Endless Waltz

[athena]

This is a story I wrote for my english class..the title does not mean its a gundam story, but I was inspired by it. Its rather long..heh heh..but worth the read! I got the only 100% on it too! GO ME!

WARNING: Very angst.

Enjoy!



The Earth. A small, insignificant blue/green orb on the western spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy, it?s the third rock from the nearest ball of gas and energy. Orbited by a morose piece of dust and ice, this planet is the only one in which life began. For nearly 3 billion years, its inhabitants have been alone, blinded by their own ignorance. In each 24-hour period in which the planet rotates, more pain and agony is brought to those who suffer the most.
~~~~
?Miss President, we have reason to believe we are under attack.?

In every cycle of life and death, new ways to bring these upon humans is found.
~~~~
The young boy crawled on his hands and feet to the entrance of the cave, the bright desert sun blocking his vision. The small pond of water glistened in the solar rays, and beckoned his presence. The other beings that surrounded him were unaware, and he slipped out, knowing only the instinct that led him to face this danger. If he did not get the water, he would die. The insignificant bits of mangled weeds crunched softly under his hairy feet. A thin knee bent down over his treasure. A slight reflection of a bundle of fur and skin gazed back at him. But amid this glance was a fire of terror in his eyes. He could not comprehend it, but his body feared the eyes that stared above the reflection with hunger. A quick cry of pain as a club fell upon his head, and all was forgotten.
~~~~
The cool night had left frost on the ground, so that each step took made an echoing crunch that gave away his position. The small tunic did not keep out the cold, and the pain nearly brought him to his knees. He could barely breathe, and when his body protested, light clouds of steam came from his chattering mouth. A slender twig snapped and broke as his foot came in contact. He knew it was over when he heard the singing of a bow, and the pierce in his chest.
~~~~
The heat had nearly scorched him, as the heavy armor protected him from enemies unseen. He was alone, for his steed had thrown him, and no one had yet to notice his absence. The hard and unbearable metal made every movement twice as hard as it would have been without. His breath came in short gasps, but he knew some one would return to find him sprawled out on the field. He had to trust his companions. But a slight doubt feel over his mind as almost silent footsteps came ever closer to the place he laid. He could barely lift his heavy eyelids, but when he managed it, he wished he had not. A gleam of madness came over his eyes, and a shout came from his throat. But it was cut short when a gleam of metal silenced him. A clean cut and no further thoughts came to him.
~~~~~
The young man kneeled down in the wreck of mud, ash, blood and ruins. He could not feel his legs, they would not move. Frozen from the pain, and the weakness of his own heart. His body tried to control the sudden spasms of fear, but they were not unnoticed. Not far away across the no mans land crouched a similar man, but with different colors paraded around his clothing. He felt the same fear, and longed to be home. A sudden movement in the trench in his peripheral vision led him to find the trigger in the dark. The bullet fired, and the movement stopped.

~~~~~~
?Excuse me, Miss President??

She looked up, pretending not to have heard the words. Her sapphire eyes met those of the agents. She did not want this burden.

?Ma?am, there is a large missile headed towards coordinates 110 North, and 85 East.? His tone was serious, but a blank stare was his response.

?Pardon, Miss Cameron, but that translates to the very spot you stand. Approximately.?

The voice came like a thousand tears as the agent yet again whispered into her ear. She closed her eyes and bowed her head. Lights flickered around her, as cameras captured her face. A low rumble of voices all voicing anger, doubt, or betrayal came to her brain like a wave of an oncoming storm.

She opened her eyes. Yes, she was still there. The nightmare had not ended. She smiled as courteously as her torn emotions would allow and spoke in a low voice.

?That is enough for now.?

A silence fell upon the dumbstruck audience, but as soon as it came it passed. The President lifted her hand as a signal of farewell, and walked off the podium.

?Its origins appear to be in Eastern Asia,? said the Vice President at her side, as soon as she was out of view.

?The Middle East then?? someone nearby asked.

?Yeah.?

?Do you think Iraq??? An agent voiced quietly.

?Its possible.?

?Have we identified the make??

The agent stopped walking. ?Yes, I believe we have,? he stated.

?And???

The agent fell silent. A flash of fear came to his eyes. After a few heartbeats, he replied,? An H-Bomb. Did you hear that Miss President? A thermo-nuclear hydrogen bomb.?

No one said anything. These had not been used since WWIII. In 1942, the United States dropped two of the H-bombs sisters, not nearly as powerful, on Japanese cities. In 2003, China dropped one of the H-bombs on Afghanistan, and it turned the already wasted desert land in to ash and dust, nothing more, and nothing less. Since then, not a word had been spoken of these horrendous weapons.

?Take me to the West Wing, please.? The President broke the silence. Taken aback, the agent at her side stammered, and nodded his head in response.

