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CIVILIAN – part i

October 13, 2552

      The bright sunlight swept over the clear blue sky on the perfect autumn day. The deciduous trees over the Belgravia district parks swayed gently in the breeze, letting go of their golden and crimson leaves as they departed on graceful arcs towards the ground. Paige Dawson pried her eyes off of the fall colours as she saw her friend approach.
"It's about time Ross," said Paige with grinning sarcasm.
"Oh hush up you," replied Paige's best friend as she approached the café table on the veranda and sat down. "This is a nice little place, innit?"
"Told ya you'd like it." Paige took a sip of her raspberry cappuccino. "Sorry I started without you; I needed my caffeine fix for the hour."
"No it's my fault - Noah and I slept in and he took the sedan; late for another meeting. I swear his firm thinks I'm the worst influence on the bloke since marrying him."
Paige listened intently to the love life gossip as she took another drink of her morning kick-start.
"Honestly, you've got to stop drinking that filth!" poked Ross in mock disgust. "You KNOW caffeine is proven to take years off your life."
"Ya ya ya... at least I'll be awake when everyone else can't get the sand out of their eyes", retorted Paige. A tall, dark haired waiter wearing a posh bistro uniform approached the musing women at their table.
"Can I get you anything ma'am" asked the waiter to Ross, who was apparently lost in his charismatic features.
"Just an orange juice, thanks" replied Ross. The waiter smiled the perfect smile, and walked away to fetch her order. Paige started giggling profusely.
"Oh so I see that the caffeine is only half the reason you come here," pried Ross.
"This a nice little place, innit?," repeated Paige.
"Ha! You're the first person I know that weighs her morning coffee destination with the men serving."
"Shu'up Roslyn or I'll tell Noah how you turned into a zombie," laughed Paige, then commencing to impersonate her friend's mesmorization.
"So what's his name?"
"Jack - and he knows my order by heart now... and my name!"
Ross smirked. "Well you have my blessing, mate."
Paige laughed again. "The day I ask for your blessing is the day I enlist in the marines!"
"Ha! Fair dues." Behind Ross, Big Ben chimed nine o'clock; the age old sound equally as ancient as the stone landmark emanating it.
"I wish my secret coffee lover would hurry up with your drink" mumbled Paige, "I told Warren I'd be in by now to finish up the Westminster Ad." Ross just stared, a terrified yet greatly amused look on her face.
"Your orange juice, ma'am", said Jack as he walked from directly behind Paige, setting the beverage on the table. He met eyes with Paige and grinned. Paige felt a flush of embarrassment pass over her. But all humiliation was replaced by mystery as he suddenly winked at her.
"Oh god.... typical Paige" she said to herself, as the attractive waiter walked away into the servery.
"You definitely have your moments" laughed Ross. "I'll take this to go; we're both late for work." Ross danced her hand over the table display, and paid for the drink.
"I'm going to go pay at the desk" muttered Paige, getting up and leaving the empty round mug at the café table. Ross smiled in infatuated memory as her friend disappeared through the throng of tables feeding the morning crowd. To Paige's anticipated delight, Jack was manning the counter.
"If it isn't my favourite customer" rang his low voice, his mouth still in a wide smile.
"Oh I'm very sorry... sometimes I just blab out my fancies and feel the stab of regret afterwards and...."
"No no no, it's fine. I'm flattered," said Jack, cutting off her blabbering before she could regret anything more. "Did you enjoy your raspberry cappuccino today Paige?"
"Amazing as always... my friend bugs me about the caffeine though."
"You know" murmured Jack, "I always make them myself." He was enjoying the chance to finally truly admire her soft physical features - the sun played through the trees onto her porcelain skin, and radiated her short blonde hair. She had the trim physique of the stereotypical stunning girl, yet the difference in this case was her genuine interest in him - something that was displayed since she first came in for the same drink, two weeks ago. Paige stared at Jack as they flirted; this was their first conversation beyond remarks of the weather or the menu. He had a North American accent which seemed to perfectly compliment his rugged features and tanned appearance.
"You do, do you?" giggled Paige, "now why is that?"
"Well partly because I want to serve you myself, and partly because our new guy, Juan, has a terrible sneezing problem." Paige laughed out loud. Funny, too. Their eyes locked again, both hesitating in the perfect morning atmosphere, not wanting it to end.
"Jack, will you have dinner with me?"
The waiter looked joyful beyond belief. "Only on one condition."
"Name it."
"We don't eat here." Paige laughed out loud again. Everything was harmoniously natural with this man - one of her most important relationship criteria. "Fab! Meet me in Leicester Square at seven, I'll surprise you."
"It would be my pleasure."
"Paige! Paige! Come ON! Stop fraternizing with your boy-toy and let's go!" Ross' voice cut over the crowd as she waved frantically.
"She's married, so she's unhappy" explained Paige sarcastically.
"Makes sense to me" replied the man, the smile never disappearing. Paige quickly rummaged through her work portfolio and brought out her universal ID card.
"No, no, no," said Jack, waving the card away. "Today it's on me. I figure I owe you seeing as how you're willing to talk to a bloke like me." Again, Paige couldn't contain her laughter. The weightless feeling of heat inside her was miraculous.
"Thank you. Seven o'clock then."
"I look forward to it", and then Jack gave that enticing wink again. It made Paige's excitement elevate up to cloud nine as she walked away.
"What was that all about young lady?", beckoned Ross, clearly disgruntled but amused with Paige's glowing face.
"I asked him to dinner, we're seeing each other tonight!"
"Well don't you move fast!"
"I get what I want" chuckled Paige confidently. The two women strolled down the quad street's sidewalk; now that work had started, the morning rush had died down leaving London in a pleasant lull. The old white buildings elegantly stood as luxury apartments and upscale plazas. Over their horizons were the downtown stratoscrapers – the newer, sleeker buildings that prioritized traffic and efficiency over colour and aesthetics. They were all built by the book too – concrete blocks were 'puzzle pieced' into each other, creating the same monochromatic look across any London building over one hundred stories. Paige marveled at the distant four hundred story Westminster Municipal building; in an effort to add some humanity to the plaza, her advertisement would be placed on a particularly bleak looking stretch of fifty floors next week. Ross noticed her friend daydreaming at the permacrete monoliths.
"I think the older architecture is much prettier than our big grey boxes nowadays. I'd personally rather have a little art and style than whatever metallic efficiency they say it gives us."
Paige though about it. "Well ya, but could you live without your loft's hydro shower, or your mag-heat system, or your media centre, or your bay window, beside that huge bed of Noah's and yours?" Paige jabbed Ross in the side with the last remark, laughing at her friend.
"Well I wouldn't mind it if we weren't on the one hundred and forty-second floor! Noah knows I have vertigo, but we bought it anyway!"
"Maybe he's trying to make you face your fears."
"Maybe he's trying to provide a reason for me to cling to him at night."
"Ha! I bet it works too!"
"Ya, the bastard!"
"Uh oh! Trouble in paradise eh?"
"Nah, nout. I'm just teasing… I'd be all over that man whether we were on the 1st floor, the 142nd floor, or on Sigma Octanus IV."
"You're just going through the honeymoon phase… I'm placing bets you'll be divorced in two weeks", Paige poked Ross again in the ribs, laughing at her own joke.
"Oh would you stop it! I could rip on any jokes about your waiter hunk!" This time Ross jabbed Paige back, unintentionally hard in the stomach, but laughing recklessly anyways.
"Oi! What are you, trying to draw blood or something? Alright, alright – I'm just having ya on. If I can have what you and Noah have with my god-of-morning-coffee, I'd be a lucky girl."

