Her life was fading as she lay there, surrounded by the others trapped inside the Beast tank. Linda was buried with her children and Dana underneath the rubble where the Fleece once stood. The gaping hole left behind by the departure of the Fleece left the once giant mountain in ruins. Now, a smoldering pile of dust and rock was all that remained. But fortunately, the Beast had a homing device within it that had been activated upon the collapse of the mountain. It was a failsafe device installed in most artifacts that could carry one by the GASON group.
The GASONs knew some of the Fleece's capabilities, one of which was teleporting objects to other locations. Just in case anything "accidentally" happened, the homing devices were installed. This beacon sounded the moment the tank was buried, alerting the GASONs to its presence.
A lone helicopter began descending toward the mountain's remains, a spotlight illuminating the frozen wasteland below. Triangulation equipment on board the helicopter pinpointed the exact location, allowing the recovery team to descend and rescue the Beast's inhabitants. Upon opening the hatch to the tank, all four occupants were unconscious but alive. After extracting the four survivors, the helicopter whisked away into the night, headed for an undisclosed location.
Linda began to awaken from her slumber. She could see faint objects around her, blurry and skewed, but quickly she was beginning to get her bearings. As the light rotated through the color spectrum, she finally began to see clearly, noticing a young woman standing over her. The woman's face was angelic-looking, soft and warm, comforting and caring. She was a nurse and acknowledged Linda.
"Mrs. Trent? I'm Abigail. Can you hear me?"
Linda was still somewhat woosy, but she could understand, "Yes...I can."
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm ok. Where am I?"
"You're in a hospital."
"How long have I been here?"
"A few weeks now. Your injuries were somewhat severe. Do you remember what happened?"
"I remember...my children! Where are my children?"
"Your children are safe and fine, Mrs. Trent. So, is your companion."
"Companion," Linda thought for a minute. "Jay?"
"No, I'm sorry, ma'am. There was no one named Jay there. She said her name is Dana. Do you remember her?"
Somewhat disappointed, but also glad, "Yes. I remember her. Is she with my children?"
"Yes, she is. Would you like to see them?"
"Yes, I would."
"We'll let them in. Can you tell me your name and date of birth, ma'am, if you can remember?"
"Yes. Linda Trent. August 18, 1981."
"Thank you, ma'am. I'll go get them."
When Linda's kids ran in to see her, her eyes filled with tears. She embraced them both, so happy to see them, giving them kisses all over their heads and squeezing them tightly. Dana came walking in with a cane, as part of the tank crushed her leg during the collapse. She was fortunate not to have been killed. Dana's eyes also filled with tears.
"It's good to see you, Mrs. Trent."
Linda spoke, while still embracing her children, "Call me Linda, Dana. You helped save my children and my life. I think that puts us on a first-name basis now."
Dana smiled.
Chad was in his mommy's arms and looked up at her, "Where's daddy, mommy?"
More tears began to flow as Linda looked down at her son. Dana also looked down at him, and tears began to flood.
Dana's reaction grabbed Linda's attention. She looked up at Dana, who was crying uncontrollably now.
"What did you see, Dana?"
Dana pulled herself together, knowing she had witnessed exactly what had happened to Jay.
"I'm so sorry, Linda."
Linda's lip began to quiver as she pulled on Chad and Allie even tighter. Chad and Allie began to cry now, as they all huddled together, crying in unison over the loss of Jay. Even the nurse, Abigail, joined the embrace, empathizing with them over the events that had taken place.
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In the months that followed, Linda, Chad, Allie, and Dana were held up in a facility near the former location of the Fleece, in what was once China in previous worlds. Now it was the Republic of Chin-Tai, a democracy presided over by a president who had brought great prosperity to this land. This president was loyal to the GASON group and offered any survivors of the Fleece Rising, which was only known to the inner circle.
A man assisted Linda and Dana routinely as they both recovered from their injuries. His name was Alec. He was far younger than Dr. Kelley had been, but was a higher-ranking member of GASON. He made sure the four survivors had food, clothing, and resources to last as long as they needed. In a few passing glances, Dana had become smitten with Alec. The chemistry between them was palpable, as she always looked forward to his visits. Linda could see it, too, and encouraged her to pursue what she felt.
Then one day, Alec came with a grim look on his face. Dana could see it immediately. Linda was playing with her children and helping them with a school lesson as Alec entered the room.
"Good morning, Mrs. Trent."
"Good morning, Alec. What brings you here today?"
