I wrote a small prequel for my new book series called When the Sky was Blue. I hope you enjoy this and, if you want more, feel free to pick up a copy of the book on Amazon!
The blue eyes of a small girl look upward at the sky as the sun reflects off the clear protective dome which gives the sky a teal green color. She stands on her tiptoes in her well-kept shoes as though she’s trying to look past the barrier in order to glance at the pure blue sky behind it. With her eyes closed, she takes in a deep breath but her air becomes polluted by a passing garbage truck that is rusted out and barely hovering off the ground. That stench snaps her back to reality as she sees abandoned buildings, jalopies floating by, and homeless druggies with broken parts replacing their limbs. She turns to a man dressed in a sharp suit and she’s reminded of how her family sticks out like a sore thumb in certain parts of Stratos. For some reason or another, her father chose to park his expensive car in front of a dilapidated one-story home.
He’s busy typing away some last minute notes on a projected hologram that’s coming from his wrist. Pulling on his jacket, the young girl asks, “Dad, how much longer?”
Not looking back at her, he continues his typing as he answers, “Not much longer. I’m almost finished.”
She rocks back and forth as she looks back up at the skydome. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Did the sky really used to be blue before the Great War?”
“The bluest,” he says without skipping a beat.
“Like my eyes?”
He cackles but keeps his glance glued to the screen. “Even bluer.”
The child pauses for a moment as she thinks through her next question. After a few moments, she asks her final inquiry, “Can it ever be blue again?”
Her father perks up from his work and looks into his daughter’s eyes. A heavy sigh exits his mouth as he can’t help but wonder if what she asked was possible. His lips begin to form a fatherly lie until a call comes to his screen on his hologram. He turns to it and sees that he’s getting a phone call from someone called ‘The Overseer.’ The father sighs in disappointment as he lifts up his finger to his daughter and says, “Give me one minute.” He taps a metal patch on his ear to answer the call, “Hello?”
A baritone breathy voice speaks over the line. “Tyler… where are you?”
Tyler paces around. “I had to finish something up.”
“Where are you?”
“The Homeless District.” Tyler sighs.
The Overseer scolds, “Are you trying to throw away everything we’ve worked on?”
Rubbing his eyes in frustration, Tyler answers, “I had to finish encrypting the file and covering our tracks.”
“That’s not the problem, Tyler.”
He stops in his tracks in disbelief. “What?”
“He knows.”
“Who?”
“The one to be feared.” Tyler looks at his doctor with frightful eyes as his daughter looks at him with an innocent smile.
Moments later, Tyler is speeding in his sports car as he’s driving out of the Homeless District and through the Slums in order to make it back to the Capitol. He desperately talks over the phone. “What do you mean ‘he knows?’”
As Tyler is talking, his daughter looks out of the window and notices an African-American family getting ice cream. The parents are smiling at each other as the son looks at the car as it zooms by. For a swift second, the two lock eyes but as soon as she sees them, they disappear behind a passing car.
The Overseer replies, “He figured out your trail and he’s preparing for your capture.”
Tyler shakes his head, “Do we move on to the next phase of the plan?”
“No. We don’t have enough resources and our friends outside of the Wall haven’t even begun their operations. We have to move to plan ‘B’.” Tyler turns back and looks at his daughter who is daydreaming at the window. “You know that…”
Tyler sighs, “Yes, I know.”
“Everything is prepared for her. She’ll have a new identity in place and I will watch over from the shadows.”
As a tear drops down his face, Tyler turns back to his driving. He leans back in his chair as he prepares himself for the inevitable. Wiping his tears, Tyler gains his composure. “You better keep her safe.”
“I will. We both know how integral she is to this operation.”
“How much longer will it take?” Tyler drives towards a massive barricade that’s being guarded by soldiers with the letters ‘S.P.D.’ on their torsos.
As Tyler gets in line with the other vehicles looking to gain entry, the Overseer answers, “It could take two years or even twenty years, but I am a patient man.”
Tyler angrily replies, “My daughter is not a pawn waiting to be played on your chessboard!”
