Preparing for War

Chapter 6

Preparing for War

 

            Fred had no idea where he was.

            During the invasion of the strange winged creatures, he had taken cover behind the Master Throne, thinking he was safe. When he heard the creature was near, he silently wished that he would live. He then felt a tingling sensation, and all of a sudden it was quiet.

            Fred opened his eyes and looked around. He was definitely no longer hiding behind the Master Throne. He was sitting in the middle of the stage in the government building where his prophecy was read. He stood up and noticed something very strange. There was a small square hole right in front of him. A strike of panic hit him when he realized that in the small square hole was where the box that contained the Taqar was.

            He looked down into the hole, trying to see if he could make out the gold box in the darkness. But he could see nothing. He had no idea how far the hole stretched, but he figured it could not be that deep. He straightened up, made himself as thin as possible, and jumped into the opening. Fred waited for the sudden impact, but it never came.

            He was still falling. And fast.

            He looked down to see if there was an end to his fall in sight. He noticed that there was a circular opening straight below him. When he fell into the opening, it made the sound of something being sucked into a vacuum. It was a long tube that had no gravity (which was good, or else sliding on glass would not have felt good), and he was being propelled by an unknown wind source. He was flying along now, and he finally came into a clearing, where he saw an even more marvelous sight than the kingdom up above.

            It was an entire underground base that looked as big (if not bigger) than Anera itself.

            He gaped at the complex system of tunnels that weaved through the air, intertwining, crossing paths, doing loops and corkscrews, and even dead ending. Fred was leery of the fact that his tube might end at any moment, so he kept his eyes forward. And sure enough, his tube dead ended. Fred closed his eyes as he shot out of the tube at high speed, flying through the air. He looked down and saw yet another tube. But this one led straight down.

            Again.

            He fell into the tube, and he immediately felt himself slow down so much he almost stopped. He moved very slowly downwards, heading towards a faint light emanating a glow into the bottom of the tube. He reached the end, not knowing what to expect. What he saw was something he did not expect.

            Several Anerians seated around a table. One of them was Nas.

            Nas stood. “Fred, please sit. There are…things we must discuss with you.” He motioned toward the chair at the head of the table, right next to Nas. Fred walked over and sat down.

            Nas remained standing, though. “Gentlemen, we all knew this day was coming. We just did not expect the Sneila to attack on the day of our new king being crowned.”

            Fred spoke up, saying, “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a minute. Who are the Sneila?”

            “Our biggest enemy. I will tell you the story later-

            “No. I want to hear it now. I am the king of Anera, and I need to know who our enemy is. If I don’t even know that, how am I supposed to save this place?”

            Nas looked at the other men seated around the table, and they all nodded.

            “100 years ago on this very date, creatures from another planet called Sneila invaded our home. They attacked every day at random times, so we never knew when to expect them, or even how to defend ourselves against them, but we knew they were going to attack. Every Anerian stayed inside, waiting for the invasion and just hoping they would be spared. They captured anyone around them who tried to stop them, carrying them through the air back to their home planet of Esab. And if you died on the way in space, they would just release you and let you float for infinity.

            “Anyways, the Sneila have been our mortal enemies for these past 2000 years. The last time they attacked, which was 100 years ago, we entered into a war with the Sneila. It was the largest war in our history. Due to the destruction, we were forced by the Sneila king to relocate to a different planet. Our old planet of Tenalp was evacuated, and when finished, it was imploded. So they relocated us to this new planet we called Anera. It has been our home ever since. Now, I assume you saw the remains of our first village when you arrived?”

            “Yes,” Fred said, “What happened?”

            “Well, you see,” continued Nas, “the Sneila still had control over us; rather, still have control over us. So they checked in after the first ten years to ‘see what we were up to.’ They thought we were trying to build a war metropolis in order to defeat the Sneila the next time they came, if they came at all; when, in hindsight, we were just trying to make a good, well-oiled machine so we could stay alive. They ended up attacking us again, 75 years ago, but this time on a much smaller scale. They destroyed our city completely, as you saw when you arrived.

            “So, you may ask, how did we get up in the clouds? And how does the rock sit on the clouds without it falling through? And the answer to that question is simple for me: I don’t know. Actually, no one here knows that answer either. Only the generation of Anerians who built the city knows. After the construction was complete, the blueprints to the city were destroyed, according to the Taqar, the sacred book of the Anerians. It contains the history of our race, dating back to the year 25. Anything before that was erased for an unknown reason. So that is our history with the Sneila.”

