The Knight of Peace (Chapter 1)

The Knight of Peace: Chapter 11: It's a Dog Fight

2012-02-27T07:38:00.011-08:00

Chapter 11: Part 1: It's A Dog Fight.

     Meanwhile, at the aerial combat competition, Grim Reaper 1 announced, "This is Lightning Speed....I got Visual confirmation of the Protector, 8 O'clock....get ready to engage....". Suddenly , without warning Grim Reaper 4 increased his speed and went ahead of the team as Lt. Troy Brionick (Widowmaker) wanted to impress his team mates by trying to defeat the Protector by himself....Saint yelled over the radio in frustration, "Widowmaker!...what the hell are you doing?...We're supposed to do this together!...as a team!....". She heard Widowmaker laughing and said, "Don't worry boys and girls, I'll bag this sucker in a few minutes time....". Garfield saw Grim Reaper 4 on his radar break ahead from the pack as he communicated to Chase on a secure radio frequency saying, "Chase, you've got Grim Reaper 4 going ahead of his team , 11 O'clock high, He's on an F-18 Hornet, he carries sidewinders....get ready to activate your flares as counter measures...". Chase glanced at his radar then looked ahead as Grim Reaper 4 closed unto him. "I got visuals on him...ok what dirt do you have on this guy?....". Garfield downloaded and quickly reviewed more of Lt. Brionick's past flight evaluations as he said, "Ok, Chase...I got it, his flight evaluations says that he is a very aggressive pilot but needs lots of improvement on his evasive techniques....Ha!...this guy's a piece of cake....very careless....poor defenses....takes lots of chances....So here's the plan....Let him Chase you for awhile and let's frustrate him and when he gets closer, do a reverse loop and get behind him....".

        Captain Brassman checked his system's defenses, "Primary shield at 98%....Main power at 98%....Let's rock and roll...". The Protector banked left and high as Widowmaker dove left to meet the Protector head on. As they we're about to pass each other, Widowmaker started firing his guns as several bullets hit the top of the Protector's helmet wich was totally protected by his force shield. The bullets which hit him decreased his shield strength to 96%, Chase flinched for a few seconds then aimed his Laser targeting system straight at Widowmaker, his simulated laser fire lasted only three seconds, what he needed was five consecutive seconds to score a simulated kill. As they passed each other, Widowmaker did a reverse loop and started chasing the Protector. Chase slowed down his speed to let Widowmaker get closer and as Widowmaker started firing his sidewinder missiles, the Protector countered by releasing flares as the missiles zeroed into them exploding in mid-air. The Protector kept teasing Widowmaker by closing their distance then weaving, rolling and spinning as Widowmaker kept firing off his missiles and guns. But Widowmaker's F-18 fighter jet was just totally outmatched in speed and quickness which frustrated Lt. Brionick. Finally, when Widowmaker ran out of missiles, it was Chase's turn to show what the Protector can do offensively. While still being chased, the Protector quickly did a reverse loop and started to chase Widowmaker. In a matter of seconds, Chase aimed his Laser targeting system at Widowmaker but Lt Brionick was able to maneuver his fighter jet away from the threat by banking left then right. As the Protector closed in, Lt Brionick yelled on the radio saying, "I can't seem to shake him loose...this guy's amazing ...". Widowmaker instinctively did a rolling reversal which got him a little lightheaded and briefly disoriented. This gave Chase the advantage he needed as he got closer. Finally, the Protector was able to lock his Laser into Widowmaker for five consecutive seconds therefore scoring a simulated kill disqualifying Widowmaker from the aerial training exercise. "You're out'a there!....", Garfield yelled as he stood up imitating a baseball umpire's gesture. He sat back quickly to the delight of the scientists and other flight engineers who glanced at Garfield's excited reaction.

        The other pilots observing and watching the duel were all dumbfounded at the skill the Protector had. Saint called out to her team saying, "Ok,...we all saw what we're up against....any suggestions?...". Hammer answered , "This is gonna be like catching a fly using chopsticks!...". Rebel quickly suggested with his thick Italian accent saying, "Then, let's not use chopsticks...let's use one of those sticky fly traps...what I mean is let's stick together and use some strategy....". Thunder Bolt sighed as he said, "Hey Rebel!...you've got to work on your analogy....your not making sense!....". Red interjected saying, "I think what he means is that we should use some strategy as a team , if we can't hit him with our missiles, let's use our guns in short range....anything to lower his shields and main power.....we can win if we all work together....". Lightning Speed then called out saying, "Just got a message from Naval Intelligence that last night, someone from Treaure Island downloaded all our data on our air to air combat maneuvering and strategy.....here's more...they also downloaded all of our personal flight evaluations from when we we're aviator students until now....It's got to be Macrostrength Industries....I think Major Powers and Captain Brassman just stole our playbook boys and girls...they know our game plan and every air combat strategy we'll use. No wonder the Protector was so fast in taking down Widowmaker. Eagle Eye looked up at Lightning Speed's fighter jet as she asked, "Can they do that....obtain our personal flight evaluations?...Isn't that against Navy regulations...that's illegal....". Lightning Speed responded with exasperation saying, "Macrostrength has Top Secret clearance on all pilots, that's how they did the search and selection for the Protector pilot selection program, remember?....So what we need to do is to forget what we learned at Top Gun school....let's just ambush the Protector from all angles, this will confuse him that he won't be able to focus on shooting us down....". Thunder Bolt then made a quick comment saying, " Well if that happens, don't forget to use your countermeasures....we won't win unless we take some chances...".

            All the pilots agreed with the plan which was not to follow their game plan as they started parting at different directions headed towards a confrontation with the Protector. Garfield rubbed his hands as he glanced at all the scientists, technicians and engineers watching and listening at their own computer terminals. He felt as if he was a football offensive coordinator running plays in a big game. Garfield called out to Chase, "Ok, hotshot!,...one down...four to go....Go straight up 12 O'clock high....it's Grim Reaper 5....go get her.....". Suddenly before Chase could launch at a 90 degree vertical, something inside his suit compressed both his legs and feet as he asked, Hey! what are these things compressing my legs, they're really tight...". One of the scienists answered, "They're lower extremity compression devices which pushes blood away from the legs so when you go on a quick vertical. All the blood in your head won't leave your brain from extreme gravitational pull thus preventing you from loosing consciousness... ", as the Protector quickly went vertical closing into Eagle Eye.

          Saint quickly radio'd saying, "Eagle Eye, the bandit is closing unto you....prepare for evasive maneuvers...". Eagle Eye quickly made a diving hard right to extend her distance from the Protector, but the Protector was to fast and swift as it started closing in on Eagle Eye. After a few seconds, the Protector started locking into her but she quickly rolled the spiralled as the Protector kept the chase close. After a few minutes, the Protector was able to close the distance again, locking into her, but before he could activate his Laser targeting system for a simulated kill, a missile struck the Protector at his back as he tumbled uncontrollably through the sky. Chase shuddered as he called out, "I'm hit!...I'm hit!...", Garfieled quickly inquired asking, "Chase, are you hurt?!...". Chase looked at his radar for any incoming missiles as he responded saying, " It feels like I got hit with a solid kick at the back during one of my Tae Kwon do competions...I think I'll be fine...".

           The head scientist Rex Jaymailin of damage control announced saying, "It was a direct hit to the Protector's mid-back spine area....Shields down to 86%...main power at 95%....". The head of engineering , Dr. Henry Vanden quickly spoke into his headset alerting everyone as he said, "Listen up!....I'm getting readings of damage to the exoskeletal mechanical spine....located at lumbar four and five...I'm also sensing a leak to the double "A", main pressure control hose....we're bleeding ladies and gentlemen....". Damage control's Dr. Jaymailin quickly replied saying, " I'm sending a SPIDERR to assess the exoskeletal's lumbar fracture....maybe we can stabilize and splint it....We don't want any metallic vertebral fragments to cut into Captain Brassman's flesh....I'm also sending the other SPIDERR to try and seal the leak on the double A drive's pressure control hose....Hopefully, we can get normal pressure back....". Garfield didn't understand most of what's being said but he knew that the Protector's exoskeletal system is similar to the human body with electronics serving as nerves, metallic braces as the skeletal system and hydraulic fluid serving as blood, and this he quickly explained to Chase to alleviate Chase's anxiety.

    (Note: The Protector's Exoskeletal system is made up of two hydraulic drives which are compared to having two human hearts. The double A hydraulic drive powers the exoskeletal system from the waist up and the double B hydraulic drive powers all exoskeletal system from the waist down. Each hydraulic drive can also power the whole skeletal system with half the power if one of them breaks down or is damaged. It's like having two human hearts where one will compensate for the other if the other gets a heart attack.
       Inside a hydraulic drive are hydraulic regulators which regulates the amount of hydraulic fluid and pressure needed to perfuse the exoskeletal system [Too much hydraulic fluid can cause an aneurism which is weakness to the hose carrying the hydraulic fluid therefore causing a ballooning which can eventually burst and stop hydraulic fluid supply to the smaller and thinner hydraulic fluid hoses which supplies the various limbs for movement thus causing a total loss of function of that limb. In humans, it's compared to being paralized from a stroke from high blood pressure. {SO FOR ALL HUMANS WITH A BLOOD PRESSURE OF 140/90 OR GREATER, SEE YOUR DOCTOR BEFORE YOU GET A HEART ATTACK OR STROKE. }. Meanwhile, less than sufficient hydraulic fluid levels can cause limb tremors, uncoordination and can make limb movement slow, heavy and sluggish. It can also cause overheating and damage to both rotary and linear actuators which is compared to driving a car without any engine oil and radiator fluid.
     Then, there's the hydraulic pump which pushes the hydraulic fluid to the system. This is compared to the ventricles of the heart which pushes blood throughout the human body. Finally, there's the Pressure Control Hose which is like the heart's aorta, this is the main hose where the hydraulic fluid travels and divides into multiple peripheral pressure hose systems. These are like smaller arteries which perfuses the exoskeletal limbs. They also provide hydraulic fluid to all rotary hydraulic actuators which are smaller drives that give power to joint torques, they are compared to a human's shoulder, elbow, wrist, fingers, knees and ankle joints. Aside from this, there are also Linear Hydraulic Actuators which corresponds to the physiological structures of the pilot's human muscles.
      Power and energy to the Protector comes from solar panels from it's helmet. Some of the solar energy are stored into the Hydraulic power pack which is like a re-chargeable battery system used as back-up energy used during night missions. Most of the solar energy harnessed through the helmet's solar panels are directed to it's main Electromechanical converter system which transforms solar power into electric power.).

          Garfield quickly looked towards Dr. Vanden who seemed rattled as he was trying to download more data from the computer as he asked, "Can someone tell me what's he talking about?....". Dr. Castle who was second in command behind Dr. Spain who was supervising and pacing the main floor stared at Garfield and spoke into his headset replying, "Major Powers,...the exoskeletal's spine has a fracture at the mid-back at L4-L5 area which can cause weakness to it's lower extremities. This might prevent him from walking or running if he has to land....The leak they're talking about is the upper main pressure control hose, right now it's leaking hydraulic fluid which is needed to provide strength and movement to the upper exoskeletal frame area above the waist....Without the right amount and pressure of hydraulic fluid, the Protector's movements will be slow and sluggish.....". Garfield glanced at him with a concerned look as he asked, "Chase, did you hear that?...Chase looked away from his radar for a minute as he scanned the skies for more incoming missiles as he responded , "Got it!...loud and clear...".

         Garfield turned towards the scientists and asked, "Is this leak critical?....". Dr. Spain cleared his throat then responded saying, "For human's yes!...because we only have one heart....but with the Protector, we designed it to have two hydraulic drives which is like having two human hearts working at the same time. One hydraulic drive can compensate for the other if damaged....". Dr. Jaymailin (Head of Damage Control) announced, " Ok,...I have a SPIDERR working on fixing the lumbar fracture as we speak and another SPIDERR is presently trying to provide a seal to the pressure control hose leak.....and whichever finishes first, we really need to have a SPIDERR do a diagnostic check-up to the hydraulic drives, regulators and pumps..just to be on the safe side...". Dr. Spain walked calmly but with his hands clenched behind his back as he thought deeply, he then looked to Dr. Jaymailin (Damage Control) then gave orders saying, "Ok, Rex...you have ten minutes to fix the leak, and if we're not able to seal the pressure hose, prepare to shut off the double A hydraulic drive and prepare to divert all hydraulic fluid to the double B hydraulic drive and have it power both upper and lower exo-skeletal systems....eventhough we have only half the power, as long as we're up flying, we'll be fine. We can't afford to loose too much hydraulic fluid at this time.".

          Garfield turned back at his computer then stared at his radar as he wondered why this problem never occured during the the rescue mission in the Philippines, then he realized that the protector was only dealing with guns and a few world war 2 type bazookas, but now it's different, the Protector is being asked to absorbed missiles which has a fire power 1,000 times greater. He then focused on what strategy these pilots were employing since he did not anticipate that missile hit to the Protector. As soon as the Protector was able to stabilize himself, he hovered in the air for a few seconds to clear his head and get his senses back in order, when suddenly another missile shot by him as he was able to duck at the last second, but a split second later another missile hit him as it exploded in front of him, hitting him at his right shoulder and sending him spinning uncontrollably through the air. The four fighter jets swarmed around him from everywhere. Dr. Jaymailin (Damage Control ) reports, "I'm getting reports of severe damage to the right shoulder torque and actuator, we have a small flash fire to the right scapular motor drive circuits, I'm re-routing a SPIDERR to contain the small flames before it penetrates Captain Brassman's fire retardant inner suit.....Shields down to 77%..main power...is at 88% and holding...". Dr. Forteza yelled, " I need more power to the shields or there'll be bigger damage to the Protector and Captain Brassman if he gets hit again!...". Dr. Spain quickly ordered saying, "Transfer 5% of the main power to the shields....now!....". Dr. Jaymailin leaned back in his chair as he grabbed the hair at the back of his head as he announced, " Shields back to 92% but main power down to 88% and holding...".Garfield called out quickly yelling, "Chase!, are you ok?!....". Chase stablized the Protector in the air while watching his radar as he responded, "I feel like I have a really bad sunburn up the right side of my neck and down to my shoulder....I feel a little dizzy and....and...I can't seem to move my right shoulder and upper arm....". Dr. Jaymailin wiped the sweat on his forehead as he answered, "Captain Brassman, your right shoulder's hydraulic rotary actuator is severely damaged....the mechanical joint that makes you move your arm is broken and locked....that's why you can't move your right arm.....". Flight Surgeon Sherry Jonick quickly inquired, "Can we have one of the SPIDERR do a quick brain scan to check him for a concussion?...". A few scientists stared at her with disdain as one of the engineers quickly answered, "You must be kidding me!....We've got multiple damage on hand...a fracured vertebrae that still needs to be properly fixed,...a leak to the hydraulic A drive, we're loosing juice, we have an uncontained fire flash to the right circuits which could also destroy the right carotid infra red sensor relays which can cut off circuitry to the entire system and you're worried about a stupid head bump?....". Dr. Jonick started arguing her case with the other scientists on the importance of protecting the pilot's health and well being but was interrupted by Dr. Spain as he prevented the argument from escalating. He then reminded everyone to focus and prioritize the problem, to work as a team. Dr. Jonick asked, "How does your head, arm and shoulder feel?....". Chase rubbed his neck with his left hand as he answered, "The dizziness stopped but I'm still sore at my right shoulder and mid-back....and It feels weird that I can't move my right arm at all....". Garfield spoke trying to re-assure Chase as he said, " Don't worry Chase....we'll send one of the SPIDERR to fix your right shoulder and stabilize your back as soon as they've completely contained the flash flame to your shoulder and repaired the hydraulic leak....hang in there buddy....". Chase answered back with a worried tone saying, "Yeah?....well, they better hurry up....my inner shirt is soaked with hydraulic fluid, I hope this mechanical suit doesn't bleed to death while I'm 30,000 feet up in the air....". Garfield smiled nervously as he responded saying, "Don't worry Chase, we're on top of your suit's telemetry readings, scientists and engineers here already have contingency plans in place...just in case.....Just focus on trying not to get hit again.....". Chase looked around on his visor as he responded, "Roger that!....".

Part 2: The Standoff:
CURE Corp. Building, San Francisco, California.....

          Ensign Wright nervously looked at his wrist watch then announced, "We've got 45minutes left before North Korea launches it's nukes!...". Admiral Rivera turned off the T.V. knowing that time now is critical with the nuke countdown and the uncertainty of the U.S. President's safety at risk when suddenly cell phones started ringing again one after another. Admiral Rivera scanned the conference room as he saw nothing but nervous expressions as everyone was receiving more information about the state of the President's safety and health condition, but as he glanced at CIA Assistant Director Lawrence Villes, he was perplexed that he was smiling and way more relaxed while speaking into his cell phone which was unusual given the time pressure surrounding the North Korean nuclear missile crisis and the assassination attempt at the U.S. President. He walked over to General Cassidy Cheung and ordered him to have Agent Lawrence Villes investigated, his cell phone tapped and all of his calls traced, something was not right about Mr. Villes demeanor at this strressfull time of crisis. General Cheung quickly dialed the Army's office of Intelligence Affairs and the FBI.

         Master Chief Cardenas suddenly stood up with a frightened expression while holding his cell phone to his ear as he shouted, "They shot the Vice-President....he's dead!....". Dean Johnson stood up and said, "What do you mean his dead?....". Everyone paused in shock except Mr. Villes who glanced at the group for a moment then continued talking in his phone without any hint of surprise and as if he expected to hear this news. After a couple of minutes, he ended his phone call and cautiously sat back down trying to act concerned and surprised as Admiral Rivera stared at him with suspiscion. Master Chief Cardenas explained,
"The Vice-President was on a hunting trip with his secret service men....they said one of his agents shot him on the head!....". Everyone looked stunned as the conference room got very quiet.

            Admiral Rivera speed dialed his brother Raul Rivera who was a high ranking NSA agent for more information. His brother told him that the Secret Service Agency which were supposed to protect high ranking U.S. officials under threat were infiltrated by assassins. He was told that NSA and FBI agents have just recently arrested the top Director of the Secret Service Agency and that he confessed that he was an Active member of the White Aryan Nationalist Movement and was a part of their special forces called, "The Twelve Disciples of Timothy McVeigh", who each were given the call names of Jesus Christ's apostles. The call name for the Secret Service Director was, "St. James". He was then told that there were eleven other Aryan infiltrators who worked at top positions in the U.S. government and are planning to help Al Queda bring in and detonate a nuclear bomb in the United States. The FBI also learned that another goal of the Aryan movement was to seat another Timothy McVeigh disciple as President of the United States, this Aryan who is currently a cabinet member. Assassins will assassinate everyone ranked above him starting with the U.S. President, the Vice-President and cabinet members ranked higher than the McVeigh disciple. They also learned that the Secret Service Director accepted assassins of the Aryan movement and made them Secret Service Agents as early as three years ago.

           Admiral Rivera then asked his brother to investigate if the CIA had any connections with the planned assassination of the President and or if CIA Assistant Direstor Lawrence Villes was one of the twelve disciples of Timothy McVeigh. After ending his conversation with his brother, he announce to everyone in the confernce room that there were assassins out to kill the top U.S. cabinet members together with the President and Vice President. Admiral Rivera did not mention that he knew that one cabinet member was a Timothy McVeigh disciple because there was a chance that U.S. Secretary of Defense Dean Johnson could be that disciple, plus there was also a chance that there could be a traitor in their midst. "Could Agent Lawrence Villes also be a Timothy McVeigh disciple?....", he wondered to himself. Then he realized that first things's first, he needs to stay in control of the situation, specially with Director Johnson's insistence on taking control of the sensitive and fragile North Korean nuclear arms crisis. "This could be part of the Aryan movement's plan...to create chaos from a nuclear war in Asia, use it as a smoke screen while they create anarchy in this country by killing it's leaders and finally sitting an Aryan as the U.S. President....", he thought to himself.

            Meanwhile, Secretary Johnson was also in deep thought then he suddenly stood up in panic saying,
"If they're killing top U.S. officials....then they might come after me.....Oh!...Shit!....". He started panicking with a childish fearfull demeanor as he started calling out yelling, "Help me!...someone please help me....I don't wanna die....It's all my father's fault!...he pushed me into this job....", tears suddenly dropped uncontrollably from his eyes as he was unconsolable, grabbing people's shirt and ties until Admiral Rivera approached him and slapped his face which brought him back to his senses. "Calm down will you!...stop acting like a little child!....we'll protect you....". Admiral Rivera then wondered if Secretary Johnson was just acting and pretending to be scared, trying to keep his Aryan identity of being a Mc Veigh disciple a secret. He then ordered all spectators to leave the conference room including CURE corp. security personnel. Samantha quickly dialed her cell phone and called her company's security chief giving him and his staff orders to arrest anyone entering the building with a weapon.

           Admiral Rivera glanced at Captain O'Bland as he said, "Captain, how many military police escorts do we have on our convoy this morning?....". Captain O'Bland thought for a moment then responded, "Sir, we have about seven guards sir....". Admiral Rivera suddenly noticed that people around him were all giggling as he tried to find out what was so funny at this time, someone pointed a finger underneath the conference table and as the Admiral looked underneath, he was surprised to see Secretary Dean Johnson hiding and lying in a fetal position shaking in fear and sobbing uncontrollably. Admiral Rivera stood up straight as he stared at the group with most of them trying not to laugh, with a serious facial expression he then looked at Captain O'Bland and said, "Captain, get all seven of your military police up here fully armed...we need to protect Secretary Johnson.....and tell them to bring extra side arms....all military personnel in this room will carry a side arm....". As soon as Captain O'Bland started to contact his men, Ensign Wright suddenly announced, "Admiral, we have 39 minutes left before they launch their nukes....". The Admiral gave him a nodd as he announced, "Right now, what we need to do is to establish who is in control of our country. Admiral Rivera reminded everyone the United States Presidential Line of Succession.

            After the Admiral finished announcing the hierchy of the Presidential Line of Succession, Admiral Rivera pointed to General Cheung, ordering him to call the Pentagon to get an idea on who is the acting President of the United States. He ordered Ensign Wright to try and contact the Speaker of the House, then ordered Captain O'Bland to try and contact the Secretary of State. Suddenly, there was a loud knock from the room's emergency exit door, as Agent Villes opened the door, In came seven military police carrying M16 rifles, some of them took off their sidearms and handed it to a military officer who was not armed. General Cheung while listening to his cell phone suddenly yelled, "Quick!...turn on the T.V....", and as the T.V. turned on , everyone focused on news anchor Nancy Vanderfield who was reporting, "This just in...we've received alarming reports that the, " Vice President ", had been shot and killed while on a hunting trip....It seems that there has been a coordinated attack to to assassinate top U.S. officials to what I think is to de-stablilize our government..." Suddenly, someone handed the news anchor a piece of paper as she looks at it briefly then started reporting saying, "More breaking news....We have reports the the, "President Pro-Tempore of the Senate", has died from a gunshot wound a few minutes ago and that the ,"Secretary of Interior", had been stabbed by one of his secret service agents who was tasked to protect him, he is in the hospital and that doctors say that he is in guarded but stable condition. The FBI had arrested the assailant and is being held for questioning....They also said that the FBI has the , "Attorney General", and is being held in a safe location and was separated from his secret service agents who are all being held for questioning.....Also...I'm just getting news from my earphone that the, " Speaker of the House", is in the hospital in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the chest.....reports say that it was another secret service agent who shot him at close range but was gunned down by other secret service agents....So the main question now is....Whose running our country?.....No word on the Secretary of State....The Secretary of Treasury or the Secretary of Defense....".

              While everyone was glued watching the news, the double doors to the conference room suddenly burst open as six secret service agents wearing black suits, with black ties quickly entered the room with each holding up and pointing a gun. The military police quickly engaged, pointing there rifles at the Secret Service agents as the men in black pointed their, "Glock", pistols back at the military men. The two groups wee no more than four feet apart. The leader of the Secret Service agents who wore dark glasses stepped forward asking, "Where's the Secretary of Defense?...We're here to protect him....". The military men took two steps forward as Samantha, Admiral Rivera and the rest of the military officers stood behind the military police who were at a standoff with the Secret Service agents. Dean Johnson was still under the table trying not to make a sound, he knew that the shooter had to only bend down and fire at him since he was directly in the middle of the two groups who were at a standoff.

             Admiral Rivera spoke up saying, "Haven't you boys heard the news...your group had been infiltrated by assassins.....there has been a coordinated attack by assassins in the Secret Service Agency to assassinate top high ranking U.S. officials....". The leader of the men in black took one step forward as he yelled, "That is a lie!....We've been together as a group for the last three years...now tell us where are you hiding the Secretary of Defense!...He might be the next leader of this country and we're here to protect him!...". Admiral Rivera started walking towards the men in in black as some of them pointed there guns at his head as he said, "A lie?....The NSA together with the FBI had already arrested your boss!...the top, Director of the Secret Service agency and he had confessed to this conspiracy...", as he stepped closer to the leader of the Secret Service agents then asked, "Should I call the NSA and I'm sure by now after injecting your boss with truth serum, he had already given a list of all assassins who are in the Secret Service...". The two men were now just two feet apart with the leader's pistol was touching Admiral Rivera's forehead as he said, "Ha!...you're bluffing!...", as the leader showed a fake nervous laugh then quickly cleared his throat while holding his pistol nervously. Admiral Rivera noticing this, slowly extended his right hand wiping off the sweat which had formed on the Secret Service agent's forehead. Admiral Rivera noticing this then said, "if I'm the one bluffing, then how come you're the one breaking out in cold sweat and shaking nervously...". The leader suddenly took a step back then pointed his gun to his temple as he cried out saying, "Damn you!....you'll never get me alive!...White power will prevail!!...", as he pulled his gun's trigger sending a bullet through his brain, spraying blood across the room, with some blood sprayed over Admiral Rivera's military uniform. The rest of the Secret Service Agents were stunned as they all lowered their firearms. Military Police confiscated the guns of all Secret Service men, as Master Chief Cardenas took all the names of the Secret Service men which they called in to the NSA and FBI for background checks to see if anymore of them had ties with the White Aryan Nationalistic Movement, just then, a platoon of FBI agents barged into the scene as they reached the end of the standoff... (End of Chapter)

Chapter 10: The Standoff

2011-08-04T05:51:00.000-07:00

           Treasure Island, San Francisco, California, Macrostrength Industries, Hangar Bay 1, 0815hrs:

          Captain Brassman, wearing his new Protector Exo-System Suit walked outside Hangar Bay 1 as he asked. "Garfield, Can you hear me?....", Major Garfield Powers spoke into his computer's microphone replied, "I hear you loud and clear Chase....How does it feel wearing that thing?....". Captain Brassman took two more steps forward then look down towards his red turbo jet boots replying, "Everything feels a little more bulkier than before....It's like wearing an astronaut's suit....can't walk well with this boots...", Garfield smiled and said, "Well those boots really ain't for walking you know....Hey!..why don't you ask SAM to do a quick diagnostics before the game starts...". Captain Brassman looked at the bottom of his visor where there were several categories of computer functions to choose from. Ok SAM,...let's do another set of diagnostics before we play ball....nothing too intricate, just check for bugs and do it quick and dirty....". His computer showed a text message which appeared, [Brief diagnostics underway, will need one minute to complete...]. While waiting, Captain Brassman took out a candy bar from his lower pocket and unwrapped it as he started checking other categories just to remind him of his options when the simulated air to air combat begins. After a minute had passed, he saw the computer's message which read, [Full diagnostics complete...no damage...no viruses detected...]. Chase pushed up his visor then started taking a few bites of the candy bar. Major Powers hearing him chew asked, "Are you having a snack?...", Chase smiled while chewing as he responded, "Just chewing on a chocolate candy bar....just a little bit of sugar rush to get me goin!....". He pulled back down his visor, storing the candy wrapper down his flight suit's side pocket.

            Captain Brassman then looked towards the sky as he commanded, "SAM....activate flight systems...Heads Up Display (HUD) on visor please....Give me a green color to it...Have the AVA-12 Vertical Situation Display in blue.....and the Horizontal Situation Display in red.....Activate the ALR-45 Radar warning and control system please.....Change my weapons targeting system to yellow and a target lock into a pulsating red with a one second tone delay....". On his transparent visor, different lines and graphs appeared with each having a distinct color for easier recognition. Then he remembered how loud the explosions were when he got hit by a bazooka during combat in the Philippines as he commanded, "SAM, I don't wanna go deaf when I get hit by missiles...so mute all outside noise, but monitor all environmental noise and relay it to me if it's important....". After a few seconds, all noise disappeared as the only thing he could hear was his breathing. He looked down towards his red rocket jet boots as he commanded, "SAM,...power up rocket boosters to 20%....hover at 30 feet altitude....". Suddenly the flight systems category on the lower portion of his visor changed into a bright green color as the wings on his back unfolded and stayed at a 90 degree angle, steam and a loud jet rocket sound started emitting from under his red boots as he started ascending gradually and hovered 30 feet above the ground. He leaned forward and in a split second was gone. Just like a rocket being launched from a rocket launcher.

             All the aerospace technicians, scientists and flight engineers who were inside the hangar bay sitting by their individual computers started getting busier as data started pouring into their computers. It looke like NASA's space mission control just after a space shuttle lift off. "Talk to me Chase...", Garfield asked over his headset with a microphone attached to it. He couldn't help feel a little envious of his friend's fortune. He wondered for a minute if whether he'd get chosen to fly the "Protector", if he was the fighter pilot and Chase was the Attack helicopter pilot, or what if he was a caucasian attack helicopter pilot and Chase was an African American fighter plane pilot. Would Chase still get picked to fly the "Protector"?. He came back to his senses after hearing Chase reply, "Whoa!....It feels great up here Garfield....I feel like an eagle soaring through the skies....I wish you could feel what I'm feeling Garfield.....It's amazing!...". Garfield smiled briefly as he responded, "So do I my friend....so do I...". A few scientists glanced at Garfield as they all listend to their conversation, realizing that Garfield could and should have been the one piloting the "Protector". Garfield saw the stares but ignored them completely as he focused on his task, "You're climbing up to 10,000 feet....continue to 30,000 feet....that's the altitude of the air to air combat.....and just to remind you cowboy....10,000 feet is the hard deck", Garfield announced as he continued typing on his computer's keyboard. The Protector was now flying at a ten degree vertical angle with it's wings swept back to a 75 degree angle at a speed of Mach 1.20 (913.2 mph). The Protector rolled, spiralled and spun around in the sky as he continued to ascend. Stretching his arms above his head with his fists clenched in exhiliration as he was reaching out for the sun. Chase realized this must have been how the cartoon character, "Superman", felt. "No wonder this fictional superhero never felt the need for greed or power, because up here he felt free...liberated from the cares of the world and the constant competition to create that false sense of security called a, "lifestyle",", he thought to himself.

            Garfield loaded some information into his computer and called out to Chase, "Hey buddy!, are you at all interested at what you're up against?...", Chase wondered for a second then said, "Five fighter planes ..right?...Is there anything else I should know?....". Garfield smiled and said, "Ooooh, you'll owe me big time my friend....Since it wasn't against the rules to research your opponents today...I looked up some history on each of the fighter pilots you'll be facing....I've downloaded their flight training records from when they were students at Top Gun and their present flight evaluations as flight instructors....I know each pilot's strengths and weaknesses....and not only that.....the best part is I downloaded their air combat tactics manual...had it scanned..and while you were asleep....I uploaded it into your micro-computer, "SAM"....So now, SAM knows and will be able to anticipate every kind'a maneuver your opponents will perform today.....I just thought you'd need this extra edge since you're outnumbered 5:1...I'll be coaching you on how to find the weaknesses of this pilots, just to even the playing field a bit. ". Chase smiled as he replied, "You're amazing Garfield....I owe you a drink...". Garfield looked at the other scientists who were smiling at him, as one of them gave him a thumbs up as Garfield replied saying, "No my friend, you'll owe me several drinks....".

            Naval Air Station, Miramar California: 0815hrs,

           Five fighter Jet planes started launching one by one piloted by some of the best pilots and Top Gun instructors of the U.S. military. The pilots were all previous and/or current Top Gun instructors who were selected two weeks ago. They were told that they'll be facing America's first future flying superhero, "The Protector". The only other information they have was that they can use their guns and missiles to shoot at the Protector, but will not be fired upon in return. They do need to evade the Protector's weapon target locking system, and if they get locked on and can't get free for five seconds, then they were automatically disqualified. Formed as a temporary training squadron, they named themselves, "The Grim Reapers".

         As all five of them ascended to the sky in a reverse, "V", formation, the military air boss at Miramar's control tower called out to all the pilots, "Grim Reapers one through five....give me your status over....". The pilot of one of the two F14 Tomcats leading the group replied, "Miramar...this is Grim Reaper One, I repeat...Grim Reaper One, leading the pack....We're ascending to 30,000 feet....range 180 miles bearing 0-7-0...over...". The airboss took a sip of his morning coffee as he replied, "Got you...Grim Reaper One.....you'll be ID'ing your bogey soon....Good luck guys and be safe.....over and out...". The airboss took off his headset as he sat and stared at his radar screen making sure the planes stayed at a safe distance away from land to prevent any missiles from reaching the coast. Meanwhile,  the other military traffic controllers tracked the five planes headed northwards. Grim Reaper One and Three were F14 Tomcats, each piloted by a naval aviator and a Radar Information Officer (RIO), Grim Reaper Four and Five were F/A-18 Hornets which were single seat fighter jets, and Grim Reaper Two was a F15-Eagle two seater fighter jet plane piloted by an Air Force pilot and his co-pilot.