There’s a long pause until the Overseer says in his deep voice. “Neither are you.” Tyler leans back in his chair. “I am willing to die for this cause because we both know that if we fail… Earth will die.”
Tyler rubs his face and sighs, “I know. How much longer do I have?”
“One, two hours tops. You should have enough time to finalize the details and hide your daughter. I’ll give Vanessa an anonymous tip to take her in.”
He scoffs, “Vanessa?! That woman…”
“You have valid reservations, Tyler.” The Overseer says, “But Vanessa is the best option to take your daughter and give her the tools she’ll need to survive while being in plain sight to the Council, without raising any suspicion about her identity. Just get her inside and I’ll take care of the rest.”
“Understood, sir.”
There’s a long pause until the Overseer says in a solemn voice. “May the Creator guide you on this great journey. Godspeed.”
As the phone disconnects, Tyler exhales and shakes his head, “Godspeed.”
“Are we almost home, Daddy?” His blue-eyed daughter chirps from the back seat.
Tyler clears his throat and says in a high pitch tone. “Almost sweetie. Just one more stop through the Barricade and we’ll be home before you know it.” They approach an overbearing wall with watchtowers being manned by soldiers and automatic turrets. As they get closer to the entrance, he notices an elite squad of soldiers processing people’s security clearances, as one of them is a muscular woman covered in armor from head to toe. However, what caught Tyler’s eye the most was that she had a bardiche axe on her back that stood taller than her. He whispers, “What’s a captain doing here at the gate?”
His daughter perks up, “Wow! Captain Joanna’s here too? I heard that they call her the Darkflayer because she’s able to kill bad guys without a gun. She’s so cool!”
Tyler nervously cackles as he drives up to the checkpoint. “That’s so good to know.” He turns around to his daughter with a finger over his lips. “Hey, make sure—no matter what happens—don’t say a word, okay?” She playfully curls her mouth and twists an imaginary key on her cheek. He turns back around and approaches the gate. As he stops in front of Joanna, he looks deep into her faceless glass mask that conceals her eyes but he can feel the gaze back into his soul. Gulping down his anxiety, Tyler greets, “Ah, Captain Joanna! It’s nice to meet you. Let me grab my license and information for you.”
In a cold voice, she speaks with a synthesized tone underneath her breath, “That won’t be necessary… Tyler Jameson.”
His daughter breaks her promise. “Jameson? But I thought…” her whisper is hushed by a stern side eye from her father.
Joanna continues, “Might I ask why a doctor, with your sophistication, would risk going out into the Slums with his young daughter? You should know how foolish it is to be out here.”
“Just teaching my daughter a valuable lesson about what could happen to her if she disobeys Stratos law,” Tyler answers.
“Then you did an insufficient job. We both know that death is punishment for breaking a serious law.” Joanna leans closer into his driver’s side window. “Since you’re so pressed to give your daughter a front row presentation, we’re getting ready to raid a doctor’s office that’s secretly an organ trafficking ring. Why not let your daughter tag along with us to see it firsthand? I’m sure she could make a good soldier some day. We’ve received another recruit around her age who’s a great shot. Sure she could use a friend.”
Tyler scoffs, “‘A doctor’s office’, huh? Do you actually believe that or were you given that information?” Joanna doesn’t respond but Tyler doesn’t break his gaze from her glass helmet until he clears his throat. “Unfortunately, we have some business to tend to at the Capital, so we’ll have to put an end to our little field trip, captain. Thanks for the offer anyway.” Their glares at each other don’t break. “Is there anything else that you need from me, Captain Joanna?”
Her right hand inches towards her back almost like she’s grabbing the hilt of her executioner axe. “I hope your daughter isn’t taught that valuable lesson with her father as an example.”
Tyler lowers his hand towards the paddle shifter on the back of his steering wheel on his sports car. His finger gently touches the carbon fiber gear shifter ready to throw it in reverse until a soldier interrupts, “Captain!” He salutes, “Our team is prepared to move on to the doctor’s office, madam. Your envoy is ready.”
Joanna’s hand lowers back to her side as she stands up straight and says, “Thank you, Oren. I’ll be there momentarily.” Oren runs off as Joanna waves at the gatekeeper who opens up the Barricade. She turns back to Tyler and says in a monotone voice, “Have a good rest of your day, Tyler.”