            “So why are we assembled here, then?”

            “That question I can answer,” Nas said. “The sacred book of the Anerians was stolen by the Sneila. This is why I have called together the most powerful men from all the other regions of Anera. And that is the other thing I forgot to mention. There are four regions in Anera. Our region, called the Northern Zone, and the others are the South Territory, the East District, and the Western Ward. We are gathered to decide the fate of Anera.”

            Fred knew what was about to be said, but he went ahead and asked anyway. “Meaning?”

            “We are going to decide if we will go to war or not.”

            This is what Fred expected to hear from Nas. “So, we have five men here plus Fred. So, Fred, what will happen is we will all anonymously vote whether we should go to war or not. Then, after the majority wins, the final decision will come down to what you say. Understand?”

            Fred gulped. Whether or not a world was going to go to war or not was resting on his shoulders? He did not like that idea, but he couldn’t back away now. He was in too deep. “Yes. I understand.”

            “Good. Men, go ahead to your voting stations and vote.”

            All five of them went to separate portions of the room and started writing either “Yes” or “No.” Five minutes past, and the men were still pondering, writing answers and then erasing them. 10 minutes past, and finally all five came back and sat down. No one moved.

            “Fred, go get the box and read the answers.”

            Fred stood, walked over to the ballot box, and brought it back over to the table. He started to pull out the ballots, one by one. “Yes…Yes…No…No…” Everyone held their breath as they waited for Fred to pull the last ballot out of the box and read it. “Yes.”

            All five sat back in their chairs, either satisfactorily or angrily.

            Nas spoke up, saying, “Well, Fred. It’s all down to you now. What do you say? Shall we wage war with the Sneila?”

            Fred was silent as he sat back in his chair. He pondered the past history of the two worlds, the present history, the past attack, the prophecy, and everything else that had happened to him since he arrived. All five of them were staring at him, wondering what the next word out of his mouth would be. Fred made his decision. He stood, puffed out his chest a little, and stated, “Yes. We shall wage war with the Sneila.”

 

•••

 

            When the six men emerged from the underground safe haven, life in Anera was back to normal. Cars whizzed by and Anerians milled around as if no attack or king crowning ever occurred. The six men were transported by car to a building Fred had not yet seen. They docked right in front of the main entrance and disembarked. They walked into a dark room with only a single desk.

            And a news camera.

            The lights came on, and the news broadcasting studio came to life. A green screen was behind the desk, and the desk had a monitor set built into it, which Fred assumed was the teleprompter.

            Nas shoved Fred toward the desk. “Come on, Fred. You have to tell Anera we are in war mode. You’re on the air in 20 seconds. Get behind the desk and get ready.”

            Fred hurried to the chair behind the desk and awaited the signal from Nas to begin. What Fred did not know was that every Anerian in every region could see him.

 

•••

 

            Out in the main plaza of Anera, Anerians from all four regions gathered in this central place to watch the news headline no one wanted to hear.

            Fred, their new king, was on, reporting the new headline. “Hello, Anera. This is Fred, your new king. The Sneila attack earlier today threw the members of the Anera Council into a corkscrew. We met to discuss the future plans for Anera. And, collectively, we have decided the following: We shall wage war with the Sneila, and we must prepare immediately.”

            With the sound of the word war, Anerians in the plaza gasped with terror. They did not want to engage in another war with the Sneila, their most hated enemy. That was the last thing on their to-do list. Every Anerian in the plaza packed into their cars and headed for their homes, escaping the news of war.

 

•••

 

            Back in the studio, Fred was still speaking. “Now, I know that all of you may not be prepared for such a war, especially with the Sneila. But I am prepared, as your new leader, to do whatever I have to in order for us to emerge victoriously and be free at last. Thank you, and good night.” And with that, the camera lights shut off.

            Nas approached him first. “Fred, you know Anerians aren’t going to be happy with you right now, so you need to go immediately back to your home and prepare for war.”

            “Nas, I don’t have a home,” Fred argued.

            “Yes you do. Just tell your car to go home. It knows the way. Trust me,” Nas replied. And with that, the six of them left the studio, turning out the lights as they went.

