The Final Revolution Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  THE FINAL REVOLUTION

  by Anthony Thackston

  CHAPTER ONE

  High above the blue sphere of Earth, locked in its orbit, the Grand Marshall planet cruiser rests. Its thrusters are cold from years of zero use as it stays close to the planet of its origin. Small dents and scuffs mark its hull, clear signs of impacts from space debris that have struck the ship throughout its stay in the darkness of space.

  The sound of the heavy steel door slamming shut reverberate in the ship’s prison."I have to commend you,” the commanding voice of the ship's captain taunts a disheveled looking prisoner. “That's the closest you've gotten so far.”

  "I'll have to try harder next time.” The prisoner, sitting in the middle of the cell.

  “Stepping a little closer won’t help. This boat doesn't need you, you know.”

  “But you do.”

  “Unfortunately. But don't go thinking that makes you greater than your station. That goes for all of you." The captain turns around to face the rest of the prisoners. “You are all here because I allow it. Any time of my choosing, anyone one of you can be banned from this ship.” He turns back to the disheveled prisoner and his eyes narrow. “And Alan. The next time you do decide to try again, mind the bruises.” The Captain gestures toward the darkening spot on Alan’s jaw before he walks out of the prison.

  Most of the prisoners watch as the door to the jail closes. Many of them sit down in silence, feeling there is nothing they can do. Others shake their heads, wanting to do something but too afraid to try.

  “How many times are you going to go through with this?” a red haired prisoner asks.

  “As many times as it takes, Danny,” Alan says, walking to the steel door. He reaches through the bars, one hand over the lock. It takes a few moments but after a few twists of his wrist, small clank is heard. “But I think I’ll only need one more try.”

  “One day he's going to change his mind about you,” Danny says. “He’s going to change his mind and find someone else.”

  “Too many abhorrents, lately.” Alan pushes the steel door open and steps out into the walkway. Hearing no sound behind him he turns back. “Let's get out of here.”

  “Right. Because home is so much better.” Danny sluggishly follows Alan.

  The two walk between the cages, scanning for any guards. Alan slows down at a floor panel and pops up the thin metal handle. He lifts the panel, rather effortlessly and motions for Danny to drop down in the hole. Alan takes one more look at the prison cells before dropping into the hole as well, letting the panel door shut above him.

  The lower deck of the ship houses what can only be described as the vagrants and the unwanted. People cast aside because they were born with too little or lost everything. Individuals who are looked upon as the lowest society has to offer.

  Alan and Danny make their way through the dirty faces and empty eyes. No one in the lower deck truly lives. It is a place full of survivors.

  “Maybe next time you can shoot him,” Danny says. “Oh that's right, no guns. I guess that means you'll just have to burn— Oh that's right, we can't get a flamethrower. That just leaves a screwdriver. But wait, you just tried that. And now look where we are.”

  “You don’t have to follow me.”

  “You forget. My secret mission is to make sure you don’t get banged up. Captain wouldn’t like that.”

  The two men walk through the slim and dirty hallway of the lower deck, passing the cramped quarters of the populace. The tiny rooms were designed only to hold two people at a time yet families of four, sometimes seven, have made the little cubes a home of sorts. Makeshift hammocks stacked above each other, suspended from the low ceiling, serve as beds for those who don’t sleep on the floor. There is no space for entertaining to speak of. For some, it feels like hardly any space to breathe. Still, it beats the alternative. Inside is better than out.

  Danny squeezes by a couple of kids playing in the narrow corridor as he tries to keep up with Alan. “Fine. So we go all the way back to the bridge—”

  “Why don’t you stay here?” Alan stops and slowly turns. “There’s less chance of me being jettisoned than there is you. I can move faster by myself, anyway.”

  “In your dreams.” Danny tells him. “I’ve got my own score to settle with Hallet. No way I’m missing out on that.”

  A woman calls out to her children as they weave through the crowded hall. She tries to keep up with them but the long, loose fitting dress drags along the floor and under her shuffling feet. She stumbles over the cloth, falling forward. A jug of clean water flies from her grasp. Its contents slosh out of the container before it hits the floor.

  Alan’s hands instinctively go up, outstretched in front of him. The jug hits the floor and those near enough to see the commotion, stop and stare in amazement. The woman hits the floor. Her eyes go straight for the jug as its opening rolls to face her. It is empty. Her eyes become wide and start to tear up. She crawls to the jug and looks inside, desperate for some trace amount of water. Even a small drop.

  The jug is completely dry.

  There is no sign of water, even on the floor. She looks up and sees Alan’s outstretched hands. Her gaze turns even higher at the object of everyone’s attention. The water looks as if it is stirred by wind as it floats above the floor, held by some invisible force.

  “I don’t mean to be rude but this isn’t as easy as it looks.” Alan smiles at the woman on the floor.