"Mrs. Trent, is there somewhere we can talk in private?"
"Yes, sure."
Dana guided the kids to another part of the living quarters, where a live-in maid assisted them. Then she rejoined Linda and Alec in the main living room in front of the television.
"Thanks for coming back, Dana," Alec smiled at her.
Dana smiled back, but remembered the look on his face from earlier, "Is everything ok, Alec?"
Alec's look turned grim. "I wish I could say so. I want you both to see something. The video I'm about to show you was recorded a few days ago. You'll recognize one person immediately."
The video came up on the screen, showing the recognizable image of Pat walking alongside a man whose face was obscured by the light, with the crowd around them. Then the other man came into full view. Linda's face turned pale as her eyes widened as she approached the screen. It was unmistakable who the man in the video was.
"Jay?"
Dana was astonished, too, as she had watched Jay die at the hands of the monster.
"I thought you said Jay had died, Dana?"
"He did. There was no doubt about it. He was burned beyond recognition," Dana thought for a minute. "It was Pat. He must have used the regeneration chambers in the Fleece to bring Jay back."
Alec nodded in agreement, "That was our assessment, too. There is also a third man with the two of them, who we believe is Rob."
Linda still looked shocked at Alec this time, "Rob? He was a boy!"
"Yes, to you he was, but whatever these beings are, they are not human. Except for the person who was formerly your husband."
"Formerly?" asked Linda.
"Analysts have suggested, based on Jay's prior behaviors compared to now, that he doesn't seem to be the same person. His motivations, work habits, and even basic movements seem indicative of a substantial change. He looks like Dr. Trent, but we can't be sure he is Dr. Trent."
"That's absurd! I've seen Pat revive other people, like Larry. Larry was still the same man we knew before."
Linda had turned her back to the television as she spoke and moved away to another part of the room. Alec followed slightly behind her.
"Yes, Larry was the same because Larry didn't completely die. He was near death, on the verge of death, but was brought back largely intact, his body not severely damaged. Dr. Trent, on the other hand, from the analysis of the video recovered, was burned over sixty percent of his body. Generally, that type of damage is not recoverable, even with the Fleece's advanced technology. We feel something else is in play here."
"Like what?" Linda turned to face Alec.
"We don't know."
A cold sensation ran through both Linda's and Dana's bodies in response to Alec's response.
Linda watched the video of her smiling husband speaking to the media and others around him. She listened to things being said, how he was now a tech guru, and bringing advances to society that no one had seen before.
Linda walked back over to the television, watching Jay, "So that is not my husband?"
Alec responded, "We don't believe so."
Linda closed her eyes as tears welled up, running down her face. Not only had she lost her husband in death, but she had also lost her husband in life, now too.
***********************************************************************************
Months turned into years as Linda watched her children become teenagers, still living in Chin-Tai. Dana had married Alec and had a family of her own now, but they still resided close by. Linda had never remarried, still wearing the wedding band and diamond her husband had given her many years earlier. She was sitting in the living room watching the television as the news broadcast the latest political trends. Jay was always on the screen, now pushing his campaign forward to become the next Chancellor of the United States of Columbia.
Linda was in a deep state of depression, one her kids could see. Allie and Chad were now old enough to understand what was happening around them. They especially knew their mother was not in a good place and would frequently discuss the problems with Dana when they could.
Linda couldn't believe the man she loved was gone, and now acting in ways that disgusted her. She could tell by the mannerisms of the character on screen that this was, in fact, not her husband. He had feminine traits in his vocalizations and ways he even moved sometimes. She believed he was somehow a female now, but another part of her wanted to believe that was not true. But as Jay's political power grew, she could see a darkness rising up in the man she once knew. Something that had never been present in her former husband.
The maid approached Linda as she stared at the screen. She leaned in to ask Linda if she needed anything. Linda said no and thanked her for checking in.
Typically, the maid would walk away after this, but this time she felt compelled to stay.
"Are you okay, Mrs. Trent?"
"I don't know, Mildred."
Mildred, the maid, pulled up a chair beside Linda and sat down. They both looked on as the media conducted a recent interview with Jay. He, or it, was all smiles.
"These are difficult to watch for you?" Mildred asked.
A tear rolled down Linda's cheek. "Very much so."
As Jay spoke more, laying out his political plans, Linda looked down, sobbing. Mildred tried to comfort her, holding on to her shoulders in an embrace.
