The Legend of Things Past (Beyond Pluto SciFi Futuristic Aventures Book 1) by Phillip William Sheppard Read Free Book Online Page A

betrayed
by such a young soul, a person who should have been innocent and pure,
disturbed him far beyond any scar she may have left behind. Sometimes he
dreamed about it. He would feel her blade all over again, cutting into his
flesh as if he were nothing more than a slice of fish. He would wake up soaked
in sweat, his heart thundering. Donovan had learned that day that, for the sake
of his own life, he could never show mercy again.
    The world was screwed—he just had to do his best to unscrew
it without getting killed first.
    When the pilot landed the plane just outside Fort Belvoir,
Donovan glanced at the time to see that only two and a half hours had passed.
    To the naked eye there appeared to be nothing there but an
empty field and a stone archway. The security there was far stricter than at
the airport. They couldn’t get in without first confirming their identities.
    The pilot turned off the jet’s engines.
    “Shall we?” she said, gesturing to the door.
    “Yes. I’m Donovan Knight by the way. Sorry I didn’t
introduce myself, I was a little… preoccupied.”
    The woman gave a small smile. “No problem. I hear this is
supposed to be really important. Top secret and all that.” She reached out a
hand to him. “Christina Austin.”
    Donovan shook the proffered hand.
    They walked up to the stone archway together, boots stirring
up little clouds of dust.
    “Brigadier General Donovan Knight reporting.”
    “Corporal Christina Austin reporting.”
    The image in front of them blurred, and an electronic voice
came from seemingly nowhere.
    “Please step forward.” It was the voice of the military
identification system—Idem.
    They got closer to the archway.
    “Please look straight ahead without blinking and hold up
your hands, palms facing outwards.”
    They followed the instructions. A bright light shone into
their eyes and something warm passed over their hands. Despite the warning,
Donovan always blinked. It took only two minutes for Idem to match their fingerprints,
irises, and blood samples to the ones on record.
    “Your identity has been confirmed.” Idem released the Mirage
Builder and the fort came into view. It was like watching a TV turn on—one
moment there was nothing, the next, a complete image. They walked through the
temporary portal. As soon as they stepped through the stone archway the fort
became invisible to outsiders again.
    Fort Belvoir was the oldest military base in the United
States. While many of the others fell into decline over the years as war became
scarce, the government kept Fort Belvoir in working order. The nations of the
world were at peace, but there were still plenty of criminals to deal with—drug
dealers, thieves, murderers. But those kinds of people were below Donovan’s
paygrade. It was his job to catch the people who threatened national or world
peace.
    Fort Belvoir was on a huge plot of land, most of it used to
grow food and raise animals. There were two massive buildings, sleek with glass
tinted black. A thin, elegant bridge connected them. One was about nine stories
taller than the other. Donovan knew from previous visits that those extra nine
stories were off limits to everyone except those chosen by the General to have
access. A white access card would be linked to their Idem profile. When they no
longer needed access, the card deactivated.
    As far as Donovan knew, no one had used those extra floors
in years. Didn’t have an emergency big enough, he guessed.
    Christina led him to the taller building. The glass doors
slid apart to allow them entrance then closed behind them with a soft whoosh .
There was a sense of finality about it. Donovan was surprised to see that the
place was busy with soldiers. They rushed across the room in both directions,
in small groups or individually, their shiny shoes clacking against the tiles.
They whispered to each other urgently and glanced in his direction as they
passed. Many of them recognized him, expected him even, judging