              Back at Hangar Bay 1, Garfield finished analyzing data about the pilots and all their fighter jets that the Protector was going to battle against, "Ok hotshot!...before I start...just wanna remind you that your top speed is about Mach 2 (1,522.4 mph).....Don't fly any higher than 75,000 feet altitude....that's your maximum ceiling....any higher than that, your jet rocket boosters may stall.....You don't have to fly like your hair's on fire, we'll strategize how to battle with each fighter plane that we go up against.....Two of the five planes are F14 Tomcats...their top speed is about Mach 2.34,...so forget about chasing them, let them chase you instead, the same goes with the F15 Eagle which is the fastest aircraft out of the five...it's top speed is about Mach 2.7....again, forget about chasing this Eagle....specially on straight aways......your advantage against these guys is your agility and size....It's harder to hit a smaller and quicker target.....
The F/A-18 Hornets are more agile than the Tomcats and the Eagle, but they're much slower than the rest...their top speed is only about Mach 1.8....I want you to start by pursuing these Hornets and let the others chase you....When we see an opening, we'll cease the chase for the Hornets and loop around and try to shoot down these faster F14's and F15 jets...got it?....". Chase glanced at the lower part of his visor's weapon systems category as he now switched to his eye tracking technology which uses optical control in flying the Protector. A transparent but semi-gray colored shaded box appeared appeared at the middle of his visor that he now used to direct the Protector's movements. As fast as he could look to the right border of the box was as fast as the Protector turned right as it flew even faster and quicker.

        After a few minutes, Chase asked, "Hey Garfield, Dr. Spain said that they patterned the Protector's technology as close to the F22 Raptor, but I can't seem to find my countermeasures....". Garfield quickly answered, "You're countermeasures are voice activated...you won't see it below your visor...so when you need to use them just call out, "Flares", or "Chaffs"....".

(CHAFFS: Is a radar countermeasure in which an aircraft spreads a cloud of small thin pieces of aluminum or metalized glass fibers which either appears as a cluster of secondary targets to confuse radar guided missiles like the AIM74 Sparrow missiles which are carried by the F15 Eagle.)

(FLARES: A decoy flare is an infra-red countermeasure to counter an infra-red homing (heat-seeking) surface to air or air to air missiles like the short range Sidewinder missiles carried by the F/A-18 Hornets and the AIM155 Phoenix missiles which are radar-guided, long range missiles used by F14 Tomcats and F15 Eagles. Flares are commonly composed of pyrotechnic composition based or Magnesium or another hot burning metal with burning temperatures equal or hotter than engine exhaust. The aim is to make the infra-red guided missile seek out the heat signature from the flare rather than the aircraft's engines ).

          Chase once again asked, "Am I able to deploy countermeasures when my primary force shield is on?....". Garfield looked over to Dr. Michael St. Mary, the lead aerospace flight engineer who is mainly responsible for the jet boosters who was in consultation with Dr. Carlos Fortesa the scientist who developed the, "Halo", shield who answered Chase's question giving Garfield the answer in a secured communication link as Garfield finally answered saying, "Chase, our scientists says that your countermeasures comes out of your rocket boot's heels....Your flares are deployed through your left heel and your chaffs from the right heel....the bottom area of your boots are the only area not covered by your force shield...". Chase nodded as he replied, "Got it!...".

          Meanwhile the five fighter jet planes out to challenge the Protector were ascending to 30,000 feet. Grim Reaper One (F14 Tomcat) announced, "This is Grim Reaper One.....Since this is only the third time we've flown together, I would like to start by introducing myself again....I'm Lieutenant Marlone Ing....Call sign: Lightning Speed....I won the Top Gun trophy two years ago and I've been mostly teaching dogfighting to our pilots stationed at our Naval Air Station in Atsugi, Japan. I come to Miramar two weeks every year to give air to air combat classes.....My hobbies include racing superbikes....I've been the Superbike World Champion three times in the last five years....I like speed.....the Navy doesn't mind me doing this cause they use me as a walking billboard and advertisement for young highschool graduates to join the Navy....Next is my RIO (Radar Interceptor Officer), Ed....Take it away buddy!...". The co-pilot sitting behind Lt. Ing looked above his plane's canopy with slight boredom as he spoke saying, "Lieutenant Junior Grade Edwin Charles at your service....Call sign: Thunder Bolt....I've been with Lightning Speed since flight school....So just remember....Thunder Bolt's the name....fishing for MIG fighter planes is my game....over and out....".

                 After a few seconds of silence, Grim Reaper Three (F14 Tomcat) pilot Lt. Sharon St. Peter spoke up, "Ok, since no one wants to go next....I'm Lt. Sharon St. Peter.....mother of two beautiful children ages five and three....Call sign: Saint.....I won the Top Gun trophy five years ago....and since then...gotten married and had kids....I admit I've slowed down a bit.....haven't been pulling as much negative G forces as I used to.....most of the time I teach basic air to air combat maneuvering to Naval Aviator students at Naval Air Station Pensacola Florida.....so if you're ever down there....give me a call and come and meet my family....". Lt St. Peter's RIO spoke saying, "Good day!...Gents and Gals!...I'm Lieutenant Junior-Grade (LT-JG) Redmond Redrick....Call sign:RED....they say that during combat, my face turns red....and when I'm mad, everything I see turns into the color of blood.....It's also my favorite color....When I fly....my inner shirt and brief is colored red....The only drawback is that sometimes after doing laundry, my wife's red silk panties gets thrown in with my red underwear....One time, I packed all my clotehes for a mission and accidentally brought my wife's red panties instead of by red briefs....during the mission, I ended up wearing her underwear....i couldn't keep still in my seat....that G-string really gets in between the folds of the buttocks you know....whew!..it really tickles down there....Has that ever happened to any of you guys?.....". Suddenly there was complete radio silence for a whole minute before Lt-JG Redrick started hearing what appeared to be muted laughters over his radio as he slapped his face feeling embarassed for having to tell that story.

              Grim Reaper Four (F/A-18 Hornet) pilot spoke next saying, "GR4 pilot Lt. Troy Brionick here at your service....Callsign: Widowmaker....but I like being called, "The Bionic Man".....I believe that I'm the best darn pilot in the world as of today and will ever be in the future....I am America's version of the, "Red Baron", if you all know what I mean...Ha!...Ha!...I like to be aggressive in flying and in picking up chicks at bars.....I was the Top Gun trophy winner four years ago and a graduate of Alchoholics Anonymous three years ago.....I'm very impulsive and that's what gives me the edge during air to air combat.....I've downed three fighter planes so far....no, not enemy aircrafts....they were aircrafts I was piloting due to carelessness....Thank God for ejection seats huh!?....ha!...ha!...My dad's an Admiral in the Navy...that's why I haven't been kicked out of the service yet....They call me in to teach Top Gun students twice a year at Miramar....not to teach dogfighting but to give talks on why drugs and alcohol can shorten a pilot's career...So, after this mission....Is there anyone buyng drinks?.....". No one answered his question due to his cocky attitude, then Air Force pilot Captain Anthony Aguinaldretto who speaks with an Italian accent spoke next. Grim Reaper Two (F15-Eagle) Captain Anthony Aguinaldretto...Callsign: Rebel...here at your service....It's nice to be the only flyboys among Navy squids...he!..he!...he!...I'm a father of four kids....they named me Rebel because whenever I get orders to retreat during a dogfight...I attack....I've squared off with four MIG fighter planes by myself and shot them all down....but that was when I was young, single and foolish....Anyway that's why they chose me and my co-pilot to be a part of this squadron...to give you someone with extensive real war experience....eventhough I don't teach at your Top Gun school....so let me teach this Protector a thing or two about dog fighting....but for now...may I introduce my co-pilot...". Quickly, Captain Aguinaldretto's co-pilot spoke up with a Southern accent saying, " Ritch Liberty here...at your service...originally from Tennessee....but grew up in Georgia...I love those "Grits",....My Callsign's Hammer,....During dogfighting, i get so excited that I start pounding my fists into my navigational instruments....One time I hit my electronics so hard that everything went dead!....we got lost for hours...and finally had to do an emergency landing somewhere in Syberia....during winter time.....Good thing the folks over there had Vodka...so that's how I got called Hammer....It's nice to be here...over and out....".

              The last that spoke was Grim Reaper Five (F/A-18 Hornet), piloted by the beautiful. smart and skillfull, Lt Jayne Randolph, "Jayne Randolph here.....Callsign: Eagle Eye.....got the name cause whenever I close my left eye and aim with my right eye....I always get a bulls eye.....Presently teaching air to air combat to our pilots in Germany....I won the Junior U.S. Dart championship when I was seventeen....I won the Miss Minnesota beauty pageant when I was nineteen but lost during the Miss USA pageant....got frustrated cause beauty pageants are too subjective....the one who won Miss USA was the niece of one of the judges.....Before the competion starts, some judges already have their favorites......you just don't have any control over winning.....I decided to become a police officer....after the police academy, I applied for the SWAT team and was accepted and trained as a SWAT team member.....Did two years, even winning the SWAT's Sharp Shooter Contest....When I got bored, I decided to resign and joined the U.S. Navy....I applied and was accepted at the Naval Aviator's School, I finished first in class then was sent to Top Gun School...Won the Top Gun trophy three years ago, and I've been a Top Gun Instructor ever since....".

         After Lt Randolph was done introducing herself, Lt. Troy Brionick quickly asked, "Hey, Jayne....after we're done here, do you wanna go out for drinks?....I know this really cool place in this Hotel with a nice bar, then we can go get a room afterwards then.....", suddenly Lt-JG Ritchie Liberty interjected saying, "Don't go out with him Jayne, he's a drunk.....Let me take you out for dinner and I'll show....", quickly, Lt. Marlone Ing cut into the conversation saying, "Don't listen to him Jayne, he's not even a real pilot.....Let me take you for a drive up the coast...I know this nice intimate restaurant by Carmel that....", finally, Lt Randolph spoke up saying, "Boys!...Boys!.....thanks for all the offers but I don't date pilots.....I only date astronauts!...now has anyone of you been out to space lately?.....". Suddenly the airwaves was completely silent once again, then after one minute of complete silence, Lt Sharon St. Peter started laughing as she said, "That's one way of shutting up these guys with their god-like egos...", as both women laughed. suddenly they heard a familiar voice through their radio.

         "Goodmorning Ladies and Gents!....It's a fine Monday morning....72 degrees with fair winds and blue skies....this is Major Powers.....Communications Officer for the Protector.....I'd like to welcome you all to this rude and humbling awakening as you get a taste of the awesome power of America's newest superhero.....Just to remind you all, you can target your missiles at any part of the Protector but not his rocket boosters which are not protected by his force shield.....Your goal,....is to get his force shield down to 30% or his main power down to 40% and you win the game.....On our part, if the Protector locks his laser targeting system on you for a full 5 consecutive seconds then you're considered dead and please have a safe trip back home to the bowels of Naval Air Station Miramar.......". Suddenly Lt Troy Brionick spoke up saying, "Hey Garfield, what happened to you....weren't you supposed to be piloting the Protector?.....What's wrong, is your skin not white enough to be a superhero?...Ha!...HA!...". Lt Jayne Randolph interjected saying, "You've got a big mouth Widowmaker....too bad your mouth's faster than your skill in flying....Don't worry about him Major Powers, he's just being a jerk...Even I applied for the Protector mission and didn't even go as far as to be in the final selection....It's still a man's world when it comes to state of the art technology and war machines....". Lt-JG Edwin Charles asked, "Hey Captain Brassman, how come you never applied for Top Gun School?....". Chase gave a contemptuous smile as he answered, "I wanted to but I was too busy doing missions with my SEAL team....". Lightning Speed shook his head then remarked, "Double edge sword huh?!...I guess we'll just have to teach you a few lessons you could have learned at Top Gun....". Instantly, they got within visual range of each other as Captain Brassman responded, "Then bring it on boys and girls!....".

             Cure Corp Building, San Francisco, California.

       It was 10:00 am Monday  as the meeting started as a video connection was established with North Korea. For the first few minutes there were different video and audio engineers who were testing the quality of their long distance connections, as soon as a clear video and audio connection was established, the camera was focused unto a high ranking North Korean General who started speaking in english saying, "Goodmorning to you all....I am General Song and may I know who of you is Dr. Mark Peters?....". The video camera inside the conference room focused at Samantha as she replied, "Dr. Peters is not here and I'm his daughter Samantha Peters who is the owner and CEO of Cure Corp.....I am the one your president needs to speak to....". The General felt wary as he forced a smile as he nervously said, "I'm sorry Miss Peters but my President wants to speak to your father or any high ranking male in your company who is authorized to provide your most famous cure for cancer.....". Samantha felt slighted but maintained her composure as she replied, "General Song, if your President doesn't want to speak to me then tell him to find a cure for his cancer somewhere else....". The General appeared apprehensive and more nervous as he looked away from the camera as if trying to locate something or someone. The camera panned around the direction to where the General was looking at as it focused towards a beautiful garden outside the presidential mansion. In the middle of the garden was a group of people having snacks sitting around a table, gathered together with the North Korean President who was sitting in a wheelchair. Samantha observed that even in a weakened state, the President was still happy to watch his grandchildren play around the garden. The General called out to a pair of soldiers as one of them whispered a message in the President's ear. The soldier then pushed the President sitting in his wheelchair towards the camera. As North Korea's president "Mai Yu Dai-Soon", reached the video communications team, he stared at a small video monitor where he saw a video feed of a group of Americans in a conference room. He then looked into the camera and asked, "Where's the doctor?....". Samantha quickly answered saying, " He's not here and it is I her daughter, Samantha Peters who runs this company and who approves all cures for cancer....So if you want a cure,...you'll have to deal with me....", as she stood straight with her arms crossed over her chest projecting a confident unwavering demeanor. Suddenly, the North Korean dictator's face looked mad as he started scolding General Song in their Korean language. He then looked into the camera asking, "Is this a joke?....I don't want to speak to you lady....Get me your father or a man who knows something about my disease before I loose my cool and fire several nuclear missiles that will destroy countries and kill hundreds of millions of people....In the meantime why don't you learn your proper place in the world and learn how to crouchet or learn how to cook for your husband and kids if you have them lady....". The dictator pushed himself up from the wheelchair as a couple of soldiers helped him stand up. As the President stood next to General Song who was six feet three inches tall, the President looked really short. Suddenly the main doors of the conference room opened as Betsy quickly came in wearing one of Samantha's business suits. She looked at all the people in the conference room staring at her then saw the two men in the video screen as she laughed asking loudly, "So!, who's the midget?...."", as everyone in the conference room became flusterred by her comment while President Mai Yu Dai-Soon who understood and spoke english well started cursing in his native language. Samantha gave Betsy an irritated look and gestured for her to sit quickly and to shut up. Samantha tried to apologize for the comment Betsy said but the President was now furious. The North Korean President started cursing and yelling more derogatory sexist remarks towards Samantha as she tried to keep her self control while she clenched her fists behind her back. She gently told the President, "Mr. President, I will not keep on tolerating the manner of how you speak to me.....you need to calm down....", but President Mai Yu Dai-Soon became more beligerant as Samantha firmly responded, "Mr President...I know that in your country, women are still treated as second class citizens, but in America women, "Kick ASS!!!...", so eventhough I don't have a, "SHORT!", temper....I am a busy person and my time is, "SHORT!", so I would advice you....little man....to look up and smell the roses because I am your only key to your survival...and if you ever raise your voice at me again, I will hang-up and end this meeting immediately....". Everyone in the conference room looked at each other with anxiety as the tensions increased. The dictator coughed a few times as his face shook in anger as he raised his fist yelling, "You bitch!... you dare insult my height....if you don't let me talk to Dr. Mark Peters, I will destroy countries here in Asia and it's going to be your fault!..So...,"[Click...], Samantha turned off the connection between the two parties as the Secretary of Defense quickly stood up yelling, "What the hell did you do Miss Peters!?....You've just endangered millions of lives with your overconfident and cavalier attitude!....I want you to call him back, apologize and let me be the one to make a deal with him...I am the Secretary of Defense of the United States of America!...", as he dusted off his business suit. Samantha stared at the Secretary of Defense with her hands on her hips trying to project complete control of the situation. Admiral Rivera slowly swivelled in his chair as he calmly asked, "You sure you know what your doing Sam?...". Samantha stared at the Admiral as she re-assured him saying, "Don't worry Admiral, I know very well what I'm doing...".

             Suddenly General Cheung's cell phone rang as he received a call from North Korean General Song. After a few minutes of discussion, General Cheung informed the group that President Mai Yu Dai-Soon is giving them one hour to produce Dr. Mark Peters, and if they are not contacted in one hour, they will launch five nuclear missiles directed at undisclosed Asian countries that are allies of the United States. The tension in the conference room increased another notch as everyone was now arguing the best course of action to prevent a nuclear catastrophe. The Secretary of Defense, Dean Johnson stood up as he slapped his hand on the table, then raised his hand up in the air signalling for everyone to stop arguing. As everyone stopped talking, Dean Johnson's posture and mannerism reminded Samantha of Adolf Hitler and how she used to watch black and white documentaries of him during World War 2 when he would address and salute his Nazi regime, all he needed was a small square mustache under his nose and he'd be a xerox copy of Hitler.

         Dean Johnson spoke saying, "Lets get Dr. Peters here now and I'll take over the negotiations with President Mai Yu DAi-Soon...", knowing that this was an opportunity for him to be a hero in the eyes of the International community. When the press finds out that he'd averted a nuclear holocaust in Asia, it would be good for his political career and maybe catapult him to congress or even the vice-presidency of the United States in a few years. Everyone broke their silence and started arguing again as Samantha raised her hands trying to quiet down the group and get everyone's attention, "Please...please...give me your attention for a minute....". Everyone stopped talking and stared at Samantha as she explained, "This dictator will not launch his nukes....I guarantee it!....", suddenly the room got chaotic once more as everyone tried to insist on their own opinion. Dean Johnson did that Adolf Hitler gesture again by slapping his hand on the table three times to get everyone's attention as he spoke asking, "And how does a thirty year old woman who has no experience in military strategy and warfare know what this madman will do and not do?!!...", as he tried to plant doubts in the group's minds about Samantha's ability to predict what North Korea's leader will do. Samantha feeling the pressure calmly responded, "I believe and am certainly positive that this man is going through the five stages of dying....or the grieving process....I see it a lot in our company's patients who come in for a cure....". Everyone looked around with a puzzled expression as she noticed Admiral Rivera smiling at her as he stood up applauding her while everyone in the room wondered what Samantha was talking about. The Admiral spoke saying, "Ahhh...the five stages of dying.....let me see if I still remember them...First is Denial...second is Anger.....then there's Bargaining.........Depression and finally Acceptance....". He looked around the room then commented, "I used to be A Navy Hospital Corpsman assigned with the Marines before I became an Officer and that's how I know of this...". He then asked Samantha to explain to the group why she did not think that the North Korean President would launch the missiles and the connection to the, "Five Stages of Dying". Samantha glanced around at skeptical faces as she started explaining, "President Mai Yu Dai-Soon is going through the five stages of dying.....How do I know this?.....First of all, I see it time and time again in our patients who come for a cure with their terminal cancer,...Secondly, I minored in Health Sciences in college and studied this principle which is a widely accepted model of emotional and psychological responses that many people experience when faced with a life-threatening illness.....It was first introduced by Elizabeth Kubler Ross in her 1969 book, "On Death and Dying",...As mentioned by the Admiral,...there are five stages and they are, DENIAL....is when the sick person says that he feels fine and does not accept that their illness is happening to them....We all read the reports of how Mai Yu Dai-Soon had to fly in two French doctors eventhough his staff of physicians were all trained in Europe and here in America...Because of his denial, he did not accept the diagnosis of his own physicians, even with his access to state of the art hospital equipments....Then there's the ANGER stage, where the dying prson is asking, "Why me?....Who is to blame?.", during this stage, the person is very difficult to care for due to misplaced feelings of rage or envy.....And, you all just witnessed how angry that dictator was, not even wanting to listen to reason....Secondly, when our meeting started, we all witnessed the dictator sitting in his wheelchair having fun watching his grandchildren play in their garden....I really believe that he loves his family too much knowing that if he launches his nukes that we'll shower his country with our own nuclear missiles killing everyone including his family and grandchildren that he trully loves.....Which brings us to the third stage...BARGAINING.....I believe that he is just bluffing and will call us before the hour is over to start bargaining for a cure for his cancer.

               Captain O'Bland suddenly interrupted announcing, "We have 55 minutes before they launch their nukes ladies and gentlemen...", Once again Dean Johnson stood up raising his right hand above his head just like Hitler does as he spoke up while staring at Samantha saying, "just because you minored in Health Sciences in college, you think that you can predict what this madman will do?....As the Secretary of Defense, I order you to re-establish communications with North Korea and give their President the cure he needs!...That's an order!.....". Admiral Rivera quickly stood up saying, "With all due respect Secretary Johnson....I am in control of this negotiations as he pulled out and raised another copy of the signed letter by the President of the United States showing that he was authorized to have full control of the negotiations with North Korea. After giving the Admiral a dirty look, Secretary Johnson finally sat down steaming in anger. Suddenly, Samantha's cell phone rang, it was Grey. She rolled her eyes in exasperation at the bad timing as she hesitantly answered the phone, "Hi,...what's up?!....". She heard Grey's disappointed voice on the other end as he asked, "Do you know what time it is?....". Samantha looked at her gold wrist watch as she replied, "Yeah, it's 1035 AM....". Grey sounding frustrated replied, "Yeah?!...Did you forget about our 10am appointment with the christian counselor?.....I've been waiting here at his office for the last 45minutes....". Samantha pinched the bridge of her nose with her eyes closed feeling stressed out as she answered, "Grey, I'm sorry but I'm not gonna be able to make it....It's just been chaotic at work....you know....with all the sick people we're trying to cure....you understand, don't you?...". Grey gave a deep sigh as he replied, "Sam, you're not a doctor...you don't treat patients....you run the company and make the big   bucks....I thought that money was not important to you....and now you're giving me excuses?....The world is not gonna end if you miss a day of work you know...". "Bad choice of words", Samantha thought as she replied, "Grey, if I told you the truth, you won't even believe me..so what's the use?!....". With an annoyed tone Grey replied, "Try me!!....". Samantha looked at the group who were still arguing amongst each other as she placed her left hand on her waist as she replied, "Ok?!...you wanna know the truth?.....I'm in a middle of a nuclear crisis...I'm negotiating with North Korea's President who is threatening to launch nuclear missiles all over Asia unless....", [click!....], suddenly Grey hanged up on her as she felt the pressure of the situation quickly double, she was right the first time thinking that Grey would never believe the truth if she told him. And now she had her first argument with the man she loved a day after they've reconciled.

              General Cheung who was talking on his cell phone suddenly announced loudly saying, I'm getting reports that our satellites are picking up smoke build up at their nuclear missile sites....Looks like they've armed and are warming up their nukes for launching.....". Secretary Johnson took out his cell phone as he yelled and slammed his right hand on the table yelling, "This is ridiculous!....You people are all mad!....I'm calling the President myself and will get authorization to take control of this negotiations...and you Miss Peters better be ready to provide the cure or you'll be spending the rest of your life in a Federal prison with the guilt you'll carry for being the cause of a nuclear holocaust in Asia.....".

                Secretary Johnson started dialing the number of the President's cell phone on his secured line but the phone just kept on ringing, a few seconds later, individual cell phones started ringing one by one. Captain O'Bland who was speaking into his cell phone suddenly yelled, "The President has been shot!...". Most of the military officers got the same call, the Admiral was listening into his cell phone as a high ranking Egyptian official wa giving him a more thorough report over his cell phone with more details than what everyone had. The Secretary of Defense was staring at his cell phone expecting it to ring but no one called him. Admiral Rivera turned off his cell phone as he gestured and asked everyone to calm down and have a seat. Meanwhile, Secretary Johnson was fuming that nobody even bothered to call him, "The Secretary of Defense of the United States of America....A forgotten man...", he thought to himself. Admiral Rivera wiped off the sweat in his forehead as he said, "I know that most of you just got the news that our President had been shot, but before I expand on....", the conference double doors suddenly slammed open as CURE Corp's security chief and other top ranking CURE executives burst in yelling, "Turn on the T.V.....there's breaking news about our President being shot at Cairo....". Admiral Rivera quickly paused his speech as one of the three 60 inch plasma screens hanging on the wall turned on.

                USNN TV anchor Nancy Vanderfield came on screen looking disorganized as she compiled the papers in front of her and fixed her hair quickly as she started reporting live, "Good morning America,...we have news that just came in from Cairo Egypt where our President has been visiting to enhance cooperation between both nations on the war on terror....We just learned that the President of the United States was shot at while meeting with the Egyptian President in Egypt's presidential palace....Right now, our news reporter, Vabhani Khaliwa who is at Cairo is standing by to give us more details about the President's condition....". Quickly, the T.V. camera switched to a live footage from Cairo where a reporter was standing in front of Egypts presidential palace, "Thank you, Nancy....as you all can see, I'm standing in front of the palace which is now guarded by twice as many security personnel and with an additional two hundred Egyptian Army troops as they surround the palace, not letting anyone in or out....We're not sure about what exactly happened but we have obtained unofficial reports from anonymous witnesses who works inside the palace that a gunman open fired at our President while he was sitting beside the Egyptian President as they held their meeting, we were told that several secret service men jumped on top of the President after the first shot was fired to shield him from further gunfire while the others together with Egyptian palace guards wrestled the shooter to the ground....No word yet on the condition of our President, on whether he is hurt or how serious are his injuries....So far we have not seen any ambulance present unless there is a medical clinic and medical staff inside the palace ready to assist and treat our President....There's also no word yet on who's the shooter and how they got to the President.....All we know is that the Egyptian President is unharmed and that there was only one gunman and one gunshot fired....We just learned that our President is in a safe room guarded by Egypts own presidential guards, while our secret service agents whose task is to protect the President were taken to a separate room for questioning....Why that is?,....it's still not clear. In the meantime, Egypt's military and security forces are on high alert as they are securing the whole palace and searching for any other assassins that might still be inside the palace....". (End of Chapter)

(Author's Note: I will be taking a break from writing for now and switch to song writing once again. I plan to write, arrange, record and upload one song per month for the months of September, October and November 2011, then I'll be taking a three month Christmas break to gain my health back. I will continue with chapter 11 of this novel on March 2012. Thank you so much for your patronage and patience and please donate a few dollars to your favorite charity that helps the poor, sick and hungry...or to anyone of the charitable organizations I've listed on the beginning of this novel. Take Care and May God Bless You....Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!....)

Chapter 9: Game Plans

2011-07-03T15:01:00.000-07:00

        Treasure Island, San Francisco, California.
        Macrostrength Headquarters, Hangar Bay 1, Monday ,0745AM

      Meanwhile, at the same time Samantha was to start her meeting with the Top Pentagon Officials at her Cure Corp. Office, Captain Brassman was having his pre-flight briefing with Major General Moris and Major Powers in the pilot's locker room. As Chase was putting on his black fire retardant inner suit which looked like a thinner wet suit, the General started his briefing, "Captain Brassman, today...as you pilot the Protector B...you'll be dog-fighting against some of our military's best pilots....You've proved time and time again that you were an outstanding special forces commando by completing multiple and dangerous missions around the world...but this time...we will test your skills as a fighter pilot. Most of the pilots you'll be facing today are Top Gun trophy winners....They are the cream of the crop..the top one percent who train other pilots at our Navy Fighter Weapons School at Miramar California. They'll be launching from Miramar at 0815hrs which is the same time you'll launch. From here, our Macrostrength team will be monitoring all your moves....on how you pilot the Protector B...We will be collecting data on your strength and weaknesses as a pilot so that we can correct your mistakes and make you a better pilot.". The General stepped aside as he glanced and nodded at Major Powers for him to continue briefing Captain Brassman. Garfield took a deep sigh as he stepped closer to his friend with a liitle look of worry on his face, "Chase, I'll be communicating with you the whole time....so let me first remind you again about the rules of engagement.....First, you are to keep your primary shields on the whole time during this air to air combat....We need to assess how your shields hold up against direct missile hits....we need to know the exoskeletal parts that would give out during missile blasts....On your part,...we have disabled all your weapons systems and the way you'll win this competion is by the use of your laser locking and targeting system....If you are able to lock on to an aircraft for five consecutive seconds, then that is considered a simulated kill....We will instruct the pilot to remove him/herself from the combat arena and to return back to base. Your opponents will have full weapons systems with guns and sidewinder, Phoenix and Sparrow missiles....Everytime you get hit by anyone of this missiles, it will lower the strength of your primary shields between 10% to 12% depending on the missiles trajectory...Your primary mission is to evade getting hit by their weapons as long as possible while you try and simulate killing all of your opponents...You win the game when you kill all of them but they win the game when they are able to lower your shields down to 30% or your systems main energy down to 40%....This training exercise will automatically cease if you or any of the planes experiences engine or system failure.....Important thing to remember is for you never to get too close to a plane...your shields can be a real weapon if you collide with any of the fighters...keep your distance....On the other hand, they are not allowed to shoot your rocket boosters exhaust sytstems cause that's the only area that's not protected by your shields....So goodluck and be safe up there...any questions?....", as Garfield smiled exitedly at his friend while Chase smiled back shaking his head sideways as they saluted each other. They all left the pilot's locker room as they proceeded to the Main part of Hangar Bay 1 Mission Control. Dr. Spain met them and shook their hands as they all walked up on  a one foot stage in front of a whole group of scientists, flight engineers and flight technicians who all were seated in front of their individual computers, whose tasks were to monitor, study and gather data from the Protector Exo-system B as it tests it's new flight technology, weapons targeting systems and defense systems.

                 The place looked like NASA's space mission control command as Dr. Spain stood behind a podium, he then spoke into a microphone so everyone could here him speak. "Goodmorning ladies and gentlemen....we will be starting our mission in a few minutes..So now let's do our system's check...I'll call each of you out as you give me a "Go", or "No-go", answer....and if all systems are a "Go", then we will launch the Protector B. Dr. Spain took out a white binder as he started reading from it, announcing, "Control?...", as a scientist wearing a white lab coat who heads the Main Micro-computer operations of the Protector B, shouted, "It's a Go!...doctor...". Dr. Spain then looked at Garfield who was sitting at his computer terminal as he announced, "Comm?...", Garfield raised his thumb up as he announced, "We're a Go!..doctor...". Dr. Spain then continued announcing each systems department saying, "Guidance?....(Go!..doctor..".)....Flight Surgeon?.....(Suit's medical telemetry looks perfect....it's a go!...doctor...)....Defense?....(Primary Shields are at a 100% operational....It's a Go!...doctor...)....Weapons?....(All weapons systems are disabled....Laser targeting systems are fully operational....it's a go!...doctor....)....Engineering?....(Solar power operational and at a 100% level ....with lithium battery back-up systems fully charged at 100%...we're a Go!...doctor..)...Damage Control?..(Both SPIDERRS-Surgical Procedures Including Diagnostics and Emergency Robotic Repair Systems are fully operational.....It's a Go!...doctor...)...Jet Boosters?...(Turbojet engines...with it's intake valves, compressors, combustors, turbines and exhausts systems are all operational...we're a Go!...doctor...)...Wings?....(Wings...flaps are fully operational with full range at 45, 75 and 90 degrees without signs of structural stress or damage...it's a go!...doctor...)...And lastly...JetPack.....(Emergency jet pack ready to go! doctor!...).

                Dr. Spain paused for ten seconds as he scanned around for anyone who would change their answer or who'd find a last second technical problem that may jeopardize their mission, but no one called out. He then turned and faced Captain Brassman as he looked like the father of the bride who's ready to give his prized possession away to a worthy man. He smiled, took out the Protector B's remote control from his pocket and tossed it to Captain Brassman as if tossing car keys as the Captain caught it in mid-air. Chase then pressed a button as he stood facing the large silver metallic case that housed the Protector B, the door to the case slid open as white steam escaped from the inside. After the steam cleared, the Captain pressed another button as the Protector B stepped out of it's case just like a giant remote control toy robot. Chase placed the palm of his right hand a few inches away from the Protector's dark visor as a red laser beam scanned Captain Brassman's palm, reading it for proper identification. Suddenly the suit's vertical zipper zipped down as the exoskeletal braces expanded stretching the expandable suit as Chase took a step inside it's wide inner abdominal cavity, his feet fit directly into each red boot as his head slid up into the Protector B's helmet, he then inserted each leg and arm to the Protector's extended limb braces. After he was in it, the computer scanned his whole body for measurements as the braces started contracting, comfortably tightening all around him as the suits zipper zipped back up indicating the end of the braces adjustments. He started doing some stretching and range of motion exercises to get a feel of the new suit. He did some reverse kicks and Taekwondo moves to get comfortable in it. He smiled inside his dark tinted visor-helmet as he felt the braces and suit fitting him perfectly.

