Chapter 2: Home

Michael shut the exterior door behind Serina and they made their way down the dimly lit passage. Serina now understood a little of the reason her father had sent her to Michael. Judging by the current surroundings and Michael’s obvious skill with weapons, she would be safe, although she was somewhat concerned about being accepted into her new home. The main entrance opened and the smell of breakfast wafted through the air.

“ I see Gabriel has been busy.” Without turning her back the woman in the kitchen quipped, “You don’t think you’re the only hunter in this home, do you? Go get cleaned up and I’ll serve you a meal.”

“Eva, we have another mouth to feed.” Eva stiffened and turned. “Victor is dead. This is Serina,” said Michael. Eva momentarily contemplated the full meaning of that then regained her composure.

Evangeline immediately made Serina feel welcome and couldn’t help but notice that she needed to wash. She took her to the washroom and prepared a bath.

“Get out of those clothes…you will feel better after this.”

Serina removed her deeply soiled clothing and stepped into the tub. Eva promptly threw her clothing in the laundry chute. Contusions on her forearms and legs indicated her hardships of the last few weeks. Her ribs showed through her skin, belying her lack of food. Privacy had not been easy to come by for her in her previous home and this was no different. Serina could only wonder what they thought of her condition. She herself wondered why she was still standing. She had not eaten since she left the camp and had been without water for days, yet she felt as she could endure more. ‘Strange’, she thought to herself as she sunk into the bath and relaxed.

Serina emerged wearing one of Eva’s nightgowns and sat at the kitchen table. She was famished but Michael told her not to eat too much at first. “Thank you for havin’ me in your home.” She said, almost crying. Eva put her arm around her as Michael spoke.

“I’d have it no other way. Victor was a good friend and we made a pact in case of an event like this. I will take care of you as my own.” Serina understood the obligation but felt it was much more than that. Her physical and emotional exhaustion were showing through. She ate slowly and had her fill.

Just then the door swung open and a young man came through the door. Quickly, he shut it and tried to catch his breath. “ Dad,” he panted slowly. “The hills are crawling with strang…” He looked at Serina and their eyes locked. Serina noticed the similarity to Michael and saw how handsome he was.

“Serina, this is Gabriel, my son.” Gabriel’s eyes widened for a brief moment as he gazed upon Serina. Her beauty was apparent in spite of her condition. “Sit down and have a meal. I’ll see to the problem outside,” said Michael.

“Pleased to meet you.” said Gabriel. Gabriel smiled but was clearly distracted from the introduction.

“They’re only a few hundred yards away.” Gabriel pleaded.

“I know.” Michael got up and went to another room. Gabriel did as his father told him without protesting. As a matter of fact, Serina noticed that the kitchen was not well stocked and surmised that food was hard to come by here as well. Michael’s kill this morning would alleviate that for a while, even with her here. Eva began cleaning and packaging the meat for cold storage. Even though the kitchen wasn’t well stocked with foodstuffs, it was well equipped. Actually the entire home was surprisingly modern and had many electronic conveniences. Some of the home looked like it was still being worked on.

“Your home is the richest I’ve ever seen.” remarked Serina to Eva.

“Michael is very resourceful and has traded for much of what we have. A couple of days fast walk from here is a large community settlement with manufacturing capability. We trade fur, food, water, some wood, and sometimes work to the community in order to get what we need.”

Michael returned from the room he had went off to and was wearing what seemed to be a military uniform with a color schemed to match the local landscape. Strapped to his hip and leg was a sidearm and he had his bow in hand. Across his back was slung a rifle of some sort; also military in look and colored like his clothing.

“Who are they?” Eva asked Michael.

“I’m not certain, but I haven’t felt this kind of presence in a long time. It could be the same people that attacked Serina’s home.” The confidence displayed by Michael relaxed Serina even as he said it. “Whoever they are, you will all be safe inside. I’m going to recon the situation. If you hear any fire do not come out and don’t be alarmed.” At that, Michael exited and sealed the door behind him. Serina had the feeling he offered the comforting words mostly for her benefit.

“What kind of uniform was your father wearing?” asked Serina. “Was he part of the resistance?”

“I don’t really know much, but he was part of the resistance against the Alliance. He has mentioned things here and there, but it was before I was born. He doesn’t talk about it much but has taught me to hunt and protect the family. Ann is too young yet.” She guessed the girl was Michael and Eva’s daughter, now she had a name to go with the face. Serina was surprised that Gabriel knew so little of his father’s history. "My father was a browncoat too,” she said proudly.

“Serina, you should rest now and when you’ve rested enough there will be plenty of time to talk.” Eva showed her into a bedroom and she lay down on a bed made from the fur of various animals. ‘Comfortable… and no animal smell’, thought Serina. She quickly drifted off to sleep, feeling the semblance and security of home.