      The girls kept teasing each other as they walked on. Paige had to pat her white sunskirt down every time an electric car sped past, which Ross found funny in her satisfactory office khakis.
"Let's turn down here." Ross pointed to a cobblestone pedestrian walk, ambling through old antique shops. Paige agreed, knowing that her friend preferred the animated stone walk compared to the glowing puzzle-piece road tablets.
"Wow look in that window! They have a video game system!"
"A what?"
"Never mind."
"Ew! Look at that! A cigarette pack, I think it's called."
Paige had never heard of the term. "What's a 'sig-arr-it'?"
"Oh just an old stupid thing people did in the 20th century… they sucked on paper tubes and inhaled smoke from a burning plant. It went out of style pretty quick when they realized it pretty much guaranteed cancer," explained Ross as they walked by. "Of course right when it stopped, cancer was cured."
"Oh ya… me mum had it for a while. It was easy as the flu."
"Well back then it was like what hypthodemia is now."
"That bad eh?"
"Probably worse… medicine was so terrible before."
"How do you know so much about this?," inquired Paige, clearly surprised with her friend's lesson.
"My class is going through ancient history right now… the beginning of time to 2100. I don't actually know anything about it, but I just read the lesson the night before and stay one step ahead of the kids."
"Ha! I could see that!" Paige laughed again; today was a good day. "Isn't that a little rough for sixteen year-olds?"
"Are you kidding? They're all brilliant… it's just the lack of interest that slows it down. Most of them are either calculus prodigies or really talented artists. We do spend a week on the old stuff though… mostly the ancient Romans and World War II… the rest of the semester is the Quantum age."
"Best damn age ever!," cracked Paige. "The information age can kiss my ass!"
A few heads were turned from a small patio restaurant nearby at the outburst.
"Ha! Tactful", laughed Ross as she saw a universal cutlery bin and disposed her finished orange juice glass into the perfectly sized port.
"It's a good thing you don't teach first loop," said Paige, "your kids would be running wild."
"Ya but I'm on call for subbing. The History of War teacher McAllister keeps calling in sick." Ross shook her head in amused disapproval. "Honestly, you can't contract small pox six days in a row! The bloody virus has been dead for like, seven hundred years!"
Paige thought this was funny, "well why doesn't he just get an auto-vax from his residence's med station?"
"Because the Napoleonic War marathon is on media 5, that's why."
"The what?"
"Never mind!" The ladies kept gossiping about coworkers as they emerged out the other side of the pedestrian walk and back onto the Earth-standard street tiles.
"Right, I'll call you tonight Paige, make plans for tomorrow." Ross smiled as they departed at there usual place.
"Ok, if I'm out with Jack then I'll have my unit on me."
"See ya!"
"Bye!"
Ross disappeared down into the mag-tube network, her auburn hair bobbing down the stairs. Paige waited for the crosswalk lights to change, and headed in the general direction of Soho. At St. James Square, she headed east into the downtown district, being dwarfed into an insignificant speck as the titanic stratoscrapers encompassed her. She checked her mobile unit's atomic clock. 9:24. Damn. She'd have to schmooze Warren to get out of this one. Five minutes later, she came out of a pastry deli carrying a box of morning snacks, and headed across the square to her building.
"Hi Paige!," said Frank, the elderly security guard who always held the lobby door open for her.
"Hi Frank, want a Danish?," asked Paige, holding open the sugary-smelling box while balancing the portfolio on her right arm.
"You know the Missus has me on a diet" teased the friendly man with balding white hair.
"Then this will be our little secret", she whispered, clearly amused with the food-adultery. Frank took a peach treat and thanked her for the taboo gift. Paige walked into the large empty reception hall; auto-plants were placed here and there around the dull walls and window partitions in an attempt to provide some welcome, but other than that, and some lounge couches, the permacrete, three-story-tall room perfectly complimented the sterile white floor. She waved at Jill behind the tower's welcome desk and headed for the lift corridor. On the way, she caught the lead news headline on a glass info-terminal. "Reach Death Toll Now Estimated Over 4 Billion". God, how can that happen? Paige's mouth dropped slightly as she went over the mental impact for the thousandth time. It had now been over a month since the assault; the human shock had slightly died down, but there was no lack of misery anywhere. Everyone seemed to know someone who had perished on Reach. Her morning enthusiasm with Ross suddenly made her feel sick in retrospect to the largest loss of life ever suffered by their species. If the Covenant could destroy Reach, what was stopping them from getting Earth, and with it, the extinction of humanity? The few pictures on the display had been recycled by the media many times over for lack of correspondence; the scarred planet had been glassed – the term commonly associated with plasma bombardment. Wrecked hulls and debris littered the system. One particularly grisly photograph displayed a female maintenance officer drifting lifelessly past the ship window from which the picture had been taken; her skin tinted blue from the extreme cold of space, and her eyes wide open, yet bled dry from the vacuum. Paige looked away; she neither felt the courage, nor want, to think of it, and assumed ignorance as bliss. Be strong in times of pain; such was the way of the British. Locking her mind on the looming project of the day, she swiped her ID card and took the lift up to the 96th floor.