         Meanwhile, at Cure Corp Building, 40th floor conference room B, General Cheung looked at his wrist watch which read 08:15AM, he kept tapping his fingers on the conference table as he was sitting patiently while he and other military officials waited in a 1700 square feet conference room. The room had a formal 30 foot long conference table with 15 black leather chairs on each side. On the front of the conference room was a podium and on the wall were three 60 inch plasma TV screens, which was used for video conferences. Ensign Wright was assembling his digital recording system to record the meeting while Master Chief Cardenas and CIA Assistant Director Lawrence Villes were talking softly about top secret data by the coffee machine while they were fixing themselves a cup of coffee. Captain O'Bland approached General Cheung and whispered to him that Admiral Rivera was on his cell phone speaking with the President of the United States, giving him a briefing on what their plan was on their meeting with North Korea's President who will be calling at around 10:00AM to speak with Samantha Peters. Today, they were joined by the Secretary of Defense, Dean Johnson and his Assistant Undersecretary of Defense Thomas Burns. Dean Johnson was a bossy and political ambitious cabinet member who was the son of a former Senator who helped campaign for the current President years ago when he was running for congressman. After the senator retired, he asked the President to assign his son,  to be in his cabinet. Eventhough the current President did not like Dean Johnson because of his cocky attitude, he still felt obligated to grant the retired senator's wish as a favor in return for the senator's past political help. Dean Johnson was a 40 year old narcissistic, lazy, self absorbed , rich spoiled brat type of person who would run over anyone as long as he gets what he wants. He enjoyed discrediting his peers to make him look better to the President of the United States. Because of this, he had been loosing the trust and respect of the President and other cabinet officials. Today, he un-invitedly volunteered to join the team of military officials who will be meeting with the President of North Korea via Tele-conferencing, eventhough the President assigned Admiral Rivera to be fully in-charge of the negotiations.

             "How long is she gonna be before she gets here?...", Dean Johnson anxiously asked as he sat beside General Cheung. "Relax Mr. Johnson....Miss Peters will be here soon...and this ain't the first time she'd done this....", General Cheung smiled confidently as Dean Johnson gave him an irritated look as he remarked, "Oh, yeah!...this madman has his fingers on nuclear missiles and as unstable as he is, may start a nuclear war anytime he gets pissed....And we're having a 30 year old woman deal with him?....How can you have so much confidence in this young woman, General?...". Behind him, the CIA Assistant Director quickly spoke while he was holding a cup of coffee saying, "This isn't her first rodeo ride at this type of a crisis Secretary Johnson...". Mr Villes looked at General Cheung as he asked, "Should I tell him General?....". The General hesitatingly nodded without saying a word as Mr. Villes explained, "We've been working with Samantha for the past 24 months with different types of world crisis....One year ago, when Pakistan and India were about to destroy each other with their nuclear missiles, we asked Miss Peters to intervene....She offered the Presidents of both countries and their respective families a guaranteed cure for cancer now and in the future if ever they got sick with it.....But the deal she asked in return was for the immediate de-activation of all their nuclear missiles and a full inspection of nuclear facilities from the United Nations team of nuclear experts....She also demanded a stand down of both military forces amassing on the Pakistan-India border.....You did not know that Miss Peters was the reason that war was aborted, did you?....The only thing she wanted from the U.S. government in return was to keep her identity secret.". With a curious stare, Dean Johnson asked, "But why conceal her identity?...She could be a huge celebrity by now or even a powerfull politician...". Mr. Villes took a sip of his coffee then replied, "Think of it Mr. Secretary, If the whole world knew of the power of curing cancer that Miss Peters possessed, in stopping nuclear wars, do you think she'll be able to have one minute of peace?. Everyone out for power would be racing to kidnap her and use this power into blackmailing heads of states for money, nuclear bombs and everything else they could think off....She and her father are the only ones who has the patented formula for curing cancer and they still have 16 years more to go before that patent expires.
                  Captain O'Bland looked up at Mr. Villes as he asked, "So after 16 years the formula for the cure for cancer becomes public property?....". From across the table, Master Chief Cardenas answered as he leaned on the table saying, "Not exactly,...Cure Corp has hired a prestigious law firm to try to extend their exclusive rights to their cure for cancer by changing it from a patent to a trade secret....Just like Coca-Cola, the softdrink company whose formula for it's distinct taste remains a secret. Cure Corps lawyers will follow the same arguments in the courts of law, that if they were to provide cure for cancer to this country or any other country...that their formula for cancer's cure remains a secret. Their lawyers will also argue that the success of Cure Corporation depends on a large part on it's ability to obtain legal protection for it's intangible assets which is it's formula for curing cancer....and that an agreement with a country will make clear that each cancer cure is subject to a particular type of creation...". Master Chief Cardenas smiled as he continued, "I wrote my thesis on this company last year when I was completing my master's degree....Oh! and if this ever reaches the United States Supreme Court....they have a good chance of winning.....count on it....".

                Captain O'Bland looked around as he raised his hands with his palms up asking, "Are you telling me that all this power falls into the hands of this father and daughter team?...", General Cheung swiveled in his leather chair as he answered, "Exactly!...I know it's a lot of power...and it's like playing god, but we can also use this power as a leverage in dealing with dictators, warlords and other powerfull mad-men bent on destroying this world....", then they all heard Admiral Rivera speak up saying, "Even our President admits that Miss Peters is the world's second most powerfull person behind him and eventhough she refuses...our President feels that our government should provide around the clock security for her and her father....they are like the geese that lays golden eggs....everybody would want their hands on them....or their formula for cancer's cure...".

                The main doors suddenly burst open as a loud argument was heard between Samantha Peters and Muhammad Khan who was Cure Corp's most trusted and senior lawyer who heads their International Legal Affairs Division. He was flanked by two junior lawyers who were all wearing expensive business suits. Dean Johnson quickly suspected that Mr. Khan was a terrorist because he wore a dark blue pin-striped business suit, a red neck tie and a black turban on his head. He stared at Samantha and was appalled to see her wearing just a light pink long sleeve collared shirt, blue jeans and dark blue flat shoes with rubbery soles. Samantha was trying to convince her lawyers that she didn't need any legal representation during this meeting with the Pentagon officials and with the North Korean President. They continued to argue loudly as Samantha insisted that she had dealt with this kind of situation before. Finally, Mr. Khan was helplessly over-ruled by Samantha as he and his assistants left the room with worried expressions on their faces. Samantha understood that they were only trying to protect her and her company's interests from any legal trouble that may happen during this closed door session, though she knew that she could always seek their help later with one phone call if things get complicated. She closed the double doors behind her and looked around the conference room as she recognized some familiar faces and some new ones as she greeted the group saying, "Goodmorning everybody....I apologize for that scene you just witnessed.....You can all have a seat so we may begin...". Realizing the seriousness of this meeting, Samantha called her junior executive assistant and told her to re-schedule all her business appointments she had today for a later date.

                The meeting began at 08:00am as everyone introduced themselves and their role in this important meeting. After the introductions were over, Admiral Rivera looked around the room then focused on the Secretary of Defense whom he'd had past disagreements with. He reminded everyone that the President of the United States gave him total control and decision making during these negotiations which were about to transpire during the meeting with the North Korean dictator. Admiral Rivera then passed a faxed letter signed by the U.S. President authorizing him to make final decisions in any deals made with North Korea's President. The letter was read, passed from person to person, but when it came to Dean Johnson, he ignored the letter and tossed it into the garbage can knowing that he outranked Admiral Rivera and was not going to take orders from him. He was the U.S. Secretary of Defense, a powerfull man, he whispered to himself. Everybody looked around at each other after witnessing the Defense Secretary's childish arrogance. Admiral Rivera finally spoke to Samantha asking, "Are you ready for this young lady?....", Samantha smiled back, feeling a little nervous due to what was at stake in this negotiations as she replied, "We've done this before Admiral,...It should just be a walk in the park...", projecting a look of confidence to everyone who were staring at her.

                 The Admiral then opened a folder as he started briefing Samantha saying, "President Mai Yu Dai-Soon is suffering from stage 4 metastatic liver cancer which has weakened him in the last few months. He's been married for 30years...His wife named , "Yu Dai Not-Ay", is a very subservient woman who we don't know that much about, he has a son and a daughter-in-law with a more western name,  named William and Wendy, but who likes to be called, "Will Yu Dai-Soon", who si married to, "Wendy",...or... "Wen Yu Dai-Soon"....", Samantha hid her laughter as she tried to project a serious look on her face while Admiral Rivera continued speaking, "President Mai Yu Dai-Soon has two grandchildren whom he loves dearly, which is another reason he wants to prolong his life....He is a very impatient and short tempered man...speaking of short, he gets very agitated and angry when someone makes fun of his height....He only stands about five feet and two inches tall, which is quite short for North Korean men who's height averages about five feet and eight inches tall. CIA had reports last year of a North Korean news reporter who made a joke in the air about short men in general which President Mai witnessed on television....He had the reporter arrested and was executed via a firing squad live on all their TV stations...So Samantha, try and remember not to say any jokes about being short...ok?..Also, expect him to be resistant to you at the start of the meeting because he doesn't like to deal with women....Women to him are inferior and should be nothing more than just housemaids and baby factories.....". Samantha smiled confidently as she replied, "Don't worry Admiral,...I know how to deal with short, controlling and chauvanistic men....". Ensign Wright noticed CIA Assitant Director Lawrence Villes smile as he asked, "What's she talking about?....". Mr. Villes whispers to Ensign Wright saying, "She's talking about her short ex-boyfriend....I think his name is Grey..Gary...or Greg or something...". Ensign Wright stared at Mr. Villes as he asked, "How do you know about these kind'a things?...". Mr Villes, whispered back saying, "We're the CIA, we're supposed to know everything...", as they both grinned silently. Admiral Rivera kept a serious look on his face as he continued saying, "So, Sam....don't get offended if he says something derogatory about you for being a woman....stick to the negotiations.....". Samantha nodded seriously knowing the gravity of what's at stake as the Admiral continued saying, "So, this is what we want from him....First, a complete and un-conditional pull-out of all their naval forces from the South Korean seas....Next, the pull-out of their major Army units amassing at the South/North Korean border....Third, we want them to end the creation and sales of nuclear weapons...So how do you propose you'll deal with this guy?....". Samantha leaned against her black leather office chair as she twirled a pencil between her fingers while she thought for a few seconds, turning to her laptop, she downloaded some data that she was analyzing on a few minutes ago as she finally spoke, "Our approach should be somewhat similar to what we did with the Pakistan-India nuclear crisis but with some major differences too, of course....". She swiveled a few times in her chair , deep in thought as she made sure that her suggestions were going to be the best alternatives available. She looked around the room as everyone stared at her in silence as she spoke, "First, since we're dealing with an un-predictable madman,..it's obvious that I will not totally approve a permanent cure for him....What we can do is keep him on a leash....First, I will approve a treatment plan for him which will reverse his stage 4 cancer and return it to stage 2 if he pulls out his troops from the Korean border and pull-out his naval forces from the South Korean seas...Next, I will offer him a monthly supply of cancer drugs that will place his stage 2 cancer into remission without totally curing him....If he does agree to end manufacturing and sales of nuclear weapons, then I'll promise that when he steps down from power without any influence to the next regime that takes over for him then I will approve a final cure for his cancer and offer the same for any of his family members ....". Samantha turned off her laptop computer then leaned forward on the table as she locked her hands together waiting for any responses or questions. Everyone looked around, amazed at the power she wielded as eveyone looked convinced at her plan on how to deal with President Mai Yu Dai-Soon.

              Meanwhile, back at Macrostrength Industries headquarters at Treasure Island, San Francisco, California, Doctor Adolf Marcos who is the third most senior scientist working for Macrostrength behind Top senior scientist/physicist Dr. Spain and second most senior scientist Dr. Nick Castle reports to Macrostrength CEO John Layer's office. As he was ushered in by the CEO's executive assistant, he was quickly met by Mr. Layer, "Adolf...come on in....so give me an update....". Dr. Marcos looked around nervously as he took out his handkerchief and wiped the sweat on his forehead and around his neck as he nervously said, " I did what you asked me to do Mr. Layer.....and nobody will know about it....". He then went straight to John Layers computer on the right side of the room and downloaded a schematic diagram of the Protector while pointing towards the Protector's rocket boosters. While pointing to it, he looked at John Layer as he explained, "First, I've created a computer backdoor password for you to enter into the Protector's main CPU, it's like the computer's brain where you can delete add or change programs to the Protector's computer ....This is only temporary and will be disabled within 24 hours to prevent detection and tracing by our company's computer security team.....Now to sabotage the boosters...you only have to press the F5 and F6 keys which should cause the boosters to malfunction and crash the Protector B during it's simulated air combat training with the Top Gun fighter planes from Miramar....". John Layer took out a cigarette from his shirt pocket and lit it up taking a puff of smoke as he asked, "Can you be more specific on how you arranged this?....". Dr. Marcos pretended to smile as he coughed from the second hand smoke blown towards his face as he nervously realized the limited knowledge of Mr. Layer in aerospace engineering and technology as he continued explaining, "OK...what we're gonna do is cause a system failure to both rocket boosters.....we'll do it one after the other and make it apear as if it was caused by direct missile hits at the Protector....Even with the "Halo", shield system on, damage to any part of the exoskeletal system may still happen.....What I did was to create some faulty wiring....When you press the F5 key in your computer, wires will incinerate in the left rocket booster which will prevent the mixture of air and solar fuel in the combustion chamber...which will leave them with just the right rocket booster...Pressing the F6 key will create a solar cell delivery system leak inside the compressor that may cause and explossion....Because of this, the microcomputer will automatically sense this and disable the compressor to prevent an explosion in the right rocket booster thereby shutting down the booster...". Dr. Marcos nervously smiled at his boss wishing some words of approval but what he got was a disgusted puzzled stare from Mr. Layer. John Layer took a few more puffs of his cigarette then said, "Doctor Marcos....I am a businessman, I know how to buy and sell state of the art weapons for mass destruction...I've sold hundreds of thousands of guns in Africa and placed guns in the hands of young African children as young as five years old and watch them shoot dead their friends..their siblings...and even their parents to my delight....It's better than dying of AIDS you know....On the other hand, I've inherited from my father and my father's father...my ancestors....the trade of manufacturing cigarettes and made a fortune from my Relax Cigarette Company which shortened people's lives by giving them lung cancer and thereby prevent over population in this country and other countries around the world so that there will be more food to eat with less mouths to feed....Eventhough I'm so humanitarian and socially sensitive to the needs of this world, there are things that is beyond my comprehension....one of them is understanding what the HELL!!!... you're talking about....Now sit down!! and teach me the very basic anatomy and physics of rocket boosters, so that if something goes wrong, I know how to make an alibi for myself!...". Dr. Marcos shuddered in fear as he quickly faced the computer and started typing nervously. After a few seconds, he was able to download a picture of a jet plane's engine. "Ok, sirrr...here's a picture of a jet engine of a 747 jumbo jet aircraft....the rocket boosters of the Protector is exactly the same as this jumbo jet's engine...the only difference is...we've made it way much smaller....as small as your regular ski-boots.....Let me begin by saying that a jet engine has four parts to it....It has a compressor....a combustor....a turbine....and an exhaust....When you look at the Protector's boosters....on it's lateral sides are air pockets...located just above the lateral ankle site....this is where air is sucked in....the part of the Halo shield covering the air pockets have tiny holes that lets air pass through the shield and into the air pockets.....Air then goes and is squeezed into the compressor....some of the air is also squeezed into the combustor chamber at a very high pressure....So when solar fuel is mixed with it and ignited, a rapid increasing heat energy is produced....this is where we will sabotage the left rocket booster by preventing the mixture of air and solar fuel which then will prevent the ignition and production of a rapid increasing heat energy which is supposed to create a jetstream of gas needed to create a forward thrust....once again, all you need to do is press the F5 key and you will disable the left rocket booster.....Now the second part of the jet engine is the combustion chamber....This is where the combustion mixture of air and solar fuel is sent and is then rushed into the turbine, which is the third part of the jet engine....As the gas expands, part of the energy is used to power the turbines which in turn drives the compressor....Finally, the gas is blown out through the exhaust nozzle providing a fast moving jet stream out of the back of the engine creating a forward thrust....In conclusion, it is taking air at a normal speed and forcing it out at a higher speed sending the aircraft forward....Now for sabotaging the right rocket booster....I've loosened some screws surrounding the combustion chambers...and because of this....combustible gas will escape through the rocket booster and up into the suit....Two things will either happen, the microcomputer might pick-up the combustible gas leak and do an automatic shutdown of the entire rocket booster to prevent an explosion or if the combustible gas comes in contact with any friction which creates a spark from the exoskeletal system being hit by missiles....then..."Ka-Boom!!!"..., the Protector will implode inside it's own Halo Shield...disintegrating the Protector and Captain Brassman...", John Layer thought in silence for a few seconds, then asked, "What about the jetpack?...", Dr. Marcos gave a sinister smile as he said, "Don't worry sir, I was able to hack into the Protector's central processing unit and I re-wrote some of it's software programs, I deleted the command to automatically activate the jetpack if the boosters malfunction....the jetpack will only activate automatically if the solar fuel cells are totally empty....even if they realize this fact....I clogged up the solar fuel cell emergency drainage system so that they won't be able to empty their solar fuel thereby will not be able to automaticallyt activate the jetpack.....and the final result for the Protector?....is to crash and burn....". They both smiled then burst into a sinister laugh.

                After a few more technical details, Dr. Marcos got the courage to ask John Layer, "Sir, with all due respect...why would you want to sabotage your own creation which can bring you fame, wealth and power beyond your wildest dreams?....", John Layer showed another evil grin as he said, "Have a seat Dr. Marcos...", John Layer took a couple of more puffs of his cigarette then extinguished it on his ash tray then sat on his brown leather executive chair. "For sometime now, I've been planning my revenge on Samantha Peters....Eventhough it's not publicly known, my friends in congress told me that she was the reason that smoking had been illegalized in California....Because of this, I had to move my Cigarette factory (Relax Cigarettes) to another state....because of Miss Peters, profits in my cigarette company had declined 6% worldwide.....and because of this,....she has to pay for what she's done...Ha!...Ha!...Ha!....". Dr. Marcos was confused as he asked once again, "So what does sabotaging the Protector have to do with your plan for revenge at Samantha Peters?....". John Layer opened his desk drawer and pulled out a stack of pictures and tossed them at his table towards Dr. Marcos. Dr Marcos picked them up as he browsed through them seeing pictures of Samantha and Chase during different years. John Layer swiveled in his chair and said, "They're best friends...since highschool.....she took something valuable from me.....Now, it's my turn to take something...or someone valuable from him....and when her friend, Chase is dead...then her loser boyfriend Grey is next then last but not the least, her father......I won't stop until everyone she loves and care for in this world are all dead....". Both men laughed louder as their dastardly plans became clear to each other. (End of Chapter).

Chapter 8: Just Another Day At The Office

2011-06-05T18:19:00.000-07:00

Author's Note: To read this next chapter, please go to http://gregelie.blogspot.com/
Sorry for the inconvenience.....

Chapter 7: DARK CLOUDS FORMING

2011-05-04T04:00:00.000-07:00

            Bright lights blinded his vision as Grey woke up in a strange room with a cervical collar around his neck, still feeling a little dizzy, he tried to sit up from a hospital bed but suddenly felt an intense headache. He rubbed his temples with both hands as he looked around trying to figure out where he was. He tried to sit up but felt an intense pain to the back of his head and his whole back. The door opened as Dr. Peters came in wearing a lab coat with a stethoscope around his neck while holding a cup of water with his left hand and a medicine cup which had tablets of pain killers and muscle relaxants with his right hand. He approached Grey smiling, "There...there...take it easy will ya!...you just had a bad fall...". Looking around at the room which had complete medical equipments and supplies and with it's walls painted white, Grey reached for the medicine cup as he asked, " Did you bring me to the hospital?...". Dr. Peters waited for Grey to swallow the tablets then answered, "Actually were on the basement of the house. I made it into a fully operational clinic, which is as equipt with everything an emergency room would have in a hospital...plus some...like X-ray machinnes, CT scan room and an MRI room....With the help of my assistants we already did a scan of your brain and an X-ray of your back and all seems normal, though I need you to just keep the collar on at least for the next 24 hours...ok?...". Grey looked around once more impressed with the high tech gadgets that Dr. Peters had collected, it was like a doctor's ,"Batcave",. He then looked at the doctor as he asked, "How's Samantha?, is she ok?...". Dr. Peters took the empty cup and threw it in the garbage as he replied, "She's a little distraught and worried about you my friend...I had to force her to entertain the guests upstairs while we did your scans.". Dr. Peters turned on a flashlight as he shunned it in Grey's left eye then on his right eye, then in his ears. Grey glanced at Dr. Peters as he said, "I'm really sorry for causing this problem with you and Sam I....". Dr. Peters smiled once more as he interrupted saying, "Sorry?,...there's nothing to be sorry about.....It actually ended up being a blessing in disguise...I saw in my daughter's eyes how much she loves and cares for you with tears in her eyes when you passed out....And you my friend proved your love to my daughter with that heroic but dumb stunt you did when you were both falling...". Grey looked confused as he asked, "Huh?...", The doctor smiled again as he explained, " You hit your head on the floor really hard Grey...that's why you passed out...You could have had a cerebral hemorrhage from that accident....", Grey looked more confused as he asked, "Are you saying that I should not have hugged Sam when we were falling?....". Dr. Peters gave a deep sigh as he paused what he was doing and looked at Grey as he explained." What I'm saying is that you have to weigh the risks and rewards of your decisions and actions....What's the worst that could have happened to Sam if you decided to brace your fall instead of protecting her?....maybe break her wrist?.....she was still gonna land on top of you...which is less serious than you dying or getting seriously injured from a broken neck or a severe head injury....". Grey finally understood Dr. Peters point of view as he nodded in approval.

                   Dr. Peters continued his examination checking the gripping strength of Grey's hands and the strength of Grey's legs and feet. "Grey...my daughter loves you more than you think...i just hope that both of you could give the extra effort in finding a way to get along rather than hurting each other's feelings...". Grey slowly nodded again feeling hopefull that all is not lost with his relationship with Samantha. After fully examining Grey, Dr. Peters told him that he sustained a concussion but that he'll be ok. He told Grey that he won't be driving home tonight and that his only options were to either sleep over in one of their bedroom suites or be driven home by one of Dr. Peters cheuffers, Grey chosed the latter. Dr. Peters then proceeded to open a medical drawer as he took out a needle and some sutures. Grey seeing this started to feel around the back of his head for any evidence of bleeding as he asked, "Did I sustain a laceration?...". Dr. Peters smiled and replied, "No..no..no...this is to saw the clip back unto your pant's waistline....I really want my hemostatic forcep back...", as they both stared at the surgical tool which was still clipped unto Grey's pants waist as they both laughed. "A 4-0 Nylon should be sturdy enough....You need not take off your pants son...this'll just take 4 to five stitches and your pants will feel as good as new....just don't tell anyone i sawed your pants....I got a reputation to protect....", as they both smiled again. After Grey's pants was repaired, Dr. Peters asked if they could talk some more. He asked Grey to proceed and wait in the Armory while he said his goodbyes and goodnights to his guests who were still present in their ballroom.

                 The armory was about 10,000 square feet in space and was filled with over a hundred statues of mideveil knights in Armor with hundreds of different kinds of swords and shields hanging from the walls. This was Grey's favorite area that he loved to visit, he always felt like a kid in a candy store when he was in the armory. Looking around, he noticed a new statue of a knight's armor which seemed a little more modern but looked authentic enough. placing his hands in his pockets while admiring the new statue, he heard the door open behind him and as he looked back, in came Dr. Peters, "How's the headache...", Dr. Peters asked, "It's still there but slowly fading....". Grey answered, pointing to the statue, Grey asked, "Is this one of your newest collections?....", he asked with excitement. Dr. Peters smiled as he walked closer to Grey, "Yeah, i actually had that specially made....They just delivered it three months ago...it's made of titanium alloy.". Dr. Peters turned around as he headed towards a glass cabinet. "But why would you make a titanium armor?....They did not have this type of armor during the early years of knighthood....did they?...".Dr Peters opened the glass cabinet as he took out a silver rectangular metal plate with rugged edges which was two inches by four inches long. The plate looked worn out and had dents all over it, it was as light as an aluminum metal of the same size. Dr. Peters hands the plate to Grey as he holds and inspects it. He asks Dr. Peters, "What's this?....". Dr. Peters leans on a table as he crosses his arms over his chest as he explained. "That my friend is an archeological find from an archeological dig site of an ancient castle in London. It's been scientifically studied and dated to be from between the 10th to the 12th century AD....", Grey looked at it again as it aroused his curiosity. "The scientist who found and studied it concluded that it is a titanium alloy...", as Dr. Peters excitedly explained. Grey looked even more puzzled as he waited for more explanation. "Titanium was discovered in the year 1791 in Cornwall, United Kingdom by William Gregor....", Grey now looked more confused than ever as Dr. Peters continued to explain, "Do you know that that piece of metal in your hand was a part of a knight's breastplate?....Legends say that during the time of King Arthur which was between the 5th and the 12th century, Merlin the magician was searching for a knight who could help Arthur protect the Kingdom of Camelot but was unable to find a skillfull swordsman with a humble and good heart.
The story goes that Lancelot who as a child was raised by Vivien, the Lady of the Lake grew up as a lad with a good heart....Secretly,...Vivien entrusted the young Lancelot into Merlin's care. Merlin took this lad under his wing to train him to be a skillfull knight...but after a few years of training,...the best Lancelot could be was an average swordsman....Being a magician, a chemist and also a metallurgist...legend has it that Merlin invented what we now know as a titanium alloy which he processed and made into a full armor...together with a sword and shield for Lancelot to wear and battle with. So even with Lancelot's average skills as a swordsman,...but because the titanium armor he wore which was as strong as steel but 45% lighter, he was able to move faster and quicker than the other knights who wore the much heavier steel armor who he was able to beat in sword fighting...His armor also had a very high tensile strength and toughness even at extreme temperatures which again was tested when Morgana the sorceress attacked him and his knights with balls of fire. The other knights with him got scalded but not him...not one single trace of burned skin or hair follicle....And that's another reason why all the knights in King Arthur's kingdom revered him...Just like Arthur who became great because of his sword Excalibur,...the same was true with Lancelot and his titanium alloy...and that my friend,...that priceless piece of metal you're holding...which I got at an auction for $14 million is a part of Lancelot's Armor Breastplate...". Grey's eyes grew wider in amazement as his fingers rubbed the piece of metal as he asked, "Are you telling me that Lancelot cheated?...", Dr. Peters quickly answered, "No...no..no,...Lancelot did not cheat...he just had the best technology at that time.....he just had them fooled thinking that he was the best swordsman because of his skills...not knowing that it was the light armor that made Lancelot better and faster in fighting while the much heavier steel armor made the other knights slower during battle....". Dr. Peters walked towards the titanium knight statue as he explained, "So this here would be a close replica of Lancelot's armor.". He looked at Grey as he smiled at Grey's amazement when suddenly the door opened as Samantha peeked her head in. "Come on in honey...i was just about to call you...". Dr. Peters waved his hand urging Samantha to enter in. Samantha rushed towards Grey as she hugged him tightly with her eyes closed while she sobbed and whispered, "I love you Grey...please forgive me for putting you through this ordeal....", she then locked eyes with Grey, kicked off her two inch high heel shoes and kissed him passionately. Grey's eyes were wide open while they were kissing as he felt her body press tightly into his, arousing him sexually as he felt himself slowly getting an erection which was the last thing he wanted to have at that moment. With Samantha's father staring at them, he gently pulled himself away pretending that he was starting to have sharp pains in his neck from Samantha hugging him around the neck. He just hoped that Samantha did not feel his erection which might give her a false impression that all he ever thinks about is sex. He quickly sat on a chair to avoid exposing the growing bulge in his pants as he pretended that he was getting lightheaded from the trauma he sustained from the fall. Both father and daughter attended to him but he was quickly able to convince them that he was fine. Samantha gave her dad a hug and stood slightly behind him with her cheeks flushed from crying. They both pulled out a chair and sat close together. After a few seconds of silence, Dr. Peters looked at them both then leaned forward in his seat as he said, "First of all, I want to apologize for putting you both in this awkward situation....I thought that by asking you both to present a dance as your birthday gift to me...that I could somehow get you back together again.". Dr. Peters glanced at both of them as he continued, "Fighting and arguing in a relationship is normal...I remember when my wife was still alive...she would always nag at me for spending too much time in my research...Eventhough i knew that we both loved to do ballroom dancing..it was hard for her to get me away from my work...Even when she was sick with cancer and was terminally ill....All she asked for was for me to be by her side...But even then, I was blinded by my ambition...and perseverance....promising her a cure....i spent days...weeks...months...in the lab researching cancer's cure". Dr. Peters glanced at Samantha as tears were once again flowing down her eyes as she remembered those sad times when she was with her dying mother. Dr. Peters continued, "I always thought I'd be able to cure her....but all she was asking for is for me to spend more time with her during her final months...weeks...and days....". Dr. Peters took out his wallet and pulled out photos of his wife before she died and when she was in her twenties as he handed them to Grey. Grey took it and was surprised to see that Samantha looked so much like her mother. "You look so much like your mom...Sam...", Grey said as he admired the pictures before handing them back to Dr. Peters. Samantha glanced at Grey as she replied, "Yes...she was very pretty...she actually won the Miss Teen USA when she was seventeen years old...". Dr. Peters looked at Sam saying, " And you should have won it too honey...you were just too nervous during the competition....". Grey was surprised at this new revelation as Samantha blushed about keeping her accomplishment a secret from Grey. she never boasted to him about her winning second runner-up in the Teen Miss USA pageant that she competed in when she was seventeen years old. Dr. Peters face turned serious as he said, "You know if I could take back time....I would love to have spent every moment with your mom even if it mean't not rushing a cure for cancer...maybe curing her was really not a part of God's plan for us Samantha...and when i see you both dance.....it brings me back to happier days when I and your mom used to have so much fun dancing....". Dr. Peters finally stood up as he stared at Grey and said, "If you love my daughter...then don't make the same mistake I did....I know that you love your work...but don't let it control your life....find a balance....you don't have to prove anything to me....my daughter...or to the world...".

               Grey looked up to Dr. Peters then glanced at Samantha who was staring back at him as he opened up his feelings saying, " I know I've been selfish with my time...It's just coming from the Philippines which is a third world country, it taught me the values of hard work....I remember when I was in fifth grade...I always wondered how my foster parents were able to send me to school and still were able to give food to our more impoverished relatives who were in their older years and did not have any livelihood. It was only my foster dad who worked and earned a meager $120.00 a month. Together with utilities,rent, food, school tuition, food assistance to relatives, I was amazed at how we were able to get by. Finally when we were about to immigrate to the U.S. my foster mom told me never to forget the hardships we've gone through, specially those times of hunger due to lack of food. She said that those memories will serve as my catalyst in working really hard and will be the secret to a successfull life. She always reminded me to always help the poor, specially the hungry, sick children of the world who are constantly suffering every day...I know I cannot save everyone....but I can sure make a difference....".

              Samantha and her father stared at each other with this new revelation finally getting some understanding of Grey's past. Dr. Peters looked at Grey then at Samantha, Samantha briefly glanced at her father finding words to say as she said, "I'm sorry Grey...I did not know how hard you had it growing up...". Grey looked at Samantha as he replied, " I love you Sam...I love you so much...From now on I'll surrender everything I have if that's what it takes...". Dr. Peters massaged the back of his head as he said, " I think you both should not make any drastic changes in how you wanna commit your time to each other...I would like to suggest that the both of you undergo some Christian counseling...". He looked at Samantha saying, "When I married your mom...it really helped that we seeked some marriage counseling eventhough everything was ok, it actually even made our marriage better...". He then pulled out a calling card from his wallet and handed it to Sam. "Here's a friend and a good Christian counselor you should see...It's best to have a professional counselor who can help you both heal the hurtfull memories of your past and guide you to a more sound and stable relationship....". Grey and Samantha smiled at each other as if a heavy burden was just lifted off their backs. Dr. Peters knew that now was the time to give them a moment alone as he excused himself saying that he had to entertain the remaining guests who were still waiting for him. As soon as Dr. Peters left and the door closed, they both stood up and stepped closer, facing each other as Grey held Samantha's hands as their lips touched gently, eyes closed. Samantha hugged him tighter as tears of joy ran down her cheeks. Grey felt weak and strong at the same time as his headache and back ache both disappeared even before the medications had it's effects. Grey suddenly asked smiling, "Oh! by the way,...did you by any chance have anything to do with my seating assignment at this party tonight?.....". Samantha giggled as she responded, "How come?...Didn't you like the company of Mrs. Jenkins?....she wasn't complaining about her son-in-law again....was she?....", as they both laughed. They spent another hour alone in the armory as they talked, embraced and danced slowly without any music playing. Grey tried singing Samantha a love song three times but each time he was off key until he finally found the right tune to a love song he wrote which he knew was her favorite song that she always listened to. While dancing, they caught up on each other's lives during the past year they were apart. Grey was back on track making Samantha laugh with his jokes, comments and stories. They also laughed and cried as they shared each other's feelings oblivious of the time. Finally, at around 3AM, they called it a night and made plans to schedule days when they could meet for counseling and to have fun on dates.

