earth. Actually it's working in my favour since I'll be a whole universe away from this person who I don't recognise anymore. But I'm just stubborn enough at the moment to resist this. Ok; a lot stubborn enough to resist this. I have to make a decision. I just hope it's the right one.
"Fine, but after this I never want to see your face again; do you understand me? No letters, no emails and definitely no physical contact. You will leave me and you will never reappear in my life again!" I shifted the papers in to an orderly pile, all signed, before turning to the man I knew as my brother. Daniel, saviour of galaxies and world's most shit brother, soon will be saying bye-bye and I'll be stuck. On an alien planet. Facing life-sucking monsters. Yeah; I have such a good life.
"How long do you need to pack?" good question but not long I think. After all I don't have the habit of having much stuff since my trip to the Middle East when I lost a lot of stuff after having to escape a bunch of natives who really did not like the US army. Never managed to find most of it … they probably stole most of it. Never wanted much baggage you could say.
"An hour tops; take these documents to Taylor and make yourself useful. I'll pack and sign over control of this team to him while you're gone!" Hopefully Taylor can handle the teams. He is a pretty good leader I suppose after all. Daniel nodded and put some papers on the table for me to sign for a confidentiality agreement not to disclose any information about Stargate before heading out without another word.
So I'm heading to Pegasus … all right just one small question: what do you take anyway to another galaxy crawling with life-sucking monsters?