The group walked solemnly down the halls. Pictures stared back at them, with the distant memories of past leaders. They past series of desks and computers, and each person stared at the commotion. Little pieces of left over balloons and confetti were scattered around the overflowing garbage cans, and used cups that were once filled with champagne looked degraded. The inauguration party was one to behold.

The Secret Service agents entered the Roosevelt Room before the President. Out of safety precautions, and pride. The Secretary of State stood up from his office desk awkwardly and knocked over a pile of papers.

?Miss? Miss President! I?m sorry, I?m just surprised to see you here.?

In a fleeting second doubt fell over the Secretary, and then an agent jumped to his side. He whispered something into his ear, and understanding came to the man.

?The bomb very well could destroy everything around us now. The Washington Monument, the Jefferson Memorial, and, well, the White House, ma?am.?

The President turned to see who was speaking to her. A boy, nearly, in his early 20?s gazed shyly at her. His large glasses covered almost his entire lean face, and his dark eyes under the heavy prescriptions blinked.

?And, with all due respect, ma?am, there isn?t going to be enough time to stop it. It appears to have launched at 1100 hours, oh pardon, 1 o?clock Iraq time. We have the technology to fire back, but it is mostly hopeless.?

Elaina Tera Cameron shifted her gaze out of the window. The stiff business suit she donned did not move as gracefully as she would have liked. He tall heels clicked as she made her way slowly to the window. The south lawn stared back at her, and the people around the gates flashed cameras, trying to gain the attention of the guards on the roof. A young couple looked in awe of the city and the beauty of that particular Thursday afternoon.

?Why did they not fire it from space? They have at least as many satellites and space stations as Japan does.?

?I think they wanted us to know it was them. Fear maybe??

?But they know we will retaliate and destroy them, don?t they??

?Sir, all due respect, but there will not be a central government for an attack to happen. In about 2 hours, we are all dead. Every single one of us.?

"What can you possibly be talking about? Of course, I realize that hundreds of people-"

"Hundreds of thousands." Graff interrupted, adjusting his conspicious glasses.

"Okay, yeah, hundreds of thousands of people in the this area are going to perish. But the President? The central government? I thought we had private jets and carriers for this sort of emergency!" demanded the Vice President.

"Sure, we have them. But, be honest, Mr. O'Dell! I believe that you once had a sense of morality. Do you wish to just leave the people of your New York, of Washington D.C to their fate? And, in the end, you know that we would die anyway. If not with this missile, then another. Or from assassins, angry that we fled and escaped danger, while everyone else burned to ashes!"

"Surely, I understand your view on things, Graff! But, are we not overlooking something? We have more than enough space stations, and shuttles that at least some of us could temporarily escape on, am I wrong?"

Graff's face scrunched up in pure rage. "Do you give a damn about the people, Mr. O'Dell??!" The young man burst out in a voice that echoed through the office corridors.


The conversation behind her caused the President to turn. The young man in glasses abruptly turned to look at her, as well as the rest of her loyal staff. ?But how the hell do I know these people are loyal to me? They don?t know me, I don?t know them,? Elaina thought. "Death and glory?" she mused quietly to no one.

The staff looked up at her expectantly, like she had something important to say, which would make the situation understandable.

?Ma?am??

~~~~~
At the other end of the world, a soldier looked out of the bunker into a desert wasteland. Nothing much was left of the country, except for the underground cities built after WWIII. The Iraqi people had not faltered, but there was a sense of lost pride, hatred, and a loathing for the West. The United States. The name fell bitterly in his thoughts, and all he wished was destruction and death. ?We are nothing more than cowards to the rest of the world,? Mohammad thought. The West had destroyed their pride, and Allah had not look at them with pity.

It was of course forbidden to declare holy war on any country, but it was possible, the United States would have that threat above their heads. Not unlike now.

?Mohammad??

The boy turned and saw his friend Alai. He smiled warmly at fond memories of his best friend. ?Yes, Alai??

?What happens now??

Mohammad was appalled. His friend dared doubt the will of Allah. ?What happens now?? The people of the world will bow to us.?

Alai looked at his friend with respect, but in his heart he did not think it would be that simple. The world could not be taken that fast, could it? Someone would have done it before, right?

?Yes, Mohammad. You are right.? Although he did not understand, he could not let them see his fear.

~~~~~

?Wiggin!?

The young man at the control station, startled, turned his head to the face the voice. A commander with a grim face looked back.

?Peter Wiggin??

?Yes, sir, that?s correct.?

?Here.? The uniformed officer handed Peter a document, still warm. The date was January 20th, and the time 1600 hours, or 4 o?clock, the year 2050. The White House emblem headed the text. ??Sir??