                    There were less than a hundred guests left when they returned to the ballroom as Samantha had already changed into her comfortable faded blue jeans and sweater. They held hands as they walked through the ballroom not knowing that Chase was watching them from a distance with a broken heart. Samantha's cell phone suddenly rang as she answered it. Her father called her to ask her to meet some of his close friends who were waiting by the presidential table. Samantha excused herself from Grey as she headed towards her father. As Grey waited at the middle of the hall, he noticed Chase approaching him as he stared up at the giant. Chase held out his hand to shake hands with Grey saying, "Hey, I'm really sorry for what i did to you earlier...I'm sure that you're aware that I'm also in love with Sam...ever since highschool...I do realize now that she's in love with you. It was impressive how you protected her from getting hurt when you both fell on the dance floor...you ignored your safety for her sake....I trully admire that....". Grey finally shook his hand as they gave each other a look of respect and cautious admiration for each other. Chase smiled as he quipped, "If you were only as good in fighting as you are in dancing.....maybe we'd have a good match on our hands....Though I'm sure i'd still kick your butt....". Grey smiled back as he responded, " Or...maybe if you were as good a dancer as you are in fighting.....maybe you'd be good competition.....but just like you said.....I'd kick your butt all over the dance floor....". They both nodded at each other as they parted ways that night not knowing that what they joked about would soon come true.

               Port of Sohar in Oman - (Oman- An oil rich country along the southeastern coast of the Arabian peninsula where Sohar has the second largest port in Oman.).

               It was around 8pm, warm, dark and breezy as a line of ship workers, pirates and crewmen were loading cargo in to the cargo ship, "Shin Lee Chin". By the docks, a shadowy figure was smoking his cigar as he was watching part of his plan unfold. Sirha Uhlo, an Arabian citizen who is the 6th highest official of the Al Queda organization was hiding by the shadows of an office structure while his assistant, Zhiad Marwan who is a Taliban expert and top official was slightly behind him waiting for instructions from his superior. Both men were dressed in a white tunic and both wore white turbans on their head. Sirha Uhlo was a tall and slender man who looked like the spitting image of a younger Osama Bin Ladin who had a long black beard and who was in his fifties. While his assistant Zhiad was a short pudgy man in his late thirties who did not have a beard but had a stylish mustache which ends were coiled around. While staring at the men loading supplies, Sirha Uhlo gave a sinister smile as he asked, "Are you sure that our most important cargo is on board Zhiad?...", his assistant bowed slightly with fake humility as he replied, "Yes my master, we loaded it on board three hours ago and we did wear those radiation deterent suits as you instructed...". Sirha Uhlo glanced at his assistant with a devilish smile as he dropped his cigar on the ground and stepped on it. "In the next few days our plans will start rolling into motion and the time for our redemption will be close at hand....This will be the first of many nuclear bomb strikes at the heart of the infidels...Ha!...ha!...ha!...", Zhiad got excited from what his master said as he asked, "So should I load our baggage in the ship master?....". Sirha Uhlo looked back at his minion as he answered, "No need Zhiad, we're taking a first class flight to New York city where it all began almost a century ago....We're gonna visit ground zero were our heroes crashed their planes in order to strike at the heart of the beast....If we could only be as fortunate as they are and die for our cause....we'll be enjoying eternal life in heaven with our 72 virgins like they're enjoying now...Ha!...ha!...ha!...". Zhiad thought for a moment then hesitantly asked, "Master?...I was just wondering....when you say 72 virgins....are they all virgin women?....or are there any men thrown in with the women.....What I mean is....Can I mix and match?....this is all hypothetical of course but, do you think I can have five virgin women and 67 virgin men?....or maybe 2 virgin women to bathe and cook for me and the rest are all virgin men who I can have fun with.....Do you think Alah would be kind enough?...". Sirha Uhlo stared at him in disbelief as he scoffed saying, "Shush.....my friend....stop talking non-sense....let us focus on how we can bury our dagger deep into the heart of the American infidels.....Get ready!...Zhiad...we'll be flying to New York soon....and in first class seating too....Ha!...ha!...ha!...". Zhiad gave his master a worried look as he gestured in a feminine way asking once more. "But master....Homeland Security has our names and photos in their computers....once we land we'll be arrested right away!....". Sirha Uhlo laughed loudly once more as he explained, "Relax Zhiad...our allies in the White Aryan Nationalist Movement are sending their special forces to assist us....They are called the Twelve Disciples of Timothy McVey....the Oklahoma city bomber...". Twelve of his disciples are planted as high ranking U.S. officials in different government agencies...and the neat thing about this is that they're all caucasians....Ha!...ha!...ha!....", Zhiad wondered as he asked, "What's the big deal about them being caucasians boss?....", Sirha Uhlo's laugh quickly faded as his narrowed sight focused out to sea as he explained, "My friend, in order to beat your opponent, you need to find his weakness....And to find his weakness, you need to study his past...And in studying America's past,...heir biggest weakness is their history of racism towards their own fellow men....They've inslaved the black people during the 17th and 18th century....They used Chinese people as nothing more than tools in creating their continental railway system....They've used Asians and Hispanic people to farm their lands and paid them barely nothing as they got wealthier....During World War 2 they've imprisoned 110,000 Japanese Americans in prison internments...Racial profiling is still evident in their culture up to now.....which means that if you have dark skin and a Middle Eastern name you will automatically be a suspect....and while they have their eyes on you...our white friends from the Aryan National Movement will slip by unnoticed on all security checkpoints with their bags loaded with bombs unhindered because of their blue eyes and blonde hair....the type of person Adolf hitler dreamt of creating.....". Zhiad asked once more while he combed his eyelashes with a small brush, "But why would this Aryan movement help us...i thought they hated people of color?....", Sirha Uhlo gave an evil smile as he replied, "That's because we share a common dream and goal with them....Throughout history....Do you know what Iraqi-Arabs and Aryan-Nazi's share in common?....". Zhiad thought for a moment trying to recall what he learned in school while he was rummaging through his make-up kit when he finally raised up a finger as he proudly answered, "Ahmmm....Was that when they both got their butt's kicked by the Americans?.....". Sirha Uhlo's smile quickly vanished in disgust as he scowled at his assistant saying, "No!....you fool!....we both hate the Jews and we want their destruction....that's our common goal!....Ahhh!....Why do I even bother!....". Sirha uhlo's eyes grew wider as he noticed his assistant putting lipstick on his lips as he whispered in anger, "What in Alah's! name are you doing?...". Zhiad being caught off-guard froze for a second then said, "Ah!...Oh...this?!...", pointing to his lipstick quickly answered, "Oh!...this is my disguise!...yeah!...that's it....a disguise....You never know who's hot on our trail master!...It's better to be safe....You know NATO has photos of us with huge rewards for our capture?!...". Sirha Uhlo thought for a minute then was convinced as he answered, " I guess you might be right Zhiad....just don't put too much mascara.....you're starting to look like my mother-in-law....". Zhiad feeling relieved offered to put some make-up on his master's face for a better disguise but Sirha Uhlo refused the offer as he decided to just wrap his face, except for his eyes with a handkerchief so no one might recognize him.

              Zhiad looked up at his master as he asked, "So are we gonna detonate the nuke in New York city when we get there?....Can I first visit the twin towers?.....I wanna go to the top floor....I heard it's neat looking out at the whole city....". Sirha Uhlo's patience wearing thin answered, "You fool!...the twin towers are gone!....That's what our heroes destroyed back in September 11, 2001....". Zhiad thought for a moment feeling confused as he asked, "Oh!..I thought it was the White House that they blew up in New York?!...", Sirha Uhlo's eyes rolled in exasperation as he scoffed saying, "The White House is in Washington DC not New York!....Don't they teach you anything at the Taliban?!....Oh! never mind, please don't answer that!...". Zhiad stared at the cargo ship as he asked once more, "So if we're not gonna destroy New York, where are we gonna detonate the nuke?...". Sirha Uhlo gave another dastardly smile as he replied, "After visiting New York, we will fly to San Francisco and our team of mercenaries, pirates and fellow terrorists will meet us there with the nuke...Ha!...ha!...ha!....". Zhiad forced a laugh to match his master's elation then he asked, "Oh!...Ahmmm...hey master...before we blow up the whole city of San Francisco and we all die as heroes...Ahmmm...is it ok if I visit Castro street just for one night?....just wanna get some booty if you know what I mean....just in case they only offer virgin women in heaven...at least i did not miss out....you get my drift boss?....". Sirha uhlo stared at his assistant with disdain as he replied, "Enough of your foolishness Zhiad!...Soon we will be at the heart of the infidels and we shall deliver that fatal strike...Ha!...ha!...ha!...", as they both slowly disappeared in the shadows of the night. (End of Chapter).

Chapter 6: To Dance Or Not To Dance

2011-04-04T09:54:00.000-07:00

               Chase re-entered the ballroom when all of a sudden he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see Major Garfield Powers who just arrived and was handing him a glass of strawberry punch. "Hey!, how's it goin?....what's with the sour look on your face.", Garfield asked while dressed in his Army dress uniform which accentuated his superior physical form. Chase looked around at the guests and with feelings of frustration replied, "I had a brief scuffle with Samantha's ex-boyfriend a few minutes ago...I heard them arguing so I went to make sure she was ok,...he must have gotten insecure or jealous cause he attacked me...". Garfield looked at him intently then asked, "And so,....what did you do?". Chase looked back at him as he hesitatingly answered, "I kicked him in the gut....". Garfield suddenly gave a controlled laugh saying, "Are you telling me you beat up on that short dude?...What's his height?....five-three?...five-four?...". Trying to look serious but unable to hide his grin. "Here you are, six feet five, a killing machine who can dispose of 40 terrorists in five minutes and you beat up on that little man?....You could have held on to his head and watch him throw punches in the air all day?!....". Chase looked around feeling embarrassed as passing young women were smiling flirtatiously at him and Garfield as he said, "I know...I know...I just hope that Sam forgives me...". Garfield stared at the beautifull women within his sights then said, "Well, just don't blame yourself for Samantha's poor taste in men...", as they both grinned then took a drink of the strawberry punch they were holding.

             Garfield turned to look at Chase as he said, "Oh! by the way, Congratulations on your mission in successfully rescuing Miss Price...I'm sorry though for the loss of two of your men....", Chase briefly glanced at him as his face turned sad then stared down at his drink saying, "Thanks Garfield...I should be happy...but anytime you loose one or more of your men in missions like that....it just kind'a depressing you know...". There was complete silence between them for a whole minute as they thought of the dangers and hazzards of both being in the special forces of the military. Chase glanced at Garfield once more, then after a few seconds of silence said, "You know, we've never talked about this before but I just wanna say that I'm sorry that you didn't get picked for the "Protector", mission which I believe you desrved more than I did...". Garfield smiled briefly trying to hide his disappointment replied, "Oh, it's ok man...the decision was above you and me...no need to be crying over spilled milk....Besides, my shoulders are too broad to fit into that Protector suit anyway....", as they both smiled while Garfield tried to minimize the importance of not being picked to be the first superhero in the world.

            Back in the music room, Grey was feeling much better specially since Samanthawas still hugging him as he took the opportunity to express his feelings. "Sam, before we go out there i want you to know that I still love you.....". Sam stared back at him, slightly annoyed, she released her arms around him and walked out the door in a hurry. Grey quickly got up and pulled up his sagging pants once more as he followed her pleading, "Could you please say something?,.....If you don't love me then just tell me now!..". Samantha abruptly stopped and turned towards him pointing a finger at his face and said in anger, "I am tired of your crap!....Right now you're emotionally in love but a few weeks from now it will all be the same again,...you'll be cancelling dates, you'll be leaving messages telling me that you're too busy with work and how stressfull your life is and that you're sorry that we can't see each other for three or more weeks....I can't live like this Grey....I want a relationship not visiting rights!....".

            Suddenly, they both heard a snap, the left clip of Grey's tuxedo pants which keeps his pant's waistline tight came off as it fell on the floor. They both stared at the shiny metallic object as Grey felt his pant's waistline loosen considerably. Sam picked up the clip as she asked, "What's this?...." Grey unbuttoned his tuxedo jacket as he stared at his waistline. He noticed that it was one of two clips which kept his pants tight. Now, only the right clip was fastened to his pants. "Oh! shoot!...this thing broke...", as he grabbed the clip from Samantha and tried to fasten it back to his left pant's waistline but it was torn off completely and needed to be sawn on with a needle and thread.

             Samantha looked exasperated saying, "We don't have time for this....we need to do our dance now!...", Grey gave her an annoyed look saying, "I ain't going out there with broken pants...the second I lift my hands up, my pants is gonna fall down to my knees!....". Samantha realized that Grey's tux must be one of the used ones he bought from a second hand store as she said, "That's what you get for buying used clothing!....", showing him an irritated look, then after a few seconds of fidgeting, she asked, "Don't you have a brand new tuxedo you bought while we were shopping a couple of years ago?....how come you didn't wear that?...". Grey still trying to re-connect the clip to his pants then glanced at Samantha saying, "I'm saving that for a special occasion....". Samantha suddenly felt offended that Grey did not think of her father's birthday party as a special occasion as she sarcastically asked, "What kind of special occasion?...like your funeral!?....", as she crossed her arms over her chest while she felt her temper rising once again. Grey looked twice briefly at Samantha's mad facial expression while attempting to fix his pants then said, "No!....like our wedding!....", as he quickly looked back down re-focusing his attention on fixing the clip to his waist.

              Samantha paused in complete silence as she felt emotionally moved by what Grey just said, which took her breath away, turning 31 years old in a few months, she was looking forward to getting married and having a family hopefully sooner than later. It was the next best thing she would ever want to hear from Grey next to a wedding proposal. But when she looked back at Grey, still struggling to re-attach the clip to his pants, she wasn't sure whether he really mean't what he said or was just throwing her another excuse. She knew very well that Grey could talk the talk but could never walk the walk. The only thing that was certain was that it was time for them to dance the dance.

             Grey looked around trying to think of a way as he asked, "Do you know where your dad keeps his suspenders?.....". Samantha still look dazed from fantasizing about her wedding day and the thought of marriage was unable to comprehend Grey's question. Grey raised his voice feeling stressed, "Suspenders!.....those elastic things that holds up your dad's pants?!....". Samantha came to back her senses as she thought for a moment then answered, "Well, I think so...it's got to be in his room somewhere....". Grey stared at her intently saying, "I need you to go get me one of his suspenders to hold my pants up....that should do the trick...". Samantha quickly ran and went up their spiral staircase while she called her dad on her cell phone asking him where he kept his suspenders....As soon as she got in her dad's bedroom, she opened a few drawers and quickly found a stash of his suspenders. There were more than 50 of them with different colors and designs. she then picked a white one which should blend with Grey's white shirt. But before she closed the cabinet, she realized that she was still mad at him with some lingering resentment, specially for leading her on about the topic of marriage which seemed to mean not much to him. Finally, an idea came to her on how she could get back at Grey, she returned the white suspenders inside the drawer and left the room.

               After, another five minutes, she finally runs towards Grey as he asks her, "Where's the suspenders?....". Samantha lied saying, "I couldn't find them....", she quickly hands Grey a six inch long hemostatic forcep instead. "What's this?.....", Grey asks with a frown on his face as he held the hemostatic forcep with his right hand. "It's my dad's hemostatic forcep which is an instrument for grasping blood vessels to control hemorrhage...you should know that....you're a nurse!....". Grey looked at Samantha in frustration as he replied, "I know what a hemostatic forcep is for,...but why are you handing this to me?....", Grey asked looking perplexed. Sam rolled her eyes pretending to look exasperated as she grabbbed the forcep from Greys hand and with her left hand pinched the slack in Grey's pant's and with her right hand clipped the forcep therefore tightening Grey's waistline preventing his pants from sliding down.

              She stood up straight trying not to laugh while pretending hard to look serious and determined that she found the perfect solution the the problem. "how's that feel?...Is it too tight?....I can loosen it a little more if you want?.....", sounding like his personal tailor. Grey stared at her for about ten seconds with an irritated stare as he asked, "You're serious aren't you?.....You want me to go out there and dance in front of a thousand guests with a six inch hemostatic forcep dangling by my side?!....". Samantha crossed her arms over her chest once more avoiding any eye to eye contact which might make her laugh. She tried to appear unconcerned at how silly Grey looked with this piece of surgical instrument hanging by his side. As much as Grey hated it, one way that takes away Samantha's anger for Grey was when she could embarrass and humble him, and eventhough Grey didn't realize it, Samantha's anger was about to slowly dissipate while Grey was about to embarrass himself.

             Without waiting for anymore comments from Grey, She turned around and started walking briskly again with a smirk on her face as she walked towards the ballroom with Grey trailing her as he pleaded asking, "C'mon Samantha,...you can't expect me to dance with this thing hanging on my side?....I look ridiculous!....". Samantha briefly glanced at him with a serious look while walking as she advised him saying, "Just tell them it's a new fashion statement!....". Grey rolled his eyes at Samantha's derisive attitude. As they approached the entrance door to the ballroom, Grey pleaded once again asking, "What about safety pins?....a stapler?....fish hooks?.....just anything smaller than this?....", Samantha stopped right in front of the entrance to the ballroom as she turned around to face Grey saying, "Grey, we don't have time for this....we're 15minutes late...get over it...ok?", as she was feeling a little nervous for having to dance with Grey in front of a large crowd without a single practice in over a year.

             Grey was again mesmerized by the beauty of Samantha's face as he suddenly blurted, "I love you Samantha....take me back?....". Samantha was speechless for a few seconds then squinting her eyes in disdain for what she was hearing responded, "Love?!....what do you know about love?....Love is supposed to be give and take, it's about sharing....about selflessness and equality between a couple and not about controlling one's partner!....I'm sick and tired of you trying to make me feel bad about being a billionaire Grey!...and this being thrifty on dates does not work for me anymore....and yet when I offer to pay on dates, you won't let me.....I don't appreciate you making me feel guilty when I want to fly you to Europe in my private jet for a romantic dinner....i hate it when you make me feel guilty by telling me how the money spent for jet fuel could go a long way in helping the poor and the hungry...FYI, my corporation gives ten percent of our gross income to charity yearly which is more that what you donate percentage wise.....". Grey rubbed his forehead again with eyes closed as he felt his headache returning as he replied, "And what's wrong with having a simple dinner date at my place and watching home movies afterwards?.....". Samantha gasped in frustration as she quickly reasoned, "Grey, I'm sorry, but dinner at your place and watching old VHS movies I've seen numerous times on your second hand VCR isn't my idea of a romantic date!....You're the only person I know that still owns a VCR and collects old VHS movies....well....except for San Francisco's Museum of Antiquities that has the same brand and VCR model you have which they keep in a glass case to show gradeschoolers during their field trips how their ancestors used to watch home movies.....". Grey suddenly got irritated at Samantha's condescension then wondered for a minute whether his VCR was now considered priceless.

                Upon entering the ballroom, all eyes where on Samantha as she smiled to the guests pretending that everything was peachy. Grey entered next as the hemostatic forcep hanging from his waist swung back and forth like a pendulum as he stopped and stood behind her giving a wry grin to the audience. He tried to cover the six inch forcep with his tuxedo jacket, but his jacket wasn't long enough, it still showed two inches more of the surgical tool which kept on swaying whenever he started walking. The ballroom was still filled with over a thousand guest who were excited to watch a ballroom dance performance by Samantha and partner. Most of them wants to do some dancing too before the night was over.

              As Samantha and Grey were walking towards the dance floor, Grey took away his focus from the forcep hanging by his side and tried to reason and make up with Samantha as he whispered saying, "Samantha, what I'm doing is building for our future,....I thought that you'd be proud of me?!....". Samantha stopped once again, turning around to face Grey while guests were looking and listening around them as she whispered in anger, "Future?....what future?....I don't see myself having a future with you...Between your full time job as a night shift nurse to owning and managing your own rental property company to recording and selling your songs and writing your next novel?.....where?...when?....and how do you plan to fit me into your schedule?...huh!?....", Sam, looked at him intently now feeling upset for Grey's stubborness and lack of importance he had for her in his life. Tears welled up from her eyes as she felt confused from mixed emotions of love, anger, hate, hopelessness, desperation and frustration. But Grey not wanting to back down reasoned, "My lifestyle had never bothered you before....What!, ....now that you're a billionaire, you expect me to heel, roll over and drop everything that i've worked hard for and thank all the gods of the universe that i have a billionaire girlfriend whom i love and want to marry and who will take care of all my fiancial needs?....I'm sorry but I don't donwnshift to another lifestyle that quick!...what you're looking for is a dog and not a husband!....". Guests hearing them argue were now whispering to one another as Grey and Sam were now causing a scene. Samantha wiped a tear with her right hand as she scoffed, "Ooooh...you're insane!....", as she crossed her arms again over her chest trying to control more tears from falling as she looked away from Grey. "I know...I know!...that's what my psychiatrist tells me all the time!...what else is new?!....", Grey sarcastically answered back. Samantha turned her back on Grey and walked unto the dance floor with Grey following her.

              From the presidential table, Dr. Peters was watching them hoping that bringing them together would somehow workout their relationship problems. He also noticed what appeared to be a hemostatic forcep clipped to Grey's waistline which was swaying back and forth while Grey was walking. Dr. Peters looked at Maria who was sitting beside him and asked, "Do you think they have a chance?.....". Maria looking at Grey and Samantha then replied, "Looks like they're back fighting from when they left off from last year's party, we might have to do something about this if things get desperate...". Dr. Peters leaned back on his seat as he crossed his arms to his chest tapping his chin with his index finger as he replied, "Yeah, i think so too....If they part ways talk Sam and I'll speak with Grey.".

              Meanwhile, back in Norfolk Virginia, a convoy of five black Chevrolet Escalade sport utility vehicles with government license plates , bright police lights and dark tinted windows made their way inside the norfolk Naval base. They were travelling 50 miles per hour at a 30mph zone. They made their way through Hampton avenue, turned to West 26th street then made another left turn at Church street until they found their destination. The convoy of vehicles stopped and parked in front of the home of five star Admiral Jose Rodrigo Rivera (Head and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff). From the third vehicle were four star General Cassidy Cheung (Vice Chairman to the Joints Chiefs of Staff), Captain Rougies O'Bland (Assistant to the Chairman), Masterchief Alex Cardenas (Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman), Lawrnce Villes (CIA Assistant Director - Pacific Region) and Ensign Eric Wright (Recorder Trainee).

             Doors opened to the first two and last two vehicles as military police officers came out to secure the area. The senior military police officer approached the fence leading to Admiral Rivera's home as he was met by two military guards who were shown some papers. One of the guards looked to the front door of the house as he spoke into his two way radio. After a few seconds, the front door to admiral Rivera's home opened as one of two guards waved his hand signalling that the visitors may come in. The passengers from the middle vehicle finally came out each carrying a laptop and a brief case as they formed a single line as they headed in to the house. Upon entering, a civilian house caretaker offered them a seat in the living room while informing them that Admiral Rivera will be with them in a few minutes. The caretaker served them coffee as they sat waiting for their military commander . Ensign Wright whispered to Master Chief Cardenas, "Is it ok to set up my equipment now?....", he asked nervously. The fifty-year old senior enlisted looked at him and grinned saying, "Sure...get it ready and relax, he's a real cool guy....". While the rest of the military team were drinking coffee, Ensign Wright started assembling his digital voice recording machine which will record and transcribe the minutes of their meeting.

                  Just when the Ensign finished testing his equipment, Admiral Rivera walked down a flight of stairs, already in his night robe. All the officers stood in attention except for the CIA assistant director. "At ease men...", Admiral Rivera announced as everybody sat back down. Admiral Rivera started pouring himself a cup of coffee as he asked, "So what brings you this part of the woods at 2100 hours?...", the admiral asked as he leaned back in his chair taking a sip of his coffee. The men glanced at each other as the CIA assistant director answered, "Admiral, we're now on nuclear threat number two....". Admiral Rivera stared and waited for more information as he placed his coffee on the table and asked, "is this verifiable?....and who's the eye witness?...", CIA assistant director Lawrence Villes answered firmly, "Yes sir, this intel came from our level 15 spy inside the Al Queda organization. This is the first time this spy has communicated with us in the last seven years....we believe that the threat is real...". Ensign Wright looking confused looked at Master Chief Cardenas seating beside him as he whispered, "What's nuclear threat....", Admiral Rivera saw the Ensign whispering and interrupted, "Do you have a question Ensign?....". Ensign Wright suddenly got nervous as he answered stuttering, "I-I....ju-just...wondered....wha-what...nuclear threat number two was?....sir?...". Admiral looked at Master Chief Cardenas and asked, "Is he our new recorder?....What happened to that lieutenant who regularly does this thing?....". Master Chief Cardenas answered, "Sir, he caught a bad case of the flu and Ensign Wright here is our temporary replacement till the lieutenant gets better.". The admiral took another sip of his coffee trying to battle his fatigue as he announced, "Well go ahead and tell the Ensign here the technical terms we'll be talking about...and I want this guy as our permanent recorder...i don't want too many junior officers having knowlede of top secret matters of National Security....in the meantime I'll go to the bathroom to take a pee....".

                The admiral left the group momentarily as Master Chief Cardenas started explaining, "Ok, here's a quick overview....there's five levels of nuclear threat that the Pentagon monitors. Level one means a plan has been discovered to bring a nuclear bomb into our country to detonate it. Level two...credible physical proof with eyewitness from a reliable source that a nuclear bomb is indeed present but is still in enemy territory. Level three is when the nuclear bomb has been loaded to a ship, plane or truck and is in route into our country. Level four...is when the nuclear bomb is within 500 miles of the U.S. seaboard or land boarder crossing. And Level five is when the nuclear bomb has successfully been smuggled into the United States and the threat of a nuclear detonation is imminent.....", Ensign Wright bit his lower lip as he squeezed his hands together then asked once more, "And the level 15 spy?...", Lawrence Villes spoke up explaining, "Level 15 is our deepest level of espionage in the Al Queda organization, that spy is inside the senior leadership circle of the Al Queda, his orders is to never make contact with us or with NATO unless a real threat of nuclear attack is threatening us or our allies.....". Just as he finished his sentence, Admiral Rivera joined them once more as he sat back down in his chair and asked, "Ok men,...so what's our time table....", the men focused their attention to Captain Rougies O'Bland who quickly turned on his laptap computer showing a digital map of the Arabian continent, then pointing with a pencil in his hand started explaining. "Admiral...we believe that we will reach nuclear threat level three in the next 48 hours...intelligence reports shows us that a Chinese cargo ship, "The Shin Lee Chin", has been bought by a wealthy arabian oil corporation belonging to the "Osama Bin Laden", group of oil companies. This cargo ship has been docked at the port of Oman for the past week. They've laid off all their regular crew and are now being replaced by an all Arabian crew, some who we know had some terrorist training.....unfortunately, since this is one of the most busiest main sea trading ports,...it will be easier to smuggle in a nuclear bomb. CIA director Jocelyn Lana thinks that even if we detect strong radiation signatures coming from a nuke, it will be hard to pinpoint where this bomb is hidden. She also said that It would be almost impossible to do a full search of all cargo containers while in port since cargo movement is so fluid and quick. Searching through thousands of tons of cargo and being one of the busiest ports in the world would be like finding a needle in a haystack.,...they could also easily slip away from our hands while planting fake materials which emit the same radiation signatures that of a nuclear bomb. What she proposes is that we let our nuclear threat reach level four....CIA director Lana said that one of the ship's itinerary is to reach the port of San Francisco around 5 to 7 days from now to unload cargo. But we intercepted some intelligence reports that the ship will pass by the port of Vallejo (California) and a commercial fishing boat is supposed to make a rendezvous with this cargo ship....and it's not in the ship's formal itenerary.....this could be when they will unload the nuke...".

                 Admiral Rivera stood up and thought for a moment as he paced the floor now fully awake from the caffeine that swirled in his veins. Suddenly Ensign Wright raised his hand up as the Admiral asked, "What's on your mind son?....". Ensign Wright stood up and eagerly suggested, "Why don't we just blow up and sink the cargo ship when it's in the middle of the Indian Ocean?....", the Ensign showing a wide grin as he looked at the others. Admiral Rivera smiled briefly while rubbing his chin while shaking his head sideways saying, "In this country son, we don't shoot and ask questions later....Unfortunately, we first have to ask questions and when we see them pointing a gun at us then that's the only time we can shoot....I like your idea though....reminds me of Clint Eastwood...". General Cassidy Cheung started loading his own laptop computer anticipating Admiral Rivera's inquiry on how to handle this threat. Finally, he heard Admiral Rivera call out his name, "General Cheung, where's the nuke made from and what's our course of action?....", without looking at Admiral Rivera and just focusing on his laptap computer, he answered. "There's only two choices, either the nuke was bought from Iran or North Korea, but since the nuke was first detected in Southern Afghanistan, they had to have obtained it from Iran....And about our course of action, I already set up a full meeting with all joint chiefs at the Pentagon this coming Tuesday....as we speak, the Chief of Naval Operations Vice Admiral Addy Baylawn has already sent three nuclear submarines in the gulf of Oman, they will stay and monitor the cargo ship and follow it when it leaves port. I've also asked Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Luke Amadeos to get ready with four teams of special forces when we need to board the cargo ship to check for radiation signatures and if positive to secure the ship before it reaches our ports. If they do reach our ports, our permanent coastal radiation sensors which surrounds the entire United States coast will be able to detect any nuclear device emiting radiation which is monitored by Homeland Security which is our safety net. Homeland Security Director Don Courtess told me that all sensors are 97% operational except for the one's in Florida that were damaged by the hurricaine last month. Homeland security is presently installing portable radiation sensors until the permanent ones are repaired and operational, we should be 100% operational in the next 24 hours. I've also met with FBI Director Justin Healy and he's preparing 200 FBI agents to secure the port of Vallejo and about 400 FBI agents to secure the port of San Francisco. Air Force Chief of Staff Ben Calibossman will assign a squadron of E2 Hawkeyes for surveillance and to track the movement of the cargo ship when it leaves port. The carrier Barack Obama and it's fleet of ships will maintain a 300 nautical mile distance from the cargo ship at all times. i also alerted the Commandant of the Coast Guard Vice Admiral Jimmy Anerow to keep his fleet on high alert starting today.

                After two hours of brainstorming, Admiral Rivera felt his fatigue coming back as he poured more coffee into his cup. He looked at his men who also were showing signs of exhaustion but were still attentive to the Admiral as he quipped, "Don't worry boys, tomorrow's Sunday....you can all sleep in....", they all briefly laughed as some of them took more sips of their coffee. Admiral Rivera stretched his arms and said, "let's change the topic and talk about the Korean crisis....give me the latest update....". General Cheung loaded new information into his laptop computer then said, "Well, as of yesterday, North Korea added 15 more attack submarines for a total of 40 subs and 10 more warships for a total of 35 battle ships, they've moved in 50 miles closer to the South Korean fleet and are 450 nautical miles from the South Korean coastline. The South Korean Fleet are fully armed and ready for battle. We have three carriers, 75 warships and 100 attack submarines located 150 nautical miles from the North Korean fleet and 600 nautical miles from South Korea's coastline. if they start a fight, we'll sandwich them like mayonnaise between coldcuts and sourdough bread. The South korean troops are all entrenched and ready to go....together with three battalions of our own U.S. Army soldiers. North Korea has added six more infantry battalions on the border of north and south Korea. The North Korean defense minister sent a message yesterday stating that if our ships comes closer than 100 nautical miles of any of their ships that they will arm and fire 20 nuclear missiles directed at South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, Hawaii, Guam, Thailand and the Philippines. The Chinese envoy has been expelled and they don't seem to want to negotiate anymore. They have refused all peace treaties, even the one's offered by China. CIA Head Jocelyn Lana thinks the threat is real and ambassadors of these Asian countries that are being threatened are asking us to stand down and leave the Korean crisis but there is strong evidence that if be back away....north Korea will attack and begin it's occupation of South Korea....so we're in this very precarious situation Admiral.".