      "Look who decided to show up!" Warren called from across the room, apparently not amused with her fashionably late entrance. Paige stepped from the lift into the light room, fabulously decorated with the latest art and furniture styles in a blatant contradiction from the tower in which the firm leased. Paige loved it here; it was a haven to explore her own artistic creativity while being paid.
"Ya I'm sorry; I brought yummies, but the line up at the place took forever… like half an hour!" She jokingly lied through her white teeth, but any ping of regret was dismissed by Warren's stern face instantly transforming into sheer childish delight as she thrust the pastry box into his hands.
"Oh fabulous! Lemon-Lime!" Warren inhaled a treat and passed the box around to the office staff as Paige walked towards her room. The usual pleasantries of "Hi" and "Excellent day today!" were exchanged with associates as she walked by the junior staff cubicles before getting settled in her office. Looking out the glass walls, her lips tugged up as she spotted the usual procrastinators mulling about the water cooler – a tradition that had plagued humanity and generated counter-production for centuries now. "So anything new with Reach ... Terrible business that…Ya so I met a new girl yesterday …I swear me mum is going insane …I wish this water wasn't so warm …Check out the Gravball game last night? Close match! … I wonder how that Westminster deal is going to go… The last comment jerked Paige out of her eavesdropping daydream and focused her attention on her upright desk displays. The ad featured an explosion of colour in a formulated pattern with the blazing title, "Westminster. The place where old meets new and time goes on." She thought it fitting for the district, and a good addition to the building on which it was to be placed. Something more was needed; not just for the hefty buying price her firm contracted, but for the creative atmosphere. Paige's objective was to make people think. Think about it after they had stopped viewing it. Think about how they wished they were in Westminster at that moment. Right now, the focus of most minds in London would be the Covenant attacks. People needed unification; friendliness; forms of hope that would make the day worth living. Over the course of the next two hours, she super-imposed a rendered park scene with people talking together, holding hands, or just smiling in the focus direction. Perfect thought Paige… now there was some warmth to this picture. But it needed some pride too. She changed five of the twenty-or-so people to English-corps UNSC; two were infantry in fatigues, two were fleet crew, and one was administrative in a tagged suit. The ad agent had little interest in the human military, but she commended their politically unifying grasp; they were the government for all people; the law of the galaxy – be it through regulation or military force. And if the United Nations Space Command didn't exist, well, the Covenant would be a lot closer to Earth by now. Again, Paige pushed the years-old war out of her mind and stood up, satisfied with her work. It was time for a reasonable break with Stan over at the water cooler. The rest of the day went well; an extended lunch break seemed to fit in well, the afternoon board meeting gave positive approval of her ad changes, and the notion that she would be seeing Jack in a few hours put a spring in her step.