            Six cars awaited them outside. Each one looked exactly like the sphere that brought him from the subway to the old Anera. Each person to their own car. Before climbing into his car, Nas said, “Oh, and Fred.” Fred looked over to him. “Meet me tomorrow. Same spot as the meeting. 2500.”

            Fred got in his car, closed the door, and realized that 2500 meant 13 o’ clock. He looked out the window of his car, but realized that all five cars were already gone. The voice came on over the speakers: “Welcome back, Fred. Where are you headed to this evening?”

            “Home,” Fred replied.

            “Right away, sir,” said the voice. The car lurched forward as it took to the air over Anera and headed towards Fred’s new home.

            Upon arriving at his new home, Fred thought his house would be big. Every house he passed had three floors and a huge back porch area. But when the car pulled down a deserted alley with no houses, he began to think otherwise. It came into a clearing, and at the end Fred saw once of the least nice-looking houses he had seen, even though it was still big. It was two-story and slightly dilapidated. One window was boarded up, and the door looked wooden. Being the king, Fred expected better, but it would have to do for now.

            The car pulled up to the front door and Fred hopped out. The car then drove itself to the garage and turned off. Fred was still astounded at the marvelous technology this people had. He walked through the front door, and the inside of the house looked worse than the outside. The wooden floorboards creaked, splinters stuck out, there was a leak in the ceiling, and there were cobwebs-a-plenty. Fred walked further into the house, observing it for other problems. At the end of the hallway adjoined to the right there was a grandfather clock. He walked down to observe it, keeping in mind what Nas had said about his meeting time tomorrow at 13:00. He walked up to it, and saw something peculiar: the clock went up to 14:00. The days must have gotten longer over time, just as they did when Earth was first formed. “This is weird,” Fred said as he walked to the left of the clock. He noticed a faint blue glow behind the clock. It was surprisingly easy to move and light-weight, so he pushed it out to observe what was hiding behind it.

            A lever.

            He looked around, wondering if it was some kind of trap. He decided it could be good and pulled it. The floor opened up beneath him and he fell. But this time not for long. He possibly fell three feet into another spherical transport, just like the one that brought him into Anera. The ceiling latch closed, and the sphere took off down the track. There were dim lights that hung on the walls along the track, faintly lighting the way so Fred could see where the thing was taking him. He saw a light at the end, wondering what this meant.

            The sphere shot into the clearing.

            In front of him was the largest house he had ever seen. It had to be five stories high, and it also had the largest area of land surrounding it he had ever seen. The house was shaped in a “U,” and in the middle was his car; how it got down here he had no idea. The sphere led him to the area where the car was, he got out, and the sphere descended into the ground through an opening. “Whoa,” said Fred as he saw it disappear right before his very eyes. He looked around at the immensity of the hollowed-out area the house was I, surrounded by a dome of clouds. He walked into his home through the magnificent front door, and what he saw amazed him beyond belief.

            Everything was white. Sparkling white.

            He looked around his new home, taking in everything around him and realizing that this was where he would be staying for a little while.

            Fred liked that idea.

            He walked down the main corridor, and from there it branched into two parts of the house: the east or the west. He turned right, towards the east, and looked into the rooms that were down the corridor. The first door he came to was the restroom, the second a theater room, and the third was what looked like to be a conference room. There was a chair set up facing towards a large circular object in the middle of the floor. He did not know what it was, but he decided to go in. When he stepped into the room, the lights flickered on, and Fred realized that there was an absolutely humongous screen at the front of the room. He went up to it and saw a control panel of buttons. He pushed the green button, and the screen came to life.

            It was the Master Screen, the one that overlooked Anera. All of it.

            There was a mouse that sat off to the side of the control panel. Fred grabbed it and tried to scroll up. But it zoomed in on the North Region, the region he lived in. He saw the Anerians scattering about, doing random odd jobs, and cars zooming about from place to place. He knew what was going on: people were preparing for war times.

 

•••

 

            Back in the Northern Zone, the Anerians were frantically scattering about, preparing their homes and neighborhoods for an invasion of the Sneila, and even more importantly, the war with the Sneila. Everyone knew that an attack at this time during the day was imminent and that when they attacked they would try and destroy their homes and villages before they killed the Anerians themselves. But the worst part about it was: no one knew how to defend themselves. None of them were part of the generation who fought the first war with the Sneila, so none of them knew how to fight. And that is what Fred would find out the hard way.