Chronicle 1, Episode 1, Chapter 1

Episode 1 - Interstell Chronicles - War from Above

Chapter 1:-

"I think we should call it, everyone in agreement?"
The doctor looked round at his companions, getting a nod from each in turn. Finally his gaze fell upon Matthew Hunter, the new nurse to his team. Matthew just stared at the young boy on the table, at the plastic tubes sticking out at every angle, at the blood pooled on the floor, at the monitoring equipment that showed no signs of life.
"Matthew?"
Snapping out of his semi-trance, Matthew just nodded like the rest. There was nothing left to do. They had been working for nearly an hour trying to save the life of the ten year old on the table. But there were too many injuries.
Kimberly Jones, another nurse, came up beside Matthew and rubbed him on the shoulder gently. "There was nothing you could have done you know."
Matthew turned to his friend and nodded to her as well. "I know. But you still wonder just the same." Turning back to look at the broken body of the child, Matthew began to prepare the body for the inevitable visit by the parents. "I just wonder…."
"I know. No matter what, the first one you loose is the hardest. It never gets easier, not really, but you cope because you must, and if you don’t, you’re not around to help the next one." That really gave Matthew pause for thought. Kimberly’s words struck at his heart, and there was nothing he could do to stop the pain. Having just passed his nursing degree last month, Matthew had seen dead bodies before, but never had a patient die on him. Tears wanted to flow, but he choked them back down. There was time for tears later he told himself. Right now, this child needs cleaning up.
Moving to the head of the bed, he began to remove the leads used to monitor heartbeat, and mop up some of the excess blood, while the Doctor sewed up the wounds. Then something caught Matthew’s eye. There, just sticking out of a small cut in the child’s neck, was a piece of metal. Leaning in close with a pair of tweezers, he plucked it out and held it up to the light. A pattern on one of the sides made him think of a micro processor. But the strangest thing was, that over the past week, his dreams had been imbued with images of the same design.
Placing the chip in a small plastic bag normally used for valuables, he quickly slid it into his uniform pocket.
"Ready to go?"
Matthew looked back at Kimberly who had just pulled a white sheet up under the boys chin "Go?"
"Yup, shifts over. Time to go home." The last thing he wanted to do was go home now. There seemed too much unfinished business here. But then, being around the depressing aura of the trauma room seemed much less inviting.
"OK, let me just grab my gear. Still want that lift home?"
Moving back to the staff room, Matthew opened his locker and removed his bag. It was at that point that the length of the day just hit him like a brick wall. Picking his keys out from his bag, he made his way to the exit, where Kimberly was waiting for him.
"I can’t wait to see your car. What make did you buy?"
Matthew couldn’t help but have a small smile at that. ‘His car’ He had recently purchased a car and had it ‘tailored’ for him. Many of his colleagues knew that he had purchased a car, but none knew what it was, but just a few details that he had talked about like the stereo system, and the fact that it was convertible.
As they walked together through the car-park, with the sun beating down upon them, Matthew triggered his alarm keying. A few feet away, headlights flashed in response, with the accompaniment of a double beeping to signal the deactivation of the alarm.
"That is your car?"
"Yes, why?"
The surprise on Kimberly’s face was evident. But he had expected that. Just the same, he turned and looked at his newest possession. A Morris Minor convertible sat in the parking bay ahead of him. All black, except for the chrome-work on the bumpers and around the lights.
"I never figured you for a classic car owner! On second thoughts, I should have guessed!"
"Lets get going. This is one day I’m glad is over!"

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Alone In the dark, staring at the ceiling of his room, Matthew could not help but recall the events of that day. It had all started as usual, but had gone rapidly downhill. Forcing himself away from self pity over events he had little control over, he rolled over and tried to get comfortable, but it was no use. Sitting up, he reached for the TV remote.
"And tonight, leaders from around the world meet to discuss the developing situation in the Middle East. Latest estimates are that over a hundred people have died in troop clashes between Israeli and Palestinian forces. Many of the casualties are civilians. Ian McKihyden reports….
"Turmoil rains is the Middle East as the government’s of Israel and Palestine seem to have lost control of parts of their armed forces. The worst clash happened in the Gaza strip at just gone midnight. Reports are sketchy at best, but it seems that an aircraft landed in the demilitarized zone between the borders. Now this sort of landing is prohibited by the 2001 peace accords, and it seems that troops from both sides went to investigate. What happened next is not really known, but the results speaks for itself. All the troops involved are either dead, or missing and presumed dead."
"Do we know who’s aircraft landed?"
"No. Neither government is claiming they own the craft. And reports from nearby witnesses do not provide any clues as to the type of craft involved, but it is assumed to be some sort of helicopter, as it supposedly came straight down from above."
"You say their are missing soldiers? How many people have been unaccounted for?"
"A total of twenty are missing, six Israeli soldiers, the rest from Palestine."
"There are reports coming through here that some of the bodies are badly burnt. Is this true?"
"Indeed, many of the bodies could only be identified by dental records, and ‘dog tags’."
Now there was something depressing. The problem was that it was just the latest in a long line of similar reports. It seemed that the world had gone crazy lately. Crime was on the increase all over the world, and the international political scene was in turmoil because of rising hostility between nations. Then there were those people blaming things on UFO’s. Again, according to the news, the reports of sightings had almost tripled since January, and then their was the fact that computers all over the world had started to crash, with no apparent cause.
Stopping his thoughts there, Matthew remembered the chip he had found at the hospital. Getting out of bed, he paced over to where his nurses uniform was hanging on the back of the door, and pulled out the sealed bag.
The chip was still inside, covered slightly in dried blood, and looking just as it had in his last dream.
Moving over to his desk and switching on the lamp, Matthew held it up to the light for closer inspection. "What made me take you? Why have I been dreaming about you? Why am I talking to myself?
Knowing something about computers, he knew that the chip was not standard to any model he had yet to see. For one thing, many micro-processors had connector pins that stuck out from the chip, so they could be plugged in. This one just had a pattern on the back.
Pulling open a drawer and taking out a small tool-kit, Matthew plucked out the smallest knife he had. Using a pair of tweezers for support, he carefully slid the knife into a small gap running around the equator of the chip, and pried it open.
Inside, it was a maze of even smaller chips. Tiny components that were linked together by the metal circuit lines, all heading to a small unit in the center of the chip. It was this unit that drew Matthew’s attention. A transmitter. Small, but with the rating on the miniature battery next to it, quite powerful. And still transmitting!
A noise outside made Matthew start. A double clicking. Then another. Curious, he moved over to the window, and raised the blind slightly. Outside, a van was parked across the driveway. "Damn. My parents will be mad if they can’t get on he driveway in the morning." Both his parents had gone to Yorkshire for the weekend, and were due back early tomorrow.
Then it happened. An alarm bell went off in Matthew’s head, causing him to spin round. He saw in his mind a group of black clad men bursting though his doorway, armed with automatic weapons. With nothing to defend himself with, he couldn’t think of anything to do.
Then it happened. Four men, all in black just burst in, and were upon Matthew with hand binders and a hood in no time. Resistance was futile. Although physically quite fit, his aggressors were in prime condition and easily overpowered him. A slight prick of a needle, and Matthew’s last thought as he drifted off into unconsciousness was, ‘Damn… I’ve got work in six hours time!"

NOW OUT:- CHAPTER 2!