  She hops to her feet and scoops the jug around the water until every last drop is back, safely, in the container. “Thank you, Alan.” She places a hand around the back of his neck. Alan smiles back and the woman cautiously continues on her way after her kids.

  Everyone who watched the amazing feat, breathes a sigh of relief that the water was saved. “What are you doing?” Danny quickly moves in front of Alan.

  “Don’t start this again.”

  “Start what? Trying to save my friend? Trying to keep him from being jettisoned?”

  “I’m not going to be jettisoned?”

  “You keep showing off like that, you will.”

  “I couldn’t let it hit the floor, you know that. That was probably all the water she had and who knows how long she’ll have to make it last.”

  “That’s on her. And if you get caught doing that, it’ll be on you.”

  “I won’t be caught. Trust me. I’ve got that part under control.”

  Danny sticks a dirty, scolding finger right in Alan’s face. He shakes it a few times before lowering it to his side. “Just keep it to bolts, nuts and screws, ok?”

  Alan nods in agreement. It’s not very convincing but Danny lets it go. The two continue forward till Alan makes a turn into a very empty room. No more than a small piece of cloth lies on the floor.

  “Where’s your pillow?” Danny asks.

  “I gave it to Marlane.”

  “You keep giving your stuff away, you’re going to be running around here naked.”


  “It’s not about me, remember?”

  “Well, while you’re down here, maybe you might think about changing your mind. And maybe take a shower. I wasn’t gonna say anything but…”

  “I’d rather someone else use mine.”

  “Ok, Mr. Conservationist. It’s a little too late to save the planet, now. No carbon footprints up here, remember? Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go stand under freezing cold water.” With that, Danny meanders through the crowd of comers and goers, leaving Alan alone with his own thoughts.

  As Alan stares at the ceiling, a small screw in the metal plate above him turns counter clockwise until it falls from its hole. Alan catches the little fastener and turns it over between his fingers. He concentrates on the small screw, holding it up. His thumb and index finger part slightly and the screw flies upward, burying itself into the ceiling, right next to the hole it came from. Alan stares at it one last time before, subtly, nodding his head, satisfied with the affect.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Alan opens his eyes to find Danny pacing back and forth in the small room.

  “I can't believe its taking me this long to get warm." He rubs his hands on his arms trying to stave off a cold draft blowing throughout the lower deck. “You’d think this close to the engines, it would be plenty warm down here.”

  “The engines haven’t been running for years."

  “Yeah but they always keep them warm just in case they need to start up again.” Danny stops pacing and looks down an Alan “Don't they?"

  “I don't think so,” Alan says. "I think they actually run a super coolant through the engines now."

  “That's stupid,” Danny says incredulously. “No wonder it's freezing down here.”

  “I'm sure the cold shower doesn't help either.”

  “Idiotic water rationing. One thirty second shower a month. And in cold water. How do they expect us to live like this?”

  “What makes you think they do?” Alan rolls over on his single piece of cloth.

  “They can't want us dead." Danny kneels down on the cold steel floor.

  “Dead? No,” Alan explains. “Just uncomfortable enough to be willing to beg them for the bare necessities.”

  “I would say hot water and a little warm air are pretty bare necessities.” Danny stands back up and continues his pacing.

  Allen stands up and walks to the doorway. There are very few people roaming the cramped corridor. Those that are up and about are like Danny, doing whatever they can to keep warm. A man falls against the wall. A woman, possibly his wife, rests a hand on his shoulder. She whispers something to him, but it's too low for Alan to hear. The man coughs and nods in response. A few more coughs emanate from inside the various tiny rooms.

  “We’ll be begging them for medicine the longer this goes on,” Danny says.

  “It’s already gone on for too long. More people are getting sick. There has to be a way to get everyone to the upper levels. Middle class would help so many. Never mind the top sections.”

  “Yeah. But wouldn’t it be great to live in the top sections?”

  “Just trading one crowd for another. We should be free to move all about the ship.” Alan watches a couple of children together with one blanket around them. He rushes to his little piece of cloth, barely enough for him to lay on, grabs it and takes it out to the children. “Here,” he says to them. “This should help.”

  One of the kids takes it, gratefully, and wraps it around the shoulders of the other before they continue their way down the hall.

  “And now you have nothing."

  “I still have the clothes on my back.”

  Danny throws his hands in the air. “Don't expect me to share. I don't have enough as it is.”

  “I’m fine.” Alan watches the kids move deeper into the lower deck. He shakes his head. “This is no place for them.”

  “What was that?” Danny cuts in. “No place for them? No place for them? How about, this is no place for any of us.” He waves his arms around as if presenting the area. “For anyone.”

  Alan coughs.

  “Not you too.” Danny moves toward Alan.

  “I’m fine.” Alan waves him off. “Just clearing my throat.”

  “I hope so. You know, you of all people have the best chance for medical care. I don’t even know why you’re down here.”

