My Sister's Keeper: Chapter Thirty One [NaNoWriMo]

Part Twenty-Three of my NaNoWriMo challenge. Total words written to date is 50,000, with 47,500 uploaded with this episode. This is the penultimate upload. I finished the challenge just prior to uploading this and will have the very last chapter on Steemit this time tomorrow.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Jones rushed into Esha's office unannounced. Penny raced in behind him to try to warn her boss of the unscheduled visit, having been unable to prevent his large frame from brushing her aside. “It's okay, Penny, let him through,” Esha told her.

“I'm sorry to disturb you, but you need to hear about this.” He sat in the seat opposite her desk as was customary for their meetings.

“What is it Jones. Something serious obviously given the nature of your arrival.”

“There was an attack on the shuttle. Three fighter jets acting on United Nation's orders launched a surprise assault upon it.”

“The UN sanctioned an attack upon our shuttle?” she asked.

“Yes, it was the coalition army jets acting on authority of the army High Command.”

“And why would they do such a thing?”

“They were trying to prevent Ruby, the child I told you about, from reaching Mars. She is on that shuttle,” he told her.

“Were they seeking to board the vessel and capture her?” Esha inquired.

“No, they made no effort to communicate with the shuttle command. They launched an attack immediately upon arrival. And the thing is, it would have been successful given the surprise nature of the attack. Except they forgot one thing.”

“And what was that?”

“The very person they were trying to put out of action was on that vessel. And she sensed their arrival. Their fear of that power prevented them from truly respecting it, it would seem,” Jones said, trying to make sense of their reasoning.

“So what happened? What was the outcome of their attack?”

“Three destroyed fighter jets. The pilots all died,” Jones told her.

“So even more soldiers have been taken out by these young girls?” Esha asked Jones.

“Yes, that is correct. These would be the first casualties from them. Although understandable, given the pilots had orders to destroy the shuttle. They weren't to allow the girls to reach Mars, no matter what it took.”

“Will they launch another attack?” Esha asked, concerned for the immediate welfare of the shuttle and its passengers.

“That would be highly unlikely. The shuttle would be reaching the point were the jets can't reach. And surely they have learnt by now that this adversary of theirs is more powerful than they. If they push her too far then they may find all their armies under threat.”

Esha pondered the thought. It wouldn't be a bad thing, to have the Earth's destructive armies incapacitated. Would Emerald do such a things, she wondered? Would she get involved in these matters? And would she pay her another visit, given the nature of these unfolding events?

“So what do you think will happen from here, given this situation?” Esha asked Jones, hoping for some clarity on how to perceive these events.

“Well they have just committed an act of war against Mars. They may try to talk that down, or make light of it, but that is what has occurred. They need to understand the seriousness of these actions they have just committed themselves to.”

“That is true, but I'm not about to declare war on Earth. That doesn't bode well for Mars, or our people,” Esha explained.

“No, I wouldn't recommend such a course of action either. But you are about to receive the one weapon they seem to fear above all others. Not that its ours to use, as it seems to be beyond anyone’s control.”

“Are you referring to the girls they were seeking to kill?”

“Yes, and more specifically, the second girl. The one whose existence hasn't been officially confirmed yet, but I have received reports that I hold to be believable.”

“Are you referring to Emerald?”

“How do you know her name?” Jones asked.

“She paid me a visit last time after you left.”

“She showed up here? On Mars?” Jones looked at Esha with disbelief. “How did she do such a thing?”

“You said it yourself. She was the mysterious one. She seems to possess a power so great, the Earth's armies are committing acts of war to attempt to destroy her. Surely if the armies of Earth can believe, then so can you?”

Jones made no reply, but just stared, as his mind attempted to put all the pieces of this bizarre jigsaw puzzle together into a coherent pattern. He was having an incredibly hard time making sense of any of it. Esha allowed him the time to digest it. Intelligence men can't fathom the irrational, she reminded herself. Usually it was their strength, but not always.

As the two of them sat in silence, with Jones attempting to find a rational explanation for these events, one that would allow him to sleep comfortably at night, Emerald appeared gradually in the seat beside him. At first he failed to notice, being too preoccupied with his own mental gymnastics. But he eventually noticed, out of the corner of his eye, that beside him sat another person. Beside him sat a small girl, perhaps the very same girl they had been discussing.

“Hello, I'm Emerald,” she said as she put her hand out to shake Jones' hand. He took her hand gently, unsure of how to proceed. It was time again for Emerald to lead the way.

“Nice of you to join us again, Emerald,” Esha said. “Don't mind Jones here, he always looks like he has just seen a ghost.” Emerald smiled at the joke, but lightly enough so as not to leave Jones feeling threatened. He had heard about Emerald, and now was his chance to discern the truth. “I hear the shuttle had some visitors pay an unexpected visit?” Esha added.