               Lawrence Villes looked around at all the long faces then spoke up, "There might be a way to diffuse this whole crisis....". Everyone stared at him in anticipation as he continued while loosening his neck tie, "Our embassy just received a letter four hours ago from North Korean President "Mai Yoo Dai-Soon", requesting the help of Dr. Mark Peters....the doctor-scientist who found the cure for cancer....". Admiral Rivera leaned back saying, "Well, we all know who he is now go on...". Lawrence Villes stood up trying to fight his fatigue as he paced the floor explaining, "French intelligence informed us that about two weeks ago, A North Korean diplomat paid a handome amount of money to two French surgeons, one of them an Oncologist who specializes in cancerous tumors to do an exam on The President of North Korea. Upon their return to France, they reported that they diagnosed the President with stage four metastatic liver cancer. Obviously this means that North Korea's President will seek a cure for his cancer. In his letter, he asks to speak to Dr. Mark Peters via video conference this coming Monday at around 10am Pacific time.". Admiral Rivera quickly stood up with a smile on his face saying, "Good now we have more leverage against this dictator....i know Mark very well, he cured my wife's metastatic breast cancer two years ago. He has a lovely daughter named Samantha who's like a niece to me, and I believe she's the one running their CURE corporation.....Captain O'Bland, secure a private jet by tomorrow afternoon, we need to be in San Francisco before tomorrow midnight, we'll need to meet with Samantha Peters before President mai Yoo Dai-Soon contacts her....". Ensign Wright suddenly stood up with a concerned look as he asked, "With all due respect Admiral, don't you think it should be Dr. Peters and not her daughter who should be meeting with this North Korean Madman?....a major nuclear war is at stake here....". Admiral Rivera glanced at CIA Assistant Director Lawrence Villes to tell them top secret information they have about Samantha Peters. Mr Villes stood up saying," I fully understand your concern, so what you're all about to hear is top secret information....", he then locked eyes with each person in the room except the Admiral as he continued by saying, " Samantha Peters....the daughter of Dr. Mark Peters and the CEO of CURE corporation which is the only cancer treatment facility worlwide with a cancer cure rate of 99.9% has been working with our government for the last two years. She has helped us with our foreign policies in ending civil wars and wars between countries by promising and providing cancer cures to their leaders in exchange for cessation of hostilities and peace treaties. The recent Arab-Israeli peace treaty which was forged six months ago was mediated by Miss Peters with the support of the united Nations and our government....". Captain O'Bland suddenly asked, "How come we never heard about this....it was never in the papers, news or any media?....". Mr Villes looked around as he replied, "That's because the only thing she wants in return was to keep her identity secret....she wants to be anonymous and out of the public eye. You all know the recent illegalization of smoking in the state of California....that wasn't the governor's work which was reported in the media. it was Samantha Peters who promised to hold back any cancer treatments to any California state politician who does not vote to illegalize smoking in California.....Same thing with the illegalization of whaling in Japan, She would not cure Japan's Emperor of his metastatic cancer until whaling was illegalized in Japan....in a matter of two weeks a moratorium was imposed on whaling and two months after, the permanent illegalization of whaling. Miss Peters promise to provide cancer cures for all Japanese politicians who voted to illegalize whaling.

                  Ensign Wright was at awe of Samantha Peters as he said, "Wow!.....what a crusader!....i just wished she could have done the same thing with the sharks before they became extinct a decade ago....". General Cassidy Cheung then commented, "Being a Chinese-American, I remember when I was growing up how my grandparents would always tell us not to eat at Chinese restaurants that served Shark Fin soup. They said that the time will come when the shark species will be all extinct. They also mentioned that because this dish was very expensive that those Chinese restaurants served it not for tradition but more for profit. They were proud to say that the soup's importance was to show how wealthy a family was to their guests whenever it was served in a banquet. They bribed politicians to keep shark finning legal in this country. In the year 2010 alone, over 70 million sharks were killed....". Mr. Villes concluded by saying, "And that's why we need people like Samantha Peters.....now are there any questions?.....". The room was silent.

                 Admiral Rivera crossed his arms as he yawned then said, "That's it men, we're calling it a night....or morning...or whatever the hell time it is...We'll leave at 1600hrs Sunday....today i mean't....". Everybody smiled as they stood up knowing it was going to be another busy week-end and a busier week ahead.

               Samantha and Grey stood facing each other in the middle of the dance floor, as they waited for the band to get ready. Grey looked intently at Samantha while she looked sideways wiping off a tear with her hand. "Sam, please...let's work this out. Why is it that now that you're a billionaire that you've gotten more complicated?...". Sam stared at him with her eyes squinting in anger as she replied, "Every single time I wake up in the morning, the first thing I wish for is to have my mom back in exchange for all this money...No!,...this is not about me Grey, it's about you and your feelings of inadequacy,...your controlling attitude,...and your male insecurity unable to accept that I'm more financially successfull than you!....that's the truth...". Suddenly, the music conductor cautiously approached them aware of their lover's quarrel as he felt like as if he was about to enter a lion's den as he hesitantly asked, " Ex-Excuse me....would you like to begin?..." Both Grey and Samantha quickly glanced at him as they both shouted, "No!...", in unison. Samantha stared at the floor as she checked her temper then looked at the music conductor as she apologized saying, "I'm sorry,...could you give us a few more minutes please?....". The music conductor nervously nodded his head as he glanced at the audience who were starting to get restless. Samantha looked at Grey as he was staring up at the ceiling with his hands on his sides as she said in a soft tone of voice, "Grey, why does it seem like we're competing...whenever my company makes a billion dollars or open more treatment facilities, you start a new project or write another novel or work on another album of songs which keeps us further apart...Why are you so threatened by my success?....We're supposed to be on the same team, what are you trying to prove....You don't have to prove anything to me or to the world....I love you as you are....not because you're a professional...or a businessman...or a songwriter or a novelist....none of that means anything to me.....It's only your love,friendship and companionship that I seek.....I love you Grey but i can't live like this...", as few more tears fell from her eyes....

                    In the meantime, a young couple approached Dr. Peters and Maria in the presidential table. They introduced themselves as Rodel Polintan and Linda Cartens, they greeted Dr. Peters a happy birthday as hundreds of guests did that night. Dr. Peters recognized them as he asked, "You two look familiar, have we met before?...". Rod and Linda glanced at each other as Rodel said, "Yeah,...We're Grey and Sam's ballroom dancing coaches,...you used to watch us train Grey and Sam two years ago when they were getting ready to compete for the California State Ballroom Dancing Championship Competition...". Dr. Peter's memories came back as he showed a wide grin and gave each other a tight hug. "That's right...you were the one's I hired...you won the World Ballroom Championships five years ago right?...". Rodel and Linda glanced at each other once more a little embarassed as they confessed, "Actually sir, we placed second....", Linda humbly responded while Rodel further apologized saying, "And we're sorry that Grey and Samantha only placed fifth in the State Ballroom Championships...We thought that the judges were biased towards Grey because he was short in stature....otherwise, we thought that they were the third best pair of dancers during that competition....". Maria while listening interjected, "You both still did a fantastic job considering that they've only been dancing together for less than two years when you began training them....".Rodel and Linda smiled in appreciation as they excitedly informed Dr. Peters and Maria that Samantha told them they were going to do the same choreography they did when they won fifth place in the State Ballroom Championships which included five types of dance styles which each lasted a minute and a half long before the next style of dance was introduced to the crowd by an announcer.

            Rodel looked at Dr. Peters as he asked, "So have they been practicing a lot for tonight's dance performance?...". Dr. Peters and Maria glanced eerily at each other as Maria responded, "Actually they broke up a year ago to this day and this is the first time they've seen each other again....". Dr. Peters noticed the smiles vanish on the couples faces as he asked with concern, "Is there something wrong?...". Once again Rodel and Linda glanced at each other as if waiting to see who would deliver a bad news as Linda finally spoke up hesitantly saying, "It's just that with the choreography that they're gonna perform, it is based on precision, it has a lot of turns, swivels that needs to be practiced over and over again to achieve perfection but more than that,...there's this dangerous lift that Grey has to perform near the end of their performance. We added that dangerous lift to compensate for Grey's short stature....with him being short, they were automatically underdogs in winning first place, and so we taught them this acrobatic lift which would impress the crowd and help them bring attention to the judges....if done correctly it would give them a good shot at winning the championships. Even if the judges showed bias, the judges would have received the ire from the crowd since they would have done a lift that no other professional dance pairs do and even attempt because it's too risky. Rodel added saying, "They actually had a bad accident two years ago during practice...Grey was not able to lift Sam above his head correctly...we're not sure if it was the weight or the speed of Sam as she lunged towards Grey for the lift....", Rodel looked at Linda as she continued explaining, "Grey caught her by her waist lifting her up above his head, but he fell backwards due to improper leverage...and when Sam was about to fall head first, she braced her fall with both hands...She ended up spraining her right wrist and elbow from the fall....". Dr. Peters stared at Grey and Samantha standing alone at the dance floor as he remembered a time when he saw her daughter wearing an arm cast for several weeks which she claimed was from a fall while bike riding. He debated with himself whether to approach Grey and Sam to cancel the dance or let them perform, but before he could decide, the bandoneon (A German instrument that looks and sounds like the offspring of an accordion and an organ started playing.

              Grey and Samantha embraced as they got ready to dance. The announcer introduced the, "Tango", to the crowd as their first dance. Grey looked up at Samantha asking, "Are you not forgeting something?..., Samantha squinted her eyes as she asked with an annoyed look to her face, "What?!...", Grey looked down at her shoes while asking, "Are you not supposed to wear flat heels when we dance?....". Eventhough Samantha knew that it was more challenging for Grey to lead when she wore two inch high heels which made her height about five-feet eight inches as opposed to Grey's height of five-feet five inches with shoes on. She pretended that she forgot and didn't care, she was still mad at Grey and that she was going to make this event as difficult for him as she could. She responded saying, "Oh!...I threw away all my flat shoes when I stopped dating short men....", she said with an obvious hint of sarcasm in her voice. Grey looking a little perturbed once again asked, "Ok,....so what kind'a tango are we dancing tonight?....". Without hesitation , Samantha quickly answered, "Argentine....Milonga....the same choreography from our state championship dance!....", as she announced with a firm look in her eyes and an unwavering tone in her voice. (Milonga is one of three types of Tango dance which has a faster pace with simplified Tango steps that are performed by professional Tango dancers during professional ballroom competitions. It requires more improvisations, more swivels and turns and is the most difficult to perform because of the precision, timing and speed of the choreography). Grey gave Samantha a surprised look then replied, "Ok....I can go for that.....but not the lift ok?...". Samantha stared at him in disapproval as she commandingly replied, "Everything!....we're doing everything including the lift or nothing at all....". Grey scoffed at her saying, "Are you crazy?.....we haven't performed or practiced the lift routine in two years....we haven't even practiced dancing together in more than a year...the least that can happen is we can embarass ourselves in front of this crowd....the worst is you can get hurt again like the time you broke your wrist....remember?...". Samantha ignored him, after a few seconds she took a step closer to him as she wrapped her right arm around his neck and held his right hand with her left hand, she kicked off the high heels from her feet feeling sorry for Grey's short stature, but as they got ready to dance, their cheeks touched as Samantha sniffed and smelled the scent of Grey's cologne as she moved her face away asking in dismay, "Are you wearing that same cheap cologne you always buy at the dollar store?...what's that called....Mucho...something?!....". Grey pouted at her as he answered defensively, "It's called Macho Man's cologne....why what's wrong with it's scent?...I never had complaints from women before?....". Samantha closed her eyes as she rubbed her forehead saying, "It always gives me a bad headache whenever I smell it...it..it..has that pungent smell to it....Why don't you ever use the cologne I gave you for your birthday?....". Grey looked away as he replied, "I gave it as a gift to a friend....". Samantha stared with disappointment as she replied, "What?,....that was $400.00 a bottle...". Grey glanced at her as he replied, "Well, I didn't want to give my friend a Macho Man's cologne as a gift for his birthday,...he might think I was cheap!....". Sam looked down at the floor feeling exhaspirated not knowing whether Grey was serious or was trying to make her laugh.....

             While the guests were watching them argue, the bass and piano started playing with the violins providing a counter melody which mean't that it was time for their dance to begin. Samantha stared at him unconcerned as they both had that excited feeling people get at the start of a roller coaster ride. Samantha asked, "Well are we gonna dance or do you wanna back out?...". Grey feeling the pressure of the challenge replied, "Honey, there's just two things women say I'm good at....and dancing is one of them.", showing her an obnoxious smile. Grey held Samantha tighter as they started moving smoothly around the dance floor. Every turn, spin and swivel excited the crowd as, "Ooooh's and Aaaah's", were heard. While dancing Samantha complained that she could not move too well because her long evening gown's slit on the side of her dress was only knee high. She had a ballroom dress ready at her room but did not get the chance to change into it. Without any warning, Grey spun her three times and when her spin ended, Grey was already kneeling on one knee, he grabbed the openning to her dress's slit and pulled them apart tearing her slit higher which now was up to her upper thigh, this caught the attention of most of the men as it revealed Samantha's firm and well toned thigh. People were impressed thinking that what Grey did was part of the choreography to bring some sensuality to the performance. "How's that?!....". Grey asked as they moved around the dance floor, "Much better,... though I think it's too revealing...don't you think?....". Grey with a smirk on his face replied, "It's not anymore embarassing than this hemostatic forcep swaying at my waist....". They both smiled as they started enjoying this activity which they realized they missed so much of. As they started enjoying the dance more, Samantha realized that what impressed her so much about Grey was his constant improvisation, even when things went wrong, Grey always was a fast thinker in improvising and covering up their mistakes on the dance floor, a skill that was hard to learn, even among professional male ballroom dancers.
             After a minute and a half, the announcer introduced the, "Samba", as their next dance. The music now was in a faster beat and as their movements quickened, Samantha was able to dance better due to the less restrictive gown due to the higher slit. Their movements were fast and swift with turns that were dramatic and engaging. After another minute and a half, the, "Cha-cha", was announced which still had the same spead of music but with a different style. They glided around the floor light as a feather with their beautiful posture, passionate embraces, syncronized timing and crisp improvisations. Everyone was impressed except Dr. Peters, Maria, Rodel and Linda who were all worried about the dangerous lift that was part of the choreography which could cause serious injury to Samantha if Grey fails to do the lift correctly. After the ninety seconds was over, the "Rhumba", was introduced to the audience which was another latin dance beat with a slower more sensual tempo as the sounds of a saxophone provided the air with a sexy melody. This was the part when Samantha showed her prowess as ballerina with her sensual body movements. Her flexibility, beauty, sensuality and allure were what sets her apart from her female counterparts, and during their competion two years ago she knew that for them to get a shot at being champions that she had to be better than all the female ballroom dancers to compensate once again for her partners short stature. Near the end of their minute and a half, most of the men already positioned themselves closer to the dance floor to sneak a peek at Samantha, unfortunately, this upset some of the wives who were watching their husbands focus at Samantha's beauty while the wives were chasing the kids all over the place. She performed high kicks, leg splits and alluring stares which again excited the men as if they were watching a young Marilyn Monroe do a seductive dance. She briefly sucked and tasted the tip of her index finger as she slid her moist finger down to her chin, to her neck, then down to the middle of her chest as if to cool the raging heat of sexual desire that burned through her body. Grey grabbed her spinning her twice then dipped her gently, and as their eyes locked , Grey went for a kiss but Samantha turned away at the last second, pulling her back upright. They continued with their passionate movements as they felt each other's past, present and future intertwine in this one moment in time.

                     Then finally came the last dance, the "Jive", which had a faster beat and a swing and rock and roll type music, this was the part when the lift had to be done. Since this dance was more of an improvisational dance, there was no time or signal when the lift was to happen which increase the anxiety they both felt. People were applauding at the lively rock and roll music and the excitement as they watched the couple float around the floor having fun. Then, at the mid-point of their dance routine, they briefly parted while facing each other. The distance between them signaled that this was the moment of the lift. Sam wanted to show the audience her skills as a ballet dancer that she could jump up towards Grey without fear of falling, while Grey's challenge was to have the perfect timing in catching her, the strength and thrust to lift her and the leverage in balancing her above his head then spinning her safely back down to the dance floor. Meanwhile, Linda knowing what will happen, quickly covered her eyes with her hands while Rodel clenched his fists in excitement as if he was watching the last play of a football game which will decide the winner of a superbowl championship game. With grit and unwavering courage, Samantha took a quick few steps forwards then lunged towards Grey. Grey with his left foot braced behind him and with his right knee slightly bent in front of him grabbed Samantha by her waist as he lifter her up above his head, but when he thought he had the balance to keep her parallel to the ground, he lost his leverage as he felt himself falling backwards. With quick thinking, he aborted the lift as Samantha fell into his arms. Grey fell backwards as he hugged Samantha to protect her from getting injured instead of using his hands to brace his backward fall. Grey hit the floor with great impact due to Samantha's added weight. People suddenly stood up, the music stopped as Dr. Peters, Maria, Rodel and Linda raced to the dance floor. Surrounded by a crowd of on lookers, They made their way into the middle where they saw Samantha kneeling beside Grey. She had a frightened and worried look on her face as she called to her father, "Dad!...help him please...". Grey opened his eyes briefly looking dazed as he smiled at Samantha saying, "You're safe Sam....Thank God you're safe....", he then passed out as Dr. Peters started examining him carefully. (End of Chapter)

Chapter 5: PARTY JITTERS

2011-03-07T05:54:00.000-08:00

                      It was around 6pm Saturday night, Grey just got out of the shower and was shaving while humming in tune with the classical music that was playing in the stereo. He felt a little bit on the edge because of the fact that he will have to do a ballroom dance number with Samantha which was the tradition during Dr. Peters birthday party. They will perform the first dance while everyone's eyes will be fixed on them and only them alone.

                      During the first year of their friendship, Grey invited Sam to take ballroom dance classes with him at the local community college to refresh their skills in dancing. Grey had a talent in ballroom dancing, he was a well skilled dancer during his teens even winning first place in a junior amateur city wide ballroom dancing competition in the Philippines, he was only seventeen then. Eventhough he was only five-feet four inches tall, he was able to beat the competition because of his crisp moves, gracefull delivery and amazing choreography. It never mattered if his dance partner was a little taller than him, which often created giggles from the audience before the start of their dance number which turned into sheer awe after their dance number ended. He was amazing in leading and was very nimble on his feet. Winning first place and receiving two trophys, one for him and another for his dance partner was the best feeling he ever had in his young adult life, although it was the first and last time he ever won in a ballroom dance tournament. Eventhough dancing was his forte, he never thought of taking it to the professional level because his priority was to join the Navy then go to college. After his honorable discharge from the Navy, and at 22 years old, he tried competing again with different partners but never again did he place any higher than fourth place in any ballroom dance competition. One of the reasons was because good amateur and semi-pro female ballroom dancers didn't want him as a partner because he was short. They were used to being led by taller men and winning with taller men as their dance partners. Besides this, he knew that judges were biased towards short men during dance competitions, he even heared a judge say, "It just doesn't look good". Grey would always end up partnering with less skilled novice female dance partners who would agree to dance with him just to gain experience in dance competitions.

                      Samantha on the other hand took ballet lessons for 13 years starting from the age of seven. She also learned to dance ballroom dancing through her parents. While growing up, she loved to watch her parents dance the tango, waltz, chachacha and swing in their living room and during parties, then after awhile, she would cut in as her dad would teach her how to dance. This was her parents form of exercise and leisure.

                      Grey and Samantha continued to take lessons for two years with private professional instructors until their skills developed up to the semi-professional level in ballroom dancing. Samantha was the best dance partner he'd ever had who didn't mind having a shorter man as a dance partner. As dance partners, they fit together like hand and glove. Despite Samantha being two inches taller than Grey, she would always wear flat shoes to keep her height advantage less noticeable. When they danced, Grey could lead Sam on the dance floor with style and grace. Samantha matched Grey's technical ability with the beauty of her artistic movements and elegant style which she learned early on with her ballet lessons. Their passion and flare kept their audiences on the edge of their seats and even radiated envy to other ballroom dancing pairs who wondered how to create for themselves the same chemistry that they saw from Grey and Samantha when they danced.

                      Wincing from a razor cut, Grey got irritated from worrying too much. It wasn't the dance with Samantha which bothered him but the fact that they were not on speaking terms. This dance could re-open deep emotional wounds. He remembered how long it took him to get her out of his mind, much more out of his heart. The only gift Dr. Peters wanted was for them to do a dance number at his birthday party since he was an avid novice ballroom dancer who loved to dance when his wife was still alive. Grey on the other hand was not at all thrilled about dancing again with Samantha, he was afraid that the second he looks at her the he'd fall head over heels in love again, and he hated how long and hard he worked to get her out of his system and how fast and overwhelming those feelings could come back just at the sight of her beauty. Will he tell her he loved her still?, while dancing?. If not, will he get a second chance to tell her he still loved her?. What if she had already moved and has a boyfriend, or maybe worse, a fiance. What if he see's her wearing an engagement ring, will he still go through with the dance?, knowing how painfull this would cut into his heart?. Should he just leave her on the dance floor and leave the scene for good and forever?

                      Returning to his senses realizing he was getting overly paranoid and ahead of himself, he whispered to himself, "Get a hold of yourself Grey, you're not even in the party yet and you're already falling apart. Wiping off the mist on the mirror, he focused on his reflection as if he was desperately waiting for his reflection to give him some sound advice. After a minute, he came to a conclusion that what ever happens, there's no turning back. This was something he had to do.

                     Walking in to his bedroom, he opened his cabinets and inspected his suits. He used his index finger to file through them until he was able to part his tuxedos from his other suits. He had about four sets of tuxedos to choose from, but only one was brand new, one set was a hand me down and the other two he bought 50% off during a time when a tuxedo rental store was selling off their used rental tuxedos to make room for new ones. Looking at them, he could not tell which was brand new and which was used. Grey was a very thrifty person when it came to buying his personal things but was generous in treating friends and giving to charity. Eventhough he made over a $100,000 a year as a registered nurse, $50,000 a year in his rental property business, $10,000 a year from the sales of his songs in iTunes and $3,000 a year from sales from his e-book, he still bought some of his clothes from the, "Salvation Army", thrift store. He would calculate how much he saved compared to buying brand new clothes then donate the difference to charity. Growing up poor in the Philippines, he was sensitive to the struggles of poor people.
                    After tucking in his white tuxedo shirt, he grabbed his shiny black tuxedo shoes and smiled proudly remembering how he found this slightly used pair of shoes in the thrift store, and it was exactly his size too. A brand new pair of this shiny brand of shoes would cost around $200.00, but his find cost him only $15.00. After splashing on some cologne he bought from a dollar store, he started moving with haste. It was already seven in the evening and it would take him an hour to get to Dr. Peters party. They were scheduled to perform their dance number right after dinner which would be around eight thirty or nine. He briefly rubbed his trophy with both hands for good luck, the only one that he won when he was seventeen years old. He always did this before every dance performance or competition as a sign of good luck. Opening the door to his garage and turning on the light, he paused for a minute to decide whether to drive his Porsche or BMW. He would normally use his Porsche Boxster when driving down the coast on day dates, while he regularly used his BMW 4-door sedan on more formal occasions like tonight's party. Unable to decide, then remembering that everyone in the party were multi-millionaires and billionaires which irked him, he decided to drive his old beat up pick-up truck which up to now still has not passed the smog test. He wasn't going there to impress anybody, besides, he always enjoyed belching smoke from his truck to those wealthy guests driving Lambourghini's and Ferrari's behind him with their convertible top down. With the long line of cars flowing into Dr. Peters Mansion, it usually took between 20 to 30 minutes to get from the gate to the front of the mansion were valet personnel took over to park guests cars. Grey would always rev up his truck's engine to blow out more black smoke from his exhaust as cars behind him would raise their convertible tops as fast as they could while they were hacking and coughing. It always gave Grey a sense of satisfaction to do this dastardly deed, and by the time he reaches the valet and gets out of his truck, he looks and gives a sinister smile to those behind him. He then waves at them but often times gets the finger with some profanity laced verbal response. He didn't care because most of them were owners and executives of oil companies who were responsible for polluting the air, land and seas. They use Dr. Peters party to meet and bribe politicians into passing more laws that favor oil companies and add laws that
discourages alternative sources of energy.

                     Back during the 21st century, the world was 100% dependent on oil to keep everything running, but now, oil is only used 40% and the rest is from alternative energy sources like solar power which runs factories and provides electricity to 99% of all homes and businesses. Solar energy is also now combined with wind energy. Green companies are now able to turn water into a form of energy thus rain and snow that drops on roofs of houses are directly converted into energy during the winter months and solar energy during the summer months. They are also able to produce de-carbonized electric supply which is used against global warming. Vehicles around the world are now 70% all electric while Arab Sheiks are now pinching their pennies knowing that their years of vast riches are slowly fading away.

                  Then there were the pharmaceuticals and HMO executives who loved to hobnob with politicians urging them to pass bills to end Universal Health Care and go back to HMO's from the 21st century so that they may enrich themselves again. For the last four years, during Dr. Peters birthday parties, Grey always witnessed and heard this types of lobbying, everytime he walked around, he couldn't help over hear conversations between rich businessmen, executives and politicians. He always felt disgusted that majority of the guests present were not there to celebrate Dr Peters birthday but to offer and get deals done under the table with politicians. He even heard one Executive from Kaiser Permanente tell a senator that his childhood hero was the late ex-President Richard Nixon who from the 1970's supported the implementation of HMO's which were good for businesses creating more profit while giving less medical care to people. For a minute, Grey wanted to punch the guy in the mouth but realized that everyone was entitled to their own opinion.

                      After 45 minutes on the road, Grey finally reached Hillsborough, and as expected, there was already a line of stretch limousines and other expensive fancy cars lining up to get inside the gate. Just like last year, guests driving behind his old truck were all disgusted from the smoke they've inhaled, all convertibles behind him had all their top on. Grey sneered as he watched from his side mirror, as his turn arrived, the valet attendant opened his door as it gave a squeeking sound while rust particles from his doors hinges fell like snow on the ground. The valet attendant was worried that the door might come off anytime now but Grey told him not to worry. After getting out, he tossed his keys to the attendant while smiling and said, "Take care of her ok?, i don't wanna see a scratch on her...". The parking attendant stared at a one foot size dent on the driver's door with rust covering some of his truck's worn down paint. "It's such a priviledge to park this kind of vehicle sir...", as the attendant quickly wondered whether his tetanus shot was up to date before getting in the truck.

                     As Grey walked through the front door, he felt overwhelmed at  the beauty and elegance of this mansion. The house was about 18,000 square feet, and sat on a four acre land. The house had eight bedrooms and ten full and 2 half bathrooms, it had a theatre, music room, gym, library, 3 separate living rooms and 4 separate dining rooms. Indoor and outdoor swimming pools and a ballroom that was as wide as a basketball gymasium., While walking around and looking at the high ceilings and beautifull chandeliers, he felt someone tap his shoulder from behind him, and as he turned around, he recognized Maria who was smiling at him. They hugged tightly and were excited and happy to see each other again. After speaking to each other briefly, Maria noticed that Grey was more worried than happy to be in the party, and she knew exactly why. She then whispered to him to relax and not worry, telling him that Samantha was still inlove with him but that he needed to take it slowly. She noticed a big grin on Grey's face knowing that this gave him a guarded assurance that he still had a chance to make up with her. Suddenly, their attention shifted to the sounds of beautifull orchestral music which was resonating from inside the ballroom. Maria hurriedly excused herself since she had to be present at the presidential table before Dr. Peters and Samantha were introduced to the guests.

                      Guests were leisurely making their way to the ballroom, men in their black tuxedos and women in their glamourous evening gowns to find their respective seats. Their were about 1,200 guests invited which were the filthy rich, the rich, the not so rich, the average middle income earners and even the poor. Dr. Peters always made sure that those who could not afford the proper attire was specially taken cared for by his personal wardrobe specialists and his tailors weeks in advance. Majority of his guests were his cancer cured patients and their spouses

                     Walking through the double doors entrance to the ballroom, Grey quickly pulled up on his sagging pants with both hands and adjusted his bow tie which now was tilted to the side. He was starting to get nervous in anticipation of seeing Samantha again for the first time since a year ago. He nodded at strangers who greeted him and stared at his crooked tie while he reminded himself to stop fidgeting. Walking to the windows and peering outside, he was fascinated at the beauty of the gardens, verandas and walkways. To the north were the tennis house, tennis courts, basketball court and playing fields. It's gardens were surrounded by mature lush landscaping. Looking to the south, he could see the pool house, pool pavilion and guest quarters. Grey switched his attention back to the party as the music changed to a more dramatic tune. Guests stood up from their seats smiling and applauding as Dr. Peters entered the ballroom with Samantha by his side. He walked shoulder to shoulder with her as he held her hand. Dr. Peters wore a white tuxedo suit with a red rose pinned to his left breast pocket, while Samantha wore a beautiful glittering midnight blue evening gown which accentuated the counture of her shapely body. Her hair was shoulder length and she wore a pair of dark blue diamond earings which was a gift from her father. She humbly smiled and welcomed their guests as her beauty radiated through all who cast their eyes upon her as they made their way to the presidential table to join Maria. Grey was barely clapping his hands as feelings of trepidation overcame him. Just the sight of her even from a distance brought palpitations to his heart. He felt a little short of breath and light headed thinking, "Oh Lord!,...she's gorgeous...", as he slowly walked towards the bar section almost tripping over himself, as he ordered a shot of something strong to calm his nerves.

                       The party's emcee walked up to the stage and formally introduced the celebrant, "Ladies and Gentlemen, it's such an honor to have with us tonight a living legend in the field of medicine. As a former cancer patient of his and I'm sure most of you were too one time or another, this man has given us a second chance at life and given us and our loved ones a precious gift which is time. So without further ado, may I present Dr. Mark Peters...". A standing ovation with a loud applause followed. Dr. Peters smiled, kissed his daughter, hugged Maria then stood up and walked towards the podium. The applause kept going for another full minute until he motioned with his hand for everyone to take their seats. Looking around trying to find the right words to say, "I really didn't prepare a speech just like last year or the year before...", as the guests laughed. "What I can say is that I wouldn't have found a cure for cancer if my wife didn't get cancer....It was because of her illness that I focused my research on cancer and it's cure....I know it sounds self serving but the truth is that if it wasn't for my wife getting cancer and dying from it, we would not have this cure...", he paused for a moment trying to hold back tears as he remembered his wife. "Ironically, I feel like the price I had to pay for receiving this gift from God was the life of my wife....As much as I miss my wife, and I still do...very much,..I am very glad that something wonderfull came out of her death...and that's all of you whom I've cured,...the old and the young....and I wouldn't have it any other way...So from the bottom of my heart, please join me and my daughter tonight in this feast and celebration of life and living...May God bless you all...". Dr. Peters pulled out his handkerchief as he wiped off tears from his eyes as the crowd once again stood up applauding. Samantha walked towards her father as she gave him a hug with tears also flowing down her face as she remembered her mom and feeling happy for her dad's accomplishments.

                      As they went back to their seats, waiters started moving around serving appetizers and drinks as the main course was being prepared for serving. Suddenly the double doors to the ballroom opened as Chase Brassman appeared, he felt a little embarrassed for being late. He had to drive all the way from Travis Air Force base after a de-briefing about their rescue mission of Sheila Price with Brigadiere General Charles Tate who was the head of Special Forces Pacific Division. Looking around, he couldn't help notice several single ladies in their early to mid-twenties smiling at him. He looked down at his naval officer's service dress white choker uniform which had hard black shoulder boards that each had four golden stripes which showed the rank of a, "Captain", as he dusted off particles of lint which were unnoticeable. His uniform had a standing collar, single breasted and fully lined with five golden buttons as well as two removable golden pocket buttons. His uniform had three layers of military ribbons for awards and medals he received during combat which was pinned to his left upper chest area with a golden Naval Aviator's wing pinned above his ribbons. To his right upper chest was his nametag and a silver star pin above it signifying his position as a commanding officer. He took off his officer's hat and clipped it within his right arm and body. Being six-feet five in height, it was hard not to be noticed specially when he was wearing a dazzling white military dress uniform. He looked like a prince in a fairy tale story, as the women he passed all gasped in excitement as they tried to get a glimpse of this hunk of a man. Single ladies started whispering to each other making plans on how to catch this stud's attention. As Chase was trying to find his seat, he looked to the presidential table which was on the left side of the dance floor while to the right was the orchestra. He saw Samantha who was looking his way as he briefly waved and smiled, as she waved and smiled back at him. He couldn't believe how beautiful Samantha looked. She was pretty in high school when they used to go out as friends but she always dressed like a, "Tom Boy", but now she metamorphosed into a goddess un-matched by any mortal woman he ever met. Grey in the meantime noticed Chase from old pictures of Samantha and him he'd seen in her old albums from high school. A surge of anxiety strucked him as he saw Chase and Samantha wave at each other, wondering whether he was her new boyfriend. He then remembered what Maria told him a few minutes ago about Samantha still being in love with him. He held tight ot that belief and was convinced that he won't let Chase steal Samantha from him. He thought of being in a physical confrontation with this giant which he wasn't too thrilled about though he knew that even David was able to slay Goliath in the Bible. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall...", he whispered to himself.

