Chapter 6
The Cell
Darkness… that was the first thing that I saw when I opened my eyes. At first I couldn't see anything but as my senses came back to me, I could
tell that I was still in the cockpit of the RX. I reached up over my head and instinctively knew where the switch for the map light was. When I
switched the light on it glowed dimly. I then realized that the RX was without power and was operating on the emergency battery which only
powered the cabin map light and the life support systems. I also realized that because the light was dim, the batteries were almost dead. I
reached down under the seat and pulled the emergency hatch open bar. A lot of hissing occurred and then after three seconds the hatch opened
and I stepped out on to the platform. I realized that I was in what looked like a forest or a jungle. It was still light out but it was either dawn or
evening. Because all the navigation systems were down, I didn't know what time it was. I also noticed that the RX was in a kneeling position. I
climb out over the hatch, past the head and down to the reactors service hatch. I turn handle, opened the hatch and looked at the monitor just
inside. It said the reactor initiated an emergency shutdown due to an unknown problem approximate Twenty-four hours ago. "Have I been out for
twenty-four hours, why hasn't the base initiated a rescue?" I then started to initiate the reactors start up sequence in order to get back power.
But because I didn't know what was going on, I set the reactor to minimum power which would be enough to get the radio, and the back up
navigation system working. I had just closed the hatch and was beginning to go back to the cockpit when all of a sudden, "HEY YOU, HANDS UP!" I
froze and after a minute I looked back and looked around, but saw no one. I said "who said that?" "I SAID HANDS UP, NOW!" The Voice had a
strong demanding voice like a hardened police officer. I put my hands up. "TURN AROUND, CLIMB DOWN OFF THAT THING, AND GET DOWN ON THE
GROUND, NOW!" So I climbed down off the RX, Dropped down about ten feet, did a soft landing, and laid down on the ground. I then heard
footsteps from about twenty feet away getting closer. The voice said, "MOVE AND YOU'RE DEAD." I didn't move a muscle. The footsteps came closer
until they were right on top of me. "PUT YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR BACK." I put my hands behind my back and after three seconds heard as well
as felt a pair of handcuffs wrapping themselves around my hands. I didn't say anything because I didn't want to provoke what ever it was that
was arresting me. "ON YOUR FEET, SCUM." I felt a very strong hand pull me up and onto my feet. It was after I was up, the thing that with his hand
on me appeared as if warping from another place and suddenly appearing next to me. There were about four more of these "men" that had just
appeared out of thin air. The other four had what looked like rifles aimed right for my head. They all wore equipment that made them look like
Special Forces soldiers. I thought, "These guy must not know about the testing or who I am, but I have never heard of a project where these soldiers
could just appear out of thin air. I'm just going to keep my mouth shut until I know what's going on." The man who arrested me then ordered, "WALK
THAT WAY." He pointed to the right, so I started walking, because with five guns pointed at my head I was going to comply with their orders. After
about fifteen minutes of walking through thick woods, we arrived at a clearing and in it was a vehicle that I had never seen before, it looked like
some sort of aircraft. I instinctively said, "What is…" "SHUT UP" they led me to what I assumed was the back of the craft. One of the men opened a
control panel and then a ramp came down. The man right behind me said, "GET IN." So I walked up the ramp and they then told me to sit down on
the bench. Four of men sat down on the opposite bench while the fifth closed the door. When the door closed, the fifth man then walked to the
front of the cabin and opened a door. "Head back to base, we have a prisoner. Have HQ send an engineering company to retrieve that machine I
called over the radio about." The person behind the bulkhead responded, "Right." I then felt the craft shudder and realized that we had taken off. I
looked to my left towards the bulkhead and saw a digital clock. It said 19:42.
