Prologue

Jason landed hard next to the burning building. He scanned the carnage
looking for someone. He found her propped against a boulder, covered in
blood from twelve bullet wounds. She slowly opened her eyes when Jason
grabbed her hand.
“I’m here, don’t worry. Every thing is going to be all right. What the hell
happened?” He asked.
“We were attacked without warning during the meeting, by Warriors. We
managed to get your sister away before they overpowered us.” Lauren said,
gasping in pain. Jason breathed a quick sigh of relief, that Sabrina was ok.

There was a thud as someone else landed close by. Jason picked up Lauren’s
Glock and checked the clip. It was full.
“Jason, It’s me, Robert!” A figure said coming toward him. He spotted his
sister, and rushed to her side.
“Is there anything we can do to help?” Robert asked, tears in his eyes. Jason
shook his head.
“I’m not a Hunter remember.” Jason replied.
“But you can fly, just like Hunters and Warriors!” Robert said, desperation in
his voice. Jason’s watch beeped. It was now 3 in the morning, on his 19th
birthday.

Jason doubled over as a gut-wrenching pain overtook his body. His hands
and feet went numb and he became lightheaded. Robert jumped back as
Jason began throwing up. The pain continued, this time in his right arm. He
pulled up his shirt sleeve and watched as a black skull with an R in each eye
socket began appearing. As suddenly as it had started it ceased.

“What the hell just happened?” Robert asked.

“I don’t know, but it sure as hell hurt.” Jason said. He snapped back to
reality when Lauren grabbed his hand.
“Jason, we found out what you are. You are a Reaper. The Warriors hate the
Reapers more than they hate us Hunters. You need to fi-” She began
convulsing, as her body fought for air. She went stiff, and then was no more.

“You bastard will pay for this!” Robert shouted at the top of his lungs as he
picked up a rock the size of a basketball and hurled at the burning building.
Jason bowed his head, as he closed Lauren’s eyes. The sun was starting to
rise, and a chill wind was blowing. The time now read 3:30.
“Screaming you head off wont help anything!” Jason snapped at Robert.
“Oh, that’s easy for you to say! I just lost my sister. I’m gonna go blow those
bastards to hell!” Robert said still shouting. He check the shotgun he had
strapped to his back, and then flew off in the direction of the sunrise.

Jason gently lifted Lauren’s body and flew her home.

Chapter 1
1 year later
Jason picked up his books and left the room. His professor had been boring
as usual. As he walked down the hallway girls stopped talking and turned to
stare. He figured that starting at a community college was probably the best
way to get accustomed back to reality. For the past month he had been
waking up in the middle of the night covered in sweat. Dreams floated in his
head during the day.

“Damn.” He muttered as soon as he walked outside and spotted the black

limo. The door opened and Jason entered.
“You know the drill.” The man inside said, taking a long drawl on his cigar.
“Hell yeah, I do.” Jason muttered under his breath as a blindfold was placed
over his eyes.
“Care for a cigar?” The man asked.
“I think I’ll pass on that BS.” Jason replied. They rode the rest of the way in
silence.

After a thirty minute drive Jason received his sight again. He stepped out of
the limo and into the bright sunlight, before being ushered into a large brick
building, down several flights of stairs and through a labyrinth of tunnels. A
hispanic man built like a tank roughly frisked him and removed Jason’s
fighting knife. Passing through five metal detectors he was given his knife
back.

Jason made his way into a restroom before heading to Room 225B. He
stepped in front of a mirror and looked at his reflection. At 20 years of age,
he had black hair, brown eyes, and stood about 5’ 9” His cell-phone buzzed.
It was a reminder of what day it was. Today marked the one year
anniversary of Lauren’s death.
“I’m going to have to go buy flowers for her grave.” He thought. Splashing
water onto his face, he let it drip into the sing as he thought of why he was
here.
There was a knock on the door. Jason quickly dried his hands a left for his
meeting with Richard Walker. Richard met Jason at the door and ushered
him into his office.
“Why do you make yourself out for hire?” Richard asked.

Richard was in his early forties and had moved from England six years ago.
He still had a British accent, even though he had tried to Americanize
himself. This was the twentieth time Jason had come to Richard’s office.

“Do we have to go over this every time I come?” Jason asked. Richard
thought for a second before nodding a yes.
“Sorry, I just like how pissed you get when I ask that question.” Richard said
picking up a blue folder, but was interrupted by Jason’s cell-phone ringing.
Jason ignored it. Richard continued.
“I don’t have any work for you right now, but I do have some files I want
you to go over There have been a few reports of Zombie sightings. There
have been a few attacks reported, but seriously, Zombies are just a thing for
Hollywood movies.” Jason took the folder just as his phone rang again. He
answered it and was on for two minutes.

“I have to take my sister Sabrina to the Katy Mills mall.” Jason sighed as he
hung up.
“Do you mind taking my daughters with you?” Richard asked. Jason agreed.
“These are for your new set of wheels.” He added, tossing Jason a set of
keys. Jason left the room with the keys and folder.

Jason found Teresa on the first floor waiting for him.

“Where is Brianna?” He asked. Teresa pointed to a closed door, where a lot
of shouting was coming from.
“She’s in there with her ex-boyfriend. The guy is so big, even security is
afraid to deal with him.” Teresa said. Teresa had brown hair and brown eyes,
and was slightly shorter than Jason.

Jason sighed as he walked toward the door. He opened it and walked in.
“Do you mind! We are kinda busy!” The guy snapped.
“Actually I do!” Jason replied. “Brianna, we’re leaving.” Brianna quickly left
the room.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” The guy asked.
“Someone you don’t want to mess with!” Jason replied threateningly. He
turned and strode briskly out the room.

It took them about 35 minutes to go pick up Jason’s sister. The vehicle they
were riding in, was a black Ford Edge. Brianna was sitting up front with
Jason.
“How fast are you driving?” Brianna asked as they passed other cars and
trucks.
“About 75.” Jason replied.
“What’s in this folder?” Sabrina asked. Jason gave her a look in the mirror
that told her not to open it.

After parking, the group headed inside to meet Sabrina’s school group.
“Do you have a weapon?” Sabrina whispered to Jason.
“Yeah, 45 cal. Desert Eagle. I have six extra clips on me, and Teresa and
Brianna are each carrying an extra box of bullets in their purse. How about
you?” He asked.
“Yup, 9 mm. Glock, four extra clips, and two boxes of bullets in my purse.
You never know when we might run into some stubborn jackass.” Sabrina
replied laughing.

It was mostly girls that came with the school group, except for three guys.
Andrew, Nicholas, and Jared.
“At lest we have and older guy.” Nicholas said. Jason glared at him.
“You know what would be really freaky, a Zombie attack in the mall.” Jared
said.

Chapter 2
Kristen watched Jason approach the tables. He had a had a slice of pizza and
a bottle of green tea. She motioned to an empty seat next to her, but he
walked by and sat at a table with two girls she hadn’t met before.“Sorry, he
seems to ignore most girls these days.” Sabrina said.

Jason shook the bottle and slowly opened it. Brianna switched sides and sat
next to him.
“You seem to be under a lot of stress.” Teresa said.
“My radio keeps buzzing like crazy. I just wish they would leave me alone.”
Jason sighed.
“I wonder what happened to that lady the medical units were looking at.”
Brianna said. Jason’s head snapped up.
“What happened?” He asked.
“It looks like someone had bitten her on the arm. There was blood all over.”
Jared said joining the conversation.

“Got to go, be back soon.” Jason said, before racing off to the medical
station. The door to get in was partly open. Jason stepped in, and nearly
slipped. The floor was covered in blood. The room was dimly lit my one
working light. Someone grabbed him from behind and put a hand over his
mouth.
“What the hell!” Jason whispered spinning around. The security guard
franticly put a finger to his lips, but it was to late. There was a low moan
from one of the rooms and young women and male medic came limping
down the hallway. Jason whipped out his Desert Eagle and put a bullet
through each of their foreheads. The security guard let out a yelp as the
secretary rose from behind the desk and tried to bite him. Jason hurled his
fighting knife, which caught the women dead between the eyes.

“Did any one else that was bitten leave this area?” Jason asked the guard as
he whipped blood off his face.
“They were dressed in all black, and had an W tattooed on the back of their
neck. They made the women bite them.” The guard replied.

Jason swore as he sprinted back toward his group.

“Why are you covered in blood?” Brianna asked.
“Jared just got his damn wish.” Jason said. Someone grabbed him from
behind. It was a young boy bleeding from a bite wound in the neck. Jason
shoved the boy away.
“Hey, what the hell?” Jared said, but stopped when he saw the blood. The
boy lunged at Kristen, but dropped to the floor, when Jason severed his head
with his fighting knife.

☣☣☣☣☣☣☣☣

Jason snapped back to reality when Kristen kissed him on the lips.
“What the hell just happened?” He asked. Trying to stand, he found that he
was tied up.
“It was the weirdest thing ever.” Kristen said, untying him.
“After you killed the boy, you blacked out, then these four guys in blood red
body armor came up to us and gave us an injection. They said something
about it stopping the virus. Apparently it makes you lust for the shedding of
blood.” Brianna said.
“Oh wow!” Nicholas said, trying to sound scary. Kristen slapped him. Jason
looked around and found that they were in a storage room.
“We are in the Bass Pro shop.” Teresa said. Jason unholstered a Remington
12 gauge shot gun from his back. Sabrina gave him a questioning look.
“You never told me you had this.” She whispered. Jason just winked back at
her. As soon as he had left the room, Brianna locked the door.
“Ok, what the hell is going on here?” Nicholas asked.
“I don’t have time to answer the question.” Brianna replied. She whipped out
her K-Bar and began slashing open boxes looking for something. She nodded
to Teresa, who also began rummaging through the boxes. After about 5
minutes Teresa spoke up.
“Found them!” She said, opening a box of hunting knives.

There was a knock on the door, and Jason asked to be let back in the room.
Jennifer opened the door, and after Jason entered, Jason held up a large
Diamond, and Sapphire.
“The two infected Warriors I found had these on them.” Jason said. Shana
had been watching Jason’s eyes.
“What’s wrong with your eyes?” Shana asked.
“My scope chip was fried, when they injected the chemical into me. So
basically, I can see every thing that the Dragon Scopes would have allowed
me to.” Jason said.
“That’s awesome!” Andrew said.
“Hell no!” Jason replied.

Jason rummaged the shotgun shells until he found what he wanted. He

loaded the Remington and then placed extra shells in special pockets in his
trench coat. He placed the shotgun against his back and the magnetic lock
caught it.
“I always wondered why you wore a trench coat.” Haley said.
“well now you know why.” Sabrina said loading a pump action 22. Rifle.

