—-Excerpt from Astronomical Chapter 6

Good evening everyone…

Here is another post in an effort of show casing my newest book Astronomical©.  The passage below is a short read but takes a look at a sub-story of this anti utopia science fiction world.  Pay attention to Mury Te, the would be hero who currently is in another position in life…

A failure?

Your turn.

 

 

 

Chapter 6
“When it echoes, you really do hear echoes, if not—-something is very wrong with you….”

 

5 months prior, New Richmond, VA; Downtown Green Light District West

 

“I love the smell of fresh bread, God I miss eating good—-homemade pasties…”

Mury, the aloof rebel, roamed the darkened streets, hungry for a quick meal. It had been two days and all he had consumed were beef subs with plain chips and water. This fate was especially horrible due to him cutting beef out of his diet for five years now. Currently he didn’t have a choice in the matter. He was sick of it and so disgusted by his current situation that he pondered nightly about going back to a simple life. All of that was gone about a month ago due to his error of not killing Dr. Johnny Matferseed of the Happy Go Lucky Club. He was there on a cleaning job. The doctor was in his office. He had his chance but didn’t want to risk it. He decided only at the last minute that he would visit him again at night. Every Tuesday, he worked late and he would pay him one final visit. His facts were correct. The good doctor was there. It happened 4 days ago, a plan that was perfect to be carried out in full compliance. Additionally, the club was a front for the Nexus Jor but his identity was exposed, mainly betrayed by someone….

“Clar…,” mumbled Mury sorrowfully, eyes still water drenched like a passing rainstorm.

He wasn’t too sure but the X-Police knew everything about his operation. Everything down to his disguise, escape plans and his last evening with Clar. He assumed it was her and why not? She was the only one who knew of everything. He was angry and half broken at his state of affairs. He barely escaped from the hunting of the X-Police and more so, he was still being hunted to this day. His face was half burned by a mini explosion when he busted through the back door of the club. His left arm still tinged with numbness due to the exposed glass that greeted his arm through the chase. He just couldn’t remember where.

It all went so array. The plan and its greatness just failed without warning. His identification was new and made to fit his so called disguise. Even to regular eyes could it be called flawless? No one knew of the real him. He was just a janitor from the Northern Washington D.C. outer district. He even changed his looks and grew a full beard with a grayish tone. The first day on his new job was picture perfect. He was greeted by his supervisor and introduced to his co-workers. They were all friendly but a little bit too friendly, even for a job that paid low wages compared to others. The building was very nice. It was a corporate arms company in southern New Richmond. He was shocked to find out the bonus each employee would receive at the end of the year. War was great for business but even so for the lowly help.

Still, it didn’t stop him from his nightly activities. Each night after he got off from work, he would go to the local bar and meet up with a local informant who only went by the name “Timothy.” They would discuss the information they obtained through secretive means, mostly by the tracking of local arms bought and sold through the Happy Go Lucky Club. They would sit at the bar and talk in code. For instance, if they were to describe a missile, they would say, “A shipment of cleaning chemicals was messy.” If they would speak about stolen codes they used to hack into the computers, they would say “it was a hard order to process.” If their plans were a success, they would say, “The order was complete with mops included.” Even with these coded phrases they would talk like it was normal about sports or women who they thought were cute. It was all a lie, but a clever one even to the local X-Police who dubbed them, “The drunken boys of Richmond.” But what was even most clever was that they were never drunk. It was all a bit of acting which would have made a veteran thespian proud. The last night they met was a couple of days ago. It was the Tuesday that he picked up the local waitress to take home.

It all seemed like years ago. His nearly broken body was a result of an invasion that went wrong. As soon as he broke into the offices of the Happy Go Lucky Club, he was ambushed by several men in unknown uniforms. All of which had clubs and shock sticks that they used to beat him badly. He only escaped when he threw old time flash grenades that stunned the men while he threw himself through a close by window. His escape was a success, much to the disliking of his injured arm. Here he was, staring into a mirror at an abandoned studio in the lower green light section of New Richmond. He, at last, stopped wandering. The mission to check out the area again to finalize his escape was done. He made it back to his temporary hideout which dually served as an abandoned studio apartment. The room had broken wood and electronics all over the floor with a dusty bed inhabited by numerous bugs. His only choice was to sleep in the dingy tub located in the fowl smelling bathroom. To his delight, no bugs were seen in there. The lighting was equally horrible with only the street light as his only option. His face was scared but he didn’t care. He was alive for now which was a blessing in itself.

What he did remember from 4 days ago was what one of the unknown men spoke as they surrounded him. He only said, “A traitor given to us by another…..” Even if he didn’t say that he knew someone gave him up. He thought at first it was Timothy, but later he heard that he was killed the same night he was beaten. All his assumptions pointed at Clar, but why? Why would she betray him? It didn’t make sense, not even to a drunken pilot at a safe fly convention. His anger was now complete. He needed answers from her. He needed to know the truth. All the information he gathered most likely was a ruse. It was all too convenient. The gathering of X-Police and Nexus Jors at the Happy Go Lucky Club every Tuesday morning as well as the meetings between Dr. Johnny Maferseed and the local Mayor; all with direct links to the Federal Security Council. It was just too damn convenient. Maybe his undoubted plans for revenge clouded his judgment but now he knew for sure. They were now on to him and surely wanted to make an example out of him. A public display of court trials or a hidden murder, who knew? He stumbled on something that could expose the local and high governments but what was it?? At any rate, he must get out of town soon. He can’t continue hiding in New Richmond; soon the X-Police would catch up to him. His thoughts were ablaze. He couldn’t think of any way to get out without causing more murders. More fucking bodies to put on his conscience was the last thing he wanted to do…

For now at least.

He sat gently on an aged wooden auburn coffee table near the middle of the room. The green rug was very dirty. In fact, the dirt was so thick that the greenish tone almost appeared to be darkening. The street light was barely visible in this part of the room and mainly showed his feet. His eyes focused on the studio that was on the first floor of a nearly abandoned building. He saw shadows of people walking past and heard strange conversations of work among other things. Between minutes of glaring, he heard screeching cars from afar that were soon followed by sirens. This went on for nearly three hours. After five cigarettes had gone up in smoke, he was finally losing patience. He put out his sixth cigarette and groaned quietly, “Enough of this bullshit, I’m getting the fuck out.”

 

 

 

Thank you for taking the time to read this, hope you enjoyed it and any comment, criticism or not are well accepted.