20:02
I was just thrown in to a futuristic looking prison. The door closed behind me. The room was about ten feet by eight feet by ten feet. There was a
sink in one back corner, a single bed in the adjacent back corner, large wall mirror on the wall between the sink and the door. I knew that the
mirror was a one-way window and these people who were treating me like this were probably watching me right now. In the door frame there was
a red light directly over the door, above that was a digital clock, and over the mirror was what looked like a speaker. The walls were dark grey. The
entire cell was illuminated by a single overhead fluorescent tube light. There was also a chair in the corner next to the door. The bed looked
inviting, so I sat down and the looked at the clock. Noticing how exhausted I was I laid down on the bed right next to bed on the wall was a
square pad with two buttons. One had the word "talk" on it and the other had the word "light" on it. I pushed the light button and the overhead
light dimmed to about on quarter its initial brightness. It was still light enough for me to see what I was doing, but it was dark enough for me to
get some sleep, so I closed my eyes. The last thing that went through my mind before I drifted off was "What the hell is going on?"
05:03
I was woken up by the sound of two people talking outside my cell. One was the voice of a male, about twenty to twenty-five years of age. I
determined that he must be the one guarding my cell. The other voice was female, about twenty-two to twenty-six. "Look Sergeant, I know it's
against policy and you do have your orders, but if he doesn't get some nourishment soon, he's going starve, and no one on this base will without
me checking on it first. Understood?" the male sergeant then sighed and said, "Understood, Major. I let you in to see him but only for ten minutes
or I'll have to report this." "Fine. Is in anyone in the observation room." "No ma'am." "Alright open the door please." I then heard some beeping on
what I guessed was a keypad. The door opened with a hiss. The light over the door turned green and when the door closed it turned red again.
The overhead light was still dimmed so she must have though I was still asleep and it was also dim enough that I couldn't see any of her features.
She picked up the chair and set it down about three feet away from the bed. I could tell that she had blonde shoulder length hair. Before she sat
down I looked down and saw that she had a sidearm. She sat down and then said in a very quiet, angelic voice, "Who are you?" She said it in a
way that she thought I was still asleep. I responded in a firm voice, "That's what I would like to know about you…" she gasped and I pushed the
light button. "…Major." She had a very pretty face, like the face of an angel, to go along with he angel like voice. She looked about twenty five. She
wore a green class B Army uniform with a skirt. Her patch on left shoulder was one I had never seen before, but I could tell that she was with this
bases medical department. She then said, "Well I see you're awake. That's good." "You and the sergeant woke me up." "Oh well sorry. Um… I had
brought you some soup." She opened the small container that she had in her left hand and took a spoon out of her right pocket. She handed them
both to me. I gladly took them both. After a minute of eating she took out some sort of electronic device. She pushed some buttons on it and then
asked, "may I ask what you're name, rank, serial number, unit name, and branch of service is?" I then set the soup down and said, "You may.
Thomas Eugene Radford; Major; 311-90-0002; First Research and Development Battalion, Fort Bragg; United States Army." She then looked at me
with a shocked look on her face. She then said, "Major Tom Radford, The Major Tom Radford in charge of the MS Project?" I was kind wondering
why she was so shocked. I responded, "That is supposed to be a top secret project, major, but yes." She then punches some more buttons on the
device she had. Then there was a rapid chain of beeps. Then after about five seconds of the rapid beeps, there were three long beeps and after
that she was even more shocked. I asked, "Something wrong, major?" "Nn…nn…NO SIR…Uhh…uhh …I have to go I hope you enjoyed your soup."
She then ran out of the door. "What was all that about?" I said to myself. I then got up and went to the door. There was a small hatch that was
shoulder level, I opened it and said, "Sergeant…" "What?" "Did the major say anything when she came out?" "No, her face was very pale but she
also had a heavy blush in her cheeks. Did you do anything to her?" "No, all I did was tell her my name, rank, serial, and unit and then she hit some
buttons the device she had and then she had shocked look on her face and darted out." "Well what's your name?" "Major Tom Radford." There
was silence for a minute. I couldn't see the sergeants face because he was in some sort of futuristic body armor and a helmet with a face shield.
He then said, "What was that?" "My name is Major Tom Radford." "oh my god." "What?" "Uh…NOTHING SIR." "Ooookaaaay." I then closed the
hatch and looked up at the clock. It read 05:21.