Brianna’s cell phone rang. She answered it, and then handed it to Jason.
“It’s Bonnie.” She whispered. Jason took it and talked to Bonnie for a few
minutes and then hung up.
“Ok, listen up! I have friend of mine, who says, that they are holed up in a
hospital near us. They say that the virus is widespread. So, we need to
exercise extreme cation. While I was out, I spotted an abandoned
Ambulance. I have the keys so, we should have a ride that will hold all of
us.” Jason said, giving a short prep talk. Sabrina rolled her eyes. Jason
always gave these speeches before a mission.

Jason pumped the 22. Rifle and slowly opened the door. They left the room
in groups of four. Jason, Kristen, Shana and Nicholas, who was also armed
with a 22. Rifle. Sabrina, Haley, Jared, and Kathy. And then Brianna,
Jennifer, Teresa and Andrew.

“It’s to quiet.” Jason whispered to Kristen. Every one followed his lead, as he
threw himself to the floor. Up ahead of them was a group of “Zombies.”
“This is probably the stupidest thing I have ever done.” Jason said. From
within his trench coat, he produced eight throwing stars. They were slightly
thicker than normal. With deadly accuracy, Jason hurled them into the
clustered bodies. They struck in different areas throughout the pack. Brianna
pulled out a pack of cigarets, and tugged slightly on one that was
protruding. There was a muffled explosion, and blood and body parts went
flying. They quickly rushed for the exit and made it outside, before more
creatures started coming for them.

“Dammit!” Jason hissed as he put a 22. Bullet though one of the creatures
eyes. He tossed Jennifer the rifle and grabbed two of the hunting knives
from Brianna.
“Go!” He shouted to them, tossing the keys to Teresa. He turned back, and
began slashing away at the creatures.

The kids made it to the vehicle and started it up. Brianna watched as the
knife blades started glowing in Jason’s hands. He waited till the vehicle was
almost to the exit before hurling the knifes forward. A wave of energy pulsed
from the knives, slicing the creatures in half, as they flew through the air. He
took off at a dead spring for the Ambulance and launched himself though the
back door. He pulled his hands toward himself, and the doors slammed shut.

Chapter 3
Jason awoke the next morning to the warmth of a body lying next to him
“Uh, yeah. Bonnie decided to share a cot with you last night, after she
couldn’t find one for herself.” Brianna said in a sad voice. She paused to look
out the window at the falling snow.
“Snow, in Texas!” Jason asked startled. Bonnie sat up shivering.
“I’m sorry if I surprised you.” Bonnie said.
“How strong are the windows?” Jason asked.
“They were designed to last against hurricanes and tornados, so I think they
will last against a pack of bloodthirsty humans.” Teresa said, coming into the
room with two cups of coffee. She handed them to Bonnie and Jason. She
then left the room, closely followed by Brianna.
“I’m sorry if I went to far.” Bonnie said. Jason ran a hand through her
reddish brown hair.
“It’s fine, don’t worry about it.” Jason replied.

He sprawled back on the cot, and stared at the celling. Bonnie lay beside
him, with her head on his chest. She was barely a year younger than him.
Kristen poked her head in the room, but quickly left when she saw the two of
them. She went and looked for Sabrina.

The other girls stopped their conversation long enough to hear Kristen out.
Sabrina shook her head.
“Go figure, Jason would be smart enough to keep a relationship hidden from
me.” Sabrina said. She left the room and headed to Jason. Sabrina lead
Jason onto the roof and began lecturing him.
“What the hell! Dammit, this is none of your business.” Jason responded
hotly.
“Shit! It actually does become some of my business when that other person
who likes you, happens to be my best friend.
“For your information, we aren’t even dating. We just happen to be really
good friends. What the hell is every ones problem. They don’t need to know
who I like.” Jason said. He stormed away to look over the railing, at the
snow covered ground. He sighed.

☣☣☣☣☣☣☣☣

Back inside the hospital, Jason shook off the snow from his boots. He made
his way to the weapons locker. He grabbed a .50 caliber Desert Eagle with
six extra clips. He also grabbed a SIG556 HOLO with four extra clips.
“Going somewhere?” Brianna asked coming up behind him.
“Yeah, getting the hell out of here. I’m sick of this bull shit!” Jason replied.
He closed the locker door and left the room.

The guards at the sliding door stood to their feet when Jason approached.
They unlocked the door and let him out. He turned and gave Brianna a hug
and kiss on the forehead, before heading away. Brianna quickly headed
inside.

“He did what!” Sabrina shouted.

“He left because you F-ing pissed him off.” Brianna said.
“Don’t act like you know my brother better than me!” Sabrina said. Brianna
swore under her breath and stormed out of the room.
“The little bitch thinks she knows every thing about her brother. He never
tells her anything.” Brianna grumbled to Teresa.
“Just don’t let her get under your skin.” Teresa replied.
“This is all my fault.” Bonnie sighed.

☣☣☣☣☣☣☣☣

Jason walked away from the hospital. The sun was shinning and the weather
was really warm, yet there was still snow on the ground. He walked across
the parking lot and walked down Fry Road. The ground began shaking, and
Jason sprinted to hide behind a truck. Two MW-46 came into view. One of
the machines was piloted by a Warrior, and one by a Hunter. Something
wasn’t right, they were followed by twelve humans walking in twos, and
chained together. Another pair of MW-46 lead the rear.
“Shit!” Jason said under his breath. He had only one chance. His eyes
zoomed in and out as he took aim. He fired twice, and both of the MW-46
close to him stopped moving, as their drivers slumped to the ground. Blood
flowed from both the entry and exit hole in their head. The other machines
whirled around. Jason squeezed off another shot killing one before the
Warrior spotted him and opened fire with his gatling gun. Jason threw a
smoke grenade and rushed forward. He launched himself in the air, whipping
out his fighting knife.

The warrior barley had time to glance up before Jason landed on the
machine and thrust his knife into the Warriors chest. He quickly searched the
bodies and found the key. After unlocking the people. Four of the men
climbed into the machines and oriented themselves to the controls.

Jason heard the roar, before he saw the space-jet. He pulled two of the girls
closest to him to the ground just before and explosion shook the ground.
Two of the MW-46 had been destroyed, with only one of the gatling guns still
operable. Jason rushed toward it, as gunfire raked the ground behind him.
He grabbed it, and ripped it off the machine. The two remaining machines
were blown up in another explosion. The remaining survivors huddled
together, praying that their end would be quick.

Jason aimed the gun at the space-jet, his eyes connecting with the built in
gun scope. The jet turned around to make another pass. His eyes zoomed in
as close as the scope would go. Jason pulled the trigger and rained hell on
the space-jet. The pilot pulled up to avoid fire, only to be hit in the engines.
The jet went into a dive and slammed hard into the ground.

The survivors had gather around an elderly women, who appeared to be

their leader.
“Your a warrior, aren’t you?” Jason said.
“I used to be. I was a high ranking official, before the Grechlings came.” She
said, “They offered us Frilogs, and high-tech armor and weapons. All we had
to do was work for them. Their goal was to take over the world, and enslave
the humans.” Everyone looked up when they heard frilogs. Frilogs was the
world currency, by which any thing could be bought.
“Let me guess. You refused.” Jason said. The women nodded.
“They then had my whole family seized. They were taking us to the lab,
when you rescued us.” The women added.

Jason looked around. He was the only grown male. He swore softly under his
breath. He then lead the people back to the hospital. The guards gave Jason
a surprised look, before opening the doors. Sabrina meet Jason as he walked
to the cafeteria.
“Can it!” Jason snapped, when she opened her mouth.

In the cafeteria, one of the guards handed him a bottle of Guinness.

“Jason, your not old enough to drink!” Sabrina shouted at him.
“Why don’t you shut the hell up!” Jason shot back. Sabrina’s boyfriend stood
up. He walked over and slapped the bottle out of Jason’s hand. Sabrina’s
boyfriend was 22, four years older than Sabrina. He grabbed Jason by collar
and yanked him to his feet.
“You will show respect to that girl, who I happen to cherish dearly.” He
whispered to Jason.
“Let me go.” Jason said.
“You’r not listening.” The guy said. Jason shot out his hand and whirled the
guy around, slamming his face onto the table. He stormed out of the room
pissed off. He grabbed the keys to the red truck.

“If you killed him, I’ll never forgive you!” Sabrina shouted across the room at
him.
“I don’t give a damn if he lives or dies.” Jason replied. The door opened and
he left again. He used the keys to open the truck which belonged to his
sisters boyfriend. He placed a pack of C-4 on the steering wheel and closed
the door. Walking away, he pushed the button, blowing up the vehicle. He
walked the way back to his house.

Upon reaching his house he headed inside, to back a bag of clothes, and
supplies. He had just closed the front door, when he heard a scream come
from across the street. He reached the door, and heard it coming from
inside. The door was locked, which he fixed by kicking it in. He found his
neighbors daughter curled on the couch. White wisps whirled over her. He
dove across the floor and flipped the table over her just as several thuds hit
the table. The whips let out a screech and then vanished. Jason grabbed
Janna’s hand and hurried up the stairs. They bolted into her room and
slammed the door shut.
“What the hell was that?” Janna asked.
“A Grechling hunter.” Jason whispered. Jason closed his eyes and then slowly
opened them. He saw through the walls and watched as the creature walked
up the stairs.
“What’s wrong with your eyes?” Janna asked. Jason didn’t reply, but pointed
his gun at the wall. He waited till the hunters head was visible, then pulled
the trigger. The bullet tore through the wall and then punched though the
creatures skull. Another came up, and Jason put the next bullet though the
same hole. A plasma blast blew a huge whole though the wall.
Jason pulled his hand back and then thrust it forward, sending a wave of
energy, that cut through the next two creatures. Blood sprayed against the
wall.
“We had better go, before more show up.” Jason said.
“There are more?” Janna timidly asked. Jason nodded.
“A helluva lot more.” He added.

Jason lead her across the street back to his house. He opened the garage
and brought out his Speed-bike.
“Will that carry both of us?” Janna asked. Jason again nodded. Janna
climbed on behind him, and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist. They
speed across the snow, and out onto the empty streets.
“Where are we going?” Janna asked over the com-link. Jason remained silent
for moment.
“Someplace I’m hoping is still safe.” He said. They were now on the
interstate, and heading west.

About half an hour later, they came to a large house, that was surrounded
by a 6 foot thick wall, that was 18 feet tall. The gate was made of reinforced
titanium.
"Just how do you expect to get inside?" Janna asked. Jason attached his gun
to the magnetic hook, and then scooped up Janna. He crouched down and
then launched himself over the wall. A few seconds later the Speed-bike
came gliding over the wall.
"And why couldn't you have just done that instead of jumping?" Janna
asked. Jason ignored her.

They found themselves in a large front yard. Janna had just taken a step,
when a spot of ground in front of her exploded.
"Shit!" Jason hissed. He grabbed Janna and dove behind a water fountain.
"Is that you Jason?" A voice called out.
"Yes, it is Megan! Call off the damn sniper." Jason responded.

