The first chapter of my book sixty-two hundred

Forward

I stared as my home was ransacked. The Strange Ones were destroying my house! The way they moved was slow and hypnotizing; when they spoke it caused panic in even the bravest of hearts. Here was a beastly creature that truly deserved its name. I watched blue-white fire corse along the spine of my home causing the outer sphere to collapse. Then I knew the world was under invasion! Shock overcame me, I couldn’t move! I stood helpless as a Strange One drifted up. It pointed its skeletal blue-fire rod at me slowly, prolonging the moment of dread, then pressed the button to kill me. The world slowed down as the bludgeoning force of a thousand feathers tore up my face, causing gashes that spidered across the melting skin.

Darkness ensued, screaming in the distance. Louder, louder, until...

I awoke in a cold sweat. I touched the scars on my face. The gashes had gone, but the smoke-markings were still there. This didn’t surprise me, for it was

Five years later.

The year 6200 was beginning.

One

I sat up and looked around. It took me awhile to figure out where I was. Then I remembered, I was in the Andes Mountains, hiding from all things Strange. Not that my current residence wasn’t strange in its way. One of my many hide outs, my stuff littered the cave floor. The cave itself was rather large, and roundish. The only light came from the washed-out color of the clouds outside. It was near dawn, which only added to the achromous nature of the grotto. Trinkets from across the millenniums was the “stuff” that littered the ground. There was a compass from the Titanic, and a sun dial from Caesar's royal gardens. Also, there was a primitive computer from the Statue of Tranquility, a feeling prism, several scattered orjuniums, a person pacifier, and a miniature cow that was chewing it’s cud in the corner.

I grimaced, my ugly T.A.R.D.I.S. (Transmitting Access Riptic Dimensional Instantaneous Sender) stood by the wall. A completely insane (and Dr. Who worshiping) inventor had created the aberration in his one moment of genius. The deranged man had to make it look just like the show. It even had the words “public call box” written on it, but I stole some paint and fixed that little problem straight away. I watched the show once, just out of curiosity, but that particular Dr. was very annoying. He was either the one-hundred-sixth or one-hundred-eighth. I forgot which.

Anyway, the stupid thing was broken again and I had to fix it.

After 100 hours (or possibly minutes) of continuous labor the dratted machine was up and running. I started scooping piles of junk into my least favorite pile of junk (the TARDIS) and gunned the engine.

I held on tight as I zoomed through the first dimension (time) listening to the comforting zum of the engine. For the first time in a while I appraised my “look” in the mirror that I had snapped into existence seconds before. The left side of my face was acceptably pretty, with a masculine chin, smallish nose and large tawny eyes. They had reminded my mother of a hawk, which earned me the name of Accipiter. I had many names, and they were all hard to pronounce, so I only said them when someone asked. Tawny eyes hadn’t been seen in humans until the fifty-seventh century. Of corse, the right side was scarred beyond recognition. The reddish-purple hair that hung limply off my scalp was thin and lacked the sheen of health. Its color hadn’t been seen until only the twenty-fifth century. The ends were ragged, caused by my haphazard shearing. My gaze moved to my outfit. The familiar costume was worn and travel-stained. An unflattering shirt the color of old vanilla pudding covered only one shoulder. (the other sleeve was sacrificed to the noble cause of bandages after a recent mission) It was travel stained with colors like petrified lung phlegm, beetle squish, and technicolor yawn. Ugly was an understatement, but it had blended in with almost any surrounding, including public relations offices, so it had been invaluable to me when new. Excessively faded Levi’s covered my lower half. They also blended in with any terrain. Because sometimes I had to pretend to be a super-hero-like figure to gain respect, trust, or fear, I also had a black trench coat. It was sleek, perfect for portraying an element of mystery. I owed much to the Matrix movies. It was also waterproof, so that was nice. I realized the shirt looked weird, so I ripped off the other sleeve and used it to tie my hair in a ponytail. I let my bangs hang down to cover my scars. It didn’t help. I still looked like a hobo.

Damn, that meant I had to go shopping.

“Oh well,” I sighed out loud.

The zum of the Tardis shopped. In its place was the terrible cacophony of fear and destruction. The sound made me weirdly happy. It meant shopping was out of the question. I raided the cupboard and brought out the biggest gun I had. If the war had spread here, I would need it. Slowly I opened the door of my ship and peered out.

Just as I thought, the war had spread. What was amazing was that it had spread through time to. It was the year 2012 and according to the ancient Aztecs, the year the world ended.