06:03
I was sitting on the bed when I heard a sound from the speaker, "-crackle- Can you hear me?" I was a little skeptical as why someone wasn't in
the room, but I still responded, "Yes." "Okay, we will now begin this interrogation…" "Interrogation?" the man continued, "Please state your full
name, rank, serial, unit, branch and time in service." This line was starting to get a little annoying, but procedures are procedures. "Thomas Eugene
Radford, Major, 311-90-0002, first research and development battalion at Fort Bragg, United States Army National Guard, eight years." There was a
silence for about two minutes and then the voice over the speaker said, "Uh… p…please restate your full name, rank and serial." "Okay, now this is
getting irritating." I responded, "Thomas…Eugene…Radford, Major, 311…90…0002." There was silence for about fifteen seconds and then a console
appeared on the right side of the mirror. It had a hand symbol on it. The voice then said, "Walk over to the console and place your right hand on
the scanner." So I got up, walked over to the "scanner," and placed my hand on it. A bright green line then passed under my hand almost as soon
as touched the scanner. It went down and then back up. After it was done the voice then said, "thank you, please put the chair in the middle of
the room, facing the mirror, and sit down." I did as I was told. About a minute after I sat down the voiced over the speaker said, "Well, at first we
had many questions for you, but now we only have four. First, are you affiliated with any kind of rebel extremist factions or similar that we are
currently in dispute with?" "I am an Officer of the United States Army National Guard so of course not." "Okay. Second, what was that machine that
you were working on when you were arrested?" "That is the RX-01 Mobile Suit. The brainchild of the MS Project, which was conceived by me."
"Thirdly, Can you tell us what you remember in the last forty-eight hours up to the time you were arrested?" "Yes I can. At 0645 on October 24th,
the 1st R&D Battalion had just finished preparations for the field testing of the RX-01 at Yuma Air Force Base in Yuma, Arizona. I was going…"
Ten minutes later
"…we had just finished testing the 100mm machine gun at about 1930. We were in the middle of testing the 180mm cannon when the instruments
in both Unit One and the control tower registered a strong electromagnetic interference. When I looked at the main screen a small pale blue ball of
light had appeared. It then suddenly grew and I called for help and then I blacked out. The next thing I remember was waking up in total
darkness. I flipped on the map light and realized that the emergency batteries were almost dead. So I blew hatch, walked out, and climbed over
the RX, past the head, to the reactors maintenance hatch. I opened the hatch saw on the status monitor that the reactor had initiated an
emergency shutdown. I was configuring the system for a minimum power startup when those soldiers came upon me. You know the rest." There
was silence for a minute, and then voice spoke again. "Okay, and lastly, what year is this?" "2018." There was silence for another minute and then
he said, "We're finished." About five minutes later a man about six feet tall and looking about fifty entered. He wore a Class A army green dress
uniform. His rank on shoulders indicated the he was a brigadier general. Upon seeing him, I immediately shot up, stood at attention and saluted.
He walked in front of me, saluted back and then said, "At ease before sprain something, Major." I relaxed a little bit but still kept my composure.
