Each Tuesday, rather than a POSSIBLY IRRITATING
ESSAY, I'd like to both challenge you and lend a helping hand. I generate more
speculative and teen story ideas than I can ever use. My family rolls its collective
eyes when I say, "Hang on a second! I just have to write down this idea..."
Here, I'll include the initial inspiration (quote, website, podcast, etc.) and then
a thought or two that came to mind. These will simply be seeds -- plant, nurture,
fertilize, chemically treat, irradiate, test or stress them as you see fit. I
only ask if you let me know if anything comes of them.
Current Event:
Astrophobia is an irrational fear of stars and space and may take different
forms, from fear of aliens to fear of space exploration. (https://www.verywell.com/fear-of-space-2671680)
Harper Zakaria
pursed her lips. She tapped them for a moment then said, “So you want me to
revive this…criminal so that we can escape the dirty sandbox people like you
have made of Earth?”
Abdelkader Mäkinen
scowled at her. In the past, people would have said his high forehead and wide-set,
almost entirely brown eyes made him look like an alien. “I had nothing to do
with Anthropogenic Global Warming. My ancestors lived in Northern Finland and
Algeria – mostly they were teachers and scientists, so they had nothing to do
with AGW and in fact, my great-grandfather started the first windmill farm in
northern California in the early Oughts.” He actually sniffed and as Harper
rolled her eyes, he continued, “Now that we’ve established my credentials and
innocence…”
“You didn’t
establish any credentials, sir. You just absolved yourself from blame because
of something one of your distant ancestors did.”
“Now see here,
young lady! My family…”
“Credentials?” she
said, smiling.
He actually
harrumphed then said, “I’ve been on the UN Global Climate Reconstruction
Committee for fourteen years and was recently appointed Chair because of my
brilliance and based on the plan I’ve devised that will…”
Harper held up a
hand, pursed her lips, shook her head, then looked up at the tall meta-alien in
her office. “So you want me to revive one of the bad-boys from the
mid-Twenty-first Century so you can fly him to one of the Martian Colonies and
get the Prairiedogs back into space again, right?”
He started at her,
his mouth actually open. She considered pointing out that he was a cartoon
cliché in the flesh, but was pretty certain he wouldn’t be a buff of TwenCen
flat animated cartoons. She let him sputter a few moments, planning on
interrupting him if it took too long when he said, “How did you…”
“I don’t spend all
of my time watching the sleepers, Senator Mäkinen. I have to have something to
do in my spare time. I’ve read up on the astrophobia pandemic.” She smiled
sweetly. “I confess that you wouldn’t be able to pay me enough to leave Mother
Earth, no matter how filthy she is.”
The man wasn’t
going to respond, instead, he scowled more fiercely and said, “You can mock all
you want, young lady, but those of us afflicted are all that we have left
behind. It seems that somehow the Colonists took the wanderlust gene with them
when they abandoned the Mother World.”
She shrugged. “Not
my problem, I guess. So you still haven’t explained why you want to revive
prisoner,” she glanced down at her ‘pad, then up at him. “AAA000200.”
“That’s not for
you to question, young lady! I have here,” he flourished an opad at her. She
took it, glanced at it, and handed it back to him as he continued, “An order
from the UN GCRComm demanding that you revive and release the prisoner to me.”
“It wasn’t
countersigned by the Secretary General,” she said, handing it back to him. She
grinned a toothy grin at him, then turned off the effect.
“It’s not
necessary…”
She cut him off,
“You may think I’m just a button-pusher, Senator, but as I said, I don’t just
sit here watching the sleepers all day. I have a BA in pre-Law from Columbia
Online and I’m two thirds of the way through Columbia Law School. I have my MD
from Brigham and Women’s in CryoMedicine with graduate studies in Revival
Mechanics.” She stopped, smiling at him.
He held her gaze
for several minutes, then finally began to fidget, still maintaining eye
contact. Finally he looked away, pocketing him ‘pad. He looked back at her, a
different look on his face. He studied her then said, “I was told you were
young and idealistic. I was also told you were smart and stubborn.”
“Correct on all
counts.”
“But we need…”
She cut him off,
“I agree, Senator. You need this prisoner in order to get the rest of us off
Earth again. But I’m not sure you know who you’re dealing with.”
His ‘pad reappeared
in his hand and he glanced down at it, “Admiral Concepción Shimizu was
decorated…”
Harper glared at
him as he continued reading, unaware of her regard. When he looked up finally,
his monologue faltered then stopped. “What?”
“She’s a thief, a
murderer, and despite the fact that she single-handedly stopped the South
African Resurgence from turning the southern half Africa into a new Apartheid
regime, she still single-handedly also severed this world from its Colonies
when she bombed the Elevator.”
This time he was
prepared and flashed a false grin at her before he turned it off and said, “That
is why my plan is brilliant. We will give her the opportunity to redeem herself
in the eyes of all Humanity.”
Names: ♀ New Zealand, Somalia; ♂ Algeria, Finland; ♀ Paraguay, Japan
Image:
No comments:
Post a Comment