Megan was about to respond when the window she was standing next to
shattered.
"Sniper!" A voice shouted. Jason's eye's were going crazy as they scanned
for the trouble. He spotted a tree that looked into the yard. The sniper was
sitting there patiently waiting for it's target.
"When I tell you to run, run like hell. I will give you cover, make it to the
other side of the stairs that lead to the front door." Jason whispered to
Janna. She nodded.

Jason took a deep breath and then sprang up firing his SIG 556.
"Run!" He shouted. One of his bullets stuck the sniper, who leapt into the
yard. It took Jason a few second to recognize the Sniper class. It was a
mixture of both a Hunter and Warrior. The man swung his fist into Jason's
stomach and sent him flying into the water fountain. Jason landed for a split
second, before launching himself into the air. Jason hovered in front of the
side flag pole. The Hunter-Warrior crouched down and then launched himself
at Jason. At the last second, Jason flew out of the way, and the Sniper
impaled himself on the sharp point of the flag pole.

To Jason's astonishment the man broke the flag pole off and pulled it out of
himself. He aimed it as a spear, and was about to throw it when there was a
spray of red from the side of his head, and he dropped to the ground. Jason
glanced around and found a girl holding the SIG 556. He landed beside her,
and was surprised to find Kristen.
"How the heck did you get here?" Jason asked.
"Well, when you left, your sister started acting like a bitch, so, I called my
friend Meredith, and she had her brother come pick me up. We got here like
15 minutes before you did." Kristen said. Jason hooked the gun to his back
and then gave Kristen a hug.
“You always like to give a grand entrance.” Megan said shaking her head.
“You went to school with me for a year. I never tried to be amazing. Well,
maybe once, when I was trying to grab the attention of Mercy.” Jason said
laughing. They walked up the stairs and into the house. The entered the
large ornately decorated entry hall. Jason bent to remove his boots and
winced at the pain in his side.

“Are you ok?” Kristen asked. Jason nodded sitting down. He slowly removed
his boots and then followed the others into the family room. He sat on the
couch, and Kristen came and sat next to him.
“I’m gonna need to take a look at your side.” Megan said. Kristen scooted
out of the way as Jason lay on his side.

Chapter 4

Megan lifted Jason’s shirt and took a look. Jason had a huge bruise on his
right side. Kristen gently pressed on it. Jason winced.
“I think you have some broken ribs.” Kristen said. Jason let out a grunt of
pain as he clenched his hands into fists. The black and blue color slowly
faded away.
“What the hell just happened?” Megan asked.

“Uh, yeah. I can also heal myself so it seams.” Jason sighed. He stood to his
feet and cracked his knuckles.
“Can I get you any thing to drink?” Meredith asked.
“I’ll take a coke.” Janna said. Meredith look at Jason, who just shook his
head no.

Kristen followed Jason to his room. Jason dropped to his knees as pain filled
his head. He reached for the Scope-implant. His skin had sealed over the
chip slot. He quickly explained to Kristen what he needed her to do.

Kristen slowly lifted the knife. Jason used his watch projector to show
Kristen the image. He had, at the tip of his spine, a small microchip.
“They started using microchips, that change the way your eyes work. You
zoom, as if you were using a scope. It also enabled you to see night vision,
inferred, and thermal. In the newer chips, it also kept count of your ammo.”
Jason said.
“And you want me to put a knife to your spine!” Kristen shouted. Janna
poked her head into the room.

“Megan said, that I might have to share a room with you.” Janna said to
Jason.
“Sure, you can take the bed. I’ll just sleep on the floor.” Jason started to say,
but stopped when the knife cut into his skin.
“I think I’m gonna be sick.” Kristen said as she pulled out the microchip. As
she turned to wash the chip off, Jason’s skin healed.She whipped the blood
off the back of his neck and kissed him on the head.

Jason went into the bathroom and took a hot shower. He closed his eyes as
the water fell on his face. It felt good to have control of his eyes. He opened
them and gasped, as he found that he still had control of the scope-system.
“Dammit!” He hissed. Finishing his shower he dried off and headed to the
computer.

He began researching on the scope-system. He found an article on it. It was

now being called Dragon-scope. The article went on to explain that the
second generation microchips were injected at the tip of the subjects spine.
Slowly the body grew accustomed to the change, then a year later the
microchip was removed. The brain, eyes and nerves had by then been
enhanced and were able to operate by themselves without needing the chip.
“Son of a-” Jason started to say, but stopped when Megan 8 year old sister
came into the room. He swore under his breath.
“You alright?” Megan asked. Jason shook his head.
“No, Meg, it seems those (blanks) really screwed with my eyes.” Jason said,
glancing at Rachel. Megan swore under her breath.

“Is there any thing we can do?” Janna asked coming and putting her arms
around Jason. Jason stood up and went and sat next to Kristen.
“No, not without placing a new microchip in my head.” He replied.
“And if that also requires me putting a knife to you head I flat out refuse!”
Kristen sharply stated. Jason held his hands up in surrender. Laughing
Kristen tackled Jason on the couch. She pinned him down.

Jason closed his eyes, and they floated in the air, as Jason maneuvered
himself on top. He then pinned Kristen down.
“No fair.” She said laughing. She tapped him where his bruise use to be, and
Jason winced slightly. He sat back.
“I’m so sorry!” Kristen said wrapping her arms around him. Janna and
Megan exchanged glances.
“I’ll go see what I can make for dinner.” Megan said.
“I’ll help.” Janna said. The two girls quickly left the room.
“Well, that was weird.” Meredith said.
“I believe that they think you like me.” Kristen slowly said. Jason cleared his
throat.
“Wait, are you saying?” Meredith asked.
“I choose to remain silent on this one.” Jason said. Kristen glanced out the
window, a look of sadness on her face.

Jason’s cell phone rang. He glanced at the screen. It was Sabrina.

“F-en Son-of-a-Bitch.” Jason sighed. He thought of refusing the call, but
picked in the end, he answered. It was Shana calling to see if he was all
right. It turned out his sister was going crazy, and saying that Jason never
really loved his family.

“She’s acting like a really annoying bitch.” Shana whispered.

“Tell me something new. I had to grow up with her. Her twin brother Derek is
just as annoying. He got married last year. I haven’t talked to him since
then. I also refuse to stay at the house when he and his wife come to visit.”
Jason said.
“Well, he is also here with his wife.” Shana sighed.
“I’ll call you back later on you own phone.” Jason said before hanging up.

Chapter 5

Dinner started out quiet, as every one was getting used to each other. Jason
took a bite of his salad, and looked over at Kristen. She caught his eye, then
quickly looked down.
“Does your dad still have the blood dummies?” Jason asked Megan.
“Yeah, I think he has about ten in the gym out back.” She said.
“How long do you think we will remain safe out here?” Richard asked.
Meredith looked at her brother.
“I don’t know. I do know, that if we can make it to one of the portals that
were set up as a form of evacuation in case of invasion, we should be safe.”
Jason said.
“But there isn’t a portal within a hundred mile radius of us.” Megan said.
“There is. It’s about thirty miles north of us. The only problem is, that they
abandoned it shortly after they finished it. There are no roads, and it is
hidden deep within the Dark Woods.” Jason said.
“Shit! I new there had to be a problem.” Richard sighed.

After dinner Jason cornered Megan.

“Where the hell are your parents?” He asked.
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen them in over a week.” Megan said, starting to
cry. Jason swore and gave Megan a hug.

Kristen later found Jason in the gym. He stood in front of a blood dummy. In
a flash, Jason whipped out a fighting knife and made two slashes. One, that
ran across the chest, and one at the throat. The skin at the chest separated
and started bleeding. A thin red line ran over the throat and then the head
fell off.
“Remind me not to get on your bad side.” Kristen said laughing. Jason smiled
at her and sheathed his knife.

Kristen had pulled her brown hair into a ponytail.

“What?” She asked, catching him staring at her.
“Oh, nothing.” Jason said. He walked over to the gun lock. He pulled out an
AR-15 and loaded a fresh clip into it. In the right corner of his vision, Jason
saw the weapon and ammo count.

“Kristen started the targets. Without even pulling the gun to his shoulders,
Jason scored all bull's-eyes. After emptying the clip, Jason cleaned the gun
and put it away. He crashed on the couch in the gym and turned on the TV.
Kristen sat on the other side of the couch and gave a side glance at Jason.
Jason held out his hand, and Kristen scooted to his side. Jason held her as
they watched the news, until they both fell asleep.

Jason awoke an hour later. He stood to his feet and looked at his watch. It
read 1:25 AM. Jason ran a hand through his hair. He looked at Kristen, and
his mind drifted to Bonnie. He pulled out his phone and called her. After the
sixth ring a groggy female voice answered. Jason gave her a place to meet
him. As he hung up Kristen stirred slightly.
The wind blew through Jason's hair as he flew through the air. He landed
softly on top of the McDonald's building, and rested against the vent. There
was a soft thud, as Bonnie landed beside him. They stared at each other for
a second, before Jason pulled her toward him. Their lips met and they
kissed. Bonnie followed Jason back to the house.

The next morning the others awoke to find Bonnie there. Kristen gave Jason
a quizzical look. She pulled him aside.
"What happened last night?" She asked.
"I finally realized who I truly liked. In the end your more like a younger
sister to me." Jason whispered. Kristen started to reply but then stopped. He
headed into the kitchen.

Megan stopped him and started to open her mouth.

"F-en can it. I know. It was really shitty of me to do that. " Jason sighed.
"You SOB. Fortunately for you, we will need the extra help in getting to the
portal." Megan hissed to him.

Chapter 6

The meal at breakfast was even quieter than the meal the other night.
Megan whispered something to Jason who nodded in agreement.
“Megan thinks it would be best if tonight is our last night we spend here.
Around 6:30 tomorrow, we will leave for the portal.” Jason said. After they
had cleared the dishes away, Jason tolled Kristen to follow him out to the
garage.

As they stepped on the training mat, Jason tossed two fighting knives to
Kristen.
“Hit me.” He said.
“What the hell?” Kristen said.
“Megan says I have to train you to fight. My cuts will heal, and the blades
I’m using are blunt, and wont cut.” Jason said. Kristen flipped one blade
down and the other one up.

She made her attacks quick. Two slashes, always followed up by parries.
Jason stepped to the side, as one of Kristen’s blades raked against his side.
Blood flowed for a second and then stopped. She did a spinning crescent
kick, knocking one of his blades out of his hand, quickly followed by a strong
side kick to the chest.

Jason used the moment as he flew back, to do a back flip. He came perched
on the wall and then flipped over Kristen. Before she had time to react,
Jason had his blade at her throat. They both stepped away breathing heavily.
“Dammit.” Jason sighed, looking at his torn shirt.

Jason nodded toward the rifle range. On the table he had set aside an AR-
15. Coming back from the gun rack with his own AR-15, he went on to show
Kristen how load the rifle, and how to fix it if it jammed. After that, Jason
ran her through a vigorous target practice. By the end of the forth round,
she could hit each target dead smack in the middle.