“Yes, we did. Three fighter jets from the coalition forces on Earth arrived with orders to attack, and if need be destroy the shuttle,” Emerald told her.

“This is a very serious situation, wouldn't you agree Jones?” Esha said, trying to bring Jones back to the conversation.

“I would indeed,” he said, as he snapped out of the deep thoughts he had found himself in. “Serious enough to warrant a demand for explanation.”

“It was you they were after, wasn't it?” Esha asked Emerald.

“It is me they are after, that is correct. They've seen for themselves now what I can do, and their fear, arrogance, and stubbornness has gone up a notch in response. But they are not stupid enough to launch an assault on Mars itself.”

“They are not really equipped to make a large scale trip to Mars, for the purpose of war that is. They could send a few ships here and there, but we would see them coming and fend them off. However, they could try to infiltrate the shuttle when it is due for flight to Mars,” Esha explained.

Emerald walked over to the office's windows and looked out at the Mars landscape. All that red, she thought. So desolate, yet so beautiful. There were winds of change being whipped up, and she found herself standing right in the middle of it all. Some would say she was the cause of it all. Perhaps she was. Perhaps her presence had stirred things up, altered the dynamics of how the various power structures were supposed to relate to one another. But all of that bored Emerald. The culture of Earth was suffocating under the weight of centuries of archetypal madness. The gods of the past have let us all down. They have overseen a behaviour pattern that has lead humanity to this very point – a fight for our very survival. There were forces at work, unseen by all, but felt very strongly by Emerald. A shifting epoch. The old gods are dying, she told herself. The myths of old - those stories from the past – that we tell ourselves to explain, or even to justify, why we behave the way we do. Why collectively, humanity is hell bent on self destruction. All of this has to change, Emerald thought. And she knew it would. Its why she had been born. Into two worlds as it were. Into this very time, and this age, when the light that remains shines through cracks in the damaged psyche of a traumatised species.

If they want to come to Mars. She told herself, then let them. The end result has been written in the stars. It is our destiny. How they wish to get there is completely up to them.

Emerald turned around to face Esha and Jones, “There is nothing they can do now. They played their hand, and exposed themselves and revealed their weaknesses. They are at our mercy now. Even if they sent people here, as you say they may, it would be for the sole purpose of killing me. But they would have to find me to do that. It would be a wasted mission, if they were to undertake it.”

“I think you are correct with your assessment,” Jones told her. “I will prepare a report into how we should best proceed with this matter.” He turned to both Esha and Emerald and bid them farewell, as he made his way out of the office and back to his own quarters.

Emerald sat back at the desk and faced Esha. She liked Esha and how she went about things. But she understood her too. Understood her complexities, the scars hidden away, revealed infrequently if at all. But Emerald could see them, painting a multi coloured tapestry around her that told Emerald so much more than even words could. Her loss had been great, but so to was her desire to rebuild. To conquer and vanquish the ghosts of the past. But they didn't need to be vanquished. The didn't need to be buried in the graves of the days gone by. They just needed to be made peace with. The past just needed to be acknowledged, and Emerald wanted to help her achieve that. Then nothing will stand in her way of making humanity great again.

“Show me the chapel,” Emerald said, “where you lost your family.”

“How do you know about that?”

“I know about everything of relevance,” she answered.

“You want me to take you there? Now?” Esha asked, feeling exhausted at the thought of confronting that place unprepared.

“Yes, there is a need for closure. For all of us.”

“Very well,” she said, trusting Emerald's instinct. “Penny?” Esha called through on the office intercom system.

“Yes Esha,” she responded.

“Could you organise a shuttle to take us to the New Chapel site, asap.”

“Okay will do. I'll let you know when it's ready.” Penny felt no need to question her bosses requests, even ones requiring a spontaneous rescheduling of the transportation system. She remembered their conversation and how significant that site was to her.

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Chapters One and Two (Part One)
Chapters Three and Four (Part Two)
Chapters Five and Six (Part Three)
Chapter Seven (Part Four)
Chapter Eight (Part Five)
Chapter Nine (Part Six)
Chapter Ten (Part Seven)
Chapter Eleven (Part Eight)
Chapter Twelve (Part Nine)
Chapter Thirteen (Part Ten)
Chapter Fourteen (Part Eleven)
Chapter Fifteen (Part Twelve)
Chapter Sixteen and Seventeen (Part Thirteen)
Chapter Eighteen (Part Fourteen)
Chapter Nineteen (Part Fifteen)
Chapter Twenty (Part Sixteen)
Chapter Twenty One and Twenty Two (Part Seventeen)
Chapter Twenty Three and Twenty Four (Part Eighteen)
Chapter Twenty Five (Part Nineteen)
Chapter Twenty Six (Part Twenty)
Chapter Twenty Seven and Twenty Eight (Part Twenty One)
Chapter Twenty Nine and Thirty (Part Twenty Two)

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This fiction is my own work, written for Steemit
Image Credit: Unsplash.com

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