HIDDEN FORCES

CHAPTER 1

Divya stood at the top of the hill, her shadow casting on the ground. She squinted at the sun above, admiring its’ rays shining through the clouds. She felt its heat warming her skin, it has been a long time since she since it.

Divya looked at the landscape laid in front of her. She took a deep breath trying to take in the scenic landscape in a single breath. She let it out slowly with a sigh, the air crisp, fresh and unpolluted just like it used to be. She saw lush green hills spread before her, a towering light house painted with red and white stripes, huge trees with branches stretching wide, supporting a canopy of leaves and tiny cottages at the bottom of those hills.  Yes, Nikil was right, it has been too long….
‘Bet I can race you down that hill?” a voice said.

She turned around, recognizing the voice immediately, Nikil!!. She hasn’t seen him for ages. She hugged tightly, not wanting to let go. He pulled her apart and smiled, those cute boyish grin,

‘don’t get mushy on me sis, its not like you’ she smiled too, it wasn’t like her. C’mon, I will race you down. Last one reaches the house, has to do the chores for a whole week!!’ he shout out, running ahead of her.

‘I’m home, atlast” she thought to her herself, running behind him.
A mist gathered around her ankles….slowly it grew thicker and thicker…. She couldn’t see Nikil anymore…. Her surrondingds become a blur. She founded it harder to keep focus on Nikil’s. She started running harder!
‘faster div’ she heard him say.
The mist was no longer an mist anymore, it grew thicker, more grayish in colour, a sense of carbon monoxide filled the air, her eyes started feeling painfull and watery. She stated breathing heavily pushing her legs to carry her as faster to Nikil, It grew thicker and darker, until she couldn’t see where she was going!!!, her eyes were watering profusely, she started coughing, from in haling the now polluted air.
‘Help me div’
She pushed harder, but it was no used, her coughing slowed her down, soon she was gasping for breath…until she feel to her knees.. but she still kept moving, crawling with her hands now, step by step. ‘I’m coming Nikil, she shout out, not knowing whether he heard her or not!!, her own words muffled by her short gasp for breath!!.
‘Help me” those were the last words she heard, before she fell unconscious!!!
‘Nikel!!!!’

Divya woke up screaming, her hands reached out. Her chest heaved up and down, her heart beating like a base drum. It tooked her a few minutes to realize she was dreaming….again. She let out a deep sigh, trying to quite her heart and slow her breathing…

“Lights” she said.
Her room glowed a dim orange colour in response to her voice. “Good Morning Ms. Divya, How are we today!!” the mech voice greeted as usual!  She got up, her head aching with pain “what you would u like me to do” the voice question.

“Shut up,” she said, as she walked towards the shower, “I’m afraid that’s not programmed in my system, Miss” the mech answered. “Great!!’ she replied, walking on, as the screen door close behind her, separating her from the room and the Mech.

                      *********************************************************************************

2341, 0400 HOURS
GALATIC FEDERATION BASE STATION
VIRGON 2, LEVEL 1
CAFÉ SUN.

Divya walked in on the wee hours of Sunday morning, or at least that was what the Mech informed her. She signaled to the bar tender, before taking her seat. A few minutes later, her drink arrived.

“Here you are Lieutenant, Tall,black, extra strong  coffee” the bartender said.
“ thank you, mike” she replied.
“not a problem, I had it warm and waiting”
“ you are an angel, mike” she said, sipping her drink.
“ I know,” he winked at her,  and headed back to the counter.

She stared out of the window, at the black empty space, no lush green hills, no trees and no Nikil. She took a gulp from her cup, swallowing it hard, hoping it would get her throught the day.  She felt a presence, averting her gaze from the window.

“ You looked that you could use some cheering up”
“How long have u been sitting here, Rohit?”
“you are up early?” he asked ignoring her question.
“Yes, and so are u”
“you know me, always the hard-worker” pulling his collar up, jokingly. However seeing how her eyes narrawoed at him, as she took another gulp from her coffee, he decided it wasn’t time to joke around. “Well, actually, I was in duty. Just finished, thought I will just a grab a bite to eat before I head back to my cabin to sleep.”

“great, enjoy your slumber” she said nonchanlantly raising her mug to him.