      The twenty-three year old woman emerged from the mag-tube underground station up into the busy street that was so typical of London's nightlife. The sun had dropped below the stratoscraper horizons, leaving a beautiful orange-pink sky to cast shadows over the warm evening. Paige headed in the close direction of Leicester Square, smiling at heads that turned in double-takes. Female vanity had not died down in hundreds of years, and she wasn't about to let it; spending two hours getting herself ready for this date seemed to fit in naturally with her primal female instinct. She laughed at her own discriminatory joke and kept walking, exaggerating her swishy knee-length skirt in the content-most fashion. And fashion was something Paige felt great attraction for; trends and styles always seemed to be a constant in the universe of humanity; a way for people to define themselves while looking fabulous to each other. 2552 brought with it the 'Sunwashed' look to the English-speaking society; bright colour pastels and sheer white being the contributing ingredients. The skirt had come back in style after two hundred years, but jeans didn't make it. Patterns and corporate advertisements were also out of the in-crowd; solid colours were the new fad. All tops were body-fitting or else loose, and all bottoms were sewed for maximum flexibility, durability, and comfort – the heightening in global warming of the 20th century left southern England with comfortable heat. Paige complimented her white swishskirt with a pastel-pink top sporting light green ¾ arms. If she had a guilty obsession other than raspberry cappuccino and cute waiters, it was fashion media. If it were a rainy night with no plans, she'd curl up on her sofa with some suppressant food and watch display loops on the current celebrities or clothing shows. Paige knew as much about trend as Ross new about history, the difference being that she looked fabulous because of it.

      Approaching the square, the girl took a quick glance of her reflection in a shop window as she walked by, smoothing out her shirt against her abdomen and slipping what little long hair she had behind an ear, nudging her Aesthetics Device. The miniscule unit lodged behind a person's ear and cast faint holographic signatures onto one's face to emphasize facial features. Similar to 'makeup' in design, it vastly simplified the primitive art of painting one's face. Paige had her AD set on 'special occasion', so that her eyelashes were darkened and made fuller, and her lips coloured slightly rouge in the evening light. And it worked – the heads kept turning – the smiles kept coming. Oh how she loved the socio-state the world was in. Prosperity, health, technological advancement – all making it possible to enjoy the divine things of existence; going out to meet a boy, dressing up, enjoying the nightlife. Paige jerked out of her daydream as she spotted her rendezvous leaning against a fence post across the pedestrian square, staring up at the magnificent trees which resided on the centre green patch. Feeling playful, she snuck up behind him. He was wearing solid white – perfectly contrasting his tanned skin and short dark hair. Page threw her hands over his eyes, startling him in surprise. "Guess who!", she bellowed.
"Emmm… well I certainly hope it's Paige, or somebody's got a serious law suit coming their way." Jack grinned as her turned around, seeing his date's laughing face. "Hi. I'm glad you remembered."
"Well of course I did! It put a leap in me all day!" She smoothed out her shirt along her abdomen again. "So do I get a hug?"
"I was hoping you'd say that." Even though the man was inches taller than her, she had no problem getting her arms higher than his and around his back. He's packing more than I thought! Her arms graced his toned arms and back; his her feminine waist and lower back. Paige felt Jack's teasing attitude fall to pure seriousness, but the joy was still there. Funny and sensitive. Ross can eat her heart out. Releasing the embrace but still resting his hands on her waist, Jack looked her square in the eyes. "So where are we going? I'm famished!"
Paige pointed across the square to a small ethnic pub. "Terra Nova. Best pasta in London."
"It's outta this world." quoted Jack as they walked under the awning sign. He saw the maitre'd approach. "Table for two please."

      Over dinner the happy couple talked about everything imaginable. Paige bragged of her morning lateness (which Jack explicitly recalled), and how she danished her way out of it. She learned he was in his final year of university, majoring in Consumer Graphic Arts.
"No way!"
"Yes way!"
"I did too!"
Paige explained that she was a year out of uni, and had her own office because she had proven her worth in the local industry. Jack liked the changes she told him were made to the Westminster project. They enjoyed a three course meal and wine, and then desert with coffee. Jack and Paige were in a happy place together, far away from anyone else's.

      "Thank you for a lovely evening," smiled Paige. "It was wonderful."
"I think you provided the lovely" teased Jack, coming to a stop in front of her loft's white Belgravia building.
"Maybe I did, but then you provided the special." Paige fiddled with her residence swipe card, still coyly smiling.
"Maybe I did, but I think that was you too." Jack looked down on her with passionate eyes – the same eyes he had watched her from the café with every morning. He leaned into her space; he could smell her faint aroma. Taking the anticipated cue, Paige quickly leaned in and their lips collided. The empty street was suddenly filled with weightlessness as they came into intimate contact with one another; Jack pulling her against his body from her lower back, and Paige's nails digging into the back of his head. His firm grip felt so good against Paige, and her hands on the back of his neck felt so good against Jack. Letting go after what seemed an eternity, but both wanting more of eternity, they kissed again. And again. And again – in lessened bursts each time. This was serious now, between the woman and the man.