                      The dinner was un-eventfull as the orchestra played music by Mozart and other famous musical composers of the 16th and 17th century. Grey enjoyed the music so much knowing that this was the closest he'd get from watching a live symphony, although he wished that the people were less noisy. Dr. Peters and Samantha on the other hand were enjoying their conversations with guests who approached their table to greet them. Their were leaders of foreign countries, senators, congressmen and women and military brass. Meanwhile, while most guests were done with their meal, Chase was still unable to finish his because of the constant interruption he'd get from different women who would pass by and try to start a conversation with him. After a few minutes he'd always ask if they could speak later so he could finish his meal. As soon as he starts eating again, guests sitting around his table would start asking him questions about his military experience, he was courteous enough to answer their questions eventhough he was still famished from skipping lunch that day and wanted to focus on finishing his food. But just then, three young ladies approached and stood behind him as they introduced themselves to him, as he wiped his lips with his table cloth and cleared his throat with a drink of water finally giving up on his food. This was not an unusual occurence for Chase as he just had this natural magnetism in attracting the opposite sex. Chase only wished that when Samantha see's him talking to these pretty ladies that she won't think that he's the one flirting with them. He had waited for a long time to have this opportunity to see Samantha again. His goal was to somehow find time alone with Samantha since he knew that she did not have a boyfriend at this present time, so he can tell her that he was still in love with her and wants to spend more time with her hoping to win her heart. Meanwhile, Grey was finished with his meal and was stuck sitting beside Mrs. Jenkins, a talkative widow suffering from manic psychosis who was in her late sixties and who kept on complaining to him how she hated her son-in-law who always ignored and disrespected her. She said that he always walks out on her whenever she was lecturing him. For a minute, Grey wondered whether Samantha had something to do with assigning his seat for this party, as he painfully listened to Mrs. Jenkins yap and complain as his arm got numb from supporting his head on the table from total boredom. From time to time, he would look over at Chase's table with envy and wonder how Chase was able to attract such beautiful women to come to his table who each could pass as, "Victoria's Secret", super models. Then he would hear Mrs Jenkins yell at him when she notices that he's not paying attention to her as he tries to make it up by showing signs of interest to everything she says. Everytime the waiter would refill his champagne glass, he would waste no time in drinking it all hoping this would get him drunk which would numb up his senses specially his hearing. While pretending to be listening to her stories, the only thing that was swirling in his mind was how he could get away from this lady. The only thing that kept him from leaving his table was his constant glimpse at Samantha and her beautiful smile. Finally, when Grey couldn't stand the old widow's constant complaining, he stood up and excused himself saying that he needed to use the men's room. The old widow grabbed his arm not wanting to let him go as she continued her list of complaints. Cutting her off in mid-sentence, Grey gave her an alibi that he had urinary incontinence and that he needed to go to the men's room because he wet the adult diaper he was wearing and needed to change into a new clean and dry one. The old lady quickly released his arm as she advised him to go and take care of his urinary incontinence and put on a new clean diaper before he stunk around their table. As he was walking away, he could hear her tell the other guests in her table how her late husband had the same problem who not only had urinary incontinence but also had erectile dysfunction. The last thing he heard was the old widow yelling towards him wishing that Grey did not have erectile dysfunction like her husband had while guests who heard her started laughing at him. Grey walked briskly pretending not to hear the embarrassing comment and the laughter that followed.

                    As Grey approached the bar, he let out a sigh of relief as he ordered a glass of champagne. Turning around, he suddenly saw Samantha walking towards him, his heart started beating faster in anticipation, but as she walked closer to him, he noticed that her face looked mad, the same look he remembered seeing just before they got into one of their big fights. He quickly turned around facing the bar tender and asked to change his drink into a double shot of tequila eventhough he knew there was no time to numb up is senses with alcohol. "Can I talk to you in private!?...", Samantha asked firmly, standing behind Grey with her hands on her hips in readiness and aggression. The tone of Samantha's voice rattled Grey as he turned around to face her, "Su-Sure...is..the-there...so-something wrong?...", Grey stammered as he felt a rush of cold sweat start to overcome him. Samantha turned away and walked briskly looking upset as she headed towards the ballroom's exit doors. Grey quickly took the glass filled with tequilla and swallowed it as the bitter taste caused a facial distortion while he pounded his chest with his fist unable to breath for a few seconds. Fifty-feet away, Chase noticed Samantha leaving the ballroom upset and was being followed by whom he guessed was her ex-boyfriend. Chase remembered three years ago when she got a letter from Samantha telling him that he was dating Grey and was falling in love with him. She even gave him a physical description of him in which the only thing he remembered was him being short. This was after he opened up his feelings for her telling her how he was falling in love with her. Unfortunately, the only thing she could offer him was friendship. Coming back to his senses, Chase quickly excused himself from the young ladies surrounding him as he proceeded towards the door where Sam and Grey exited from. He knew that if he had a chance to win Sam's heart, it would be now while she was not in a romantic relationship yet. He also wanted to make sure that Grey doesn't get a second chance of making up with Samantha and one way was to keep them apart if he's able to.

                       After leaving the ballroom, Grey followed Samantha as she entered the music room. As Grey entered, he saw Samantha waiting for him with her arms crossed over her chest. Grey looked at her and couldn't help think how beautiful she was even when she was mad. "What the hell were you trying to prove blowing smoke from your truck's tailpipe exposing our guests to air pollution?...". Grey smiled sheepishly as he thought of the best alibi to say then responded, "I-I...just forgot to have my truck fixed...", wondering whether she'd accept this lame excuse. "You have a Porsche, a BMW and an electric car and yet you drove tonight in your smoke belching truck!...If this is your way of getting back at me then congratulations cause I'm pissed!...You hypocrite!...You buy an electric car and yet you pollute the air with your smoke belching truck!...You also pretend to be thrifty so you can give more to the poor and yet you bought a Porsche and a BMW in the same month?...". Suddenly, the double shot of tequilla gave Grey a slight buzz making him a bit agitated and emotionally hurt as he responded, "Hypocrite?...you call me a hypocrite?..before you judge me, tell your private investigators to dig deeper and get their facts straight before they report to you....I guess they never informed you that the Porsche and BMW is only 25% of it's blue book value....that's right...the Porsche is 13 years old and I got it for only $12,000,...the BMW is 19 years old which I got for only $3,900.00 with an additional $3,000.00 in repairs. I got them both from a friend who desperately needed money to avoid his home's foreclosure....I bought it as a favor and because it was dirt cheap...". Suddenly, Samantha's expression softened, as the information she got was that Grey's cars were both only slightly used and expensive. Grey quickly turned away rubbing his forehead with his eyes closed as he felt a headache starting. Samantha rebuttled but in a softer tone saying, "That still doesn't excuse you from exposing our guests to your truck's engine smoke....you could have given them respiratory problems...". Grey turned to face Samantha as he responded in a softer tone matching hers as he said, "Respiratory problems?....you speak as if I don't care about people and the environment...Will you please look at the mirror?...You're the CEO of a billion dollar corporation with over 8,000 CURE treatment facilities around the world and only 10% of them use solar power as it's energy source...You have around what?...20,000 to 30,000 company cars, trucks and vans and 75% are all gasoline powered because it's cheaper than switching to electric vehicles...A lot of your guests are major stock holders and owners of greedy oil companies who legally bribe or should I say....hmmm...what's the politically correct word?...oh...lobby congress into adding laws to make it harder for electric car companies to survive. They just killed a bill which would build charging stations for all electric cars 30 miles apart on all interstate highways and freeways across the nation....Now, since Obama's term ended, seven out of the last ten Presidents we had are all major stock holders of oil companies who had stopped all federal tax incentives and discounts on buying electric cars and who prevents any federal prosecution of oil companies who are accused of polluting our sea's. We have hundres of miles of oil spills in the Pacific ocean, the Atlantic and Indian oceans, and oil companies are just pointing fingers at each other refusing to accept responsibility for this mess. Meanwhile, some of the Sheiks in Arab nations who are getting richer by the minute are the one's secretly funding terrorist groups who are bent on destroying our nation....just look at the Osama Bin Laden group of oil companies who make hundreds of millions of dollars each year...". Samantha has heard enough and was pinching the bridge of her nose as with her eyes closed as she rebuttled, "Please Grey.....don't talk to me about your false righteousness and piety....when you're just as guilty as the rest of us....What about you?....you've got people believing that you give to charity because of love for the poor?....or is it because how you once told me you felt guilty for having sex with prostitutes all over Asia when you were still in the Navy and how one day your eyes were opened to the fact that most of these women you had sex with were mere poor peasant women who needed money to buy food and medicines for their siblings and parents....Do you really want me to believe that you give out of the goodness of your heart or are you looking for some kind'a absolution for the guilt that you carry in your heart?....".

                       Suddenly the door opened as Chase entered, "Sam, are you ok?...", Chase looked at her then at Grey. "Is he giving you any trouble?...", Samantha looked at Chase with a wary glance as she responded, "I'm ok...Chase I want you to meet Grey....Grey...meet Chase...". Grey and Chase stared at each other as two rivals who've heard of each other meet for the very first time. "So this is the ex-boyfriend...huh?...", Chase remarked looking down at Grey in annoyance, as he sarcastically asked, "So how does it feel to be the ex-boyfriend?...". Grey now feeling annoyed responded, "It's a feeling that you'll never ever feel with her because it's not you who she's in love with...". Grey retaliated as Samantha stared intently holding Grey in contempt for what he just said. Chase looked at Samantha and asked, "Sam, would you like me to get this guy out of your sight?...". Grey took a step closer to Chase as he looked up at him and said, "Sam, could you please tell Shrek here that we're having a private conversation and that he better leave us alone...". Samantha took a step in the middle of Grey and Chase as she extended her arms sideways gently pushing them further from each other. "Could the both of you stop this!....", Sam looked at Grey and said, "We'll need to do our dance routine soon,...we'll pickup our discussion later...ok?...". Chase took a step backwards closer to the door as he pointed a finger at Grey as he said, " You know, i promised myself that i'd never beat up on hobbits...so Sam, tell your friend Frodo to watch his step....", as Chase winked and gave Grey a wry smile which incited Grey's anger. With the shot of tequilla swirling in his veins, Grey lost his cool as he sidestepped Samantha and rushed to shove Chase out the door but before he could lay a hand on him, Chase instinctively gave Grey a mild swift frontal kick to his belly. Grey fell to his knees clutching his abdomen unable to breathe. Samantha quickly stepped between them as she stared intently at Chase and pointed to the door, "Chase!...leave now!....", Chase raised his hands palms up in guilt and remorse as he softly said, "I'm sorry...I shouldn't have done that...", he turned around and left the room in exasperation. Samantha knelt beside Grey trying to comfort him as she asked, "Are you ok?....", Grey kneeling on the floor with his arms wrapped around his belly with his forehead touching the floor as he softly whispered in a high pitched tone saying, "I can't breathe....", as he was trying to catch his breath. "That was really stupid what you did, you know that?...", Sam placed her arms around Grey hugging him as she tried to comfort him and help him get up on his feet. "You can't fight Chase...he's an Olympic gold medalist in Tae Kwon Do and the leader of his Navy Seals team....". Finally getting his breath back while still wincing in pain, he gave Sam an annoyed look as he said, "Great!...that piece of information might have come in handy a few minutes ago....", he reasoned trying to be funny. Samantha controlled herself from grinning as she tried to maintain a straight face while still being mad at Grey. Grey knew that the way to dissipate Sam's anger was to say something funny and clever and to make her laugh. Sam knowing this, tried to keep their conversation serious, trying not to give Grey an opportunity to knock her off her defenses.

                        Once again the door opened as Albert entered the room, surprised to see Grey in pain as he asked in a British accent, "Are you ok Mister Grey?....", then looking at Samantha, he asked, "Should I call for a physician Miss Peters?....", Sam, stared at Grey's expression and said, "I think he's gonna be fine...no need for a doctor...he just got the wind knocked out of him...". Abert said, "Very well ma'am.....just to let you know, your father asked me to inform you that they are all ready for your dance routine...". Sam glanced at Albert feeling a little worried and said, "We'll be right there Albert....tell my dad....five minutes....". Albert nodded once more as he replied, "Very well Miss Peters....go break a leg...", as he smiled gently while he left the room. (End of Chapter).

Chapter 4: Criminal Intentions

2011-02-16T10:12:00.000-08:00

NOTE: This chapter of the story might be too violent or graphic for kids 17 and below, please heed caution, thanks.

             It was around 11:30 AM, inside a donut shop in the city of Vallejo. Twenty-year old rookie cop Allan Francis paid the cashier then tried to balance two cups of coffee with his left hand and a bag of donuts with his right hand. Being new in the police force and still impressionable, he knew how the public stereotyped cops hanging around donut shops all day. He didn't like his partner's idea of parking their patrol car right directly in front of the donut shop, but he was a rookie cop and rookie cops don't wield any power or authority specially over a Police Sergeant who at 52 years old was a 27 year veteran of the police force. Walking towards the exit door and feeling embarrassed to be in a donut shop, he looked out of the shop's main window for people passing by, he wanted to time his exit when there where no people passing by, or atleast five feet away from the donut shop on both directions. After a minute or two, he felt a gentle tap on his lower back and as he turned around and looked down, he saw a seven year old boy behind him wanting to exit but couldn't because he was blocking the door. The kid had thick glasses and a smudge of chocolate around his mouth and was licking his fingers which looked as if he already ate a whole chocolate donut while waiting for the police officer to exit the door. Officer Francis looked at him with surprise then asked, " So, what can I do for you little boy?...", with a wry smile on his face. The boy scowled at him with impatience and said, " Well, are you gonna hide here all day or are you gonna go out there and catch some bad guys....Even I and my friends don't hide this long when we're playing cops and robbers?!....". Officer Francis was stunned specially after seeing other customers laughing at what the boy said. He clumsily moved aside as the kid took a quick peek inside his donut bag as he counted his donuts loudly making sure that they gave him the right amount of donuts this time, then went straight out the door as he started running, yelling and calling out his friends for their donut break.

              Walking towards their parked Vallejo city patrol car, the young cop bent over by the passenger's window as he handed a cup of coffee to the driver police sergeant Nick Holt who was slightly overweight and who never cared for healthy eating, atleast after his divorce. Years ago, he used to be a fitness buff wo ran marathons and was a gym rat, but because of excessive hours of working as a criminal investigator, his marriage suffered. His wife filed for a divorce and took his two daughters with her out of state. Depression clouded him like a tropical storm, this totally change his way of living. He stopped working out and cancelled his gym memberhip, for years he only ate at McDonalds eventhough he knew that their fries and burgers had outrageous amounts of cholesterol thet he knew was killing him slowly. He still kept eating at McDonalds even after his open heart surgery to repair his clogged arteries from the build up of cholesterol plaque. He wasn't surprised at the number of overweight kids in the country because of fast food chains. None of the fast food chains really cared about children's health as long as they got richer. It was only McDonalds who responded to this crisis by building a fitness center beside each McDonald's store with free gym entrance after you bought a supersized value meal. Inside the gym were paramedics on standby due to the numerous heart attacks, chest tightness and strokes that occur everyday while people were working out. Beside the gym was the Micky D's Cardiac Catheterization outpatient clinic which was also instituted by the McDonalds corporation to save lives. Here, patient's ateries were drilled and cleaned of the cholesterol plaque build-up from too much fast food consumption. For $500,000 (Universal Health Care pays), a patient can buy a family pack of four which includes unlimited blood pressure checks and EKG's, arterial stent placements ( to prevent heart attacks) for the whole family, cardiac catheterization (to unclog arteries) for the whole family, nine year old and below are free and unlimited. Three triple bypass operations or two quadruple bypass operations to any of the family members with a lifetime warranty. Then to the right of the clinic is Ronald's Skilled Nursing Home for all stroke patients with permanent paralysis. To the left of the clinic is McMorgue which is run by McDonald's, this is for all those who do not survive their heart procedures. Across the street, you can take the remains of your loved ones to the, "Golden Arches Funeral Home", for viewing. Then if you decide to cremate the remains, they have the, "French Fried Cremation Services", or if you want your loved one buried, you'll have to hire their hirsch which has small golden arches on each side of the car. The hirsch has advertisement posters showing 40 pieces of Mcnuggets for only $4.00 or 80 pieces for free if you can eat all 80 pieces within five minutes inside the store, drink not included. The hirsch is driven at a slow speed, not as a respect for the dead but to make sure the public can read the posters posted on the hirsch carefully.
Your loved one is then taken to the, "Big Mac Cemetery", for burial, and to be buried in a single lot, but for an extra 1/3 of the price, you can supersize your lot and can bury two people instead. They call this promo, " The McDouble".

              Sergeant Holt smiled while thinking at how complex McDonalds had become over the years, they used to be only a burger joint back in the 21st century. Now, he see's McDonald's and other fast food chains as a slaughter house where kids were like lambs being fattened then led to the slaughterhouse.

              Beside his sedentary lifestyle and non healthy eating habits, he also turned to alcohol and after months of drinking, his work suffered and he was demoted to being a patrol cop and was ordered to enter an alcohol and drug rehab center. Even after he got out and remained sober, he still lost the respect of his peers and superiors. Everybody saw him as a burned out cop who's just trying to finish his last three years of service so he could retire with thirty years on the force.

             Today, he was partnered with a rookie cop on his second month of probationary period. Allan Francis who always wanted to be a police officer ever since high school. Now his dream has come true, although his first two months were very challenging. Since he started, he'd had to wrestle down a suspected criminal that he was trying to arrest. He's been punched on the nose by a woman he pulled over for overspeeding, and just last week he nearly got shot after he saw a robbery suspect point a gun at him. He got so nervous that he dropped his own gun as he took it out of it's holster, good thing his police partner was with him and was able to shoot the suspect on the thigh whom they arrested afterwards. Allan knew that he was behind the ball and that he needed to show more competency if they were gonna award him a permanent position in the Vallejo police force.

              "Here's your coffee and donuts Sarge...", the rookie cop announced as he handed them over to Sergeant Holt. "Thanks son,....you sure you don't want any of this donuts?.... It ain't true what the public says about cops and donuts you know...no need to be embarrassed...", Sgt. Holt remarked with encouragement. Officer Francis got inside the police car then looked around saying, "Ok Sarge,...maybe you're right...", as he took a glazed donut for himself with a piece of napkin. He opened the glove compartment, took a quick bite of his donut then hid the donut inside the glove compartment until it was time to take another bite. He did not want to take a chance of anyone seeing him holding a donut while in uniform, specially, drug pushers, criminals and the general public.

                As they finished their coffee and donuts and were driving, patrolling the streets, they heard an announcement from their dispatch that their were multiple gunshots heard at the Black Lake ranch which was 15 miles north-east of Vallejo. Sergeant Holt pick up the radio transponder and told their dispatch that they were going to check it out. After ten minutes, they arrived at the ranch as they headed for the main entrance. The ranch was over ten acres in size and was walled in by a concrete wall 20 feet high, it was a fortress in itself. It was the home of the mafia boss, "Richard Sambrolini". As they parked the patroll car in front of the gate's entrance. The gate automatically open as three men all wearing black suits with black shirts and black ties with dark sunglasses came out to meet them. They were huge in stature just like professional wrestlers. Sergeant Holt and officer Francis got out of their patrol car as they approached the three men. "Hey!, how's it goin handsome...", as the sergeant sarcasticlly greeted the huge man facing him who had long golden blonde hair that extended down to his waist. "What can we do for you officers?...", the long haired man with a european accent asked with a serious expression on his face. The sergeant tried to look inside the gate as far as his gaze could reach then responded, "Oh!, we're just visiting because of reports of gunshot heard inside your ranch....". The long haired goon looked at his associates briefly the gave a fake laugh while saying, " Oh! that!...that's nothing...one of our associates dropped his automatic rifle as it fired off several rounds...Ha!..Ha!...no one injured though...". Sgt. Holt glanced briefly at his partner as he started walking towards the gate, the long haired goon crossed his path and extended his arm to try to shove the sergeant back but the sergeant instinctively grabbed the large man's arm and twisted it behind his back, he then grabbed the man's long hair as he slammed the man's face on the hood of his patrol car. The other two goons reached inside their jackets for their hidden weapons while officer Francis nervously held unto his side arm, ready to pull it out for defense. Sgt Holt yelled at the two goons saying, "I wouldn't do that if I were you, my partner here is an ex-military special commando and is a sharp shooter...you'll both be dead before you know it....". Sgt. Holt bluffed while officer Francis almost pee'd his pants but tried to maintain composure.
Sergeant Holt then let go of the long haired goon who's nose was bleeding and said, "Next time you lay a hand on me, I'll book you for assaulting a police officer you got that?!....". The long haired goon nodded as he wiped off the blood running down his nose. The sergeant then glanced at his rookie partner making sure he was ok then asked, "So can we go inside and look around?....", the bleeding goon nervously asked, " Do you have a search warrant?...", voice shaking. The sergeant looked down at the dusty road smiling and said, "Not really handsome,....but if we get anymore reports of gunshots...we will be back with a warrant, I promise...", Sgt Holt took out a piec of napkin he got from the donut shop and offered it to the bleeding man who was wiping his blood with his sleeve as the sergeant said, "Here's a napkin...I think you missed a spot...", pointing to blood stains on the long haired man's cheek. The three men ignored him and backed away as they returned to the security of their compound. Sergeant stared at officer Francis with amusement while saying, "Ah!...just another day in the office....". They both got into their police car and drove off as they passed a black stretch limousine going the other way.

            The gates to the Black Lake ranch opened as the limousine made it's way inside the ranch, the ranch had a large mansion and three building which were built more like military barracks for sleeping quarters. The black limousine stopped at the front of the main house as the passenger door opened. A 65 year old man wearing a black suit with a dark red tie came out of the car and was met by the ranch's operational manager Dice Claw. "Good morning Dr. Courtest....", paying his respects to the older man. "Where is he?....", the old man asked with a disappointed look on his face. Dice Claw calmly responded, "He's down in the basement,...he killed two of our men by the horse stable and took another as his hostage down in the basement with him...". Another goon approached both men carrying several bullet proof vests as he handed one each. After they had their vests on, five more men appeared carrying tranquilizing guns. The older man faced them and announced, "Ok, he can only take one shot of this tranquilizer....if ever any of you hits him with a second shot, I will personally shoot you on the head...is that clear?....". Dice Claw and the five other men nodded as they started making their way to the basement. Their basement had a steel entrance door and it was were they did all their tortures. As they stood outside the door, they could hear a voice calling out in anger. It was Richard Sambrolini, the head of the mafia gang. As they listened outside the door, they could hear Richard crying in anger as he called out to his dead father. "Father!, how could you do this to me...I am your son!....Why!...father...why!...", as his screams reverberateted around the room. The old man slowly opened the door as he called out, "Richard,...it's me your uncle...Dr. Courtest...your having another psychotic episode....let me help you...I need you to drop your gun...", suddenly Richard pointed the gun at the steel door and opened fire as the men braced from the gunshots hitting the metal door. "Uncle!...uncle!...you were a part of it too!...how could you just watch as father did this tom me!....how could you?!...". There were two more gunshots that resonated as it hit the steel door. "Richard, my loyalty was with yur father, but now it's with you, let me help you...put down the gun...". Richard with tears in his eyes and a despairing tone in his voice yelled, "No uncle..you won't use me cause you never cared about me at all!...", Richard then pointed the gun to his right temple ready to kill himself as the doctor ordered his men to go in quickly to shoot Richard with their tranquilizing guns. As they quickly entered, Richard pointed his gun towards the first man in as he squeezed the trigger hitting the man on his chest's bullet proof vest as the man fell backwards, the second man in shot the tranquilizer gun hitting Richard on his shoulder while another man shot a second tranquilizing dart that hit Richard's left thigh. After a few seconds, Richard became dizzy and fainted on the floor. When Dr. Courtest came in and saw two darts on his nephew, he became furious and pointed his gun at the man who shot the second dart. He pointed his revolver to the man's forehead and squeezed the trigger, the bullet pierced into the man's skull and came out the back of his head as blood sprayed on the wall and unto Dr. Courtest's face. Wiping the blood off his face with the sleeve of his suit, he approached the sedated man and called out as one of his men brought him his medical bag. He took out some medications and injected the it to the unconscious man to reverse the sedative effects of the tranquilizing darts which could have killed Richard due to the high narcotic and sedative effects of the darts. He then surveyed the room as he saw blood everywhere, he saw the dismembered limbs of Richard's hostage as they were scattered across the room.

            Dr. Courtest was Richard Sambrolini's uncle, he was second in command in their Sambrolini crime family. After looking at the blood stained walls of the basement, he pretended to be disappointed and furious at what happened, but deep inside, he was exhilirating with joy and pride at another one of his plans have worked. Dr. Courtest was a non-practicing psychiatrist who would drug his nephew with PCP to mimic psychotic episodes. Being in the mob, Dr. Courtest knew that the only way to keep 200 goons in line and to maintain their loyalty was to instill fear into their hearts. He needed a leader who was fierce and dreadfull who can make hardened criminals cringe by what he can do to them and their families if they ever cross the line. From time to time Dr. Courtest would drug Richard with hallucinogens which are types of drugs that causes dramatic alterations in mood and perceptions. Individuals who often take this drugs often hear sounds, see images and feel sensations that appears to be real but don not exist. This drugs made Richard hallucinate and appear psychotic and paranoid which makes him go on a killing spree. Dr. Courtest played him like a puppet, he was the puppet master, the one who really controlled the mob who just uses his nephew as his fake mafia boss. Whenever Richard wished to give up to the police, his uncle would always pursuade him telling him that he murdered too many and that he was bound to face the death sentence if he surrendered to the authorities.

             Dice Claw looked around as he pulled out handkerchief after feeling nauseaus from what he saw. It looked like a slaughterhouse and the smell of blood always made him want to throw up. This was not the first time he witnessed this psychotic episode of Richard Sambrolini. It was several times last year when he witnessed Richard's psychotic episodes when he would kill and dismember some of his own men who worked for him. Dr. Courtest turned to face Dice as he gave orders to have the dead buried somewhere in the desert and do a thorough clean-up of the basement. Once again the wise psychiatrist was able to instill order and fear to all their men in the Sambrolini crime family.

             As Sgt. Holt was driving back to the city of Vallejo, officer Francis started inquiring about the history of the Sambrolini crime family. While looking around for speeding vehicles, Sgt. Holt started by saying, " I've known Richard Sambrolini for 15 years,...he used to coach my daughter's basketball team...He was a very nice guy back then...and was starting his medical school. How he turned to crime...nobody knows...".

History of the Sambrolini Crime Family: Richard Sambrolini is the head of northern California's crime syndicate. He never got married but has children with multiple women...He commands an army of 200 men, mostly ex-convicts. His criminal organization deals with smuggling weapons, drugs and jewelry. He is known for extortion from small businesses, running prostitution rings, illegal gambling rings, raqueteering and assassinations. He's got dirty cops and district judges in his payroll that's why it's been so hard to convict him of his crimes. He is know by his alias as the Amputator....He's been branded this name because whenever he catches a traitor or a police officer who tries to convict him, he orders the whole family kidnapped, tortures them and dismembers them slowly starting with the youngest in the family.

            He was not always this ruthless, when he was 28 years old, he was a medical student who dreamt of becoming a surgeon someday. The only child of a 5th generation mafia clan from Chicago, his father expected him to take his place as the syndicate's godfather someday. Richard did not want anything to do with his father or his criminal organization. He was ashamed of being a Sambrolini and even assumed a different last name. Right after high school he left home and supported himself working odd jobs, saving enough money to pay for his college, pre-med courses then his medical school. He fell in love with his classmate from pre-med, her name was Betty, and after a year of dating they decided to live together. He never told Betty that he belonged to a mafia clan for the fact that this might scare her.

           Every year, for the last ten years, his father would call him and try to persuade him to accept the position as the godfather. Richard swore that he'd rather die than be in the mafia. This would incense his father that they would end up shouting at each other until one of them hangs up the phone. His father always told him that he'd never be able to ran away from his destiny, which was to take his place in the mafia clan.

           After six months of living together, Betty surprised Richard with the news that she was pregnant and that he was going to be a father. Richard was ecstatic and overjoyed as they spun around dancing in the living room as they celebrated their future child. Richard's dream was coming true, he was going to be a doctor and a father too. Everything fell into place until six months later. He got a message from his uncle that his father was gravely ill and just had a few months to live. In the message his father was ordering him to take his place as the new godfather of the Sambrolini crime family. He quickly tore the letter and burned it.

             Two weeks later, he got a call from Betty who was hysterical on the phone. Then a male voice took over and told him that if he wanted to see her alive, he had to go to his father's house in an hour. Fear and worry quickly overcame him, he thought of calling the police but feared that feared that he might put Betty in greater danger. He then made his way to his father's house as fast as he could. His father's mansion was full of guards dressed in black suits, wearing dark glasses with an earphone in one ear. There must have been 20 guards from the gate to the house as he knew it was almost impossible to get Betty out without the approval of his father. All he knew was that he had to beg and hope that his father would grant mercy and spare Betty's life specially now that she was seven months pregnant. As he drove through the gate, all the guards were focused unto him. Stopping the car by the front of the house, he quickly got out of the car as he shoved off an armed guard as he entered the house. He started cursing and yelling at the guards to tell him where they kept Betty. Two guards escorted him to the basement and upon entering saw Betty lying on the floor. She was crying and disheveled with scrapes on her arms and legs and a black eye to her right eye which was partially closed due to swelling. He quickly ran and knelt as he hugged her tightly while Betty cried harder asking Richard what was going on. He tried to calm her down saying that he'll get her out of there soon. He then locked eyes with his father, anger and hatred oozing out of his soul as he asked, "How could you do this to me father!?...I am your son...". His father stared at him then coughed a few times while trying to catch his breath. "If you are my son then take your place in our family's history!!..", his father screamed as his face trembled in rage which further weakened his present state. Tears started flowing out of Richard's eyes as he said, "Please father, look...", pointing to Betty's belly, "You're gonna be a grandfather, doesn't that make you happy?....", as tears further flowed down Richard's face.

           His father slowly got up from the chair he was sitting as his trembling arms pushed up his weakened body. "So you wanna be a doctor huh?!..". The old man asked skeptically as Richard nodded while sobbing. The sick mafia boss then looked at his guards giving them a signal to seize Richard as two large men pulled him away from Betty as they both cried out in fear. Two more guards pinned Betty down on the floor as each one stretched her arms out to her sides. A Richard's fear increased, his father slowly walked towards the table and took off a cloth which was covering a fireman's axe. He then raised it up slowly as he inspected it's blade's sharpness. "What are you going to do with that father?....", Richard asked with dread in his voice while Betty cried louder in shear fear. The guards tightened their grip on the two hostages expecting that something viscious was about to occur. His father then walked towards Betty as he raised the axe above his head with both hands as the couple screamed in fear and in a split second the blade cut through flesh sending blood spurting out through the air spraying the guard's face and suit with bright red blood. Richard struggled in anger and anguish trying to break free but unable to. Betty was in shock lying still while she gazed at the ceiling as blood hemorraged from her severed right upper arm. The old man stood still for a moment like a proud lumberjack who just cut down a hundred foot tree. He wiped off blood from his face with the sleeve of his shirt while trying to guage the savagery of his work and with a wry smirk on his face raised the axe once more and chopped off Betty's left arm once again sending blood spurting in all directions. The guards pulled the amputated arms away from their victim as the old man gave out an loud evil laugh that was proceeded with bouts of coughing spells. He looked at one of his men holding a brown box giving another signal as the man inverted the open box scattering medical supplies and instruments around the floor. The mafia boss then looked at his son and said, "Ok, let's see if you're a good doctor...let's see if you can save her life...Release him!...", yelling at his guards as he coughed some more while cherishing the excitement just like a sports fan would.

            As Richard was released, he raced towards Betty but slipped from her blood, he quickly crawled towards her in a hurry as he started talking to himself, "Stop the bleeding!...I need gauze...pads!...", he yelled. "I need towels!!...", as he panicked trying to survey what he could find around him. He took off his shirt, tore it in two pieces and used it to plug the flow of blood. He rummaged around the floor and found some rubber tourniquet which he quickly applied around Betty's severed upper arms, gazing at Betty's face from time to time, he noticed the paleness of her face which mean't that he's loosing her fast. He grabbed some hemostats on the floor and started pinching arteries where blood was oozing out the most. Unable to see clearly from tears running down his face, he tried wiping his face with his blood soaked hands, but blood covered his eyes making his vision worse. Sweat, tears and blood now covered his face, body and clothes as he scramble to save Betty's life. Betty's breathing became slower and irregular as she came in and out of consciousness. Richard grabbed a tank of oxygen and connected an oxygen mask to it as he placed this around Betty's face to give her more oxygen to breath. "IV's...I need IV's...", scrambling all over the floor looking for IV needles, tubing and IV fluids for infusion. But after a few minutes, he realized that it was futile as Richard started doing CPR to a lifeless body. That day he lost his fiancee and the baby she was carrying.

            His father walked back to his seat as he gave the next signal. One of the guards took the axe used in cutting off Betty's arms and handed it to Richard, at first, Richard was emotionally shocked as he looked dazed and not knowing what to do, when he finally came to his senses, his emotion turned into sheer anger, hatred and madness. He carried the axe as he slowly staggered towards his father un-opposed. Everybody moved away including his uncle as they became mere spectators to what was about to happen next. As Richard came within two feet of his father who was seated staring at him emotionless, Richard lifted the axe with both hands above his head and with full force swung the axe as the blade sliced through his father's skull quickly killing the old man. After a few seconds, a large TV screen turned on as a video recording of his father started playing on the screen. "By the time you see this video, you've already killed me...This is your calling my son....Don't you see how much I love you?.....I even gave my life for you...I told you that you can never run away from your destiny....Your only choice now is to take my place....if you run away, you will be hunted down for murdering me...And even when you get out of jail in 20 years, you're uncle will hunt you down and kill every woman that you will ever love. This is your calling my son and as your loving father....it's time to take your place in the Sambrolini crime family as the next godfather....". (End of Chapter).

