War

Hole in the Wall: The Fifth Monday Three – Part Four

/ Ben Van Dongen / Leave a comment

By Edele Winnie

“Jocelyn, is it really you?” Carol asked the white-coated woman up on the catwalk. “I am so…. muddled.” Carol ran her hands through her brown hair but the confusion remained. They were surrounded by buzzing machines, tubes and metal catwalks. “What is this place?”

Jocelyn laughed. “It’s definitely not the bank. The Jocelyn who works there with you is just one version of me. A sister, if you like.”

Carol pointed at one of the large glass tubes. It was filled with green liquid and an exact copy of Carol herself, floating languidly. Beside that there were more tubes and copies. Carol shook her head, unable to find words. Beside her, Gary shifted into a quivering red cylinder shape.

“I see you’ve met Gary. He’s a portal jumper. A creature that can transfer between dimensions without decomposing.”

“You make me sound so dull.” Gary complained and transformed into a star shape. “I’m actually a star.”

Everything seemed to be swirling in her head and Carol looked for a place to sit. She settled on the bottom step of a metal ladder that led to a catwalk above.

Gary changed into a rhombus. “There was a cloh enforcer right behind us.” Continue reading →

Pandora

/ Ben Van Dongen / 1 Comment

By Claudiu Herta

Hades sat on his dark thrown deeply engaged with the glowing crystal ball in his lap. The throne room was very dark, but the light of the crystal ball pierce through the darkness like a Greek spear into human flesh. He sat alone, but the soft patter of footstep could be heard coming down the long, wide halls. A smile broke over his face as he failed to notice that his beautiful young wife Persephone had perched herself beside him.

“I’m bored.” She leaned onto the Dark Lords cold calculating shoulder.

“Please be quite, my love.”

“But I’m so bored. There’s never anything to do down here. Everyone is so, well, um, dead. I mean I know the dead aren’t the most exiting but – ” Continue reading →

Dark Waters – Part 1

/ Alanna / 4 Comments

The war within the sea had been going on for so long that the origin in which it began had faded into myth within the opposing kingdoms.  Each kingdom believed they were fighting for a just cause, though each had suffered untold loss throughout the centuries.  The last great battle named Thalassa the victor, having fewer casualties than Pelagia.  The next would likely see Pelagia overcome Thalassa, as they redoubled their efforts.  It had continued like this for many years, neither side able to fully conquer the other – and neither kingdom making any effort towards the first steps of peace. Continue reading →

Beyond Termination – Part Six (Conclusion)

/ Alanna / 4 Comments

Alice bolted down the corridors towards the Hangar.  She whipped around a corner, almost knocking over a receptionist and a military guard.  With no time to stop, she didn’t even shout an apology.  She was too focused with getting back to her operative.

“Map?”  Alice huffed, speaking into the com-link after jacking in to the rig and taking back control from Tripp.

“Yeah.”

The interference was still distorting the connection, “Just checking in.  Ready?”

The reply was static. Continue reading →

Beyond Termination – Part 5

/ Alanna / 2 Comments

“Damn it!”  Alice hit the rig with her fists, frustration still coursing through her.

A few of the technicians in the Hangar ducked their heads and avoided looking directly at Alice.  They had been chewed out too many times to count.  She still couldn’t figure out why the satellites weren’t picking up all of the creatures.

The Hangar was quickly becoming a mess; piles of wires and open panels littered the floor.  Alice was waist deep in them, her head ducking into the terminal and popping back out to keep an eye on the displays.

Her com-link crackled to life.  “Any updates?” Map inquired. Continue reading →

The Star That was the Sun – Part Four

/ Ben Van Dongen / 4 Comments

Paul was more surprised by what he saw at the air field than by the appearance of Kate or the initial call that led to him going outside.  A small rocket was sitting on the runway, standing almost as tall as the control tower.  The tapered tip flowed into a tube shaped body, with a rounded bump in the middle and fins reaching down to the tarmac.  Paul could see small structures surrounding the rocket that looked like everything it would need to actually fly.  Thick tubes ran from the ship to the different structures, but he could only guess what they were for.  Short buildings, that looked like quick military constructions, were in between where Paul stood and the rocket.  When he and the little girl reached the edge of the field, six large men in gear that matched the girl’s, surrounded them. Continue reading →

Behind the Writing – For Them and Not

/ Ben Van Dongen / 4 Comments

***May Contain Spoilers***

Wow, that got out of hand.  I started writing For Them and Not in April and here we are in December finally getting to the end.  I hope the wait was worth it.  For me, I’m mostly just excited that I was able to write that much for one story.  If you talk to the rest of the group they will probably tell you how many times I said it was only going to be five parts, no six, I mean seven.  I don’t think I actually said how long it would be after part seven was written.  I just waved it off with an “It’s almost done, I swear.”  Now it is done and I have a few things I’d like to say about it. Continue reading →

For Them and Not – Conclusion

/ Ben Van Dongen / 2 Comments

Part 9

Map found the stairwell and feeling like he had nothing left to lose he ran back up to the roof.  He hoped that if he was fast enough he would have the best chance at the only attack he could come up with.

He sprinted across the damaged roof draining his last reservoir of strength and ignored the pain the best he could.  As he approached the edge of the building he heard the crash of the creature trying to get into the apartment he escaped through moments earlier.  Before he reached the end of the roof Map jumped as high as he could, readying his axe.  He swung up at the apex and came down on the creature with as much force as he could.  The axe sunk deep into the thing’s head as the jolt of impact spread through Map. Continue reading →

For Them and Not (Part 8)

/ Ben Van Dongen / 2 Comments

Alice strode down the ornate hallway to the Administrator’s office.  She had walked past the security station and ignored the clerk at the desk.  She knew how risky it was to leave Map to a backup station but he needed answers.  Map was injured and up against too many uncertainties.  She reached the outer door to the Administrator’s office and heard the clerk coming down the hall after her.  She ignored him again and hurried into the room.  She pushed past the secretary without a look and barged into the office.  There was a bank of monitors on one wall and the Administrator was talking to the people who Alice could see on the screens. Continue reading →

Beyond Termination

/ Alanna / Leave a comment

The news hit her hard.  The asset she had kept alive all these years was being made obsolete; younger ones were there to take over.  With the expiration of their property would come her own, and she knew it.  Liaisons only worked with one operative.  Once the operative’s usefulness in the field was over, their liaison’s time with the project was as well. Continue reading →