      Finally, letting her arms stretch over his shoulders, and then relaxing them back against his head, she was the happiest girl on Earth. "Goodnight," she whispered.
"Goodnight, Paige," he whispered back, brushing the backside of his fingers against her soft cheek. She embraced his hands with hers, and they slowly drew apart as she walked backwards, eventually letting go of each other and rushing back into reality. She gave the most loving smile a girl can give to a boy, and went into her building. Watching her crush through the one-way door-side window, she saw Jack kick his feet together in mid-air, and stride away on top of the world. She felt the same. Enthralled with the progress, Jack realized they had not made further plans. But he knew she would be at the café tomorrow, same time as always, same drink as always.

October 14, 2552

      And she was. If yesterday was the best day of her life, then today was a close second thought Paige, starring up at the autumn trees and admiring the dancing leaves on their fall to the busy street below.
"You always stare at the trees", said Jack from behind, scurrying up to her table with a round mug – the steaming mocha-rouge liquid inside – towel over his forearm.
"Wow… I didn't even have to order today!" Paige was delighted that her addiction came in the form of two minutes early. Jack sat down in a vacant chair beside her.
"I had a wonderful time last night, Paige."
"Me too. When are we doing it again?"
"Today?"
"Lunch?"
"Meet you in Trafalgar Square?"
"12?"
"You bring the special, I'll bring the lovely."
"Fab, I'll see you then. I've got a family of five that's over fifteen-hundred pounds, and their eggs are late. Back to work honey." Honey. She like the sound of it. Jack leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. Paige stifled laughter from his joke, and caught him by the button-up of his crisp white shirt. She pulled him back down and kissed him tensely on the lips, letting him free of her grasp after a fair few moments. Several onlookers from the tables around smiled and whistled.

October 20, 2552

"There you are, where the hell have you been girl?" laughed Ross over her com unit.
"Sorry mate, I've been really busy!" Paige was glad to talk to her friend for the first time after several days of neglect.
"Ya I'll bet you have been! I presume you've had your way with the waiter!"
"You presume right", giggled Paige, "we've been seeing each other all week, every day, almost every hour."
"Inseparable" murmured her best friend, apparently easily relating the romance to her own.
"Yes. We can't get enough of each other. Every time I'm around him, time stands still. And every time I'm without him, time goes on forever."
"Be careful mate, he could be a serial killer. One day you love him, the next day you wake up in a bathtub full of ice in the Republic of Korea, missing a kidney." Ross smirked at her own joke. Paige laughed too.
"Well in my books he's earned the benefit of the doubt. Well…. That and he's a great kisser."
"So you'd date a serial killer just because he can kiss?"
"I'm not going to lie to you… it's possible." Both women laughed, enjoying their reunited voice-presence.
"How'd the Westminster ad go over? I haven't been downtown to see it yet."
"Oh excellent!", said Paige, "it went without a hitch, and the municipality loved it, especially the UNSC changes I made!" Paige was thrilled with the perfect synchronization of joy in both romance and career at this point in her life. "I'll tell you all about it over breakfast."
"Dare I need ask where?"
"8:30?"
"Okays mate, see you soon."
"Bye byes."
The girls met at their usual table, overlooking the street and small square park embedding the tall trees beyond. It was an overcast day – the first signs of autumn coming to an end. Paige had thus far been under the happy illusion that the bright weather mimicked her mood, however the gloomy day didn't slump her in the least. A jazztech album hummed in musical electricity from the café in an attempt to liven up the patrons' mood before the rain came. Perhaps make them lively enough to be hungrier. Jack met the talking-two with each respective arm carrying a raspberry cappuccino and a fresh orange juice.
"For my two favourite ladies in the world", sounded Jack, setting the beverages down on the white plasteel table.
"What about your mother?" Paige gave him a poke in the stomach.
"…On this continent", added Jack sitting down between them.
"I'm surprised I made the cut!" Ross giggled and took a sip of her stark yellow drink.
"You know what they say", said Jack, "gotta be the girlfriend's best friend's best friend for approval."