“Megan want’s me to teach you hand to hand fighting, but that goes against
my hitting a girl rule.” Jason said.
“That doesn’t mean I can’t attack you though.”Kristen said laughing. She
lashed out with a series of vicious blows, followed by a spin hook kick.

Jason blocked them all, but at the last moment, he failed to see the elbow
strike. He staggered back dazed. Kristen launched herself into the air, and
did a jump spick kick. Jason dove out of the way, and let Kristen’s boot
punch through the wall.

Jason caught Kristen before she fell to the floor. He looked at the hole in the
wall.
“Megan’s going to have my head for this.” Jason sighed as he looked at the
damage. Bonnie interrupted to let them know it was lunch time.

They had just started to sit down to eat when Meredith noticed Jason’s torn
shirt.
“What the hell happened?” She asked.
“That’s what happens when you let a girl handle a sharp object.” Jason said.
He winced as Kristen kicked him under the table.
“Uh, Jason. If you haven’t noticed, we are the only guys here.” Richard said.
Jason nodded an agreement.

“So, Kristen. How well do you think your doing in the training?” Megan
asked.
“She freaking drew blood on one of her knife swings.” Jason said. The others
burst out laughing.
They finished eating and dispersed in separate directions. Jason went to his
room, and crashed on the couch.

He awoke around 2 in the morning. As he started to rise, he found Bonnie

lying on the floor. He looked to the bed where Janna lay. Jason gently lifted
Bonnie onto the couch. He headed down the stairs and into the family room.
The TV was still on, and as Jason bent to pick up the remote Kristen sat up.

“You have a bounty on your head.” She whispered.

“What the hell?” Jason asked. Kristen fumbled with the remote and brought
a news show she had recorded. The show was promoting a 5 million Frilogs
bounty for Jason. Dead or alive.
“Shit!” Jason said. “Wake the others. We have to leave now.” Kristen was on
her feet in an instant. She bounded up the stairs and had every one awake
in a few minutes.

Chapter 7

Tree branches whipped at Meredith’s head as she and the others ran. She
checked to make sure the rope running from her to her brother was tight.
Kristen tripped over a log and went sprawling. As he ran past, Jason brought
her to her feet. In the distance behind them they heard a Space-Copter.

“Down!” Jason hissed. His eyes focused in on the Space-Copter, and he

watched as figures slid down ropes into the house yard. They continued on,
at a faster pace. Jason attached his SIG 556 HOLO to his back as he picked
up Rachel.
“Megan, how far from your house was that creep town?” Jason asked.
“At lest one and a half miles. Why do you ask?” She said. Jason pointed
ahead of them. Twelve rusty shacks stood in front of them. The group
quickly huddled up, with Rachel in the middle of them.

A sickly looking dog slowly limped past them. Jason snapped open his holo-
map.
“We’ve already gone eight miles.” He said.
“Then what the hell is this?” Richard asked.
“It looks like an abandoned oil pump.” Jason replied, scanning the shacks.

“If we run into any of the ‘zombie’ people, we are F-en screwed.” Megan
whispered. They continued on slowly this time. Jason glanced every
direction, using his night vision, thermal, and infrared. They crept on. Then
it happened.

The first creature appeared out of nowhere right in front of them. Jason
barley had time to sever it head before more rushed the group. Megan
grabbed her sister and launched herself on top of one shacks.
“Knives only! Jason shouted.
Kristen flipped over two of the creatures and cut their heads off. She was
grabbed from behind, but before the creature had time to bite her neck, a
knife sliced past Kristen’s head and caught the creature dead between the
eyes. Kristen pulled it out of the dead body and tossed it back to Bonnie.
“Thanks.” She said. Bonnie nodded her head.
Richard tossed Jason a rusty ax.
“Ok, it’s time to finish this.” Richard told Jason. Jason slammed the blade
into one of the creatures chest and then buried it deep into it’s skull. Blood
flew as Richard chopped off another ones leg. He then used the blunt side as
a hammer and crushed the skull open.

Jason approached the last ‘zombie’ twirling the ax around him. Then with
lightning speed and inhuman strength he swung the ax straight up between
the creatures legs and brought it out at the top of the creatures head. The
body fell to the ground in two.
The ground was slick with blood as the group left and hurried on their way.

Epilogue

They found the abandoned portal base around 4 in the morning the
next day. They had run 30 miles in 26 hours. It took Jason about an
hour to figure out how to start up the machine. He then rigged some
explosives to blow shortly after they entered.

The time was 5:45 when they entered the portal. Around 5:50 when a
Grechling satellite spotted the explosion Jason’s bombs made. Two
hours later when a group of Hunters and Warriors arrived at the scene
all they found was a pile of burning wreckage.

Kristen stood at the top of the hill over looking a vast plane. Rachel
stood next to her holding her hand. In the distance a city loomed.
“Welcome to the planet Morthleg.” Megan said.
“It will take a while before the Greachling’s are able to find a way to
reach us.” Jason said. “but this journey is far from over. It has just
started.”

Chapter 1
Earth six months later
Shana took a bite of salad and looked around the room. It had now
been six months since she had last talked to Jason. Since then the
population in the Hospital had tripled and now housed over three
hundred people. They had quickly learned that the Grechling’s would
leave them alone if they didn’t stray out after dark. As for the
‘zombies’, which they were now calling Nightmors, they could never
really predict what would happen with them.

Sabrina was pregnant, and every one seemed to ignore the fact that it
had happened outside of marriage. She was constantly bombarded
with praise and way overprotected. Jennifer came and sat beside
Shana.
“I really miss Jason. He would put Sabrina in her place and make her
boyfriend pay.” Jennifer said. Shana nodded.
“That bitch is really starting to annoy me. They all care to much about
Sabrina and are ignoring Brianna.” Shana said.

A month after they had lost contact with Jason, Brianna had married a
guy named Jacob. She was also pregnant, but was shown less
attention. The two girls left the cafeteria and headed to their room.
Shana turned the TV on and tuned it to a cartoon station. Jennifer
drifted off to sleep with the sun shinning on her face.

☣☣☣☣☣☣☣☣

Morthleg 6 months later

“President Greg Charter has been assassinated. His killer now clams
himself the ruler of Morthleg. As soldiers to the true leader, it is our
duty to put Charter’s son back in power. This is not just a fight for
what is right, but for a better tomorrow for our children and their
children.” Commander Walker said.

The sound of the missile detonating echoed off the walls. Jason pulled
Chris out of the way of flying shrapnel.
“That was close.” Chris said shaking the dust out of his shoulder length
dirty blond hair.
“What did you say your name was soldier?” Jason yelled over the
gunfire.
“My real name is Chris, but I go by Razor. I’m not a soldier. I’m a
bounty hunter that was just asked to help with the battle.” Chris said.
“what made you join the fight?”
“The girl I like ended up marring some other guy. So I don’t see any
other reason to stay around them.” Jason said. Just thinking about
Bonnie hurt.
“Sorry to hear that.” Chris said.

A soldier dove beside them and gave them the news that they were
moving up.
“Command wants you two to take back Sector C.” He said.
“Shit!” Jason sighed, he grabbed the Plasma Barrett from the man
then picked up a Plasma AR-15 that also had a grenade launcher. He
pushed a button and the AR-15 made a whistling as it reloaded.

Jason leapt over the low wall with Chris right behind him. After have
escaped Earth Jason and the others had quickly settled in on the new
planet. Shortly later Megan and Richard married and Bonnie had
married someone else two weeks later. Janna felt that no one loved
her, and spent most of the time in her room. She and Kristen were
sharing a house, along with Rachel and Meredith.

Jason covered Razor as he climbed the side of a building. After that

Jason crouched down and launched himself onto the roof. He rolled as
he landed and brought his rifle up at the ready.
“You never said what you are, or where you’r from.” Razor asked.

“My name is Jason Smith. I’m a Reaper, and I was originally from
Earth. Some stuff got F-ed over so I had to leave.” Jason said. Razor
used his binoculars to scan the area.
“We’ve got a Plasma Cannon about a 150 yards to our right.” Razor
said.
“I see it.” Jason replied. He switched to the Plasma Barrett and pulled
off four shots. Razor watched as he blew holes through the targets.

Razor swore under his breath. A Plasma rocket blew a chunk out of the
building underneath Razor, causing him to fall to the ground. He lay
there dazed for a split second. Soldiers rushed to attack him. He
flipped over two of the soldiers and slit their throats with his fighting
knives. A grenade knocked him off his feet and his knives flew from his
hands.
The soldier who had throw the grenade walked up and put the barrel
of his Plasma Desert Eagle against Razors forehead. A shrill whistle
from behind caused him to turn around. Jason used his boot to launch
one of Razor’s knives into the air. He spun it around his hand and then
hurled it into the soldiers chest. Blood soaked the pavement where the
soldier fell.

Razor whipped the blood off the knife and the picked up his second
one. A call from command came to Jason’s com-link.
“This is Jason Smith. We are now entering Sector C.” He said.

Chapter 2
“So, what the hell is so special about Sector C?” Chris asked. He had
stated that when they were not in battle he was to be called Chris.
Jason looked over to him from where he lay on a cot. They had holed
up in a small apartment building waiting for night to fall.

“Sector C is where the weapon dealers and Black Market ports are
held.” Jason replied, taking a sip of some cheap wine. He had taken
the bottle from an abounded room next door. He reach for the bottle
again but was stopped by a sharp glare from Chris.
“Just because your girlfriend left you for some other loser, doesn’t
mean you have to keep drowning your sorrows.” Chris said.

He picked up the bottle and read the label.

“Besides, this is cooking wine.” He added. Chris went and poured the
half empty bottle into the sink.
Jason sighed as he began a diagnostic test on the Plasma AR-15.
Green lights blinked and he pushed the ammo clip button.

There was a soft whistle and the clip recharged.

“So exactly how the hell do these clips work?” Chris asked. Jason
shrugged his shoulders.
“They take something out of the air to help recharge the clip. So, you
hardly ever have to put a fresh charge clip in.” He said. Chris nodded
his head, as if he understood.
Jason went to the sink and splashed cold water on his face. He let the
water drip into the sink as he stared at his reflection. He used a towel
to scrub the dirt and grim off his face. Then he used a laser razor to do
a quick shave.
“Shit!” Jason hissed as the building shook from a blast landing nearby.

Chris opened the metal blinds and looked outside. The light was
beginning to fade and long shadows appeared.
“It’s about time.” Chris said. Jason nodded and ran a careful eye over
his weapons.
“Let’s do this.” Jason said. They opened the door and left the building.

