Free Monthly #13 Angel

A selection from 21st Century Short Stories

Introduction

While the final stretch to the release of Emergence is fast approaching, I find that my goal of sharing so many short stories regarding the characters and the world was a more ambitious goal than I thought. However, I still have four to go after this one and I have the drafts for what I want to do.

This story gives us a glimpse of a South American woman and some of her friends that help stir up trouble for the Absolutists.

21st Century Short Stories | Angel

“Zack, Jesús, be careful out there.” I spoke quietly. We were going to harass some Absolutists in Argentina and while we were all ready to engage our enemy, I knew that we would lose people if we got overzealous.

“It’ll be fine, Angel.” Zack replied with a confident wave of his hand. “There’s nothing out there that we need to fear besides losing our heads.”

“Well, and getting shot but who’s counting?” Jesús added for good measure.

“Okay, yeah, we might get shot but who cares. Will most likely not be fatal.” Zack acquiesced.

I glowered at my friend and relative. “Zack, I love you but if you die, I will not know what to do. Jesús, I guess I would need your body for your mother.”

We all chuckled at my grim retort. We had been working together for some time as we built a small coalition of South Americans who wished to resist the Absolutists and their zany, overbearing, regime. After a few seconds of silence, I jerked my head and we moved out into our positions. We each had half a dozen of people ready to let bullets rain down on the people below the ridge. If everything worked out, the convoy would be scattered into the desolate land, and we would take their supplies and speed off before they could regroup.

When the first bullets finally flew, everything was going according to plan. We made sure they could not get to their large vehicle they had abandoned while they took a bio break. When all of the men below had dispersed into the tree line a hundred feet away from their vehicle, I ordered Jesús to move forward and keep an eye on the Absolutists. Zack would retrieve our truck and we would drive down to the vacated vehicle full of supplies that were supposed to be going to Hishla Lake. Those supplies would serve us and the people better than that concrete monstrosity.

Jesús laid down suppressing fire for several seconds as the Absolutists tried to move forward out of the tree line. They quickly retreated and did not reemerge as Zack and I sped forward on our own truck to pick up Jesús and his squad. Once all of us were together, we plowed on to the large vehicle the Absolutists were supposed to defend. Jesús’s team leapt off the moment we reached the supply truck and started it up. At first, I was concerned they failed but realized that there was a hum emanating from it. It must have been a newer fuel-efficient design. Half a minute later, we were all speeding down the road, putting several miles between us and the Absolutists.  We came to a halt where the rest of our vehicles, a hodgepodge of trucks and SUVs, were waiting.

Several minutes passed as everything was moved from the Absolutist vehicle to whichever vehicles had room for the supplies. We could not take their vehicle unless we could deactivate the GPS and other electronic connections to the Absolutists. By all appearances, we had stayed under the radar of the AI as it did not stop or deactivate the supply truck. After the all-clear was given, I sighed and ordered everyone to move out.

Dust spewed from the backs of our trucks, SUVs, and bikes as we put as much distance between us and our foe. Any ability the All-Seeing Eyes might have to discern our destination or intentions would soon be lost to all but satellite footage, something the South American AI would not have easy access to. We could thank the North Americans for that.

I smiled and relaxed. The operation was over. It was quick and flawless. However, my momentary relaxation was not a full ease. There were other operations that were going to take place; those were going to be typical, par for the course operations. However, there was a meeting with a mysterious person who claimed to be able to help us, to want to help us. They wanted our organization to swell in numbers, to grow our reach in South America, and to supply us with all sorts of technology that we did not have access to.

It was not that we lacked the ability to use most technology, nor was it a lack of availability to the kinds of technology in our vehicles, weapons, and other gear. What we lacked was a computer system that would function without being connected to the All-Seeing Eyes. The AI that ruled us. The AI that kept us in check. Many people thought the Absolutist Regime was just the AI, but I knew better. We were ruled by the oligarchs that coded the AI, that were supposed to check and balance the AI’s actions and motives. The AI carried out their will. Their will in South America was the same as North America’s vision for 20^th century South America. A vision that I sought to reject. History would not repeat if I could help it.

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