Tyler nods, “You too, captain.”
Without hesitation, Tyler shifts gears and drives into the tunnel that was being guarded by the gate. He looks in his rearview mirror to see Joanna staring him down until the sunlight disappears and he’s in a lowlight darkness. Only broken by sporadic moments of reflective road lights, the tunnel leads Tyler for about half a mile until he sees sunlight on the other end. When they exit, his daughter dashes to the window to see the sleek high rise buildings that are covered in glass and scrape the green sky. Large holographic avatars dance around in the air in an effort to entice viewers into vain consumption. Tyler turns onto a freeway where multiple luxurious cars either hovered over the ground or rode on the physical road for those who appreciated the force that kept them grounded, like himself.
After a few minutes, they finally arrive at their home in a condo building. Tyler rushes him and his daughter inside as he turns around and types on a holographic keypad that turns on the security system. He starts whispering to himself as he tries to process the situation, “Okay, okay. I need to delete everything, get to the lab and then…”
“Don’t worry, Dad, I already gotcha signed in!” His daughter is over by his computer desk standing next to his chair with his desktop screen already unlocked. Despite everything going on, Tyler looks into her blue eyes and is reminded of a light. The Light. The reason why he’s even attempting this. He can’t help but think of his late wife that made him promise to not quit… that made him promise to die a good man. When he reminisces, instead of sadness invading his heart, it’s a peace. Not because of what he lost or what he will lose, but because of what he gained. Just for that moment, a smile came over his face and he remembered this one simple fact: that he’s still a father.
Tyler cackles as he walks up to her, “How do you know my password? This is top secret information, ya know!”
She tilts her head. “Really? It’s just your favorite smoothie ‘MangoPineapple’. It’s the same for all your passwords.”
He picks her up and tickles her as she screeches with laughter. “Oh so you think you’re so smart, huh?” Tyler plays and hears the joy of his daughter… one last time. After a few more seconds, Tyler kisses his daughter on her forehead and says, “If your mother were here, she would be amazed at who you are.”
His daughter hugs him and solemnly says, “You too, Dad.”
Another call comes in and with that call, Tyler is reminded of his mission. He looks at his hologram on his wrist and sees the name ‘Leviye’. He answers, “Talk to me.”
“They’re coming.”
“What?!” Tyler exclaims. “I thought I had more time!”
“So did we. We’re doing our best to disrupt their communications but you need to move!”
He gets on his computer and types vigorously until he sees the security cameras for his condo building. He cycles through a few cameras until he sees a group of soldiers running through the halls. All of them are human except one: a machine. This large humanoid mechanical being stood over eight feet tall. Unlike the rudimentary, rustic work of the Slums, this monster was coated in clean chic armor plating that was so darkened, it matched the despairing shade of the moonless night. The titanium alloy wraps around the entire robot in such a way that it looks more like metal skin than crude plating. Its movements mimic a human but they are so smooth and calculated that it’s clearly inhumane. Instead of running with the other soldiers, the robot stopped and looked directly into the security camera at Tyler. Tyler asks, “What is that?”
Leviye pauses and answers, “His messenger.” Tyler gets off of the camera and deletes the files on his computer, grabs his daughter and rushes out of the room as Leviye continues, “Go to the far end of the hall opposite the elevator.” They get to the end of the hall where they start to hear soldiers climbing up the stairwell. “Use the door on the left. That’s the service elevator.”
Tyler tries to open the elevator but there’s a security pad next to it that’s denying them access. “It’s locked!”
“One second.”
Tyler hears the soldiers getting closer and he hears the other elevators approaching his floor. “Today would be nice, Leviye!” Ding. The service elevator opens as they rush inside and the doors close behind them right before the soldiers reach their floor. “What’s next?”
“I already have your identity changed in the system and though he knows about you, he’s still unaware of your daughter.”
“Did you change her identity too?”
“No. She’s still the same.”