"Sit down on the bed, Major." I turned and sat on the bed. The general unbuttoned his jacket and sat backwards in the chair. He then started to
speak, "I'm Brigadier General Andrew Salinas, Commander of this base. Let me be the first to apologize for our treatment. You see we are currently
disputing with several extremist factions in this sector and when the patrol that arrested you detected you on their radar, they thought it was
some sort of new weapon. And it turns out we weren't too far from the truth." I interrupted him, "Apology accepted General, now would you please
tell what the hell is going on. Soldiers appearing out of thin air, aircraft I have never seen before, unit patches I have never seen before, people
turning pale when they hear my name and when did we become so futuristic, huh?" he pulled out an electronic device that was similar to device
the medical Major had. He punched some buttons and then said, "Computer, Requesting Physical and Military Data on Subject Thomas Eugene
Radford, Major. Founder of the MS Project. Audio format." The Device then spoke in an electronic voice, "SUBJECT THOMAS EUGENE RADFORD, BORN
ON 08 31 1987, BLOOD TYPE A POSITIVE. IQ 278. ENTERED FORMER UNITED STATES ARMY NATIONAL GUARD ON 06 03 2010. ENTERED WEST POINT
MILITARY ACADMEY ON 06 04 2010. GRADUATED 05 10 2013. GRADUATED TOP CADET. RECEIVED RANK OF FIRST LIEUTENANT ON 05 15 2013. FIRST
ASSINGMENT WITH FIRST RESEACRCH AND DEVELOPMENT BATTALION STARTED ON 06 12 2013. FOUNDED MS PROJECT ON 05 21 2015. RECEIVED
RANK OF CAPTAIN ON 11 21 2015. RECEIVED RANK OF MAJOR ON 02 23 2017. INCIDENT OCCURRED AT YUMA AIR FORCE BASE ON 10 24 2018 THAT
RESULTED IN THE MAJORS DISAPPEARANCE. AS A RESULT OF THIS INCIDENT, THE MS PROJECT WAS CANCELLED. THOMAS RADFORD WAS GIVEN A
POSTHUMOUS TWO-RANK PROMOTION TO COLONEL ON 11 02 2018. END OF FILE." The General then said, "Computer, Please state my location."
"CURRENT LOCATION OF BRIGADIER GENERAL SALINAS: CELL NUMBER 248, CELL BLOCK ALPHA, 2nd FLOOR, UED LOS ANTARES MILITARY BASE JAIL,
LOS ANTARES UED MILITARY BASE, BRAZIL, SOUTH AMERICA." The general then asked, "Computer, what is the Current time and date?" "CURRENT
TIME FOR THIS TIME ZONE: 0633 HOURS. CURRENT DATE: 01 11 2503." The last statement made me freeze. The general then spoke again, "As you
have just heard, Colonel, you have been presumed dead for just over four hundred and fifty years. And the only reason we believe your story over
the others where spies have impersonated people, is that everyone who is in any type of military entity has heard of you and the MS Project and
about the incident. No would dare impersonate you because they don't want the same thing to happen to them. It was such a freak accident that
remains unsolved, and therefore it freaks people out. You also have a lot of respect in the R&D Department." I then was able to speak again,
"I'm…supposed to be…dead?" "Maybe, maybe not. The investigation team that investigated the accident could not make heads or tails of what
happened. All they know is that a pale blue ball of light consumed the RX-01 and the two transports and then disappeared." There was a knock on
the door. The general said, "Come in." a lieutenant came in and said, "Excuse me sir, the engineers are back with that machine and the two
transports and something else." "What's that?" "A dog, male golden retriever. They said he had a collar on him, it said 'Max'." I jumped up and
yelled, "MAX?" "yeah." The general then said, "Oh yes. The investigation team also reported that before the ball of light disappeared, a dog ran
into the sphere and vanished and the sphere disappeared immediately after that." I then became frantic, "Can I please see him?" the general then
said, "Absolutely, come with me please."
06:45
Myself, General Salinas, and the Lieutenant made our way to the bases main hanger. One the way I asked the general, "General, before the
interrogation a medical major came into the cell. Do you by any chance know who she is?" "Why?" "I think that when she left she was blushing or
something." "Be careful what you say about that major around me colonel." I looked at him questioningly. He continued, "That major just happens
to be my daughter." I decided to shut my mouth. When we got to the personnel door leading to the hanger we were stopped by two men who
were in full body armor like the sergeant that was guarding me in my cell. They asked for our identification. I started to pull mine out but the
general stopped me and told me that mine was not valid and he told the men to let me pass. They then opened the door and we saw the RX. I
almost immediately looked around but I didn't have to wait long because from behind the transport that the RX was on, Max came running toward
me at full speed, barking happily, I haven't seen him like that since the time he got lost when he was a pup and I found him at an animal shelter,
and when he got to me, he tackled me and started smothering me with dog kisses. After about a minute of this I was able to get max off and then
I gave him a hug and I then started to cry because I then realized that in a way, Max and I we're alone in the future.