"Oh didn't you here?" Ross sarcastically turned to Page with the worst impersonation of anger. "My best mate doesn't need my blessing." Paige burst out laughing, and addressed Jack.
"Well if it helps you sleep at night lover, Ross gave us her blessing anyways."
"I'm surprised at night you two are sleeping at all!" Ross chuckled at both of them, then promptly hiding behind another gulp of orange juice.
"No need to be cheeky you dirty girl!" Paige and Jack both lashed on Ross' false accusations, and commenced to annoy her with allegations of her and Noah's love life.
"Oi! Why are ya ganging up on me?" Ross clearly looked helplessly amused, enough so that the couple let her free.
"Hahaha we're having ya on" spewed Jack, grabbing her orange juice and helping himself to a gulp.
"Oi!"
"Just don't get any funny ideas about me and my lover yet", stated Paige, adding matter-of-factly, "everything is purely innocent!"
"Oi! That's my juice!" Ross was feeling disgruntled as Jack downed the bottom half of her drink, a satisfied look on his face from the quench. "And I though you wanted to be your girlfriend's best friend's best friend!"
"Well ya, and best friends share juice!"
"Nuh uh!"
"Uh huh!"
"Nuh uh!"
"Uh huh!"
"Alright that's enough innit?" Paige laughed as she pulled her two mates out of the intelligent debate. "Now Jack, what you did was wrong." Paige waived her forefinger at him in mock authority. "Apologize to Roslyn; she's very sad," she added, sarcastically feigning a parent disciplining their child. Jack was clearly beaten.
"Ross, I'm sorry I drank…."
"This is a BBC World News Interruption Update." The large vidscreen on a building beside the park across the road flashed out of its commercial loops and into a fully audible urgent broadcast. A professional anchor-woman sat behind a rounded desk, looking quite stern, yet stricken with the news she was about to inform London of.
"What the…" muttered Jack. The journalist immediately broke into business.
"At 8:56 this morning, Greenwich world time, a Covenant fleet emerged from slipspace travel approximately 327,000 kilometers from Earth."
A gasp emanated over the whole crowd; life stood still as passer-byes, morning commuters, residents leaning out their windows, and the café patrons stared in complete stillness.
"That's 7 minutes ago" murmured Ross. Paige felt incomprehensible. This was surreal. The woman that was describing the world's fate continued.
"The BBC is sourced from the INN, which received initial telemetry from orbiting media satellites in the area. Fifteen Covenant ships, mainly destroyers and cruisers, were picked up. All UNSC ships in the area, currently under command of Admiral Hood, are holding position in a defensive perimeter in conjunction with the orbital MAC platforms." More waves of shock passed through the onlookers. "God…it's finally happening …how is this possible …we have to get out of here …maybe we can stop them …I have to call my family…" On went the report.
"The UNSC has made no formal statement yet, although they would be well aware of this media presentation to the general public. While FLEETCOM is currently fully engaged in the space-side battle, TERRACOM is expected to shortly give a brief on the full situation, and modes of action for citizens on Earth. As stated in the TERRACOM crisis plan, subsection 2.6, in the event of an unpredicted Covenant attack-force entering the Sol System, all civilians are asked to return to their residence, and view Media 1 for full assessments and information. Most important of all, do not panic, for this will severely heighten the already dire situation." The precaution didn't seem to have much effect; people around were starting to murmur – one lady even got up and started running down the opposite side of the road. On screen, the anchor pressed her hand to her earpiece as breaking information was apparently coming in.
"The orbital stations Athens, Cairo, and Malta were until moments ago holding position over Kenya's New Mombasa; obviously a critical target due to its orbital lift and heavy civilian population. The Athens and Malta were recently destroyed by boarding craft, but the Cairo seems to be holding position. However, a Covenant cruiser has gotten by the perimeter and is holding post over New Mombasa, ferrying an invasion force into the world's unofficial capital. With this report, the BBC has received news that at least one Spartan was onboard the Cairo, probably due to the station's survival. This is obviously very surprising news as all Spartan soldiers were presumed to have perished on Reach. Again, FLEETCOM will not release any details, but an INN satellite in the battleorbit did scan a Spartan freefalling to the frigate In Amber Clad, captained by… Miranda Keyes. The ship then moved planetside to New Mombasa."
Paige squinted at the screen. The video moved away from the docile studio and showed several low-res captures of the space conflict. It was anarchy. A Spartan, on Earth? It hardly mattered though.
"We now go to crisis analyst Terry Hobart."
"Thank you Lyn. These events are of course incredibly dangerous; they are happening right now, so I will keep this message brief in the interest of public safety. The Covenant are acting in a questionable way compared to other planetary attacks. First and foremost, they had a substantially larger fleet when at Reach. It is presumed that they have mistakenly found Earth, being that the Cole Protocol is always exercised to the best of UNSC ability. Secondly, they have moved their formation, and are currently for the most part, holding position adjacent to the globe's day-side, time zones -10 to +8, Greenwich standard. The ships that have broken through the defensive perimeter are moving into both orbital bombardment position and atmospheric invasion position. It is unlike the Covenant to do both at the same time. What we predict is invasion on major urban centres – New Mombasa is the likely main target, but others will be pinpointed too. Currently, the largest populaces in the invasion range are: Mexico City, New York, Toronto, Montreal, Buenos Aires, London, New Amsterdam, Paris, Nova Roma, Berlin, Moscow, New Mombasa, Johannesburg, Jerusalem, and New Delhi. While 27 of the 300 orbital MAC platforms are destroyed, the Belfast, Norwich, Copenhagen, and Normandy are holding steady position over western Europe, protecting the radius encompassing London, New Amsterdam, and Paris."
A sigh of relief fell over the tense crowd. They were safe. For now.
"Notable cities outside of the invasion range are Sydney, the UNSC's command central, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Vancouver, Los Angeles (along with the American west coast), and New Tokyo. Now, I can't stress enough how important it is to stay calm. If we loose our composure, we are only aiding the Covenant in their plans. All citizens are asked to go back to their place of residence, and wait for further instruction and information. Please be respectful of others, and give a helping human hand to those in need of assistance. Back to you Lyn."
"Thank you Terry. This public broadcast will continue to loop as long as possible; the BBC in association with the INN will continue to bring you news updates as well. I will point out that the odds in terms of sheer numbers and resilience are favourable to us, so unite as humans no matter what discrimination you might feel, and defend what is wholly ours; Earth. Thank you."
BBC Transmission Terminated. Repeat Loop function in 5.. 4.. 3..
Paige stared at Jack and Ross. They stared back. Ross' face was white. Jack's was furrowing in trouble. She decided to break the silence.