Someone screamed, awakening me from my daydream. Time to think later, now it was time to fight.

The gun fit nicely to my arm and I started shooting in rapped succession. The gun was a beaut.’ Hawk model, so named for the sound it made.

TSEEEEEW TSEEEEW “All civilians into your houses,” they stared at me. “Only if its convenient for you,” A Strange One vaporized a fire hydrant, and water sprayed everywhere.

They started running madly toward the houses, but a small girl was too slow. As her parents tried to drag her, a Strange One’s blue-fire rod fired. Those evil bastards showed no mercy. I quickly crossed myself for them. I knew better than anyone that casualties happened in any war. I resumed shooting.

It took a while, but eventually all the Strange Ones were deceased and miraculously, I wasn’t. I looked over toward the little girl and her parents. Their bodies lay sprawled on the ground, still smoking. The girl was very young. Eleven or twelve was all. Her family surrounded her. That would be the way to die. Around the ones you loved and who loved you too. An overwhelming sense of longing washed through me. That was the fate that had escaped me. I shed no tears. I had cried myself out years ago. Turning to go, I thought about how-

WHAT WAS THAT?!?!?!

Did the girl just move or was it some kind of bizarre and desperate fantasy? But no! There it was again! Breathing!

I pushed her dead mother off her. She died in duty, I thought, protecting her child. I knew there was no hope for her or the man, the smell of death was already taking hold. The child, however, was still clinging to life with the strength and ferocity of youth. She sure as heaven and hell wasn’t gonna die without a fight. In that moment I knew she would be renowned for her greatness in the coming centuries, for the wonders she would accomplish.

I also saw that even though she was still breathing, she was fading fast. There was no hope for her in this century. The pathetic excuse for medical care here just wasn’t going to cover it. I lifted her carefully and carried her to my stupid blue box. One of these days I was going to steal some more paint and it would become an awesome shade of chartreuse, or maybe a deep burgundy or-

“OH MY HOLEY ... CHEESE ... BI...SCUITS COVERD IN SHI...TAKI SAUCE” I yelled, trying to avoid swearing and blasphemy. It earned me a couple of stares from the people coming out of the houses, but I didn’t care.

She...had ...the...markings!!! All across her hand! Spiders, jagged across melted skin.

❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂

My hand! It was destroyed! Every time I moved it the wounds parted. It hurt!!! Someone came over to me and bandaged my arm. I slipped back into unconsciousness.

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

I remember doing the same thing, coming to, then sleeping, except I didn’t have any bandages.

Her hand was an amazing pattern, very swirly. It was hard to appreciate the scars when they’re your own.

❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂

I awoke to see a girl sitting by my bed. She appeared to be asleep. I looked at her eyelids to be sure. They were closed, but there was something strange about her-

OH MY GOSH!!!

Her face! Her scars was exactly like mine! Horrible. Although, I had to admit, They suited her. I realized they weren’t just like mine, no gashes. Also, I thought irrelevantly, she had no taste in clothing.

“What’s your name?” I jumped. She still had her eyes closed.

“A-Alice Smith” I stuttered. I realized I didn’t know where I was.

“Truly? I had a pet monkafet named Alice once.” I realized, for all I knew, she could be insane.

“What’s a ... what’s your name?” I asked. She blinked.

Frowning, she said, “Ballaquacianovatrinia Accipiter Elouweiseniie Calogenefradely.” she looked at my face and said, “Call me Benny.”

I could feel the surprise in my eyes. “Well. Benny. Where am I?”

“What do you remember?” She asked, ignoring my question.

My face drained of color. “They’re all dead, aren’t they.” It was a statement of fact.

She looked me straight in the eye. “Yes,” I was glad she didn’t try to beat around the bush.

“Oh.” I blinked.

“I’ll go make dinner.” She left me to grieve.

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Alice just sat there. Staring into space. It was terrible to watch and even worse to remember: coming to grips with the fact that your family was gone and not coming back. How long before she came out of her stupor and the tears came?

I began to make dinner. Freeze dried spaghetti, carrots, and meat sauce. Realizing the girl would need food to, I added another package. I was running out. I would definitely need to go shopping soon.

“What is it that you do?” She asked. I blinked.

“I mean, what’s your job,” she looked at me, “how do you get money?”

“I am the resistance. I save humanity on a daily basis. Every one on this planet owes me their life hundreds of times over. I steal what I need from those who can afford it.”

She was quiet then, and didn’t talk for several days. I never once saw her cry.