"I just don't understand. How could my husband be taken away from me like this, leaving me here with my children alone? Yet he's right there and has never once acted like my husband would have. Jay would have searched the world for us if he were alive. He would have never stopped looking. It just doesn't make any sense. Why did he have to die so that whatever this is can live? Why would God allow this?"
Mildred looked up at the screen, seeing the interview continuing, and then looked back at Linda.
"I believe, Mrs. Trent, it's all because of free will."
Linda looked up at her, curious about her statement, "What do you mean?"
"People here have free will, and we used that to sin against God. It brought evil into this world long ago. So, God doesn't allow it as much as we live in it, and we only know one side of the story. We're cut off from God's Kingdom. That's why we can't make judgments on what occurs all around us here in this world, dear. We have to have faith that everything in this world works for our own good and His glory. There are those called to His purposes under the heavens. We have no way of knowing exactly what those purposes may be, but in time, all will be revealed to us. But it is in His timing, not our own."
The tears stopped slowly on Linda's face, and she actually began to smile a little at the words Mildred had said. Linda found that response incredibly comforting.
"Thank you, Mildred. I appreciate that."
"You're welcome."
***********************************************************************************
As the years rolled on, now eighteen in total, Linda's perspective of her former husband had shifted. A few years after Mildred's talk with her, there was an attack on the facility Linda and the kids were in, killing Mildred in the process. Dana also lost her family to the attack, leaving the four of them as they were the day the Fleece fled. The attack originated from an order from Supreme Imperial Chancellor (SIC) Britton Hister. The name disgusted Linda.
During those years after the talk with Mildred, the whole family began to build resentment toward the person who embodied Jay Trent. Chad hated him the most. At times, it saddened Linda to see her son, now twenty years old, lavishing hatred so easily on the man who was once his father. But the man Chad knew had been gone for a very long time. Chad was inciting a revolt against the SIC, using global networks to build a strong following. This network led to the attacks in the area where Linda and Dana lived, as they were now considered rebels to the established order.
After the attacks, Linda, Chad, Allie, and Dana fled to the Prussian area, where that government was putting up a strong fight against the COLA Regime. This was the colloquial name of the United States of Columbia Grand Regiment. When Pat ordered the deployment of the two hundred million Cals, and rising, one primary order among the thousands was to locate and terminate Linda, Chad, Allie, and Dana. Pat wanted the slate wiped clean of any remnant of Jay's life.
But just as the forces of Chad were beginning to mount and set their plans in motion to go after the SIC and the USofC, a glimmer of hope emerged in a way no one ever expected.
Linda was in her home in Prussia as she loaded weapons and began preparing gear. She was going to die trying to stop Britton, the woman who had stolen her husband's body. She didn't know how Britton had done it, and she didn't care, but she wasn't going to let her tarnish Jay's memory any longer. But as she was loading weapons, a breaking news story came on the television.
"Mom!"
"What, Chad?"
"Don't load it like that. That's how the bullets can get jammed. Don't jam it in so hard."
"I know what I'm doing, son."
"Do you? I'm not sure about that," Chad loved saying things like this to get a rise out of his mother.
"Are you saying I don't know how to handle a gun?"
"That's exactly what he's saying, Mom!"
The other voice came from behind them, from Linda's daughter, Allie. She was a twenty-one-year-old cutie, short in stature but as fiery as they come.
"I wouldn't take it from him. I'd give him the treatment."
"Oh, that does sound like a great idea!"
Chad looked at his mom and sister, then began begging them not to. Both Allie and Linda attacked Chad, tickling him as he collapsed to the floor. He was incredibly ticklish, just like his father had been, and Linda and Allie loved making him succumb to their every want and whim by tickling him.
"STOP! STOP!!" Chad screamed.
"There, now you know I can handle a gun," Linda quipped.
"What does this really have to do with handling a gun?" Allie asked.
"I don't know, but it's fun!"
They started tickling Chad again, making him scream with laughter while he yelled for them to stop.
When they settled down, the television broke the momentary silence with a breaking news story.
"Good evening. We are bringing you this late-breaking story as it develops: seven stars have taken a position in orbit around the planet. The stars appear to be in a geosynchronous orbit between the orbits of our closest satellites, Yoreh. Since we know stars typically do not act in this manner, and they are considerably smaller than any other stars known, only one conclusion can be made."
"Extra-terrestrials," Chad spoke up.
"You really think so, Chad?" Allie asked.
"What else could it be?"
Linda spoke up, "A sign."