"Right, well you heard them. I guess we'd better get back home." Her friends nodded in solemn agreement. The morning commuters seemed to regain their bearings; some scrambled to grab their things and walk briskly away, while others quietly gathered themselves together at a slow pace. No one panicked in the silence though – a remarkable feat. Probably different from the poor people in New Mombasa. Are the already dead? As the trio got up, Paige glance up at the sky directly above her. Even in the overcast morning light, she made out faint plumes of purple gloss and yellow splatters – even tiny black specks. They must be the plasma bursts, and the explosions, and the fleets. She was sick to her stomach. I knew this was going to happen, but somehow wasn't expecting it.
"I have to get back to work" Jack muttered, scanning the tables of half-consumed food.
"Don't be silly!" Paige looked at him sternly. "There's a covenant attack! The café doesn't matter! Look." Indeed, the bistro employees were closing the patio doors and pulling down the servery barricades; everyone wanted to leave as soon as possible. The patio became scarce as people flew off quickly towards home, hoping to reunite with their loved ones.
"I've got to get to Noah!", spoke Ross for the first time since the news. Paige had to get to her loft too. She was glad it was only a few streets away.
"I'd better head to my apartment then" said Jack quickly punching in some staff information on the table's display.
"No way! You're coming with me! I don't want to be alone through this thing and neither do you. It's better if we all stick togeth…" The vid screen broke in again with breaking news, this time cutting off the previous recording.
"This is BBC World News, London. The UNSC has declared a full state of emergency and is issuing defense stage Alpha. TERRACOM has given full authorization for the BBC to act as its communiqué to the UK isles. Alpha stage can be found in the Crisis Plan, subsection 3.9; it is the declaration of full emergency incase of an unpredicted hostile attack. It directly orders all civilians to return to their residence unless otherwise notified. It places any UNSC personal as authorized ranking personnel above the civilian populace. The United Nations Prime Minister Homaf Sharim has ranking command over all aspects of the UNSC, both fleetside and planetside. Directly under him is the Secretary General, the Terra Command and Space Command General Assemblies, the Security Council, the Office of Naval Intelligence, and the UNSC Fleet Admirals. In the event of occupation, the priority is protecting Earth citizens. While all civilians must follow any orders given by UNSC persons, you are authorized and encouraged to defend yourselves. Upon occupation, everyone is asked to move towards your region's rally-point, for a greater defensive position and further instruction. Rations, med packs, arms, and other survival necessities may be given out on the authorization of your area's field commander. These items may also be freely be picked up from fallen UNSC personnel, if this is such the case. If the Covenant do land in your city, proceed with extreme caution, and reference media 1 or any government persons for your rally point information." The man touched his earpiece.
"This is just coming in…" The camera broke to an exploding orbital space station. "The Copenhagen has been destroyed. This will create a…" The live feed showed plumes of light emanating from the Belfast. It was blowing up from the inside. People on the street screamed. The video cut back to the distraught reporter.
"Emm… it seems the Belfast as just been destroyed as well, from the looks of it a bomb or sabotage on the inside." He touched the earpiece again, this time pausing to personally digest the information.
"Uh…. It seems this has created a substantial hole in western Europe's defense perimeter. The INN is receiving scans of a Covenant ship breaking off of the UNSC engagement and traveling into the atmosphere." The camera broke back to a satellite link; it was the first Covenant cruiser Paige had seen. She gulped back a lump of fear. The long, sleek silver shell engulfed the lower purple-metal undercarriage. God it had to be kilometers long. It slowly glided by the view, the omen of England's potential doom. A small squadron of Covenant fighters swam onto the screen, getting closer and closer to the satellite. The lead attack ship seemed to be charging a forward gun – green light balled into a cluster, and with an inaudible blast, was sent off towards the INN machine. After three seconds, the green orb slammed into the camera, and the screen went to static, quickly cutting back to the reporter. Paige didn't care anymore. She looked directly up again. Nothing. She scanned the whole sky. Wait…One of the small black specs slowly grew in size. There it is.
"Jack, Ross….. look." Her friends' heads swung upwards. "Look… see that large black dot?"
"Oh my God." Ross stared in horror. "I've get to get to Noah." The spec grew to the size of a fly in the sky, and then to the size of a ball. It's descending so fast. We need more time. It's not fair. In the distance, an air-raid siren started blaring. The Covenant cruiser was getting so large that Paige would have had to use her whole hand to block it from view.
"LET'S GO. NOW!" Paige pushed Jack out of his trance, and pulled Ross by the hand with her. They made it to the next table before she heard the streaming noise. She looked up – six little balls of purple plasma were gathering up on the visible side of the behemoth. With loud blasts that echoed throughout the city, the plasma exploded off the side of the ship, and came streaming towards central London. Paige was immobilized. Her mind screamed to run, but her legs wouldn't move. Her eyes were obsessed with viewing her certain death; she couldn't pry them off the magnificent orbs, falling to their targets below. The plasma blasts started to disperse from one another – and one got larger. It was heading towards them. Although still a kilometer up in the sky, Paige could feel the faint humidity it was causing over the wind. Its coming towards us! She felt Jack's hand gently slide into hers. She gripped his fingers tightly. Is this where I die? The fireball took another ten seconds to reach the small district of Belgravia. Instinctively, the three friends and everyone else still on the street - captivated by their doom - ducked to the ground in a feeble attempt to escape the wraith. It was so close now that Paige's vision went white, and then instantly black. With a shattering explosion, the fireball ripped into a block two streets down behind the park. Paige pushed her head into her arms, her eyes streaming in pain. She was blind, and her skin felt like it would peel off at any moment. HEAT. It was a furnace. Paige didn't try to look up; apart from the fact that she was terrified, she knew she would not be able to see. But I can hear. The sounded of metal twisting in screams, concrete smashing and being churned into dust, and explosive fires consuming anything in its path pierced into her ears. This is what hell is. The crash over-sounded human screams of terror and pain, but they were faintly present. GOD MAKE IT STOP! PLEASE STOP! I WANT IT TO STOP! STOP!!! Just when her skin began to feel prickly and liquid, the heat seemed to ever so slightly fade. And then more. And more. The degrees were well over 100 she surmised. The Celsius kept dropping. God WHY? She felt as if she was going to die. I want to die. It's okay if this pain ends.

