I sit up with a gasp, images from the battle still fresh in my mind. Then I realize the whole room is white. I am sitting in a bed with a computer next to me monitoring my vitals. On the table next to my bed is my helmet. The faceplate is shattered and the helmet itself looks like someone stepped on it. my uniform is under my bed, bloody and shredded. I look around for somthing to call a nurse with and find a red button on the side of my bed. I press it and ten seconds later, Laurel walks in.
"Oh, youre awake. Good." she says checking the computer next to my bed.
"How badly was I injured?" I ask tentatively.
"Well the explosion itself gave you a third degree burn on most of your body and shattered your faceplate. The shrapnel severed some major arteries and lacerated most of your torso. The fall broke your spine and several of your ribs. You also recieved a concussion when some debris crushed your helmet," she says matter of factly. "Oh, and you were unconcious for about a week."
"Damn." I whisper looking at myself. My skin is flawless. Not a mark or cut, shows on my body. "How'd you do it?" I ask Laurel, inspecting my shattered helmet.
"We used a ton of regeneration drugs." She replies, cleaning up the heart monitor among other things.
At that moment, Dominick walks into the room, limping slightly, but otherwise okay.
"Yo." He says nonchalantly, "what's up?"
"J'son just woke up." Laurel says, watching me do some jumping jacks.
"Cool." He says, taking out a device and messing with its buttons and gears. "Command wants him as soon as you release him." he adds, finished with his tinkering.
"What for?" Laurel asks, puzzled.
"Beats me." He says with a shrug.
Laurel checks my blood pressure and a few other vitals, writes something down on a sheet of paper then says to me,
"You're good to go. You're dismissed."
I grab my helmet and ruined uniform and walk out of my hospital room. Laurel and Dominick close behind.
The base looks desolate. Dozens of white cloths are placed in the central square, some of them stained red. The concrete walkways have been turned into glass and several buildings have been leveled.
"They're mostly civilians." Dominick says in reference to the shrouds on the grass. "The attacks have been getting stronger and were out of regeneration drugs."
"Where's Kate?" I ask, realizing her absence. Seconds later an alarm blares as steam rises from an area of the camp. Four armored men rush past us, a flame symbol emblazoned on their uniforms.
"I told them not to reverse the polarity yet!" Dominick mutters running towards the cloud of steam, grumbling to himself.
"What's going on?" I ask Laurel as we continue walking.
"He reverse engineered the alien tech in the time you were unconscious. He's a genius!" She cries. "But I realize you want to see Kate, so come on."
She leads me to a building with a door labeled "authorized personnel only," presses her thumb into a scanner mounted on the wall and opens the door. I know what it is even before Laurel begins to speak. A silver cylinder is placed upright against the wall, Kate's face visible through it. Ice rings the glass plate but I can see that her face is webbed with glowing veins that pulsate with an alien energy.
YOU ARE READING
The fight for the future
Science FictionJ'son, a 19 year old corporal in earth's military, is taking a nap on the army base where he lives in the year 2406. He is awakened by a large explosion, quickly changes into his battle uniform, grabs his weapons and heads out to fight...