The Knight of Peace (Chapter 3)

2011-01-05T10:21:00.000-08:00

Chapter 3: Preparing for The Party

              The long private road that leads to Dr. Peters mansion in Hillsborough,(California), was filled with oncoming catering vans that were finding their way up the long winding road to the main entrance of the house. The traffic was bad and Samantha was stuck in the middle waiting patiently as each van took between ten to twenty minutes to unload their supplies for the party tonight. It was around 9:00 AM as she was returning from working out at the fitness center. Eventhough their house had a gym bigger then the fitness center she went to. She prefered to go and exercise where their were other people working out to help motivate her. She thought that exercising alone in her gym was boring.

             They were not always this wealthy, it was not until her father discovered and patented the cure for cancer a few years ago that their fortune changed for the better. Once they were able to start curing cancer, Presidents of nations, Prime Ministers, Arabian Sheiks, Billionaires and the medium and low income earners, specially the poor would seek treatment and cure in one of their 8,000 C.U.R.E. (Cancer Understanding, Research and Education) treatment centers which were located around the world.

             The catering vans finally started moving until Sam was able to finally drive around them as she had no choice but to drive through the lawn just to get to their garage. Their garage was big enough that it could fit ten cars. Samantha was a down to earth woman, she did not care too much about how wealthy they've become. Turning thirty years old, she was pretty much ingrained in the typical life of a working adult. She was more excited about her father's achievement in curing people with cancer than the billions of dollars they made each year. Driving a five year old Ford Focus everyday to work said it all, eventhough her father gave
her a blue Lambourghini for her 27th birthday, a red Ferrari for her 28th birthday and a brand new private jet for her 29th birthday. Her father made her his corporate's CEO so that he could focus more on curing children who had advanced stages of cancer. He never directly treated the world's V.I.P.'s which he left to his team of surgeons and doctors to treat, although he did show up from time to time to greet other patients before or after their treatments. Samantha was adept in running their corporation, having a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration helped her manage her father's complex corporation. She had hundreds of lawyers, accountants, business manager's, surgeons, physicians, nurses, engineers, scientists and tens of thousands of regular employees working for their corporation around the world. Having their main corporate office in San Francisco, she would always come to work wearing a simple but well pressed collared shirt and blue jeans, while upper management who reported to her all wore expensive suits. She was the type of person who commanded respect from her employees but never demanded it. She was humble and forgiving but never bossy.

              Entering their house, she quickly walked up their spiral staircase and headed towards her father's study room. Upon entering, she saw her dad reading the morning paper still in his morning pajamas. "Hi dad...", as she walked towards him. "Hi, honey, how was your workout?...", he asked while looking at her as he lowered his reading glasses on the lower bridge of his nose still holding on the news paper in front of him. "Good!,..there was not a lot of people working out this morning, strange though, for it being a Saturday...I was able to use the threadmill without waiting this time, "she said as she picked up the sports page of her father's news paper. The door behind them opened as Albert, their butler came in carrying a round tray with a jug of freshly squeezed orange juice and two empty glasses. "Are you both ready for breakfast?..", Albert asked with his noticeable British accent while wearing his black tuxedo and white gloves. Dr. Peters and Samantha silently grinned finding Albert's accent amusing. As Albert set the tray in front of them, he noticed their amused expression on their faces and asked, "Now what would you both like for breakfast?...", Albert inquired, "Nothing for me Al, I had a bagel on my way home from the gym...", Samantha responded. He looked at Dr. Peters who was still smiling as he asked, "And you sir?...", Dr. Peters turned a page from his newspaper as he responded, "Thanks for the offer Albert but I already made myself some oatmeal in the kitchen earlier...and by the way, you can drop the accent...it's only us here you know...", Dr. Peters and Samantha both looked at Albert with a wider grin on their faces. Suddenly, Albert's accent switched from a British accent to a Southern accent as he responded, "Ok! if ya'all don't wanna chow down then I'll be supervising the caravans of food for tonights party...Yeeee! dawgy!...". Albert announced with a more relaxed posture while he left the room. Albert used to be one of Dr. Peters cancer patients two years ago. He was a sixty year old alcoholic and was homeless when he developed pancreatic cancer. Albert had a knack for immitating different accents which impressed Dr. Peters. For drug addicts and alcoholics with cancer, Dr. Peters would make an agreement with them which was that they had to be sober or free of drugs for five years before the cure will be provided for their cancer. In the meantime, Dr. Peters would put their cancer in a temporary state of remission until the person is free of his/her addiction or alcoholism for five years. They also had to attend Alcoholics Anonymous and other drug treatment facilities which was fully paid by Dr. Peters CURE corporation. They had to undergo urine and blood tests every two weeks to check for drugs in their system. Those who remain clean for five years are then permanently cured of their cancer and given free vocational classes and job placements at the CURE corporation. Those who failed were given two more chances and if they still failed after their third chance, the drugs that keeps their cancer in remission
was discontinued and their cancer progresses. They were allowed to re-apply after six months but will be placed on a waiting list. When they get accepted then the whole process begins again.

              Albert was one of those who was able to stay clean for five years and was finally cured of his cancer. He always admired, "Alfred", the butler in the movie, "Batman", and dreamt of being like him someday. Dr. Peters was enthused that he hired Albert as their butler, and this was how he came to work for the Peters. Originally from Alabama, Albert spoke and dressed like John Wayne during his days-off and spoke and dressed like Batman's butler Alfred when working in the mansion. This often amused Dr. Peters and Samantha specially when Albert would alternate his accents every after sentences to make the people around him laugh.

             After Albert left the room, Dr. Peters took his focus away from the newspaper and glanced at Samantha. He caught her staring out the window in deep thought. He knew that his daughter had been anticipating this party for weeks, not just because it was his birthday, but because she knew that she would see Grey again after a year. It was a year ago on his birthday when his daughter broke up with Grey during his birthday party. The only thing he remembered was seeing his daughter in tears as she quickly left the party and locked herself in her bedroom, then seeing Grey leave the party in anger. After a few weeks, his daughter confided in him. She told him that the reason they broke up was because, eventhough she loved Grey, he never found the time to be with her. He was too busy working as a nurse at night and running his newly formed rental property company in the day time. She hated the fact that they would only see each other every two or three weeks. There were even times when Grey would cancel their date or cut their date short because of some problems with his tenants.

                Dr. Peters stood up and walked, standing behind Samantha as they both stared out the window. He gently placed his hands on top of Samantha's shoulders as he rested his cheek on top of Samantha's head as he often did when Samantha was six-years old. He was amazed at how fast time flew as he remembered Samantha during her younger years. "Grey will be here tonight...", he softly said. Samantha turned around and stared at him with a frown on her face, then turned and faced the window once more. "I wish your mom was alive today, she would be able to give you better advice about affairs of the heart than i can...", he said as he stood beside her. "Dad, it's been over for a year and we've never even spoken to each other ever since we broke up..", Samantha said as she crossed her arms over her chest trying to minimize Grey's importance in her life. Dr. Peters poured some of the orange juice into an empty glass as he handed it to Samantha saying, "Then how come you've never dated anyone?... you have suitors lining up asking you for a date...Maybe you need to re-examine your true feelings for him or get some kind'a closure in your relationship....". Samantha took the glass of orange juice from her dad as she faced him,  showing her father a hint of sadness in her eyes. "Maybe you're right dad...". She took a sip of her orange juice as she
looked up at her father. She then placed the glass of orange juice on the table, walked towards her dad with a smile on her face as she hugged him like she always did ever since she was a little girl coming home from school excited to see her parents. "I'll think about it...", she said as she proceeded to leave the study room to prepare for tonight's big event.

              Entering her bedroom, she noticed their maid Maria cleaning her bathroom. "Good morning Maria...", Samantha greeted her as she crashed on her bed staring on the ceiling. "Good morning to you...seniora Sam...", Maria answered back looking briefly into the bedroom as she continued her cleaning in the bathroom. Maria has been Samantha's nanny since she was four years old, she was like a mother to Samantha. Ever since she could remember, Maria was always there 24/7 since her parents were so busy at their chosen professions. Her dad being a surgeon and her mom being a corporate lawyer, Maria was her constant companion and guardian growing up. Maria was now on her late sixties and had grandchildren and great grandchildren of her own. To Sam, Maria was like a treasure chest full of wisdom. She would always ask for her advice when it came to matters of the heart. When her mom died and after her break-up with Grey, Maria was instrumental in helping her deal with the pain. During both times when she was totally depressed and unable to work, she spent her nights in maria's bedroom which was a master's suite next to hers. She slept in Maria's arms as she always did when she was still a child. Maria always loved Samantha as if she was one of her own children. Maria had always been treated as part of the family, for years, they've been discouraging her to stop doing chores around the house and to just relax and enjoy life. But Maria would still always personally clean Samantha's room then manage the rest of the house staff, like the cooks, gardeners, maids, cheuffers and security guards in their compound. In the last three years, Maria's salary has been increased from $70,000 per year to half a million dollars a year. As much as Dr. Peters and Samantha hated seeing her do chores, Maria didn't feel at ease if she wasn't cleaning or tidying around the house.

              "Maria! could you please stop that and let the other maids clean my bathroom...please!...", Samantha yelled with an irritated tone in her voice. "Oh!...hush!...hush!....child...don't you dare pick up that service phone...", as Maria's voice resonated from inside the bathroom. After a few minutes of silence, Maria finally came out of her bathroom drying her hands with a towel. She briefly glanced at Samantha who was lying in her bed in deep thought. "You're awfully quiet today my child...", Maria remarked eventhough she knew what was bothering Sam. "I'm just a little nervous about tonight Maria...", Sam replied as she stared on a blank wall. Maria placed the towel she had on the hamper and asked, "Is it the traditional dance that you and Grey will have to perform for your father which he requests yearly during his birthday?...or are you afraid of how you might feel when you see Grey again tonight?...", Maria asked trying to hone in on Sam's feelings. Sam quickly grabbed a pillow and smothered her face with it mumbling some words trying to prevent Maria from clearly hearing what she had to say. "What was that?....", Maria asked. Sam uncovered her face with her pillow and looked at Maria in disappointment as she said, "I don't know, I'm really confused,...I still love him but it will never work out between us. His priority has always been his career and his business,...not me.", responding with a tone of anguish in her voice. Samantha turned lying on her side as she cuddled her pillow. Maria walked towards her as she sat on the edge of the bed beside Samantha as she thought for a minute then said, "I think he's a fine man who just accidentally misplaced his life's priorities....I remember him calling between 20 to 30 times a week wanting to speak to you after your breakup but you would not give him a chance. I remember those times when he tried to visit you here and he would wait outside the front door for hours because you would not let him in. There was even a time he caught a cold while waiting out in the rain soaking wet. I actually brought him some hot tea with lemon without letting you know to warm him up a bit. After two hours he left shivering, sneezing all the way to his car. If that's not love, then I don't know what love is.". Sam stared at Maria briefly with some feelings of guilt mixed with remorse as she justified her actions saying", Well it's over Maria, I don't want to get hurt again!...", Samantha concluded. Maria leaned towards Sam as she caressed her hair as she used to do when Sam was a little girl then said, "My child, it's the struggles in a relationship which makes love more profound and satisfying. You can never enjoy the peeks if you've never experienced the valleys of love. Maria smiled at Samantha projecting her care and motherly love for Samantha. After another minute of silence, Maria stood up saying, "You know what I think, maybe it's best if you speak to him tonight and see where you both stand. Be honest with your feelings and I'm sure that if both of you are mean't for each other, then love will find a way...". Sam looked up at Maria with a sense of relief and gratitude then said, "Thank you Maria, I don't know what I would do without you...you're the closest person I have to mom...". Maria smiled at her then kissed her in her forehead as she said," Ok, so try not to worry, things have a way of working themselves out...". Maria started walking towards the door then suddenly turned around to face Sam, "Oh by the way, there was a tall good looking gentleman who stopped by looking for you while you were at the gym. He said his name was Chase Brassman,...he said you two were classmates in highschool...Good looking man, reminds me of a young Robert Redford with his blond hair, blue eyes and chiseled jaw line...", Maria said smiling. "Oh!, Chase...yeah,...he did e-mail me and told me that he'll be attending dad's party tonight". Sam responded trying to downplay Chase's visit.

            She thought of Chase who during highschool she competed with academically. During their senior year they were trying to beat each other on who would be the school's valedictorian. She studied so hard, while Chase on the other hand studied sporadically while still playing in their school's basketball, football and baseball teams. He even competed in Tae Kwon Do tournaments during some week-ends. Chase was very popular with the girls and went out on dates a lot. With his looks, strength and smarts he could date any girl he wanted and nobody turned him down except Samantha. This was because Samantha's last two relationships failed, her first boyfriend dumped her for her bestfriend and with her second boyfriend, she caught him cheating with another woman behind her back. These two guys were not even half as good looking as Chase she thought. She withdrew from dating good looking and popular guys, she knew that these types were heartbreakers and she feared being heart broken again. The first few times Chase asked Samantha out on a date, she turned him down. At first, this challenged Chase for no woman has ever rejected him. He thought that Samantha was just playing hard to get, as their friendship developed, Chase found himself falling in love with Samantha, but Samantha always kept their friendship platonic even after high school.

            After Maria left, Samantha still took time to lounge around and procrastinate. She started rummaging through some old albums she found in her walk-in closet. She chosed an album containing pictures of her and Grey when they were still together. She started turning the pages as she reminisced on past memories, she briefly laughed upon seeing a close-up picture of Grey with a swollen cheek after he had a tooth extraction. She remembered how one night around eleven pm, she got a call from Grey complaining of a severe tooth ache. He asked her to drive him to his uncle's place who was a retired dentist, apparently, Grey was too cheap to get dental coverage because he never thought he'd needed it. Now the only option he considered was to get a free treatment from his uncle who was a retired dentist but who also was an alcoholic. Without any advance notice, they arrived at his uncle's home at around midnight. Just as they feared, Grey's uncle was as drunk as a skunk. As his uncle welcomed them into his home while holding a bottle of whisky in his hand, Samantha tried to discourage Grey from having any dental procedure done by his drunk uncle. She even offered to pay for his dental expenses, but once again Grey's pride prevented him from receiving help which once again irritated Samantha. Grey's uncle did the procedure in the kitchen while Samantha sat in the living room couch as she waited nervously. After a few minutes of silence, she heard Grey's shreiks of pain. Unfortunately, his uncle inadvertently injected the last dose of Novocaine into Grey's tongue instead of his gum because he was seeing double vision from his drunkeness, the little amount left of Novocaine that was saved for Grey's gums was not even half the dose needed to totally numb up his gums. After his tooth extraction, Samantha could hear both men in the kitchen argue as they both mumbled words she could not understand. Grey's uncle was mumbling words because of his drunkeness while Grey was mumbling words because his tongue was totally numb from all the Novocaine injected in it. Samantha was laughing inside surprised that the two men even understood each other's speech. Samantha tried her best to show sympathy towards Grey that night as she drove him back home eventhough Grey knew that Samantha was hiding her laughter and pleasure at his expense.

              As she turned a few more pages, she came across a few more pictures of her and Grey playing in the snow at Lake Tahoe during a winter vacation. Flooding her mind with fond memories, she remembered how Grey ended up getting a black eye after throwing snow balls at each other. She accidentally grabbed some snow which had some hardened ice in it and threw it at him hitting him on his face. Yelling in pain Samantha quickly consoled him kissing him in his face and around his eye which increased his discomfort. Grey ended up wearing Samantha's pink sunglasses that whole week-end since they could not find a store that sold cheap sunglasses to cover his black eye.

         After turning a few more pages, she saw pictures of them in Yosemite during a summer camping trip. She remembered the time they went horseback riding and how they tried to rent horses to explore a ten mile trail. But when they arrived at the horse rental area, unfortunately, there was one horse left. Grey suggested that they ride the horse together and that he'll be the one to control the horse's reins. Samantha disagreed, saying that since she got there first that she had the right to choose to be the passenger or to take control of the horse. She offered Grey to be the passenger and ride behind her but Grey refused saying that it was embarassing for the man to ride behind a woman on the same horse. He even gave, "Zorro, Custer and the Lone Ranger", as examples of man's dominance in the wild wild west. Samantha agitatedly rebuttled that those times were before the advent of color T.V. and sarcastically remarked that Grey's way of thinking were as outdated as the days of the Pharoahs when Egypt used to be the most powerfull nation in the world.

       As usual, Samantha always ended up winning the argument as she rode alone on the horse as she would wait for Grey from time to time as he tried to keep up the pace while he rode on a mule that was the only animal left he could rent and ride that day. Samantha tried not to laugh as she looked back at Grey who tried his best to look as dignified as possible. She watched Grey's displeasure from the mule's lack of speed, and whenever he ushered the mule to speed up, the mule would brey into a loud cry as if to protest his master's demanding attitude. From time to time, Samantha would tease him telling him he reminded her of the famous, "Don Quixote", as she bursts laughing, "Very funny..", Grey thought to himself as he raised his chin with pride and grandiosity.

            Looking away from the album, she tried to remember what made her fall in love with Grey. Was it because he saved her father's life?, was it because he always made her laugh?, was it her discovery of his artistic talents in songwriting and as a novelist which he kept as a secret from her because he wanted to remain humble, then she remembered that special night during Valentine's day when Grey surprised her with a candlelight dinner then after giving her a private concert, serenading her with his original love songs and how she rewarded him with their first kiss for a job well done. She hugged her photo album as she wiped her tears away, then composing herself, she returned the album in her closet as she decided to start planning what to wear for tonight's party. (End of Chapter)

Chapter 2: The Long Drive Home

2010-12-15T12:19:00.000-08:00

                                                          The Knight of Peace
                                                 by: Greg Elie

Chapter 2: The Long Drive Home:

        It was 7:45am and Grey was trying to get everything in order. Working the night shift as a registered nurse was not as busy as the other shifts he thought, but it can get very stressfull at times, specially when a patient's condition deteriorates rapidly. This was exactly what happened three hours ago when one of his co-worker's patient started having breathing problems. It was his turn to be charge nurse this week and supervise all the nurses in their forty bed neuro-ortho medical surgical ward. Their ward took care of patients who'd undergone major surgery and therefore could still be at risk for complications. Being the charge nurse was more stressfull because it mean't also having patients of his own while assisting co-workers during medical emergencies. The code team consisting of doctors, respiratory therapists and ICU nurses showed up quickly to stablilize the patient's condition, and soon after, transferred the patient to the Intensive Care Unit for more specialized monitoring and treatment.
           "Hey Devy, did you get all your meds passed?", Grey asked his fellow RN (registered nurse) as he walked passed her in her computer terminal. "Just one more then I'm outt'a here.", she responded with a smile. "What about you Anitha?", he asked as another nurse breezed by him in a hurry. "Are you kidding, I'm not even done finishing my notes yet and I still have to babysit my two grand kids when I get home...", Anitha responded with a displeased look on her face. The day shift nurses just came in and were taking over but were still listening to the report of all the patient's conditions. Being the charge nurse mean't that he also had to be the last one to leave. The night shift ended at eight in the morning but Grey did not finish his reports and tasks until it was already 8:45am. "Ok, ladies, if there are no other problems or concerns I'm taking off...Oh! by the way, whoever placed that package of tampons inside my locker...that's not funny....Men are now accepted and respected in the nursing field just as much as women are accepted as doctors....So if I ever find out who did that...you might just find a jock strap inside your locker one of these days, paybacks a bitch...", Grey warned with a smirk on his face while the day nurses who were all female pretended not to hear Grey's announcement as they tried not to giggle while they were preparing to pass their morning medications. "Ok, if there's no more complaints?....I'm outt'a here...have a good week-end everyone.
          Walking out of the building and heading towards the parking lot, he thought to himself how working at, "St. Martin's Hospital of San Francisco", was the best job he'd ever had as a registered nurse. After being a corpsman in the US Navy for three years, he discovered how rewarding it was to help sick people eventhough it was hard work at times. After leaving the military, he went straight into nursing school and was able to use the G.I. Bill which was a military scholarship to help pay for his college.
          Driving out of the parking lot, he turned left into Clinton street then turned right to Obama avenue as he started his one hour drive home to the city of Vallejo where he owned and lived in a two bedroom/one bath home. He lived by himself but was visited once a year by his foster parents who adopted him when he was three years old. At seventeen years old, Grey and his foster parents immigrated to the U.S. and made their home in San Francisco. Now both retired, his foster parents lived in Pensacola Florida where the weather was warmer.
          At 42 years of age, Grey still had not settled down. Unlike his friends, he never felt the urgency to get married and have a family. Being in the Navy in his twenties, he was able to travel all over Asia and had girlfriends in every port. Among his shipmates, this was the norm, but when he left the military he never told anyone for fear of being judged as living an immoral lifestyle. During his thirties, he devoted most of his time in completing his Associates Degree in Nursing at City College of San Francisco. He also joined his church's band and learned to play musical instruments and write songs. For ten years he performed as their back-up musician which became a blessing in disguise because he was able to play all the instruments well. He used this talent into arranging and recording his original compositions and eventually was able to sell his songs as downloads in the internet sites: "iTunes, Rhapsody and Amazon.", All the money he earned he divided and donated to several charitable organizations which helped the poor. He was also able to write a novel and establish himself as a decent novelist, selling his novel in the internet as an e-book and also donating all his earnings to the poor.
            Turning on the radio in his car, he started gripping and squeezing the steering wheel tighter as his thoughts shifted to the party he was going to be attending that night which increased his anxiety. It was Dr. Peters birthday, his ex-girlfriends father. Dr. Peters who was one of the richest billionaires in the world from his discovery of the cure for cancer, always threw a lavish party to celebrate his birthday. Eventhough Grey and her daughter Samantha broke up a year ago, Dr. Peters still cared and considered Grey as his own son. He even called Grey three different times to make sure he would attend his party tonight.
             Their friendship began five years ago when one night in a classy restaurant, Dr. Peters took his daughter Samantha for dinner. As soon as they were seated, Samantha had a strong urge to leave because the man dining alone next to them was the infamous Mr. Prescoot who was an arrogant, obnoxious filthy rich customer who was always rude and disrespectfull to waiters and other diners. Before the, "Universal Health Care", was instituted by former President Obama back in 2010, Mr. Prescoot was one of the Chief Executives of a large medical HMO insurance company who became rich from denying medical claims. He and other executives of medical HMO's got multi-million dollar bonuses each year from disapproving claims for life saving treatments. The more people died from lack of medical and surgical care, the more their company saved and the richer they got. Dr. Peters used to work as a staff surgeon for Mr. Prescoot at St. Vicent's hospital and would get in a lot of arguments over needed surgeries for his patients that Mr. Prescoot disapproved. But since the Universal Health Care kicked in, Mr. Prescoot decided to retire and instead invest the millions he got into oil refineries, thinking it was the next best money making machine after HMO's. Dr. Peters and Mr. Prescoot hated each other to the "T". Dr. Peters used to vent to his wife, "Sandy", the frustrations he had with Mr. Prescoot. Samantha would always over hear them talk and that's how she knew of Mr. Prescoot.
          Dr. Peters did not mind being in close proximity to Mr. Prescoot that night because he was so excited about telling Samantha some wonderfull news. While dining, he confided in her that as the owner and head scientist of his cancer research and treatment laboratory, he was able to identify the DNA's which were responsible for specific types of cancers. After months of experimental studies, he was able to create a serum which reverses and shrinks cancerous tumors until it disappears, even in it's lates stages. He was 95% finished with his research and was to start on human trials.
          But during the course of their meal, Dr. Peters suddenly choked on a piece of meat. Unable to breath, he stood up with his hands around his neck with a look of panic in his face. Startled with with fear, Samantha quickly stood up and yelled for help. Everybody in their table stopped eating and focused on the commotion that was happening but no one knew what to do. Mr. Prescoot glanced briefly at the choking man and mumbled to himself, "Good, I hope you die...", while he kept on eating undisturbed.
          Sitting with his date a few tables away and noticing the event, Grey quickly jumped out of his seat and raced towards Dr. Peters hitting glasses, elbows and chairs on the way. Seeing that the man was choking, he knew that the only way to save the man's life was to do the, "Heimlich", maneuver. Getting behind Dr. Peters, he quickly wrapped his arms around his waist and started performing inward and upward thrusts to his abdomen. Standing five feet four inches tall, it was a struggle to perform the, "Heimlich", maneuver on a man who stood over six feet tall at least.
          Someone from the crowd yelled at the waiters to call 911, as others got out out of their seat trying to offer their assistance if needed. With each thrust, Samantha's fear escalated as she started breaking down in tears not knowing what to do. Dr. Peters was already hunched forward as his lips turned purple and was starting to loose consciousness. Grey kept on doing his thrusts as beads of sweat started forming on his forehead. After a few seconds, Dr. Peters knees buckled from under him as they both fell to the floor. Not giving up, Grey turned him face up, he straddled the now unconscious doctor. He started with the upward thrusts to the man's abdomen. Suddenly, a piece of meat flew out of Dr. Peters mouth created by the pressure of Grey's abdominal thrusts. Grey watched as the piece of meat landed into Mr. Prescoot's plate while Mr. Prescoot was looking away trying to get a waiter's attention to get another order of beer. Unfortunately, Mr. Prescoot had the same order Dr. Peters had which was steak with brown gravy which made the piece of meat blend into Mr. Prescoots food. This happened so fast that no one really paid attention to where the meat landed. Unknowingly, Mr. Prescoot finished his food in the middle of all the commotion that was going on. Grey did not have time to warn Mr. Prescoot about the meat that landed in his plate because Grey was still doing mouth to mouth resuscitation to provide Dr. Peters with much needed oxygen for survival.
           Just then, paramedics arrived and took over. They said that the doctor had a good pulse and was already breathing on his own thanks to Grey's effort. The paramedics connected an EKG monitor to keep track of his heart functions and an O2 mask to provide him with oxygen. They then lifted him to a stretcher and wheeled him into the ambulance with Samantha by his side who was still distraught from the whole event. Some of the customers left abruptly without finishing their dinner because of the chaos and commotion. Grey approached Mr. Prescoot and stared at his empty plate as Mr Prescoot suddenly yelled at him saying, "What the hell are you looking at butthead?!...", Grey looked at him as he leaned over to him whispering, "I'm just surprised you're able to continue eating while a man is dying beside your table?...", Mr. Prescoot's face turned red in anger as he yelled once more, "I don't give a flying f@#* asshole..now get out of my face!...". Grey thought about telling Mr. Prescoot about the meat that landed on his plate but when he saw that Mr. Prescoot was a total jerk, he decided to just walk away.
          As Grey returned to his table, he pulled out his handkerchief and started wiping off his sweat, his date Lacey stood up and gave him a hug, she was impressed by Grey's heroic efforts that this turned her on sexually as she whispered seductive words in his ear and gently bit his earlobe. Unfortunately, Grey was still shaken and his adrenaline was still high that he thought what she offered was a little weird given the circumstaces of the event that just transpired. This was his second date with Lacey and he never thought that she would give in to sex this soon and this quick. Realizing that his days of one night stands during his twenties were over and that he was now searching for a meaningfull relationship, he declined Lacey's offer to him to spend the night at her place and drove her home as fast as he could before his libido came back and before he changed his mind.
           Two months later through private investigators, Dr. Peters and Samantha were able to find out information about Grey by tracing Grey's credit card which was used in paying for dinner the night Grey save Dr. Peters life. They contacted Grey and offered their heartfilled thanks and insisted on taking him out to dinner. This was a time just before Dr. Peters bacame a billionaire from the discovery of the cure for cancer.
            Grey declined their invitation as he saw no reason to be rewarded for what he did. But after several phone calls, their persistence paid off. Grey finally agreed to accept a dinner invitation by Dr. Peters and Samantha, besides he did remember how attractive looking Samantha was which he noticed as the paramedics where taking Dr. Peters to the ambulance the night he saved his life. Grey also felt gratefull that he was able to save the life of a man who discovered cancer's cure.
             Pulling into his driveway,he parked his electric car in front of his garage as he re-charged it's battery. Entering his house, he immediately disarmed his home alarm system then turned on his home stereo system. Sounds of classical music started filling his living room while he changed into his short pants and T-shirt. Listening to classical music was his way of unwinding after work. To him, it was equivalent to drinking fine wine. He briefly remembered how Samantha used to invite him to attend the San Francisco symphony but he always declined the invitation. He thought that the price of admission was just too expensive for his lifestyle, he would always tell Samantha to just donate the money to the poor instead.
            One of the things they fought about was that Grey would never let Samantha pay whenever they went out on dates. Grey always thought that it was the man's responsibility to treat his girfriend everytime they went out on a date. This really angered Samantha because she did not believe that it was due to Grey's generosity but was more of a symptom of a control issue. After dating for a few months she realized that Grey had insecurities about women he dated who were both wealthier and more successfull than him. Grey always denied this issue whenever she brought it up. There were times when she'd get so mad that she would leave him and call her cheuffer to pick her up abruptly ending their date and leaving Grey alone in the sidewalk late at night, although Grey was always able to call for a taxi using his cell phone. But most of the time Samantha just tried to overlook this flaw in Grey because she was slowly falling in love with him, unsure why this was happening, realizing that the common female searched for a mate who's tall, dark and handsome, and here she was, attracted to a guy who was short, pudgy but funny and who radiated a bright smile and had a good heart.
           While fixing his breakfast, Grey started to worry about the party that night. He hated attending Dr. Peters birthday party eventhough he considered him a very kind and close friend. This was the fourth time he would be attending this formal event. He could never feel at ease mingling with wealthy people, specially when some guests would try to measure him up by how much he was worth financially. The topics were often about how many companies one owns, and properties bought and sold in Europe. The party was filled with billionaires, multi-millionaires, Hollywood actors and actresses and famous professional athletes. As much as he wanted not to go, the only reason he would show up was to see Samantha again whom he wished had a boyfriend by now so that he can have some kind of closure in his feelings for her. (End of Chapter)

The Knight of Peace (Chapter 1)

2010-10-28T13:26:00.000-07:00

By: Greg Elie
Synopsis: Grey felt like a blessed man up until a near fatal accident left him paralyzed from the neck down. Through medical advances, he was able to tap into his mind and discover hidden psychic powers he never knew he had. With the help of scientist Dr. Kinesis, who himself had psychic powers. Grey learned to move objects with his mind, but with limitations. He could only move titanium metals, which had something to do with experimental drugs and the titanium plate in his scalp which somehow created a neuro-biochemical reaction with his brain to form this telekinetic power. Wanting to be normal again, Grey obtained a suit of armor made from titanium. After fully assisted to this suit of armor, Grey started learning how to move limbs, to sit, stand, walk and finally run. He was close to normal again as long as he had his titanium armor on. Much to his surprise, he was more stronger due to the strength of his armor, but what really surprised and excited him was his ability to learn how to levitate using his mind. He could hover with the speed of a helicopter.

               Realizing this new found gift, he decided to dedicate the remainder of his life into fighting crime in his neighborhood. Keeping his identity secret while trying to stay away from the public eye, he gained notoriety as a vigilante with special powers. Drug dealers and gangs started vanishing in his hometown which angered the mob who controlled these gangs and other criminal groups. To get back at him, the mob sets a trap and frames him for a murder he did not commit. He becomes a wanted person and sketches of his image and description were displayed on newspapers and broadcasted on television news.

              Meanwhile, his psychic instructor Dr. Kinesis tries to recruit him for his own evil plans. When Grey rejects his offer, their friendship ends. Dr. Kinesis starts hunting Grey, he also gives his identity away to a group of terrorists who also wants to use Grey's powers by abducting his ex-girlfriend and blackmailing him into breaking into a federal prison to free their leader in exchange for the life of Samantha his ex-girlfriend whom he still loves.

             And when things couldn't get worse, the U.S. government commissions America's first high tech super hero crime fighter, "The Protector". The first of his kind, equipt with advanced exoskeletal technology which amplifies human strength a hundred fold. His mission is to eradicate the terrorist cell, find and capture Grey and bring him to justice.

            From fighting crime to protecting his loved ones, Grey has to find a way to prove his innocense against insurmountable odds. But with the mob, terrorists, a mad psychic scientist, police, FBI, Homeland Security, America's superhero, National Guard and even the Pentagon ganging up on him. He knew he was bound to have a cruel summer ahead of him.

(Foreword by Greg Elie: This is the start of a wonderfull adventure which I'd like to share with you. Now and in the proceeding months, I'll be adding more chapters to this novel as the story unfolds. The later chapters of this book will be on sale at lulu.com as an ebook. All proceeds from this sale will benefit the following charitable institutions listed below. If you decide to follow the story and you like it, I hope you can donate $1.00 or whatever you can afford for every chapter you've read to charity listed below. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you very much.)