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Michael set out towards the strangers in the area. He kept under good cover and to the low spots in the hills. He soon heard a man speaking, “Perimeter is clear for 100 meters sir,” the radio squawked close. Michael continued on a short distance. Just over a small rise Michael viewed what he had suspected, alliance troops and an armored transport to go with them. ‘What the hell are they doing here?’ he thought. ‘Must be trying to find out what happened to Earth after all these years.’ The ship did not look much different than what had left Earth a century before. He could hardly contain his excitement. It was exactly what they needed. The ships of the early resistance had been small and incapable of extended travel, and most were no longer worthy of flight.

Only one other soldier accompanied the man on the radio and the brush blocked the line of sight to the ship. Michael deftly moved to within twenty yards of the pair. One shot from his bow and both men had been impaled through the neck and lay dead. Michael took the radio and their weapons and recovered his arrow. The broad-head arrows were not of a barbed design and were easily removed. He worked the perimeter until all ten forward troops were dispatched, some by knife, all silently. Judging by the size of the ship there would be at least twenty more including the pilots. Each time a radio call would check a position, Michael would check-in the way he had heard some do before he ended them. He even managed to learn the team numbers and their position. Simple really, team one at the ships nose and clockwise after that. Now that the perimeter was clear, Michael had a clear view of the ship and all activity. Michael readied the rifle from his back. The semi-automatic and silenced the rifle would allow him to take them out quickly, before they had a chance to organize an adequate defense. Fortunately, it seemed as if the ship was taking a rest stop. All the ships crew was outside the ship, even the pilots. ‘A stroke of good fortune’, thought Michael. He worked his way to a clean view of the ship’s ramp; only way in or out.

Through his scope, he noticed that some of the troops had blood on their uniforms. That confirmed his earlier suspicion. ‘These are the same bastards that killed Victor,’ he thought. The pilots were the first to drop. They were hardly noticed and those that did were the next to fall. Skillfully placed shots cut off any chance of warning. Six soldiers fell before an alert was managed.

“Get on the ship! Cover the rear! MO…” the commander attempted to scream his last order. Each Soldier that even got close to the ramp fell dead before getting on the ship. Soon only two men covering the rear were left. Michael had the rising sun at his back, blinding the two men and concealing his position. Two more shots and the men were dead, .30 caliber holes in their foreheads.

Methodically, Michael gathered all the weapons and loaded then onto the ship. The macabre task of stripping the bodies for their clothing was next. Once cleaned of the ‘scum’ and repaired, they would be tradable goods or come in handy for personal use. Of course, all Alliance markings would be removed. He had even collected the shell casings from the firefight. All that would be left were scattered meals for the carrion eating critters in the area. All the Alliance would find would be tooth scarred bones. Everything was on the ship in two hours and Michael closed the ramp. He fired up the ship’s engines and headed in an opposite direction from home. Electronic countermeasures kept him from being tracked by Alliance ships. He had already destroyed the ship’s beacon, which would disable all internal tracking devices. This ship was new but the configuration was familiar.

“This is Archangel calling Angel. I’m coming in; have the bay ready; maintain silence; do NOT reply.” Michael purposefully used the old call signs, knowing that they would be picked-up by not only Evangeline, but by any Alliance ships in orbit and by the small industrial settlement, Destiny. They would know now Michael’s sector was active again. If the Alliance had more ships in orbit and attempted to respond, it would reveal their positions. That would give Destiny a lock for its anti-orbital missiles, originally developed to destroy gravity satellites and orbital Alliance equipment. The Alliance would know where the radio transmission originated but not anything else. Michael accelerated toward home.

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As primitive as Earth was now, in many ways her population had advanced quickly. The Alliance thought it had taken all the ‘best and brightest’, but more truthfully it took the richest and most arrogant. In addition, the polarity shift had unleashed many abilities in the human population and some of Destiny’s scientists developed new technologies based on Earth’s magnetic field and resonant frequency providing power and various other needs. That’s where the Alliance vessel came in. Destiny’s people had struggled for decades to come up with enough raw materials to build an interstellar spacecraft. The Alliance made sure that raw materials were far and few in between. Some new deposits of minerals were discovered but not nearly enough. Earth was an agrarian society again, and a limited one at that. Most materials were scavenged from the former cities of Earth that was, those that were not under the ocean. Now, a ship had fallen into their lap. It would be the test bed for technologies that would get them to the Core worlds and beyond.

The bay doors opened under the commandeered Alliance craft and Michael skillfully lowered it into the landing bay, a tight fit for a ship of that size. He had actually landed above his home and when the doors closed again all one could see from above were shrub brush and trees. Michael had constructed the landing bay over a century ago when materials were available and the resistance was in full force. The Cataclysm had decimated their ranks and destroyed most of their fleet but the heart of the resistance was saved. The resistance forces and families became the Destiny outpost and the center of all activity for hundreds of miles in every direction.

