Forgotten (Prolouge)

Slowly but surely the sun rose again, to confront a new world. Not many knew of it but a piece of the world was now missing - never to be replaced. It was now incomplete, a puzzle with a missing piece - deliberately removed. This new world was to stay, this was the way things would happen from now onwards. Nothing could now stop what man had set out to do. The piece had been removed and now there was no boundaries. They no longer needed to fear.

The sun bought light everywhere, to places both good and evil. This light shone upon a fortress next to the sea shore. It was a stark place, no beauty was bestowed upon it’s walls. Three stories high it stood, a pittance against the proud castles of the day. Flat and square as seen from above, like a grey patch of farmland had extruded out of the ground. Dressed for battle and squatting by the shoreline, a brooding menace.

The same could be said for the ship that had laid anchor in it’s harbour. It looked an ordinary sailing vessel come home for repairs. For repairs it needed. Numerous holes bored by arrows punctured the sides, reddish smears tarnished the deck. The ship reeked with violence and destruction that carried like a poison to the fort.

People moved about the ship, emotionless soldiers with weapons drawn. All watched silently as the small boat was dropped into the water. The oarsmen began to row in time, they needed no drums nor any other type of call. These soldier’s were bonded by trauma, a bond that extended even to their physical actions. They headed for the shore.

The fort and it’s harbour were situated between two large rocky hills. The fort sat at the mouth of a dried up stream that had disappeared. Like other things had disappeared.

No sooner than the boat touched the shore than two prisoner’s were shoved forward from the boat. They were filthy and practically naked, loincloths were the only coverings they had owned for the entire trip. It was the end of a war, but these prisoners weren’t going home. There was no home to return to.

Tired, hungry and alone these men were hurled into barred cells. There they huddled against the walls and wept. The last of their race.

600 years later . . .


The fort had been through radical changes. The entire layout of the building had transformed. From the hulking castle of the medieval years to the high-tech detention centre of the future. Spotlights shone from all corners of the building. The spears had been replaced with daily serviced razor wire. Video cameras sighted the entire facility, nowhere was invisible.

All the guards carried the latest equipment, their heavy assault weapons and pepper spray canisters, obvious on their belts. For six centuries this Fort had never been discovered by the authorities. Everybody assumed that England was a country were nothing could be hidden, they of course were sorely mistaken.

There were no roads here, no walking tracks, no nothing. The only way to reach this site was either by air or sea. Seven wreaked ships lay just off the coast of this area. People said that there was a reef or some underwater rock formation that had caused the ships’ demise. If anyone was to investigate they would find the boats full of bullet holes and dead occupants - fishermen or cruisers that had stumbled on the secret.

Aircraft were no problem, somehow many years back the original makers had constructed the fort in an extremely convenient spot. The large hills provided sight protection but there were no flight-paths crossing anywhere near the site, nor any jet streams passing above them. Any free-flyers that had the unfortunate luck to fly over here and find them would be taken out by the anti-air craft guns. So far they had not needed to use this measure.

The whole area was set out like a prison.

Because it was a prison.

And on this day, it would be broken out of.