Charitable Institutions

1. World Relief
7 East Baltimore Street
Baltimore, MD 21202
http://www.worldrelief.org/

2. Feed The Children
PO Box 36
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma 73101-0036

3. Cross International
370 W. Camino Garden Blvd
Boca Raton, FL 33432

4. Salesian Missions
2 Lefevre lane
New Rochelle NY, 10801-5710

                            CHAPTER 1: THE JUNGLES OF ZAMBOANGA

               (Sometime in the near future....)

            It was around 3am in the jungles of Zamboanga, an island on the southern part of the Philippines, the weather was very humid and hot. In the dark, leaves parted as a human figure carrying an M-16 machine gun advanced with caution and stealth. After a few feet, he stopped and found his comrades. Six of them gathered together silently while the radio-man was checking their position with a black laptop computer. They all wore comouflage suits, a green beret on their head and black markings on their face. "Where's the Captain?...". one soldier asked. "He's about three meters away from their camp's perimeter".

            Captain Chase Brassman was the head of this special forces unit. This was his first time with this group of special forces soldiers who were more adept in jungle warfare. He had been re-assigned from a dessert warfare unit into this jungle warfare unit and was sent by the Pentagon on a mission to rescue Sheila Price, a Peace Corps volunteer who'd been kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf (Bearer of the Sword) rebel-terrorist group. A faction of the Al Queda terrorist organization which uses ransom money collected to buy bombs which are used in terrorizing cities in the Philippines and other countries in Asia. This time they kidnapped a twenty-one year old American volunteer who worked as a nurse in a poor village in the province of Zamboanga in the Philippines.

            "Captain Brassman, what's your location?". The radio-man whispered through a headphone connected to a communicator. "I think I'm getting closer, I can smell burned wood probably from their campfire." Captain Brassman whispered back into his headset as he slowly dropped to the ground and started crawling forward while proceeding with caution, making sure he does not hit any trip wires that might alert the terrorists or set off an explosion.

             His uniform was different from the other soldiers. He wore a special flight suit that was created by the high tech robotics firm, "Macro-Strength Industries", that supplies state of the art weaponry to the US Armed Forces. Inside his flight suit, he wore an exoskeletal metallic body frame with braces. It had rods on the back just like a metallic spine with straps that wrapped around his body. The metallic spine had multiple tiny electrical wires that had sensors on it's end that were connected and glued to his skin. They were designed to quickly sense his every move and amplify his strength a thousand fold but still light enough as if he were just wearing football pads. From the spine branched out a pair of metallic arm and leg braces in which he slips into and straps around, once again wrapping into his arms and legs. Multiple sensors were also temporarily glued to his skin which picks up signals from his muscles and relays the information to the metallic spine and finally to a micro-computer which is stored in his helmet. The micro-computer then acts like a brain giving commands to the wearer's exoskeletal system to mimic and amplify the wearer's moves making him one hundred times faster and a thousand times stronger. His solar powered helmet was about the size of a motorcycle rider's helmet. It's visor was tinted dark so nobody could recognize him even if it were in the day time. The micro-computer inside his helmet is voice activated and which he named, "SAM", which was the name of the girl he loved and courted in high school. His helmet was equipt with a defense called, "HALO", wherein the top of his helmet emits a circular bluish luminescent laser light consisting of compressed electrical energy which flows down from his helmet all the way down to his combat boots. His flight suit was made of a special fabric that creates a magnetic field of reverse polarity preventing electrical charged particles from collapsing therefore creating and maintaining a force shield around him. His helmet also had weapon compartments on it's lateral sides that pops out with each compartment having two gun barrels that fires 200 rounds a minute. He also possessed special types of bullets called : "Seeker Bullets", which had motion detection and heat seeking capabilities which mean't that he could fire it at any direction and each bullet will look for the first moving living thing it senses and automatically target it for the kill. The only drawback to his high tech weapon system is that he can't fire his guns when his shields are on. He has to turn off his shield before he can fire his automatic guns. Although this would make him susceptible to getting shot, wounded or killed. This was the biggest dilemma facing Macro-Strength Industries and which the Pentagon was waiting for a solution.

           The radio-man pressed his right earphone with his hand then looked towards his comrades and whispered, "Ok, the satellite's within position, we should have eyes in five, four, three, two, one. Ok boys, we've got eyes..." The laptop they had turned on automatically. Moving red and green dots appeared on the screen. "What's those dots mean?...", a soldier asked. "The red dots are the terrorists, we're the green dots, and that one green dot closing in on that bunch of red dots is the Captain, the radio-man explained. "Captain, we've got eyes...", the radio-man reported, "and we're gonna focus in closer.", The radio-man started typing in his laptop and in an instant, the space satellite gave them closer visual footage of the enemy's camp and their surroundings. Focusing closer to the Captain, "Are you eating a candy bar?....", the radio-man asked. "Oooops...you saw that huh?...just giving myself a little sugar rush before the fireworks starts....Ok, I'm switching on my night vision, what do you have for me?...", Captain Brassman asked as he was starting to feel some tension building. The radio-man studied his screen carefully then answered, " They've set up a square perimeter,...two tents in the middle,...fifteen feet apart. I see two perimeter guards on patrol on each side...looks like a total of eight roving guards. The tent closer to you has around thirty or so bad guys, no movements, most definitely asleep. The tent further from you has one person in it, that's what our thermal imaging shows. That's got to be Miss Price....there's two guards outside her tent. Looks like a total of forty in all.".

                  Captain Brassman pulled out his side arm from it's holster and quietly attached a silencer to the tip of his gun. Lying on his belly, he slowly got up and knelt on one knee pointing his gun forward as he whispered. "SAM, hypervision on....", Suddenly his visor's lens scanned further as if looking through binoclaurs but with a more powerfull reach. " I see one, about a hundred yards away, are there any bad guys near him?...", the Captain asked. The radio-man searched his screen and replied," No Captain, it looks clear from here. You're Ok to take him out anytime."

                   How's he able to see that far?", a soldier asked. The radio-man feeling a little perturbed answered, " His visor has some telescopic power which he activates via voice command...he's supposed to be wearing some kind'a top secret high tech suit that he's not allowed to tell us about.". Suddenly they heard a, "swishing ", sound on their headsets. "One down,..I'm moving in.". Within seconds, Captain Brassman reaches the fallen sentinel to make sure his dead as he points his gun ahead. He looks around and asked, "Where's the other guard?,". The radio-man scrolls in his computer then answered. " One is behind you about 70 yards. The Captain turns around kneeling on one knee, scans and points his gun forward. He aims his gun and pulls the trigger. "Swish", another sentinel falls down as blood spurts out from his neck as the guard convulsed for a few seconds then became motionless. His heart was now racing as he quickly but quietly moved towards the two tents. Fifty yards away, he aims his gun at the two guards in front of the smaller tent. "Ok gents...I'm going for the prize...". His team of soldiers looked at each other then one of them asked?, "Did he say Price...", another soldier replied. "No stupid!, he said prize...". Then a third soldier said, " I think I heard him say rice...he said, I'm going for the rice!...". The rest of the team rolled their eyes knowing that the last response came from a Filipino American soldier who always complained about not having any rice to eat during their missions. The first soldier rebuttled and said, "I think he said Pri....", the radio-man quickly interrupted the argument saying;" Will you three shut the hell up!...We're on a mission here ok?...", the radio-man giving his men a stern look which ended the argument. "Swish-swish", two silent shots were fired as the guards fell one after the other. After reaching the tent, the Captain quickly went in.

                     Waking up startled from her sleep, Sheila Price was about to scream when the Captain quickly grabbed her while covering her mouth with his hand. "Shhhh...don't scream, I'm with the United States special forces and I'm here to get you out.". He turns towards her releasing his hand over her mouth as he raised up his helmet's visor, he turned on a small flashlight as he shunned it briefly into his face showing her his bright blue eyes. "I'm Captain Chase Brassman, you're Sheila Price?...". Sheila nodded still shaking from fear. The Captain smiled trying to ease her anxiety as he asked, "Are there any other hostages besides you?...", Sheila softly answered with tears of fear in her eyes, "No, just me...please get me out of here....", sheila started trembling once again from shear fright.

                      Captain Brassman quietly led her out of the tent,  as they quietly sneaked away from the campsite. Looking around, "I've got to hide you,... there are guards everywhere.". He grabbed her close to him and said, "Quickly, put your arms around my neck and hold on tight". Sheila gave him a puzzled look as she asked, "What are you planning to do?...". The Captain looked up to the tall trees around them and said, "Up there, I'll hide you up there on those thick tree branches". Sheila looked up and said, "Up there?!...that's got to be forty feet high. Who do you think you are freakin' superman...Whoa!!!", Captain Brassman suddenly grabbed her tighter, bent his knees as a surge in his suit's energy increased power into his leg's metallic joints and braces. He jumped up carrying her in his arms as they landed on a thick tree branch 50 feet above the ground. "Ok, you'll be safe here for now. Just sit and be really quiet, I'll come for you later.", he told her. But she was still in awe and dumbfounded from what just happened. She stared at him then down below then back at him, all the while with her mouth open. "Are you Ok?", the Captain asked her, she just nodded her head vigorously not knowing what to say. She felt like a damsell in distress from one of those superhero comic books she used to read when she was in grade school. She felt excited, mesmerized and scared at the same time. The Captain pointed to the tree's trunk and said, "Hold on tight and try not to fall...". Sheila not sure what he mean't wrapped her arms around the Captain's chest with her eyes closed. A little surprised, the Captain said," Uh...Oh, Miss Price, I mean't hold on to the tree...not me...". She quickly pushed away gently feeling a little embarrassed as Captain Brassman smiled at her once again to ease her from her worries and fear.

                     By the time she could speak, the Captain was gone. Out there in the dark jungle her mighty superhero had vanished. All the fear and suffering she went through was suddenly overcome by the presence of this brave warrior. She remembered how she felt when she was in high school having a big crush on their school's football quarterback. It felt the same but different, she was swept off her feet both literally and figuratively.

                     Meanwhile, the Captain moved with amazing speed. Time was of the essence, it shouldn't be too long before the other guards find out that their security perimeter had been breached and their hostage gone. The Captain was pretty sure they'll be checking on each other soon using their two-way radios. He pulls out two hand grenades from his leather belt. "Ok, I'm gonna deliver the package, is there anyone in my way?", the Captain asked. "No, the coast is clear, you may deliver the package.", the radio-man answered as he looked back at his team of commandos who each activated their weapons.

                     With his night vision on and hyper-vision lens reaching ten times farther than the human eye could reach, he quietly started moving towards the bigger tent. As he reached the opening to the tent, he pulled off the pins on the grenades then tossed them inside the tent as he quickly ran for cover. After two seconds, the tent exploded in fiery flames lighting up the darkness as screams of men in agony could be heard from a distance. The radio-man quickly waved his hand urging his team of commandos to attack still sixty yards away from the action. While running, they could hear from their headsets more of the, "swishing", sounds from the Captain's gun, and some sporadic gun fire from the enemy as they closed in for the kill.

                      Upon reaching the burning tent, they were met by Captain Brassman. He was walking casually towards them while returning his gun in it's holster. A commando looked around with palms up asking," Where's the bad guys?...". The Captain gave a quick grin as he said, "I pretty much got them all,...no need getting you guys in harms way.", as he walked passed them. "That was so fast, you got 40 terrorists in less than five minutes?!...", the radio-man asked. Captain Brassman stopped walking and looked back at his men saying,"This ain't Hollywood boys, no need to impress anyone with too much action scenes.", he said jokingly, then continued walking away from them. The radio-man looked around at all the dead rebels the barked out orders, "Ok, secure the perimeter. Make sure no one gets out alive!...The Philippine government does not know were here...we can't have any witnesses.".

                         Just when the team of commandos scattered, the radio-man's, "Movement Detection Scanner", which was a small electronic device the size of a beeper started vibrating. "Hold on guys!...", the radio-man yelled. Kneeling on one knee, he turned on his laptop and started typing in it, as he programmed a space satellite camera to give them a clearer view of their surroundings. "Oh! shit!....they've got reinforcements coming in from all directions, they must have heard the explosions and the gunfire...Looks like we're surrounded...we're trapped...", the radio-man shuddered as the rest of the team gathered around him. The Captain looked at him and asked?, "How many?...", The radio-man looked back forcing a smile and said, "Oh!...maybe about a hundred or so...". The Captain turned around and waved his hands signaling everyone to come closer like a football team huddling before a play. With a concerned look, the Captain said, "Ok, this might not seem like protocol to you, but I need you to follow my instructions well. I want all of you to get Miss Price, she is safe up on a tree branch north-east from here in this coordinates.". He hands them a written map of were Miss Price was hiding and then said, "Once you have her, keep going north-east as fast as you can. Try not to engage any enemy if you can help it. We need to keep Miss Price as safe as possible. If the enemy spots you, eliminate them quietly. When you're more than fifty yards away from this location, let me know. Whatever happens, don't come back for me. I can take care of myself.". Suddenly, Private Smith, their youngest, newest and most inexperienced member protested: "But sir, you won't survive. There's just too many of them.", the Captain stared at him with a concerned look on his face as he placed his hands on top of Private Smith's shoulders and said, "Look son, I know that team concept is what we always preach on missions like this but unfortunately, this is no ordinary mission, there are things I'm not allowed to disclose to you about the type of technology I've got on me. You have to trust me...besides, I heard you have a newborn daughter". Private Smith was a little surprised that the Captain knew about his six-week old daughter. He quickly pulled out a picture of his wife holding his newborn daughter as everyone smiled while looking at his excited reaction. The Captain held the picture, smiled and said, "Ahh!...good thing she got all her features from her mother...she'll be Ok....". Everybody laughed briefly. The Captain returned the picture to Private Smith as he said, "This is one more reason I need you all to be safe. You have families to go home to.". He then looked around at all his men hoping that they clearly understood their orders. "Ok, get going...". The Captain ordered as his team formed a single line while heading towards the thick jungle leaving their leader alone standing a few feet from the burning tent and charred corpses around him.

             Five minutes lapsed as Captain Brassman got up from kneeling on one knee after saying a short prayer. Standing tall, "Ok, SAM....show me the main screen...". Suddenly his visor turned into a computer screen but still with transparent views of his surroundings. The main screen then downloaded several columns of categories that he could check on. "SAM, take me to your combat information systems...". Suddenly, the columns titled, "CIS", became highlighted. "Halo..on!...", a ray of light emerged from the top of his helmet and formed a round circle of transparent bright energy above his head which looked like a halo. After a few seconds, the halo poured what looked like a viscous electrically charged blob of bluish jelly like substance over his helmet which then spread and covered his whole body all the way down to his boots. Hundreds of random electrical sparks appeared due to energy getting compressed to form his force shield which made him invincible. He radiated a bluish glow to him as he now was more visible to the enemy. He tweaked his neck and said, "SAM, could you please turn on the AC, keep it at around sixty-eight degrees. I'm just sweating from this ninety-degree heat and while you're at it, give me communications with the team...". Cold air started filling into his flight suit which added some comfort to the Captain. Meanwhile, the communication column in his main screen started blinking greeen which mean't that he could now talk to his men. "How are you guys doing?...". The radio-man stopped in his tracks, knelt and answered. "Captain, we have Miss Price but we've been slowed down, we've taken down about a dozen terrorists so far with our silencers. We're forty-five yards away from you, I'll let you know if we're over fifty.". Captain Brassman looked around, more concerned than ever as he responded, "Got it!...over and out..". Suddenly there were movement on the bushes all around him as he knelt with one knee with fists clenched in anticipation.. He started hearing voices with unfamiliar dialects, then all of a sudden there was gunfire....

                         Meanwhile, back in the United States, it was around ten in the morning as a red Ford Mustang made it's way towards the front gate of Travis Air Force Base in California. As the Mustang stops at the gate's checkpoint, a military guard inspects the car's front windshield as he looks at the car's military sticker. He then gives the driver a salute as the gate opens letting the car drive through. The car made it's way to building 4 which was the intelligence building. The driver, Brigadiere General Charles Tate (Head of Special Forces-Pacific Division) got out of his car. From a short distance, he spotted Major Garfield Powers walking towards him. After saluting the General, Major Powers and the General shook hands. General Tate looking around at an overcast day took off his sunglasses and hung it on his right front shirt pocket. "Give me the rundown Major....", as the General walked ahead of the Major while clutching his brief case with his right hand as they walked towards the building. "Well, sir...the latest intel shows that Captain Brassman's team had...". The General quickly stopped to face Major Powers with a puzzled look on his face as he asked, "Captain?....Wasn't he just a lieutenant a month ago?....". Major Powers smiled briefly as he said, "Yes sir, but while you were on vacation, Congress promoted him straight to Captain after they awarded him the Protector suit.". The General shook his head in disbelief and said, "I'd never thought I'd see the day when a O3 gets direct promotion to an O6...", the General gave Major Powers a concerned look saying: "I hope you don't get envious son...you know that I voted for you to be the one, but once again, politicians had to intrude...". Squinting his eyes, Major Powers answered, "I understand sir, it was out of your hands". Reaching the steps to the building, the General inquired, "How's the mission progressing?...", Major Powers cleared his throat as he replied, "Our latest intel shows that Miss Price has been rescued by the team but they're still in a very precarious situation, then about thirty minutes ago, we lost our communication link with the team and our connection at best has been sporadic. We think that the rebels might be getting some outside help. A powerfull electronic jamming device has cut off our satellite, communications and radar links in southern Philippines. To us it's no big deal but to our team, it will disrupt every kind of electronic device they have to help them succeed on their mission.". General Tate quickly glanced at Major Powers as he further asked, "And the Protector suit?...", without hesitating, the Major quickly answered, "The Protector suit should be fine General, the enemy does not know enough of it's technology yet to cause it any harm.", pausing for a few seconds while climbing the steps to the building, the General again inquired, "What does the CIA say about this jamming device...". Major Powers looked at him and answered, " The CIA intelligence director said it might be the Chinese or the North Koreans". Reaching the entrance and pulling on the door handle, the General briefly took a last glimpse at the weather and at the surroundings knowing he'll be indoors for quite awhile and said, " No....it can't be the Chinese, there's already too much tension with the Spratly Islands wouldn't wanna risk further diplomatic deterioration with us...It has to be the North Koreans...they're trying to piss us off....". Both men finally entered the building once again showing their identification cards to the building guards.

                    Major Powers and Captain Brassman had been best of friends over ten years since flight school, while Captain Brassman trained on flying fighter jets, Major Powers excelled in piloting attack helicopters. Major Powers is a thirty-two year old highly trained special forces commando. He stood six-foot two inches tall, and weighed 205lbs. He was well built and muscular having played football in college as a running back, setting school and NCAA football records in rushing yards, even after winning the , "Heisman", trophy, he still decided to join the Army like his father did. He turned his back on offers of a lucrative salary from many NFL teams because he wanted to serve his country. When the Pentagon was searching for the right soldier to wear the exoskeletal suit, the final selectees were him and Captain Brassman. Having slightly higher academic scores and being more athletic and stronger than Captain Brassman, the joint chiefs chose him to be the one to wear the high tech suit.. Unfortunately because of political reasons, Congress chosed Captain Brassman and over ruled the joint chiefs decision. Another reason they had was that, "Macro-Strength Industries", advised them that a pilot trained in flying fighter jets was more suitable than someone trained in piloting attack helicopters. Eventhough Congress's decision made sense, Major Powers still felt that it should have been the military's decision to select and not the politicians. He couldn't help but feel betrayed knowing that he was more qualified than his best friend. He couldn't help think that being an African American had something to do with him not being selected. Besides, tradition showed that the first ever superhero that came out was, "Superman", and he wasn't black. Then there was, "Captain America, Thor, Batman and Robin, Spiderman, The Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Hulk and Wonder Woman". All of them caucasian, and it wasn't until the year 2008 when an African American superhero finally came out named, "Hancock". Unfortunately, the dude had some serious attitude issues, probably from all those years of repressed anger due to people of color being under represented in the superhero genre.

                Major Powers knew that because of this fact, that it's been formed in the collective minds of the American people that if ever there was a real superhero to come out that it had to be caucasian. He realized that in order for the government to sell this new expensive technology to the American taxpayers that it would help if this new superhero was as white as, "Superman". He felt sad knowing that even after America had elected a black President decades ago that racism and discrimination still existed in politics and in American society.

               Surrounded and trapped by about a hundred terrorist rebels, Captain Brassman instinctively raised his arms to protect his face as bullets started hitting him all over his body and helmet but they were all deflected by his force shield. There were around twenty-five terrorists surrounding him at a time firing mostly AK-47 machine guns with some using pistols. He shuddered a couple of times as he got hit straight on by a bazooka which lowered his systems force shield by seven percent on each time he got hit. Not used to being invincible, the Captain was disoriented for a few seconds as multiple bullets and bazooka fire hitting his force shield created bright sparks which made it harder for him to see. "Sam, can you dim my view a little, maybe twenty percent darker, and mute the outside noise...these gunfire noise is making my ears ring.". Suddenly the shade of his visor became darker which made the gunfire sparks less blinding, and the volume of outside noise also faded into complete silence as the only thing he could hear was his breathing. Finally, getting a clear vieaw of his enemies through night vision lens, he started to advance towards one group. Being a black belt in Tae Kwon Do-Karate, he quickly did a roundhouse kick hitting three men as they came crashing to the ground. A terrorist behind him pulled out a knife and quickly stabbed him in his back but the blade broke as it hit the force shield making a sound like a coin hitting glass. A few of the attackers were astonished at their foe's invincibility but still continued to attack. As his enemies increased to over fifty, the Captain decided to turn on his exoskeletal system to prevent him from getting tired. It felt like shifting from a car with manual transmission and steering to a car with an automatic transmission and power steering. His movements became amplified with more speed and greater force though it felt more effortless. With his martial arts moves, he was knocking out twenty to thirty foes a minute while catching himself with a contemptuous grin. He couldn't believe the power of this new technology, but the enemy still kept on increasing with unceasing gunfire and unsuccessfull assaults. Suddenly, the Captain's communications turned on as he heard sporadic, unclear messages from his radio-man. "Captain..(cut)...we're now fifty-...(cut)...two yards away from...(cut)...your location...", a message appeared from his visor's screen showing [Foreign electronic jamming device detected...checking all systems for virus]. The Captain sensing another possible problem arising quickly replied to his men saying, "Great, stay there and don't come closer...there's also a chance we might not be able to communicate until this fight is over...over and out...". Turning to his Visor's screen, "SAM, activate weapons systems, primarily the seeker bullets at a fifty-yard radius limit.". After a second, the column in his main screen showing seeker bullets started blinking green which mean't it was ready for use.

            Meanwhile, the special forces team with Miss Price took cover lying prone in a tall grassy field waiting for instructions from their leader. Private Smith was getting anxious and worried about his leader. He kept looking back to were they left the Captain as they heard continuous gunfire and occasional explosions at where the Captain was located. Private Smith pulled out the picture of his wife and baby daughter and briefly stared at it with a small flashlight. He stared at his team as if expecting a new course of orders then he asked, "What about the Captain...we need to help him....". Everybody stared at him when suddenly, their medic, private EJ spoke, "Shut your big mouth...we have orders, and that is to stay here and protect Miss Price....". Private Smith looked at the picture once more feeling a burden of conflict on whether to help his Captain or remain with the team for the sake of his family. His heartbeat raced as the humid atmosphere added to his discomfort as beads of sweat trickled down his face until he suddenly made a decision. " I can't do this...", Private Smith said as the team stared at him wondering what he was about to do. Suddenly, the radio-man whispered, "Oh!..shit...our comm link has been jammed....", he looked around at his team members as he started typing in his laptop while saying, "This could only mean one thing....there are bigger forces who are preventing us from completing our mission...I can't even get in contact with the Captain...". Corporal Oliver looked around if anyone had a suggestion then asked, "How will we know if the Captain's ok?...". They all stared at the radio-man for an answer when suddenly Private Smith stood up and said, "Forget this shit...I'm going back to help the Captain, he can't survive out there alone!....". Before anyone could do or say anything, Private Smith vanished in the shadows of the night. The radio-man looked at his team and softly barked, "Oliver!...go get him back here...go!". Corporal Oliver rolled his eyes as he hesitantly stood up picking up his rifle while he cursed at all the Greek gods in heaven and quietly followed the path that Private Smith disappeared to, which was headed back to Captain Brassman's location.

             Walking hunched but in a fast pace while clutching his weapon, Private Smith donned his electronic night vision goggles but it just flickered as the power died out. His communication system was also not working. Squinting hard as his vision focused on the dark surroundings, he suddenly stopped as he thought he saw shadows move in the pheriphery of his left eye. Taking aim at whatever might be out there, he continued walking in a field of tall grass while swaying his rifle from side to side in case of an ambush. Hearing footsteps behind him, he quickly turned around to aim as a rebel shot at him hitting him on the right shoulder, he spun around dropping his gun as he fell to the ground. Coming to his senses, he felt some stiffness with a sharp stabbing pain to his right shoulder. Grabbing some bandages from his pocket, he quickly applied direct pressure to his right shoulder as he felt the wetness of blood sipping out from the bullet wound which pierced into his flesh. In the stillness of the night, he was glad that darkness was his ally as he initially tried not to make any sudden movements knowing that the shooter was advancing near him trying to hunt him down like a wounded animal. After a few seconds, he started hearing footsteps from his right side, then from his left side. He was lucky that the grass was waist high which made it harder for them to find him in the dark, he could see them pass him by barely a foot away from where he lay. But at the same time, he started feeling hundreds of what he suspected were ants crawling around his neck and face and into his uniform. Severe itching started as multiple ant bites felt like a thousand needle pricks to his neck, face and body which was now spreading towards his genital area and down his legs. He must have landed on an anthill. He twitched and wanted to jerk but hearing more footsteps go past him on each side prevented him from making any sudden movements which will give away his location and spell his doom. But the pain and agony from the ant bites was too untolerable, his face and neck started swelling. Ants were now crawling deep into his inner ears as he quietly tried to clear it with his fingers, ants were also crawling into his nostrils which made it harder for him to nose breath. With eyes closed and breathing through his mouth while swallowing chunks of ants at a time, he visualized the image of his wife and daughter as he burried his face into the soil trying not to scream in pain. Ants tried to enter his eyelids, a sudden feeling of panic overcame him as he quickly grabbed his rifle as he got up and started firing his automatic rifle at all directions while he yelled his wife's name. He was able to hit five terrosist rebels but once again got shot on his left thigh from an enemy soldier behind him. Falling to the ground once more, he rolled five times to his left side to change his location hopefully avoiding detection. Now in tears, he knew that this was his end. He pulled out his family's picture and clutched it tightly with his quivering blood stained hands as he quietly cried knowing that he'll never get the chance to hold his baby daughter. He whispered to himself how sorry he was for abandoning them, to leave them without the love of a husband to his wife and the love of a father to his daughter. The feeling of weakness from his blood loss and the stinging pain from the ant bites were now just a minor concern compared to the sadness of never seeing his family ever again.

              Then suddenly, a burst of machine gun fired, he heard several men yelling in pain. Corporal Oliver came to his rescue eliminating seven rebel soldiers who were hunting Private Smith. Corporal Oliver softly called out trying to locate his comrade. After finding him wounded, he quickly did some first aid. Surprised by the swelling of his teammate's face, he quickly packed Private Smith's wounds with battle dressings to slow down the bleeding while wiping away crawling ants on Private Smith's face and neck. Corporal Oliver looked around at the darkness and said, "We've got to go, there's more of them coming...", as the corporal tied a tourniquet above Private Smith's thigh wound. Private Smith in a weak voice turned to him saying, "Just leave me here...save yourself....there's no time...". Corporal Oliver returned the left over bandages in his first aid kit, he stared at his wounded teammate with disdain remarking, "You're not only stupid, you're also a fool...you know that?!....You have a six week old baby and a wife who loves you, now c'mon we're going home!...". With one motion, he lifted his wounded teammate over his left shoulder as he hurriedly proceeded towards the rest of the team. "We don't have much time, we need to be more than fifty yards away from the Captain's location...I don't know why, but I have a bad feeling about this.". With his right hand, he grabbed his communicator as he turned it on, but nothing happened. "Shit!...our communication's is still dead!...but that's ok!...we're almost there...just hang on buddy!...". Corporal Oliver increased his pace as he carried his wounded friend towards his team's location.

            Meanwhile, Captain Brassman was still fighting hand to hand combat when suddenly on both sides of his helmet popped out the gun compartments. Unable to fire his guns with his shields on, he transferred power into his exoskeletal leg braces as a surge of energy pushed him up and in a split second he was seventy feet up in the air. He vanished in the dark which stunned and puzzled his enemies. While still airborn, he quickly turned off his shields and fired off one hundred rounds of his seeker bullets in every direction as they started seeking targets that were moving or that were warm blooded. As he landed back in the ground, there was no one left alive. The few rebels who survived were beyond the fifty yard radius and quickly retreated. He stared briefly at a dead canine with a bullet wound in it's face and with it's leash still on. It was the only non-human being that got killed by his seeker bullets. "Collateral damage...", he told himself, then looking around at all the enemy corpses, he was amazed by his suit's technological capabilities. He suddenly felt some damptness to his left lower leg as he commanded, "SAM, give me damage control.". His mainscreen focused on his left lower leg which was bleeding and a scan showing that there was an embedded bullet in his left calf muscle. It must have been a stray bullet that got him while he was up in the air with his shields off. Although feeling no pain, he once again commanded, "SAM, show me life support systems....".After a second, his visor showed different medical data which showed his heart rate between 72 to 78 beats per minute, blood pressure reading of 110/70, Oxygen saturation rate of 96% and a temperature of 98.1 degrees. There was also an EKG monitor showing a graph with interpretation which read, "Normal Sinus Rythm", of his heart. He then noticed a blinking yellow light in the.left lower corner of his visor which showed his hemoglobin/hematocrit reading which was slightly lower than a few hours ago, his system was able to collect spilled blood and test it. The computer explained to him that this would be lower because of the blood loss he incurred. "SAM, can you do another scan and a neuro check on my bleeding leg to see if blood circulation to my foot is impaired and if I need rapid surgical intervention?...". After a few seconds, the screen showed a message which read, [Neuro checks within normal limits, surgical intervention needed as soon as possible.]. Captain Brassman took a deep breath in as he pushed up his visor exhaling a long sigh of relief, cold air inside his suit escaped throught the opening in his helmet as his face felt the heat and humidity of his surroundings once more. "SAM, can you control the bleeding?...", after a few seconds he pulled back down his visor as he read the computer's answer, [ Initiating first aid...gauze over bleeding wound...built in tourniquet above the wound activated to slow down bleeding...Excision and extraction of bullet wound on standby....time of procedure is approximately twenty minutes...Affected limb will need to be immobile during surgical procedure...General anesthesia...nerve block or local anesthesia available as your choices.....Would you like the procedure to begin?....]. Captain Brassman quickly answered, "No!...I don't have the time right now...", looking back at the screeen, the computer showed the next text message which read, [ Please seek medical attention as soon as possible...full medical telemetry operational....One liter of IV fluids for dehydration and plasma expanders for hypovolemia on standby...].

              His exoskeletal system has the ability to bring first aid to any part of his body that gets injured through a pair of small moving devices inside his suit which were half the size of a tennis ball. They are made of stainless steel and are attached to the exoskeletal frame and can slide to any part of the system to make mechanical repairs to the suit or perform any type of emergency treatment to the person wearing the suit. This pair of gadgets were called: "SPIDERRS", which is short for (Surgical Procedures Including Diagnostics and Emergency Robotic Repair Systems.), (Pronounced as SPY-DERS). Each spidders has eight limbs, four in each side which has the length and diameter of a needle. The end of each limb has three fork like fingers which does the fine dexterity work needed in electronic repairs and surgical procedures.

              Turning off his HALO defense system to conserve power which was now down to 67%, he started walking with a slight limp. While feeling a slight discomfort to his injured leg, communications turned back on.
He heard his radio-man speak, "Captain, are you ok?....". The Captain briefly looked around at the burning battlefield and with his eyes downcast answered, "Yeah, I'm fine....Are you guys ok?...". There was a few seconds of silence then the radio-man responded, "Got some bad news Captain...Corporal Oliver and Private Smith didn't make it...". Captain Brassman stopped walking unsure of what to do as a strong sense of grief overwhelmed him, "What happened?...", the Captain asked, there was another few seconds of silence then the radio-man responded hesitantly, "Private Smith went back to help you...I sent Corporal Oliver to find him and bring him back....we found their bodies thirty yards from your location with fatal wounds in their head. Suddenly, Captain Brassman fell to his knees in despair as the front of his helmet hit the dirt while he pounded his fists on the ground. He knew that his seeker bullets got to his soldiers. His seeker bullets were unable to discriminate between allies or enemies within the fifty yard radius he set. Feeling a strong sense of guilt, he couldn't believe that he was somehow responsible for the death of two of his men. After meeting with his team and explaining to them what happened, they took Sheila Price to a safer place and within one hour they were picked up by a military helicopter and were brought to safety. (End of Chapter 1)

                                              (To Be Continued)