Jason’s sight settings changed to night vision. They quickly darted

among the shadows. Jason paused to open his holo-map.
“We’re about six blocks form the target.” Jason said.
“Let’s get this the hell over with then.” Razor said. The holo-map
winked out and the continued on at a faster pace. They rounded the
last corner and came upon two guards. They leapt as one, and the
guards fell to the ground with their throats slit. Jason gave one last
call to command before they entered the building.

“Where the hell is every one?” Razor asked as they moved to the forth
floor. So far they had met with zero resistance. Jason’s vision switched
to x-ray from the scope on the Plasma Barrett.
“Behind this damn blast door.” Jason said. Razor hit the unlock button,
but the doors remained closed.

Jason pulled out a small blow torch.

“What the hell! Even if we cut the hinges, the doors weigh about 30-40
pounds. How do you expect to open them?” He asked. Ignoring Razor,
Jason cut the hinges. Putting the torch away, he took his position five
feet from the doors.

“You are gifted in manipulate your surroundings.” Kristen’s voice

echoed in his head. He closed his eyes, and then pulled his hands
back. With all his strength, he thrust them forward, palms outward.

There was the sound of rushing wind, and the door flew inward. Blood
sprayed everywhere closely followed by the sound of bones crushing
as the door hit the opposite wall.
“Oh shit!” Razor whispered.
“I feel like doing a little shopping.” He said, going to one of the
computers. He was on for a few minutes and then he said.
“We need to head to the sixth floor for advanced weapons, and the
seventh for Advanced armor.” They meet no one on the fifth floor, and
on the sixth floor they entered a large storage room.

Chapter 3
“Damn!” Jason whispered. They were in a room that was filled with
row after row of weapons. They passed mobile Plasma turrets Jason
stopped in front of a mobile Plasma Cannon.
“Jason, you might want to get a look at this!” Razor called to him.

Jason found him standing in front of a row of crates that were labeled:
Earth.
“Now that’s the kind of shit I could use.” Razor said as they opened up
the crates. Jason picked up one of the clips. They were still the same
as the old clips.

He slammed one of them into a M-4 still using the x-ray from the
Plasma Barrett, he saw as the plasma was formed into a bullet.
“These bad boys can go a hell of a lot father then the old plasma
weapons.” He told Razor. The two of them discarded their old weapons
and armed themselves with the upgraded ones.

On the seventh floor they were stopped at last, when they opened the
blast doors and came face to face with two Plasma turrets.
“Shit, should have seen that coming.” Jason said as they were
surrounded by guards. The guards removed the weapons from them.
The last to be taken from Jason was his fighting knives.

A door opened and six elite guards strode in followed by rather large
man.
“So, this here is the legendary Jason Smith.” The leader of the guards
said.
“Like you give a damn!” Razor hissed.
“Look, all we want is some armor. I must warn you though. If you do
anything foolish I will kill you all.” Jason warned. The guards laughed.
Two of them grabbed Jason, while the leader picked up razor knife. He
stabbed it into Jason’s stomach.

Jason winced at first, but then watched as the man pulled it up to his
cervical. Then he pulled it out and waited for Jason to die. Jason jerked
his arms away from the guards and then whipped the blood away.
“Bastard! You’ll have to find another way to kill me.” Jason said.

He made a pulling motion with his hands, and his fighting knives flew
to him. The blades sliced and two of the elite guards fell with their
throats slit.
“Now let’s talk business.” Razor said drawing his hidden plasma pistol.
“Kill those bastards!” The large man shouted. The guards took a step
forward, but stopped when they saw Jason with his fighting knives
floating above his hands. He thrust them both forward. The first one
caught the leader of the elite guards between the eyes and the other
caught the large man in the throat.

The other guard quickly ran from the room. Razor and Jason started
looking throughout the crates of armor. Razor finally settled on a crate
marked with TITAN LL.
“Shouldn’t it be a C, not two Ls?” Razor asked. Jason nodded as he
continued to look around.
“Find anything you like?” Razor called from across the room.

Jason stopped in front of a large armor tube, labeled R.E.A.P.E.R.

Razor came up behind him dressed in metallic blue armor.
“Hot damn.” He whispered, “Do you even know what this is?” Jason
shrugged his shoulders.
“Armor I guess.” He replied.
“Not just any armor. It’s an advanced Reconnaissance Encounter
Assault Penetrate Enforce Ranger armor.” Razor said.
“That spells R.E.A.P.E.R.” Jason said.
“I know. I never put two and two together until now. That is what you
are. Each of the letters stand for a certain area that a Reaper
specialized in. You happen to specialize in all areas.” Razor said,
excitement in his voice.

Jason placed his hand on the hand-reader.

“Welcome home Jason.” A female voice said.
 Chapter 4
48 hours later

Jason sat up drenched in sweat and gasping for air. He calmed down
as he looked around the room. Closing his eyes he took a deep breath.
There was a knock on the door. He called out and Janna came into the
room.
“I heard voices in hear, and was wondering if you were doing all right.”
She said.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a bad dream.” He replied. He threw his legs over
the side of the bed and stood up. Janna followed Jason to the kitchen.
“Do you have any beer?” He asked. Janna nodded. She went into the
restricted refrigerator and came back with a Carona. Popping it open,
she handed it to Jason.

“Mind telling me what the dream was about?” Janna asked. Jason sat
down in a chair and stretched his legs out. Opening his mouth to
speak, he stopped as the images flashed through his head.
“My parents aren’t my real parents. My real name is Jason Greathin. I
was only 3 when my real parents were killed during a mission. The
Reapers took me and placed me in the charge of the Smiths. No one
could have guessed that a Reaper would be needed again.” Jason said.
“That’s horrible!” Janna whispered.

The clock struck 6 and Jason glanced out the window. The sky was
starting to brighton and he could hear birds chirping.
“Would you like me to make you some eggs?” Janna asked. Jason
nodded and took his first sip of the beer.

Shortly later Kristen came bounding down the stairs. She paused long
enough to kiss Jason on the forehead and the went in to help Janna
with breakfast. Chris came down the stairs yawning. He eyed the beer
in Jason’s hand.
“Kind of early to be drinking, don’t you think?” He said. They both
laughed and Chris joined him at the table. Rachel bounded down the
stairs and ran in to to give Jason a hug. Meredith was the last to join
them.
“Bad dreams last night?” Meredith asked Jason.
“Sure as hell wasn’t one about fuzzy bunnies and lollipops, and finding
the magical kingdom of candy.” Jason replied. Chris snickered until
Meredith glared in his direction. Kristen and Janna entered carrying
two bowls of scrambled eggs, a two trays of toast, and two bowls of
sliced oranges. Janna made sure to sit next to Jason when they were
ready to eat. Chris gave Jason a questioning look, but Jason just rolled
his eyes.

☣☣☣☣☣☣☣☣

After taking an hour long shower Jason rejoined the others in the living
room. After he sat down Rachel climbed onto his lap and rested
against him. They talked in hushed voices and occasionally stared at
the TV. Shortly there was a knock on the door. Kristen went to answer
it, and called back for Jason.

Outside stood four guards dressed in black KingCobra body armor.

“We brought over the containers you were requesting.” One of the men
said. Jason told him where to put it and then went back inside to get
Chris.

After the men had left the girls carefully took turns peeking inside to
see what the guys were doing in Jason’s room.
“I still don’t know how the hell you managed to bribe the men into
giving you all the weapon crates marked Earth.” Chris said.
“It wasn’t the hard. All I had to do was show the commanders the best
of the body armor that would suit each of their needs. Apparently good
body armor is hard to come by around this place.” Jason replied.

Jason turned back to his armor tube and continued fiddling around the
controls. The screen was laid out in front of him in several categories.
Primary and secondary color, weapon add ons, magnetic hooks, and
last but not least skull designs for the shoulder plates.

Jason finally settled on black body armor with red running down the
arm and leg plates. He three magnetic hooks, two for his fighting
knives and one for a secondary weapon. He had a side holster for a
handgun, and on his left arm slot he added a spike thrower and on his
right he added a crystal blade.
Chris waited as Jason entered the armor tube. There was a hiss as the
glass sealed shut and went black. To Jason, it felt as if he was being
pricked by a billion pins and needles all over his body. The armor was
placed on him and he looked through the glass and watched as the
girls entered the room.

Kristen stared at her reflection in the glass, wondering what was going
on. Inside the tube, there was a soft beep and a women’s face filled
Jason’s vision.

Chapter 5
“Welcome Jason, son of Areth and Jesmin. The donning of this armor,
signifies the coming of age. As you are only 20, there are still some
things you need to know. This is not the first time that the Grechling
have attacked a planet. You were actually only 2 when your parents
were killed. Yes, I know the greeter had said three. We said that to
grab your attention. The Grechling came to your home planet
Frostmorth 300 years ago. Your parent died trying to save you. Your
real sister Amy placed you in a sdspace-bed and fled with you to Earth.
Amy is still alive, only she is still in her Space-bed. You can find her
back at the building in Sector C, on the Eighth floor. Rescue her, and
begin your path to become the Reaper that will save humanity.” The
women said. She paused and the then faded out.

With a hiss the glass opened and Jason stepped out.

“Oh shit!” Chris whispered. They all stepped back as Jason walked
toward them.
“Razor, gear up! We’re going back to Sector C.” Jason said. He walked
over to the crate that held fighting knives and opened it. His eyes
rested on a pair that had a foot and a half long blade and were
serrated on one side.

He flipped them around and clamped them onto their magnetic hooks,
then came a 12 gauge shotgun. He slide a Glock into his side holster
and picked up an AR-15. Kristen whistled when Chris stepped into the
room in his armor. Chris quickly collected his gear and they left the
house.
Outside head turned to catch glimpses of them. Dregrom came to ask
Jason and Chris where they were going.
“We have a little unsettled business to attend to back in Sector C.”
Jason said. Dregrom nodded and pointed over to a row of Hover-bikes.
Jason thanked him and they quickly left the safe zone.

Security stopped them at the third level of the building they had taken
and turned into their command base. Jason and Razor both placed
their hands on the hand-reader and then were let through. Guards and
technicians all stood to their feet when the two passed bye. They met
the commander on the 7th floor.

He stood facing the windows and looking over the smaller buildings at
Sector E.
“One remaining sector, and one final battle are all that stand between
us and Presidential seat.” He said, lighting his cigar and taking puff on
it.
“With all due respect sir,” His second in command said, “if we do what
they say, and hand Jason over, we will have already lost this fight. Just
because they offer a F-en 2 million Frilogs. It doesn’t matter that
Jason has a bounty on his head. We can’t surrender our most valuable
asset we have in this fight.”

“This is all I’m going to say. If you hand me over to those bastards,
when I break free, I’ll make sure to put a bounty on your head. With
out me, this fight is sure as hell over.” Jason said.
“Your right. I don’t know what came over me. I guess wealth has
always had a little hold on me. Please accept my apologues.” The
commander said.