?Just do what it says, soldier.? He glanced quietly around at the other soldiers, and shook his head dejectedly. He then walked away, mumbling obscenities.

Peter returned his attention to the papers in his hand.

USS Europa


Dispatch this code and message immediately to the space station Ganymede.
Before 1610 hours, or mission aborted. Do not ask questions, orders from new POTUS.

Peter?s eyes bugged out and he swore. He recognized the codes. ?Why do they need THESE? No ones used them before.?

Peter Wiggin glanced at his uniform, at the metals and badges he fought so hard to earn, and took a deep breath. The keys clicked out the order that would make or break peace ties.

~~~~~

Quinn Cavanagh slammed the slammed the plastic against the interior of the space station. The liquid would not come out of the straws, and it was hopeless. NASA didn?t ever make anything simple.

The Space Station Ganymede was the normal size, roughly as spacious as a small house. Its circular walls made it easy to create artificial gravity by spinning the station. Made of aluminum and other metals, it reflected the light from the Sung to generate power to run the equipment. The outside was a dull black, and the inside painted white, for a more uplifting workplace. It was much more modern and well built than the other floating bricks, such as the age old Mir.

A final defeated throw ripped the plastic down the center, and little droplets of orange liquid floated around near his head. He sighed, and pounded his fist against the wall.

?Hey, kid!?

A man in his early twenties floated into view as a large orange drop flew into Quinn?s left eye.

?Yeah??

?There?s some pretty serious stuff for you here, directly from the USS Europa.?

?Isn?t that the carrier stationed outside of the English Canal??

?Yeah. Looks like it?s urgent.?

Concentrating, Quinn pushed off the stations wall, and gained enough momentum to catch up to the fellow scientist. His eyes darted to the now flashing computer screen, and then blinked. ?What could possibly be going on down there?? he thought. Turning his attention to the man floating next to him, he yelled, ?Give me the readings, about 3,00 ft and below, of all aircraft!?

Shocked, the man hurriedly let his fingers fly on the control pad. ?Okay, we?ve got an unidentifiable missile, from what looks like the Middle East, headed towards Washington, D.C. Doesn?t look good.?

Cavanagh cursed, and replied, ? The head guys want us to go code 13, straight from where that missile came from. ?

?You can?t be serious???

?Yeah, and we?ve got about 20 seconds to do it.?

Quinn typed a few codes and keys, and then got access to a single red button that suddenly appeared on the screen. He looked up, and drew a short breath. ?You know what this is going to do, don?t you??

?Yeah, serious damage. Wouldn?t want to be down there.?
~~~~~

?Sir??

The Prime Minster of England looked up at the officer. ?Yes, General??

?You might want to take a look at this, sir.?

The PM grabbed his glasses, and read the document. Gasping, he looked up at the General doubtfully. ?You think..??

?Yes, sir.?

He sighed. ?Old age must be getting to me,? he thought wordlessly.

?Do it with honor, then.?


~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Caliph looked up at the man, dressed very formally who had just entered his office.

?Your Excellency, this just came.?

A terrible pain came through his heart as the words fell heavy into his eyes. ?Fools, they do not know what they are doing,? he thought.

?Your Excellency? Should I order..??

?No, everyone else will. Let us be the only you try to prevent death.? The desert air blew a hot wind into the Caliph?s face as the guard left.


~~~~~~

The Oval Office was unusually quiet. Usually press conferences were being taped, replayed or arranged. The employees ran around in a hurry to deliver messages, and retrieve coffee. But nothing came through now.

A few muffled knocks and pounds were simply ignored.

Elaina Terra Cameron sat behind her new desk, lost in thoughts. The world seemed so quiet, so peaceful, or innocent. Amid these thoughts a sudden break of the stillness caused her to jump. Sounds of news reports came filtering in from under the door.

??The President has nothing yet to say on the matter, but we?ve heard rumors of an attack plan??

??Do you think that she?ll be impeached after this whole affair? I mean, she hasn?t done anything yet?.?

?Neighboring countries have had numerous riots and religious fanatics seriously harm buildings?Severally citizens have been hurt or killed in the unnecessary violence..?


?..We don?t need to fear what?s coming, I?m sure that the government as got everything under control??

Even more muffled shouts could be heard from outside the office. As tears of pain and suffering poured down the President?s face, she started to laugh.




An unbearable blast could be seen from light years away. The little planet that began life, ended life. Concrete streets cracked, towering buildings crumbled like sand castles, oceans roared with a fury, and continents rippled. A ring of debris, ash, dust, fire and atoms enclosed the planet in less than a few seconds, and then all was lost.

An abrupt silence fell on outer space.

Light years away, in a discrete, unnoticed solar system, a television screen faded out and went static.

[melrose_stormhaven]

Looks good! I loved the whole thing! It desreved the 100% it got!