Stay of Execution: intro/epilogue to Rok

          " Any last words before we flip the switch, Johnny Joe. Anything you want to get off your chest?, asked corrections officer Miller.

" Yes sir. Before I go there is a story I want to get off my chest", answered Johnny Joe.

"Is it a story about the remorse you feel and how sorry you are about killing Mr. Norris?", questioned officer Miller.

" No sir, I am not guilty of killing Mr. Norris. I take that to my grave with no fear, Sir", replied Johnny Joe.

" Why should I waste these people's time then. They do not want to hear a story, they want closure, they want justice, they want vengeance. And I want to go home and have dinner, Johnny Joe", exclaimed officer Miller.

" If I say I am guilty, will you let me say my story?", asked Johnny Joe, sweating profusely by now.

" Sure Johnny Joe, it better some Shakespeare quality stuff or you are not to be real fast", stated officer Miller.

          "TTThhisss stttttorrry starts", stuttered out Johnny Joe, crying and sweating up a storm.

" Will you stop crying. My guy over there is not gonna hit the switch until I tell him to. Nothing I hate more than a convicted killer crying", said officer Miller.

" As a matter fact, Jim get away from the switch", exclaimed officer Miller, wiping away Johnny Joe's tears and sweat with a handkerchief.

" Thank you, Sir", said Johnny Joe very gratefully.

" Ok, start over, here we go ladies and gentleman. Chapter 1", said officer Miller while pointing to Johnny Joe.

          Jonny Joe started: The time was 4000 mya. These are the times that the Earth would like us to forget. When the ground shook from vast armies marching off to war. Modern science says man came into existence 11, 500 years ago. I beg to differ, man has been around in one evoluntionay form or another way before then. We have witnessed mass extinctions and near mass extinctions for hundreds of thousands of year. Always, we cling on to life, survivng and evolving.

          The planet was not called Earth yet. To the armies that landed here for what would the final battle of the Kraggus War, it was called Roknorg.

          "Lord Voltaire, we are approaching the atmosphere of Roknorg. We should be landing in about five minutes", said Admiral Kog.

          Lord Voltaire had recently become the war minister of Rokmog. He was here to do a mission, it was complete the mission or die trying. It was here on Roknorg that he would find out the outcome.

          In English, Rokmog translated to " mother of fire mist". Roknorg translated to " son of fire mist". The planet was a sea of molten lava the last time Lord Voltaire was here. That was about four thousand years ago.  Voltaire felt he had named the planet properly. He was slightly surprised with what he saw. The surface of the planet appeared to be cooling down. The thunderstorms of nitrogen were still plentiful. The water from the storms was making it the surface and cooling it down. When he was here last the water would evaporate while still in the atmosphere.

          "Admiral Kog, inform the crew to land the battleship at their earliest convenience. I assume most of the planet is the same. We should have quite the solid land mass to do battle", stated Lord Voltaire.

          " At once, your Lordship", replied Admiral Kog as he reached for the central communication switch. He selected intercommunication mode. This overrode all other communications on the battleship. Only Admiral Kog could be heard on the battleship.

         "Prepare for normal landing. Reverse thrusters at fifty percent. Landing gear down. Emergency thrusters on standby in case of quick egress. Man up your general quarter stations. Oh, put your seats back in their upright positions", relayed Admiral Kog on the communication system.

          The Rokmogian battleship came to an abrupt stop as soon as reverse thrusters came online. In all his two hundred years of military service, Admiral Kog never got used to the stop. He stopped drinking coffee after the first one, the 500°C liquid almost burned a hole through his chest when it spilled on him. Lesson learned, put a lid on it.