Jason and Razor continued their way up one more floor. It consisted of
one open room with eight space-beds in the middle. Jason made his
way over to them. He stopped in front of the fourth bed and stared
through the glass. The space-bed bore the name Jason Greathin.
Running through the log he found that the space-bed had been opened
18 years ago. The next bed contained what he wanted.

She lay there asleep untouched by the hands of time. Her vital signs
were stable as Jason pushed the wake button. Amy moved, as the
glass opened to the side. Brown eyes opened and stared up at two
figures dressed in full battle armor. She opened her mouth to scream,
when she fully recognized Jason.

Bolting out of the bed, she threw her arms around him.
“Oh my word. How old are you?” Amy asked. Jason brushed a strand
of brown hair out of his eyes before replying.
“If you want to get technical, I’m 302 years old. Having been asleep
for most of that time, time has only aged me to 20 years.” He said.
“Now your the oldest child. I’m only 18.” She said laughing.

She turned her attention to the other Space-beds. Spotting the one
she wanted she walked over to it and made active the wake button.
Shortly later they were joined by Amy’s friend Lauren. She smiled
shyly at Jason when she found out that he was only a year older than
her.

“Now that you’ve all met each other, I need you all to get the hell out
of here. We need to start planning our next strike. Jason and Razor, I
won’t be needing to for a while, take some time off and spend it with
your friends.” The commander said gruffly coming into the room. Jason
and Razor saluted him and then escorted the girls back to the house.
☣☣☣☣☣☣☣☣

Back at the house Kristen and Chris disappeared into another room,
almost as soon-as he entered the door. Jason made his way to his
room after removing his armor. He parted the curtain and looked out
the window into the empty streets. The door opened behind him and
Lauren came in.
“Is it true that your really 20?” She asked. Jason nodded. Lauren sat
on the bed.
“During the sleep, I kept having these weird dreams of home. I
wonder if we will ever be able to go back? Would you want to go back
with us?” Lauren asked as Jason sat on the bed beside her.

Lauren twirled a strand of her black hair as she tentatively cast her
brown eyes on Jason. He lay back on the bed, and she lay next to him.
“Watch this.” Jason said. Picking up a remote beside his bed, he
pushed a few buttons. The shades closed and the room went dark.
Suddenly on the ceiling, stars appeared and planets floated lazily by.
The two of them lay there just staring at the “night sky.” Jason kept
changing the angle of the view, while Lauren laughed. They both fell
asleep with their backs to each other.

Chapter 6
Jason was awaken by Amy. She gave him a grin when she saw Lauren
next to him. Jason yawned as he sat on the edge of the bed. He made
his way downstairs and sat down with the others for dinner. Lauren
shortly joined them. Amy caught a glare from Janna to Lauren, that
went unnoticed.

As Jason took a bite of his steak he noticed Chris and Kristen flirting
with each other. Asking for the salt, Chris handed him the pepper
instead. Janna sat there just picking at her food, while the others
engaged in lively conversation. They had just finished eating and the
dishes had been cleared away when the doorbell rang.

Chris went to answer it, and called for Jason. A messenger stood at
the door.
“The commander has requested your immediate presence.” She said.
The two nodded and quickly went to done their armor. They climbed
into the Viper Jeep and followed her back into Sector C.

They passed by rows of portable Plasma cannons, Plasma gatling guns,

and BlackWasp hover-bikes. Tents had been set up and the weapon
and armor that had been removed from the weapon and black market
building set up under them. Jason and Razor hopped out of the vehicle
and made their way into the building.

“Shit!” Jason whispered as they maneuvered around obstacles trying

to make it to the 8th floor. When they finally reached it, they found the
floor jammed with computers, several holo-maps, and four holo-pads.

“Change of plans,” The commander said spotting Jason and Razor, “I

have an idea. Since Razor is a Bounty Hunter, he is going to be
“delivering” Jason to rouge leader. This way we will have our two main
assets inside their base. Once inside, you two are to raise as much F-
en hell as you can. This will give us enough time to sneak up on them
unnoticed.”
“Sounds like a load of bull shit to me.” Jason muttered to Razor as
they made their way back down the floors.
“Yeah, brilliant plan to him, as long as he doesn’t have to get his hands
dirty. I sometimes wonder if they are really with it. I mean not all their
ideas are the smartest.” Razor replied. Razor equipped himself with
Plasma M-24 and Plasma Remington 12 gauge. Before they left, one of
the guards chained Jason’s hands together with laser cuffs.

The ride was bumpy as Jason lay in the back of the vehicle. During
that time he figured out how to deactivate the chains. The vehicle
stopped and Razor dragged Jason out. His armor stood most of the
blow from Razor kicking him in the side.
“Dammit, not so hard.” Jason whispered. Razor yanked him to his feet
and marched him into a large glass building.

Jason kept his head down as they went past security. The guards
asked where they were going. Razor replied that he was delivering
Jason, and that he wished to collect the bounty on him. They guard
nodded and six more guards fell in behind Jason as they were lead to a
small white room.

Jason was forced to sit down in a steel chair. Razor held his breath as
the second ticked away into minutes. Finally a man dressed in gold
colored body armor came into the room. He inserted a chip into the
data reader and Jason’s face came appeared.
“It says that there is a 400,000,000 million Frilogs reward for his
capture. He inserted a cash-chip into another slot and the reward
money was transferred to it.
“Thank you for having the grace to do what was right.” The man said
handing Razor the chip.
“No, thank you.” Razor said.
“I beg your pardon?” The man said. There was a hiss and he fell with a
dart in his eye.

Razor removed the chains from Jason. Jason radioed command and
told gave them the news that they were in. Command replied that they
would be their in ten minutes. The two of them then crept from the
room and moved on to the next room. There were four hackers busy
on their computers when Jason and Razor struck. Two guards near the
alarm fell with darts in their throats and Razor killed the other two with
his fighting knives. One of the hackers grabbed one of the fallen
guards knives and rushed Jason. He stopped when Jason activated his
crystal blade. Sitting back at his desk he went back to work.

“This is going to take to long if we clear all the rooms floor by floor.”
Razor said.
“I agree. I say we give the “President” a social call.” Jason laughed.
Killing eight more guard on their way, they entered the hoverator. The
bell chimed eight times. When the doors opened they were greeted
with 20 elite guards, all wielding duel Katanas. As if by some unspoken
word they parted and Jason and Razor where given a view of the
“President.”

Chapter 7
“Son-of-a-bitch!” Jason shouted.
“You have got to be F-en joking.” Razor added. They stood facing the
commander of the rebel party.
“Surprised? So will the army when they attack and find all of their
plans fail.” He said with a wicked grin.
“Not if we finish this first.” Razor said. He whipped out his fighting
knives and with inhuman speed lunged at the commander.

Jason made a pulling motion and two Katanas flew into his hands. The
guards attacked with furry. The room filled with the sound of metal
against metal. All of the guards blows glanced off of Jason’s armor.
Blocking several swings, Jason hewed a guard in half. He spun under
more swipes, and then thrust upward into two more guards.

The floor was now slick with blood. When one of them slipped Jason
stabbed downward and finished him off. Now it was sixteen against
one. He gave a quick glance over to Razor.

Razor staggered back from a vicious blow from his opponent. He side
stepped and then slammed his fist into the mans chest.
“Come on brother! Don’t tell me you have forgotten how to fight. Or
has the four years away from the academy made you grow weak.” The
commander said. His blue eyes flashed at Razor.
“It can’t be. Marchelit! You were said to have been lost during the
Drunder uprising.” Razor gasped.
“A valuable rumor my followers spread at my command. You see I had
grown tired of the bull shit the academy taught. We are assassins and
bounty hunters, not some out for hire army.” Marchelit said. He
blocked a punch and punched Razor in the chest. Razor thought he
heard ribs crack.

Jason rolled to the side as two guards stabbed each other, his next
blow severed the heads of two more guards. The floor by this time was
sticky with blood, and Jason had to start watching his steps. His blow
went wild and he fell backwards. This mistake saved him from being
decapitated.

He thrust upward and pushed forward, pinning two with one sword.
Ten left. “I could get use to using Katanas.” Jason thought. He cast
another glance over at Razor and found him on his knees, doubled
over and in pain. The blades in his hands started glowing. Jason
slashed twice, and energy shot from the swords, slicing the remanning
guards in half.

Razor new his end had come. Images and voices ran through his head.
He heard his fathers voice announcing Chris Mark Thomas, on his fist
day of academy. His mother crying when he was promoted to Bounty
Hunter. Then “her” face came into view. He new he would meet her
again.

Marchelit drew his Katana from its sheath. Hovering the blade above
Razor’s neck, he drew a deep breath.
“Let’s not rush this. Savor the moment like you did when you killed
Greg Charter.” He thought. Drawing the blade back, he paused for
effect, but stopped as a blade thrust through his chest.
“It’s your turn to die motherfucker!” Jason said.

It was 12:30 in the afternoon, three months after the fight had
started, when the conflict ended.
 Chapter 1
The constant whispering was what finally caught Jason’s attention. He
came down the stairs and found Kristen, Janna, Amy, and Meredith all
gathered in one corner of the kitchen. They stopped talking when he
appeared. He quickly grabbed a beer and left the room. He found
Lauren and Rachel watching TV in the living room. Jason sat down
next to Lauren.

Lauren took the beer from Jason and drank a few sips before handing
it back to him.
“Do you know what the girls are talking about?” Jason asked her.
Lauren nodded.
“I do, but I’m not allowed to say what it is until tonight.” She replied.
Sighing, Jason pulled out his holo-pad and ran through his e-mails.

“Strange, that’s the sixth time Samantha Charter has asked me to join
her for lunch. How manny times do I have to say no. It just wouldn’t
look right. I’m a nobody, and she is the sister of the new President.”
Jason said.
“Your not a nobody. Your special, and I love you!” Lauren corrected
him. She leaned over and kissed him on the mouth.
“Jason’s got a girlfriend, Jason’s got a girlfriend! Jason and Lauren
sitting in a tree. K I S S I N G. First comes love, then comes marriage,
then comes the baby in the baby carriage.” Rachel started chanting.

“Dammit!” Jason muttered under his breath.

“Rachel, how many times have we told you that it’s not nice to tease
other people about that?” Meredith asked coming into the room.
“Sorry Jason and Lauren.” Rachel said. The two forgave her, for the
tenth time.

Jason took his beer and headed back to his room, with Lauren close
behind him. Lauren picked up the remote and put the stars and
planets back on his celling, while Jason ran through the list of wrist
weapons for his armor.
“How does a flame thrower sound?” Jason asked. Lauren looked up
from where she lay on the bed, thought for a second and then shook
her head.

Jason went back to the list. He had flamethrower, spike thrower,

grappling hook, chainsaw, and even a small chain gun. He finally
settled on the knife thrower. The armor tube hummed for a minute as
the changes were applied. He stepped in and donned his armor. Lauren
looked up again when he came out.