Rohit eyed her state. She had a grey t-shirt with the Inter-galatic symbol at the left top corner with cargo pants. The staple attire every crew on board wear when off duty. Her eyes however, were red and swollen.  He had seen this state of hers once before. “You had the same nightmare again, hah” he said

She looked up and met his gaze, sensing the more serious tone in his voice. “if I say no, will you drop the case, I’m not really chatty this morning”

“Nope, and I ‘m not hear to chat either, its been more than twenty years since the incident, You have to put it behind you. Losing your love ones is hard, but you can’t bring him back from the dead!!”
Easier said than done, have you lost a loved one…..i don’t think so!” she snap back.

“I will soon loose my best friend to her own demons, if she doesn’t quit drinking 24 ounces of that slug drink you call coffee everyday, work 15 hours a day and sleep only 4 hours a day or less!!, OH YES!!! I WILL CERTAINTLY KNOW THEN, HOW IT FEELS TO LOSE A LOVED ONE…..WILL YOU LISTEN TO ME THEN! I DON’T THINK SO EITHER!  he challenged her, narrowing his eyes as well…..
“ what would you  have, Lieutenant Rohit?”  Mike the bartender, intervine, possibly hearing his outburst. He doesn’t blame him….who could not, 
“Water. Cold water.” he replied to Mike without turning, but slowly eased back against the chair. It wasn’t like him to loose his cool, it not him. He looked at her gazing out the window again. “I’m sorry, div. you know me” he said.
“Me too”  she said  turning to him.

“one cold water coming up.” Mike said, quietly exiting the scene.

“looked, I told you many times, I’m telling you again, just see Dr Karl. He’s a good dream specialist. He helped many of the crew members on that  ‘MSI-Venus’. He can help you too.”
“that’s right…..” she said turning around. “and pretend it never happen, very nice. I don’t want to change it or erase it or whateverelse damm it,! It’s the few memories that I have left of him and who I am. I’m not some girl born into this spaceworld!, I was there when earth existed, there when it was attacked by species from outer space, there when it fell to pieces and there when I lost my brother to those alien!! That won’t change!, I don’t want it to!! GET IT!!”

“ but see what it’s doing to you, it wasn’t your fault. You think I don’t know why you worked 15 hours a day…. Its so that you are tooo tired to think about it, but it happens anyway…dealing with it….is the only way.”

“ ohhh, shut the hell up!! Roy, I am dealing with it” she got up, upsetting the chair behind her.
“fine,” raising his hands up. “I’m outer off here” he got up and walked away.
“ I told you, I wasn’t chatty this morning!!” she called out to him. He raised his hands up in the air again, without turning back. She watched him go….as he turned around the corner of the café entrance and disappeared from her view. She lifted her chair back, sat down and started twirling the mug in her hands. She felt bad at her behavior, he is her best friend. The only friend she could count on.
“I did warn him about it” she said under her breath. She turn staring out at stared out at the starfield again.

She still remembers clearly, it was on the 4 of July 2008, Independence Day. Everybody was celebrating in their on special way, enjoying themselves.  Then, there was this huge party going on at her friends place…which she soo desperately wanted to attend, plus Christina said Joshua the footballer would be there too. His been stealing glances of her since the day she join the school, she couldn’t miss this opportunity. However, on that night, mom and dad had to rush to Uncle Menon’s place, he had trip and fell from the stairs, injuring his back. She had to baby sit Nikel… Nikel was 13 years old…he didn’t need to be baby-sit…he could take care of himself…she argued, but they didn’t budge. And she was stuck at home. Of course this has never stop her before… After mom and dad left…she  made a deal with a brother….if he didn’t squeal on her….going to the party…she will let him have the house for himself …and since he was always talking abt being a man…this was his chance to prove it! It worked like magic…he fell for it..and she was off to enjoy herself, not knowing it was the biggest mistake of her life.

Right after the countdown, everyone was wishing each other, ‘Happy New Year’….. she saw something red and round hurling towards them….it grew nearer and larger and before she could realize what it was, it smashing thought the wall hitting everyone in it way!!, like a bowling balll, hitting it pins down, she just manage to move out of its way. When she got up, blood was splattered on the walls, the ceiling, everywhere!!!, in a split second the party had turned into a piled of bloody massacre. Blood was pouring from her forehead, her sight all fuzzy and out of focus, it took her a full two minutes to realize what had just happen. She took one look at the mutilated body’s that lay motionless on the floor, covered in blood and started puking.  She heard screams and started walking towards that direction, and found out of them pinned under the door. With the help of an another friend, they managed to freed her.. It was then that she heard a commotion outside that part of { the taman that she live] has been hit as well!!!