“Work crews and security forces are on the way and should be here in two days. Gabriel is preparing the dorms.” Evangeline updated Michael as he headed toward the living quarters. He was literally a bloody mess and needed to bathe. Eva had seen it all before and as soon as she got Michael’s transmission she shed her ‘mother and wife’ garb and donned her uniform. It was identical to Michael’s. Michael saw Gabriel dressed in his work uniform complete with its brown coat.

“Get on the secure channel and tell them to be prepared for Alliance troops in the area. I think there may be more out there. This ship could not hold enough men to attack a whole settlement,” said Michael. Something in his voice was almost wishing it. “Tell them not to engage unless they have no choice. We need to keep the element of surprise.” Eva responded to his order immediately. Michael marveled at her ability to separate their relationship and their duties in what was now a security organization more than a resistance movement or rebellion. He would never have gotten away with giving orders like that in the home.

“Mom, did you tell them to bring supplies? We don’t have any food for them.” “I wouldn’t worry about that. They’ll have there own stocks of food as a matter of procedure.” “Right,” ‘What a stupid question that was’, thought Gabriel. ‘Nobody travels and expects food at their destination in this world.’

The washroom was a central area to all the major rooms in the home. Michael looked into Ann’s bedroom and Serina was still sleeping, Ann sleeping next to her. She would likely be asleep for hours. Michael proceeded to the washroom and removed his soiled and bloody uniform and put them in the laundry chute. He ran the bath and stepped in, rinsing his hands and face, the water turn to crimson as it ran down the drain. He washed his hair and face and figured he’d soak for a while, exhausted from the last 24 hours. One thing that the polarity shift had not changed is the need for sleep.

Minutes had turned into hours when Serina walked in the washroom. Michael opened his eyes. “Sorry.” Serina said as she turned her back. She was shocked at the amount of scars over Michael’s body. She was certain now that Michael had served with her father decades ago. Victor had talked a lot about how they fought the Alliance but had never mentioned Michael specifically.

“That’s alright.” Michael pulled the drain plug ran the water to rinse off. Fortunately, the tub had a heater on it to keep the water warm or he would have been suffering from hypothermia by now. Serina grabbed her clean clothes from the laundry return and exited to the bedroom.

Michael dried himself and opened the laundry return to retrieve his now clean uniform. He put in on and left the washroom. Ann must have risen and ran off to play. She was feeling better now that she had a full belly.

“Serina,” said Michael. “Yes?” “When you’re up to it, I would like you to begin keeping the house and doing the kitchen duties. Also, Ann needs looking after. A lot has changed in the last twelve hours and your help is needed.” She didn’t need the explanation. Of course, she would help. “I can start now.” She eagerly set off to the kitchen and found Eva there in her uniform; not a site she expected.

“Michael has asked me to keep the house and kitchen. Would you mind showing me around?” “Not at all, but don’t rush it” Eva replied with a pleased look on her face.

Eva spent the next half hour showing Serina not only the kitchen, but the rest of the household as well. They discussed Ann’s needs and a plan to build Serina her own room as soon as possible. In the mean time she would share with Ann.

“Can you sew, Serina?” “Yes, I’m pretty good at it, actually”, she replied. “Good. In about an hour some clothing will be in the laundry return. After the evening meal, I would like you to begin mending what you can. The sewing kit is on the table in the main room.”

The evening meal was ready and placed on the kitchen table. The meal consisted was a mix of pork, from Michael’s previous hunt, and a variety of vegetables found in a crate on the floor. The crate was exactly like those used in her settlement. She meant to ask Michael about that as soon as she saw him. She soon had her answer.

Serina opened the laundry return and she gasped, a horrified look on her face. She recognized the uniforms of the strange men that attacked her settlement. She frantically pulled them out on to the floor of the washroom. She stared at for what seemed an eternity wondering what they were doing there and reliving the attack in her mind. When she finally decided to inspect them she found that most were undamaged. Those that were gave Serina a clear picture of had transpired. Many shirts had cuts in the shoulder area next to the collar, evidence to Michael’s efficiency at killing. Some had holes in the front center, in some cases missing a button. The pants were mostly undamaged, other than an occasional tear in the knee area. Serina folded the uniforms and dutifully carried them to main room to begin mending the damaged pieces. Everything made sense now. The uniforms that Michael and Eva were wearing, the hidden door, the blood-tinged water of Michael’s bath, his skill with weapons, and the crate of food she now surmised was recovered from the now dead strangers, all told her that her father’s vague stories of ‘angels’ protecting them during the rebellion were true. She began the methodical task at hand and decided that she would keep one of the black uniforms for herself, as it would be far more utilitarian than the pilgrim’s outfit she had on. There were enough that she didn’t think anyone would mind. The unfamiliar insignia removed and the pieces tailored, she changed and finished the job at hand. ‘Seems like the thing to wear around here anyway…too bad it’s not brown’, she thought as she inspected the fit. ‘I’ll be right at home’.