  “Hallet says it to build me up.”

  “Down here? More like break you down.” Danny walks into the hallway and leans against the wall. “They tell us when we can shower. That we can't have hot water. And they make the air cold down here?”

  Suddenly the main lights go out and are replaced by small walkway lights every few feet along the bottom of the wall.

  Danny smirks. “And of course, they even tell us when to go to bed.”

  A soothing voice breaks over an intercom system. “Congratulations on another wonderful day aboard the Grand Marshall. Please remember all passengers are to be in their rooms in the next five minutes. Thank you and pleasant dreams.”

  “I know what I’ll dream about,” Danny schemes.

  A hissing sound comes from the front area of the lower deck. Heavy boots pound across the metal floor. A booming voice, far different from the one over the intercom, cracks through the corridor. “Lower deck passengers. You will retire to your rooms, now. Those that do not comply will be dealt with in the brutal fashion.”

  The few passengers who are still in the hallway scurry to their rooms as fast as they can.

  “Pleasant dreams,” Danny says, mockingly as he rushes off to his own room.

  The boots get closer to Alan, who stays, standing in his doorway. He stares in the direction of the approaching boots. The clacking sound of armor flaps echoes through the hall. The floor lights make it hard to distinguish features on the soldiers. Even as they get closer. Two of them finally stop just outside of Alan’s doorway.

  “Go check the rest,” one soldier commands the other. “C-Zero-Zero-Eight, step completely inside your room,” he tells Alan.

  “That’s not my name.”

  “It is where I’m concerned,” the soldier says, threateningly. “Now, step completely inside your room.

  “What do you think I'm doing?"

  The soldier looks down at Alan’s feet. Alan’s toes are just barely across the threshold of the doorway. The soldier looks back up. “You think you’re special?

  “I never said that.” Alan stares, his defiance showing.

  “C-Zero-Zero-Eight. Non-compliance confirmed.”

  “Wait a minute—”

  The soldier strikes Alan in the stomach, sending him to the floor of his room.

  Alan hits the floor, holding his stomach in pain. He rolls to his side, gasping for air.

  “Thank you, passenger, for your cooperation. And pleasant dreams.” The soldier turns on his heel and walks further into the lower deck.

  Alan struggles to catch his breath. The only sounds heard are those of the soldiers’ boots and a couple of other passengers being dealt with in ‘the brutal fashion’. From the sound of it, the soldiers are being more brutal to some than they were to him.

  CHAPTER THREE

  The morning starts cold for everyone. Those with blankets, at the very least, sheets, find it difficult to get up. Those who slept without cover find it difficult to even stand. Their strength sapped from lack of sleep and constant shivering through the night.

  Alan sits up. “Laying down is better than nothing,” he says to himself.

  “Rest for the body but none for the mind.” An older man steps into Alan’s doorway.

  He holds a cane in one hand, a cup in the other. The wooden end of the cane clacks on the floor as the man steps into the small room. “I suppose we could carry you to Hallet. It is only your mind that we need.”

  “Captain Takeda.” Alan begins to stand.

  The older Takeda waves his hand. A signal for Alan to remain seat
ed. “Hallet is the Captain.”

  “He stole the—”

  “I am well aware of my own history. I was there when it happened.” Takeda leans against the wall. “Danny tells me you two were in the ship’s brig. Two attempts and still no success.”

  “I’m sorry. I just…I froze. I don’t know why.”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  Takeda beckons Alan toward him. Alan rises quickly to help the old man. Takeda leans his cane against the wall while Alan guides him to the floor. A sigh of relief escapes Takeda as he settles on the steel floor. His hands clasp his knee. Alan watches Takeda’s expression. The man is in obvious pain. He makes no moves to hide it but he asks for no help with it.

  “This cold isn’t doing anyone any good, is it?”

  Alan only shakes his head.

  “Alan, I’ve been thinking. The fruitlessness of your solo attempts on Hallet prove we’re going about this all wrong. Perhaps it is time we all shoulder the burden. Together.”

  “I can’t ask you to do that.”

  “You aren’t.” Takeda stops rubbing his knee. “Ah, never mind. It’s useless in this temperature. Alan, you’ve been a sword for too long. It’s time you become a shield.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “The next time you advance to the bridge, you will take us with you. You will lead us all from the lower deck.”

  “But there are too many—”

  “There are too many of us down here.”

  “There’s no way all of us will make it. Not through the guards. Not all the way to the bridge. Captain, let me do it myself. I’ll go alone, again. Just like—”

  “Alan, twice you have gone alone to the same result. At least, this way, if the same is to happen, I or someone else can finish the job. People down here are ill. They’re cold and suffering. Even if everyone does not make the entire trip, they will have experienced a small comfort from being away from all of this.” Takeda motions to the small room and the increasingly populated hallway.