“You changed the armor color.” She said. Jason nodded. The color was
swapped, with blood red as the primary color, and jet black the
secondary. He raised his left arm and aimed it at the target on his wall.
There was a hiss and a thin razor sharp knife flew out and buried itself
into the target.

“Holy shit! That’s powerful.” Jason said. He stepped back in a removed

his armor. He lay down on the bed beside Lauren and pulled her close.
They continued to look at the “night sky.” Jason rose and went to the
window and looked outside at the setting sun.

“It’s funny, Earth had come to be my home for that last 18 years, now
I don’t know if I’ll ever see it again.” He said. Lauren came a joined
him. The sun had just slipped behind a row of houses when there was
a knock on the door. Janna poked her head in.
“Dinners ready.” She said.

Dinner consisted of steak, mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, bread,

and beer for Jason, Chris and Lauren. Jason had just placed a slice of
steak in his mouth when the bomb was dropped.
“Ok, so Jason. You probably have been wondering about all the
whispering the girls are doing.” Chris said. Jason nodded.
“Ok, here it is. Kristen and I are engaged.” Chris continued.

Jason choked on his food, before regaining his composer.

“You’ve got to be F-en kidding me! That’s amazing! I’m so happy for
you.” He exclaimed. Kristen went into the kitchen and grabbed bottle
of wine. They toasted the engagement. Meredith finally let Rachel have
a tiny sip from her glass.
 Chapter 2
Jason was awaken two days later by a bright light on his face. Opening
his eyes he found Lauren starring out his window.
“You just got your wish to go back to earth.” She said, sounding like
she was on the verge of crying.
“What’s wrong with that?” Jason asked.
“I fear that we’ll never see each other again.” Lauren said. Jason pulled
her close to him, and pressed his lips to hers.

The door opened and Chris came in, but then quickly left. Jason called
for him and he came back into the room.
“So, what the hell exactly is this about us going back to Earth?” He
asked Chris.
“Apparently the Nightmors attacked the Grechling’s. They lost a severe
number of personnel in the attack, causing them to pull back out into
space. They left behind hundreds of thousands of people that were not
contaminated. We have right at this moment four Viper StarCruisers,
waiting to leave for Earth. President Charter has asked that you go
along for security on the Hero.” Chris said.

“What the hell are the Viper’s going to do?” Jason asked.
“They contain millions of construction ships. They fly down onto Earth
and can be turned into walls to help protect the survivors.” Lauren
said.
“Ok, but still, why does he want me to go?” Jason said.
“Because the main drop point for the Hero is is near where you used to
live in Texas.” Chris said.

“Son of a bitch.” Jason sighed. He followed the two downstairs and into
the kitchen. The girls were all seated at the table waiting form them.
“If you decide to go, we won’t hate you for it.” Kristen said. Jason
nodded a thanks.
“There is also a group of guards outside waiting to hear your answer.”
Meredith said. Jason swore under his breath.

“Fine, I’ll go. Only you all have to go with me.” He said. The others
quickly agreed. Chris let the guards in, and Jason gave them his
answer. They left instructions of what to pack and then told them that
a vehicle would pick them up around 11 the next day.
 ☣☣☣☣☣☣☣☣

The next morning as Jason was passing Chris in the hallway, he

noticed him in pain.
“Are you alright?” Jason asked him.
“Yeah, I think I just pulled something, that’s all.” Chris replied. He
grunted as he shouldered his gear bag. He had also changed his armor
color, to blood red.
“How the hell did you get them to allow you to bring your armor
tube?” Meredith asked as Jason was finishing packing.
“Probably the fact that it says armor tube.” Lauren replied coming into
the room.

They all laughed. Jason tested his knife thrower on his wall target. The
girls stepped back as the blade buried into the wall. Jason pulled it out
and reloaded it. The doorbell rang and Rachel came up to tell them
that the men were there to help bring the bags and equipment to the
StarCruiser.

Jason and Chris rode in Screamer while the girls rode in another one.
They bounced around in the potholes made from the earlier civil war.
The pain was gone from Chris’s face, so Jason dropped the idea to ask
how he was doing.
“Shit!” Chris said as they took a sharp right turn. The engine finally
died and they stepped out into the light of a setting sun.

Jason shouldered his bag and followed the guards to the hover-lifts.
Studying the ships map, he discovered that the ship was made like a
brick number 8 with parks in the two center holes. The lift slowly
started rising and Jason felt the cool wind on his face.
“I F-en hate every damn time I have to change were I live.” He
thought. The lift entered the Hero’s hanger and settled down.
“Welcome to your new home for the next 2 months.” The guard that
meet them said.

Chapter 3
“It’s amazing how some people can feel right at home on a
StarCruiser.” Chris said to Jason during lunch 3 days later. Jason
paused to look out the cafeterias window and into the blackness before
responding.
“It’s not that hard. All you have to do is think of it as a new
adventure.” Amy said sitting next to Jason.
“Where is Lauren?” Kristen asked.

“She meet some new friends and is eating with them. If you ask me, I
think it’s only because she likes Mark.” Meredith said, a slight tone a
disdain in her voice. Kristen kicker her under the table, and then
glanced at Jason.
“Sorry Jason.” Meredith said.
“I’m used to it now, so I don’t give a shit.” Jason replied.

“So, I hear Chris was asked to train some of the Elite Guards.”
Meredith said, trying to change the subject. Chris nodded.
“Hopefully I don’t make an ass of myself.” Chris said laughing. They
were interrupted by a young women coming to stand by their table.
“May I talk to Jason?” She asked.

“That depends.” Amy said. Jason picked up his empty plate and agreed
to talk to her. They walked down one of the hallways in silence. Finding
themselves in the winter park, they tread on fake snow.
“OK, since you know my name already, my I have your name?” Jason
asked. The women laughed.

“My name is Jessie. I’m 20 if that helps at all.” She said. It was Jason’s
turn to laugh.
“Well, now Jessie, what can I do for you?” Jason asked. Jessie look out
upon the frozen pond.
“I was wondering if you could train me to defend myself. I have an ex-
boyfriend back on earth. He was really abusive and I’m afraid, now
that I’m having to go back.” She said. Jason thought about it for a few
minutes.
“I’m willing to pay you!” Jessie added.
“I’ll do it, but there is no need for you to pay me.” Jason said. She
gave him a hug, then blushed as she stepped back.

“I’m so sorry!” She said. They agreed to meet the next morning at 8.
Jason watched Jessie walk away, puzzled by what he felt. He walked
back to the cafeteria and sat down with the others. Lauren came to
their table wanting to know what the girl wanted.
“You should have eaten with us.” Chris replied. Feeling a ting of guilt
and jealousy, Lauren walked away. Jason and Chris left to go work out,
while the girls went back to the room.

As they walked the long corridors, Chris paused to catch his breath.
“You know, you should really head to the medic bay and see what the
hell is going on with that pain.” Jason said.
“I’ll be fine in a few seconds.” Chris said as they continued to head to
the work out room. Jason picked up the training goggles and a
training rifle and ran through six training missions before joining Chris
at the weights. During the whole time, Chris hid the pain from Jason.

☣☣☣☣☣☣☣☣

The next morning Jason awoke at 5:30, hit the work out room, took a
quick shower, ate a small meal and was back at the winter park by
7:45 to meet Jessie. She arrived 10 minutes later. Jason lead her to a
semi private training room. He lead her through some warm ups, and
then started her on the blood dummies.

He started with some soft opened hand attacks and then moved into
the hard closed hand attacks. He demonstrated an elbow to the jaw,
and the monitor displayed the effects of the attack.

They had just begun on the hard open hand attacks when Jason’s
com-link buzzed.
“Jason, you need to get down to the medic bay as fast as you F-en
can.” Amy said.
“Shit.” Jason sighed. He turned to tell Jessie that they were done for
the day, but she offered to go with him. They took off at a steady jog
down the hallways toward the medic bay.

They meet Kristen, Amy and Meredith at entrance.

“What the hell is going on?” He asked.
“It’s Chris. He was sparring with one of his students, and took a punch
to the chest. For some reason it cause him to collapse in great pain.
They are taking a look at him right now.” Kristen said. Meredith put a
comforting arm around her.
They were approached by a medic a few minutes later.
“Do any of you know how long he has been walking around with 4
broken ribs?” She asked. Jason mind instantly went back to the fight
between Chris and Marchelit.
“About 2 months.” Jason replied. The medic thought for a few minutes.
“Your friend is damn lucky he didn’t puncture a lung.” She said.
“Is there any thing we can do?” Kristen asked.
“There is one procedure we could do, that would have him back in
peak condition in month. It requires us to stick two micros-copular
robots into him, that would pull the bones together and inject a
chemical that would triple the healing process. It can be very painful,
but has worked every time we’ve done it.” The medic said.

The others talked between themselves for a few minutes before

agreeing to the procedure. The next two hours were killer as they
waited outside. Finely the medic came back and told them that they
had successfully completed the surgery.
“You can go and see him, but we are keeping him drugged for at lest a
week to ease the pain.” The medic said. They snuck in one at a time to
whisper a quick get well wish, before meeting back outside. In the end
it was agreed that Kristen would stay by his side to keep him company.

Chapter 4
Jason was awaken by his com-link buzzing. It was 3:30 in the
morning. Not that any one was able to tell if it was morning or night at
all. It was second week since Chris had fallen. He answered the com-
link and found it to be Kristen.
“I know it’s really early in the morning, but I need you to get down
here ASAP.” She said.
“Will do.” Jason replied. He threw on a shirt and pulled on his boots.
Four minutes later he was with Kristen.

“You need to hear what Chris is saying.” She said. Chris and the girls
were sharing a housing unit, with Chris having his own room. They
poked their head in. Chris laid there for a moment then began
mumbling words.
“Cherkleg Academy… Samantha… Their coming in from our left.” Were
the only words Jason could make out.
Jason went over to the groups monitor and began looking up
Samantha.
“Shit!” He muttered, as a whole list of people came up on the ships
passenger list. He widened the search to outside the ship. Nothing of
interest came into view. Typing in Cherkleg Academy, he struck gold.

Cherkleg Academy was a training ground for what had been some of
the Galaxies top Space Pilots and Generals. They were now under
pinning interrogation for the death of several of their students. Jason
typed in Chris Mark Thomas in the student search.
“Your gonna want to see this.” Jason told Kristen.

The monitor brought up a file with a photo of a younger version of

Chris. It listed his starting time at the Academy and the date he left. It
also displayed his rank as a Level 14 Bounty Hunter. A Level 14 was
the highest rank a person could earn in a position. Clicking on a small
folder, a file opened.

As Jason read, he felt pain and anger well up in him.

“Son of a bitch!” He hissed. The pain he felt was from finding out that
Chris had married while at the Academy. He left two moths later. The
following year his was had been murdered. The security force had
never been able to find who ever had committed the atrocity. That
caused him to burn with anger.
“I didn’t know Chris was 23?” Kristen said, trying not to cry from
having also read the file.