Tyler yells in anger. “Why?! I thought that…”
“For what will happen next, she needs full access to the Capital and the Slums. If I changed her identity as a child, she’ll risk losing her access to both. Don’t worry, even though your daughter will hide in plain sight… she’ll be safe until she’s ready.” Tyler looks at his daughter’s frightened eyes. “Right now, we need to focus on destroying the server at the lab. The Overseer is already changing the last bit of information in the system and he’ll make sure to cover your tracks over the surveillance system. They had your home address but they don’t know where your lab is yet. My guess is that you have about fifteen minutes to get to the lab, destroy the server, and hide your daughter before they find you.” The elevator door opens as Tyler sees his sports car parked a few spaces away. They run to it and get inside as Tyler immediately drives away. Leviye says, “Once that’s done… It’ll be time.” Tyler takes a deep breath in and lets it out as he adjusts his rearview mirror to see his daughter. Leviye sighs,“For what it’s worth: you did a good job, Tyler, and your wife would be proud.” Tyler starts his car as Leviye gives his final send off, “Godspeed brother.”
Tyler shifts gears and replies, “Godspeed.” He speeds off from the parking spot. Instead of going out of the main entrance where the soldiers are, Tyler goes through the service area, zips past a cargo truck and gets on to the main road. He bobs and weaves in between traffic as he’s repeatedly looking around him to make sure that he’s not being tailed.
His daughter asks, “Daddy, what’s going on? I’m scared!”
Keeping his composure, Tyler answers, “I know sweetie but you’re gonna have to trust me, okay?”
They pull into the back of an office building but the parking lot is empty. They run up to the door as Tyler scans his ID card and the two of them run inside. Walking past the empty glass labs and offices, Tyler glances over each room number until he finds his own lab. Upon entering, Tyler walks past a small operating table with a rat connected to multiple blue tubes protruding out of its body like external blood veins. Tyler’s daughter walks up to the rat on the table and, to her surprise, the rodent was still breathing. In fact, the blue wires seemed to be fluctuating with its breathing like they were truly part of its being. When she gets close enough to it, the rat opens its eyes and glares back at the small girl. She jumps in fear but, what surprised her the most, was that the experimental rodent had the same color eyes as her own.
Meanwhile, Tyler types on his computer and transfers his experimental files to a private server. Then he deletes most of the files but this time, he changes the primary code on his experimentation and replaces it with a new program. After he does, he goes over to a glass case with a tiny blue shard floating in the middle of it that matches the same hue as his daughter’s eyes. Tyler takes it out and as soon as he does, the blue veins turn green on the rodent as it slowly starts to die. His daughter starts to panic but Tyler ignores her as he throws the blue shard in a nearby incinerator and he immediately begins destroying the lab. His daughter screams, “Dad! Dad! Stop!” Again, he doesn’t listen to her. Instead, he takes a lighter from his pocket, tears off a piece of his shirt, and sets his lab on fire as the alarm sounds off.
“C’mon!” Tyler grabs his daughter as they run through the building. The lights shut off and emergency lights flash repeatedly. He mutters under his breath, “Room P372. P372!” After passing by multiple doors, he finally finds a small door to a supply closet. He types on the keypad that unlocks and places his daughter inside to hide. “Baby, I’m sorry. I know this is happening all at once but… Daddy has to go, okay?”
His daughter shakes her head and tearfully pleads. “No, please don’t go! Just take me with you!”
Her father kisses her forehead as a tear comes down his face, and he encourages, “I can’t take you with me, but I need you to do something for me that only you can do. You must find Project Genesis.”
“But I don’t want to do it without you, Daddy!”
“I know, sweetie, and I pray you won’t have to do it alone, but everything depends on you finding that file no matter how long it takes. When you do, it’ll lead you home.”
They hear officers yelling in the background. “There he is! Freeze you’re under arrest for treason!” Tyler shuts the door and runs off.
Meanwhile, a man is seated behind a computer screen observing the entire event occurring in the lab. He scrubs the video and crops Tyler’s daughter out of film to conceal her involvement. Once he’s finished, he gets up from his computer and says, “Make your father proud… Skye.”
Want to read more? You can order a copy of When the Sky Was Blue here, for e-book/Kindle, paperback, and hardcover!
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