Nikel!!!, she started running out of the house, or what was left of it,  towards the [ taman] direction. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her…..her head hurts soo badl, (though she manage to temporary bandange it, to stop the blood from flowing.) but she has to push past the pain to reach her little brother. ”I shouldn’t have left him alone” she cursed herself.

By the time she reach the top of the hill, houses were blazing in fire……she could hear voice screaming,  the exact same scene, she experience moments ago. The atmosphere had gathered a kind of thick grey smoke….which she found difficult to breath!! Not within a few yards, and she started coughing, the smoke became to thick, her bandage soaked with blood and she was suffocating!!,
“Nikel”: she cried out ..and she collapsed. 

A transparent screen suddenly visualize in front of her, disrupting her thought!!.  “Message for Lieutenant Divya” “Display” she respond

“Lieutenant Divya, Good morning!” an officer saluted.
“We are facing a problem with Helen II. I think it maybe infected with a virus” the officer reported
“You think!!!!, where is officer Payne?, report this to him, and ask him to see me once you do, got it, officer……what’s your name?” divya questioned him.

“Ste---eveen, madam” he stammered.

“Ok, officer Steven, ask him to see me, you got it.”  She said looking at how nervous and scared he looked at the same time. “I coming right down, so don’t you do anything or touch anything!, you understand?” she checked again,
“Yes, madam!” came a more control voice, which is what she wanted to hear, and the screen cleared.

INEFFICIENTFY!!, Technology has come so far, yet, the people never change!, After all the years and money pump it, to educate the young that are born in the New World, on the galatic code, the mission to save earth from further destruction and how maintaining teamwork and well-rounded workforce is important for the Station 1 to run smoothly, Yet it all seems like a waste when you have personnel like this!!


0500 HOURS
GALATIC FEDERATION BASE STATION
ARION, SUB-LEVEL 1

“Officer Steven, what’s the status”? divya asked

“Helen III, seem to have developed a virus inside her, but we can’t really detect its exact location. Its slowly infecting the other functions that she operates. Everytime we get rid of one virus! A new one turns up, each one totally different from its kind.

Divya looked at the officer reporting to her and to the display screen above. “Lets see the list of virus so far and when did this start occurring?”
“0430 hours, before I reported to you madam” Steven said.
“And Officer Payne wasn’t around at that time?”
“He had an urgent mission to attend to, told me to take charge until he returns, he received a message from Captain Deepak Malhotra madam” steven said.
“Really, since when did SWAT need programmers on field expedition” divya questioned. “What are the sections affected?”
Just as she thought, the system is reacting to the virus test they did yesterday on Helen III, it’s a new program she work on yesterday, Payne was suppose to monitor it and insert the anti-program is there was any problem or if it was reacting badly, apparently he didn’t!! And the virus spread like wildfire, luckily only a small part of it was affected.

A screen appeared in front of her, the list of files rolling, Helen III is running from a different location right now, she said without averting her gaze.
“Yes, we manage to isolate the parts affected form the non-affected parts” steven replied proudly.
She glance at him for a second, ‘all that money didn’t go to waste after all’ she thought.
“so far, we have a total of 300 different kind of viruses, generated from a single virus, what’s the time period of multiplying?”
“every 5 seconds” steven replied.
“right, start installing patch no. 141-antiprogram on Helen III now, and check and see if the rest of Helen III is clean or not again, officer. This should stop the multiplying of viruses on the isolated parts. Did you scan Helen I and II for the same? Do those if you haven’t officer, report to me if Helen III does not stop multiplying within the next five seconds” ordered.
“Now, officer” she said looking at him standing speechless in front of her
“Yes, madam” he replied
“And, officer steven, its Lieutenant”
“Yes, Lieutenant” he replied and hurried off.
Divya turned her attention to the screen, Firewall unit, Officer John please” she requested
“Good morning Lieutenant, how may I help you?” John appeared
“Good morning,  I’m installing the patch no.141-antiprogram, on the test we ran yesterday on Helen III, it seems officer Payne has neglect to insert it so we have a few affected parts this morning, I’m sending you the codes and filename. Quarantine and monitor it will you officer”
“Yes, Lieutenant, thought will slow things down a bit on the communication side”
“I know, we will just have to work as fast as we can to fix it, thank you officer” she said and cleared the screen.