“So you two finally know the full story of my life.” Chris said form
behind them. They quickly turned around and found him leaning
against the wall. Jason noticed that he was still in pain from the
surgery.
“I hope to one day find that bastard that killed my wife and end the
pain that he caused me three years ago.” Chris added.

“Why didn’t you tell us this? I have friends that would be able to help
us track down the killer.” Jason asked.
“I guess, being the only one who knew, has kept me going, It keeps
me fueled, but, then I met Kristen. She brightened up my life, and
gave me a hope and joy that I hadn’t felt for three years.” Chris
replied. He took a step forward, and almost fell to the floor. Jason
jumped out and caught him.
“You need to continue to rest. Your not as strong yet. Wait a few more
days and then we will see how you are doing.” Kristen said. She and
Jason lead Chris back to his bed. Jason left the two of them alone. He
was about to leave the housing unit when Meredith came to him.
“Be safe.” She said giving him a hug. Jason nodded a yes and then
went back to his room. The clock read 6:30, so he decided to go have
breakfast, since he had to meet Jessie at 8.

Chapter 5
The first month was over. Chris was doing better, but was still told to
take it easy. Jason had just finished taking a shower after training
Jessie, when there was a knock on his door. He found Jessie outside.
She looked around before pushing her way inside.
“We need to talk!” She said.
“Ok, just let me finish shaving.” Jason replied. He returned a few
moment later and found Jessie pacing the room.

“What the hell is going on?” He asked.

“Remember, you told me to choose someone to shadow for a week?”
Jessie said. Jason nodded.
“Well, I chose one of the guards that is always with you guys. It was
boring the first day, until I noticed a pattern. He secretly follows Chris
every where he goes. It’s really creepy. He takes notes of every thing
he does and eats.” Jessie said.
“You sure your not taking this assignment to serious?” Jason asked.

Jessie sighed.
“I knew you wouldn’t believe me.” She said. She went over to his
monitor and plugged a chip in. A video appeared of the guard. It
showed him following Chris and Kristen down the hallways. They
stopped in front of theater and went in. The guard took note of it.
Later it showed them going to the cafeteria and eating, closely
followed by the guard. Again he took note of what Chris ate.
“Turn it off.” Jason said. Jessie quickly did.
“Shit!” Jason hissed. They were interrupted by his com-link buzzing.

It was Kristen calling to see if he was going to join them for lunch. He
invited Jessie to come with him. They were walking down the hall
when they came upon Lauren and Mark kissing. Lauren quickly pulled
away when she spotted Jason. Jason just shook his head in
disappointment.
“Do you know her?” Jessie asked.
“We were dating, until we came on the ship. Seem every relationship I
have turns into shit.” Jason said. He stopped talking as they passed
the “guard” in the hall. He was on his com-link, and quickly put it away
when they came to him.

They sat down with the others, and Jason introduced Jessie to them.
Jessie fit in right away. Jason raised his eyes in surprise when the
“guard” came and gave Chris his food.
“What the hell was that for?” Jason asked.
“We made a bet and the loser had to serve the other for a week. He
lost.” Chris said. Jason took the tray away and took a quick bite. He
instantly tasted the poison. He cleared his throat as his body worked
to destroy the poison.
“Meats not cooked all the way. Let me get you another one.” Jason
said lying.

He stood to his feet a little unsteady, paused to clear his head and
then went away. Jessie quickly followed him.
“You all right?” She asked.
“Damn food was poisoned.” Jason replied, dumping it out. He made a
new plate for Chris and brought it back. After the meal Jason and
Jessie went back to his room to plan what to do next.

Jessie fooled around on Jason’s monitor and presently brought up the

guards name and files. His name was Morgan Frost, and all his files
were double password protected. To Jason’s surprise it took Jessie a
minute to hack her way through the first file. As the file came on
screen, Jason’s heart dropped.

Chapter 6
Jason woke up the two days later and threw up. In fact, he threw up
the whole morning. Jessie came around noon to check on him.
“You were right about the food being poisoned.” She said. She held up
a sheet of paper.
“It’s not deadly to people with strong hearts, but with Chris still
recovering from the surgery, he might not have made it.” She added.
Jason nodded his head as he went back into the bathroom to throw up
again.

“I really hate being sick.” Jason sighed.

“Your lucky your body is able to fight the poison. It could have been a
lot worse.” Jessie said. Jason rolled his eyes as he bite into an apple.
Thinking about how he himself could have died, didn’t have a nice ring
to it. They left his room to go meet the others.

“Do you mind telling me what you and Jessie have been up to?” Chris
asked. They had gathered in the housing unit and Chris and Jason
were sipping on beer.

“I’ve been teaching Jessie how to shadow people.” Jason said. Jessie
nodded her head.
“It’s actually a lot more interesting than I thought it would be.” She
added. Chris laughed. Amy watched the way Jason and Jessie sat next
to each other. Jessie’s hand was slightly rested on Jason’s.
Amy whispered it to Meredith who nodded her head.

Jason handed Jessie his beer and put a hand over his mouth. He
quickly excused himself and hurried to the bathroom.
“Rats.” Jessie muttered, knowing what was happening to Jason.
“Is Jason all right? He’s throwing up.” Rachel said coming into the
room. They all turned to look at Jessie.

“It’s not her fault.” Jason said coming back into the room. Chris gave
Jason a look that said prove it to me.
“You know that guard that is always hanging with us?” Jessie said.
“Morgan Frost, he’s a decent fellow.” Meredith said.
“He’s actually an assassin from the same academy Chris went to. We
brought up his files and all his records and found a boat load of files
that he never should have had his hands on.” Jason said.

He went over to their monitor and brought up the files.

“That’s not all. He also tried to poison Chris. Jason tasted the food
first. So that didn’t work out, though Jason in the process was
poisoned.” Jessie said.
“Only slightly. I’m getting over it, that’s why I keep throwing up.”
Jason added.

Chris swore under his breath. Jason went over to turn the heater on
and felt an electric shock.
“Dammit.” He hissed holding his hand.
“Something happen?” Meredith called to him. Jason swore to himself
as he walked back to the group.
“I just electrocuted myself.” Jason said sitting down.

The others laughed.

“Next time, dry your hands all they way before touching something
electric.” Chris said. Jason sat next to Jessie, who touched his hand
then pulled away when she caught Amy’s stare. There was a knock on
the door.

Rachel went to answer it. She came back with Gordon, one of the
events coordinator.
“Since it is the last week we have left on this StarCruiser, we decided
to host some events for the passengers. Jason, you and Morgan are
going to have a fight for the enjoyment of the crowd. Both of you are
fantastic fighters so you both should be equally matched.” Gordon
said.
“What if Jason, doesn’t want to fight against Morgan?” Jessie asked.
“Well, since you don’t know Jason as well as I do, why don’t you shut
up?.” Gordon replied.
“I’ll, do. Now get out of this room!” Jason snapped at Gordon.

Gordon quickly left the room. Jason turned to look at Jessie. She had
tears in her eyes. He sat down next to her and gave her a hug. Jessie
leaned against Jason for a second then quickly stood to her feet.
“I’m sorry for speaking out of turn.” She said.
“Forget it. Gordon can sometimes be a jerk.” Jason replied. Chris
agreed with him.

Jason went and stood by the window. He tightened his first as if to

punch the window but stopped. Amy came to stand next to him.
“It seems I can’t go anywhere without getting into trouble.” Jason
sighed.
 Chapter 7
The day of the fight came. Amy nocked on Jason’s door and opened it
to find him fast asleep on the couch. Jessie was sleeping in the bed.
“Go figure.” Amy whispered. She gently shook Jason awake. Nodding a
thanks he stumbled into the bathroom and took a cold shower.

He came out 10 minutes later, clean shaven and looking like he was
ready for the fight. He went over and woke Jessie. She yawned and sat
up.
“You ready for the fight?” She asked.
“Hell no, but when was the last time I was ready for anything.” Jason
replied laughing.

The three of them made their way to the cafeteria to eat and then
hurried to the “Arena.” Chris pulled Jason aside.
“You do realize that this fight is giving Morgan an excuse to kill you.”
Chris whispered to Jason. Jason took a deep breath before replying.
“Yeah, I know. Dammit. This really sucks.” He said.

As he stepped into the arena, lights danced off his blood red body
armor.
“Testing 1.2.3. Can you hear me Jason?” Chris’s voice came over
Jason’s radio. Jason nodded a quick yes and then looked around the
fight ring. What had used to be the Summer Park, had now been
converted into a death ring. Pillars and bunkers were scattered around
and the atmosphere had changed into a desert setting. Jason activated
the fan inside his helmet to keep his visor from fogging up.

Perusing over the weapon choice, he settled on a Remington 12 gauge

and a FN P90. His fear that this was a plan to kill him were confirmed
when shields were placed over the walls and spectator stands.
“I don’t expect this fight to last long. After you’re dead, I’ll finish off
Razor, and then nothing will stand in the way of my Master’s plan.”
Morgan said over a private channel to Jason.

The signal was given to them and they both raced to separate corners
of the ring.
“Who’s your master?” Jason asked Morgan.
“Wouldn’t you like to know.” Morgan replied mockingly.
“TELL ME NOW YOU BASTARD!” Jason roared. He swore under his
breath as his voice boomed across the Park’s speakers.

Chunks of concrete sprayed against Jason’s helmet as a bullet stuck

near his head. He checked his scanner and found Morgan working his
way up the left side. He ran and dove behind a bunker just as Morgan
rounded the corner where he had just been standing. Jason opened
fire, but Morgan’s armor handled the damage well. Jessie’s voice came
over Jason’s radio.

“Jason, I fiddled around with your knife thrower, and was able to
replace the original blades with exploding ones.”
“You just gave me one more reason why I love you!” Jason replied. He
leaped up and fired off several blades. Three of the knives caught in
Morgan’s armor and when they detonated, they blew a chunk of armor
off. Jason squeezed off a single shot from his FN P90 and brought
Morgan to the ground.

He hurried quickly to his side and kicked his weapons away.

“Now, answer the F-en question! Who is your Master?” Jason asked.
“Like hell I’m gonna tell you.” Morgan replied gasping for air, “My
secret goes to the grave with me.” With that, Morgan gasped one last
time and then lay still.

Jason slowly walked away as medics attended to the body. People

avoided him as he made his way over to Chris and the rest.
“What the hell was that all about?” Amy asked. Jason sat down and
buried his head in his hands.
“This fight just got bigger.”

☣☣☣☣☣☣☣☣

The mood of the passengers aboard the Hero was a mixture of fear
and awe as the construction ships slowly descended to Earth. Jessie
held Jason’s hands as they departed from their ship. The group slowly
walked to the hospital. The guards opened the door when they spotted
Jason and Chris in body armor. Shana looked up and let out a scream
of delight and ran over to hug Jason.
“It’s good to be home.” Jason sighed.