Paige Dawson left her conscious mind.

      The girl felt extremely nauseous. She tried to inhale. It was impossible. Paige gagged. Her throat was coated with soot and smoke. She let out an involuntary cough – one that felt as if she was throwing up a lung. It barely cleared away the death inside her, but she could sustain herself now. Something was wrong. I didn't hear myself coughing. She tried to speak.
"…….." She was mouthing the words, and she could not hear. I've gone deaf. Her vision was pitch black, and she could not hear anything. Am I dead? A silent buzz came into her mind. No… what is that? The whine grew and grew. The sound emanated from inside her head – a shrill drone extremely high in pitch. I CAN hear…concussion… Paige started to panic. Am I hurt? What happened? Oh God. She peaked up from the pavement. She saw a faint grayness in the distance of the black. She concentrated on it. The woman was between a place of reality and consciousness; completely confused as too her own existence. The light grew brighter. Brighter and brighter. It turned yellow. Then the blur took shape. A flame. A flame? Yes a flame. It's a fire. A fire? Yes a fire. It's hot. I remember hot. It felt terrible. You're burned. Burned? Yes burned. The plasma. Plasma? Yes plasma. The Covenant. The Covenant were attacking…The area around the flame took shape. She saw wood underneath it. A grey wall behind it. Rubble all around it. Black rubble. It had been burned. Like me. Yes like you. Concentrate. Concentrate? Find out what has happened here. Yes… yes I need to find out. Paige's vision crawled back into perspective, outwards from the fire which had become the object of her attraction. The Covenant attack! The plasma bombardment! It hit Belgravia! Two streets down! I'm alive! Am I hurt?! Paige immediately felt panic rise. She willed her arm hand to move towards her head, but it would not. It simply shook. She slowly angled her head down to see what was wrong with her hand. Oh God. Her sleeve was ripped and gone in most places, and her skin was covered in scrapes and burns spewing blood and plasma. Oh God. It was in one piece though. It's OKAY. I'm OKAY. This time when she tried to move her hand, it went with her thoughts. She felt her head. Her face and ears were covered in blood too – the skin seared at her slight touch. The hair that she could see had scorched tips. It was covered in dust and dirt. She was coloured in dust and dirt and blood. This can't be happening. She willed her toes to move. Good. My legs are here. She looked up from her stomach-down resting place. The street was covered in debris; broken glass, metal, and possessions littered the street. Anything that utilized power had gone out. All the lights were dark. She looked farther towards the park. The majestic trees were now black stumps of misery; all leaves and branches had been incinerated. The white buildings around the streets had been painted in a sickly gray-black. Some didn't even stand. Piles of houses and buildings were spread in heaps where they had once stood. Fires trickled here and there – burning wherever there was fuel to be had. Paige strained her eyes beyond the tops of the houses. Though she could not see where the blast had hit, thick black smoke billowed upwards of what was surely a large crater. The poor people there. They're dead. All dead. People. There are people. People? The people around you. On the street! Paige quickly cut her gaze to the destroyed street laid out in front of her. An overturned electric car burned down the road. There was a body halfway underneath it. Oh God! She turned away. Another body lay dead. And another. And more. They were charred black, burned, or killed by the shockwave of debris. Oh God Oh God Oh God. Someone down the road stirred. Paige starred at him. He felt his whole body like she did. He noticed he was missing two limbs. He started screaming. Stop Screaming! He kept screaming. STOP SCREAMING! She looked away. More people were stirring beside the certain dead. Some let out terrified shrills of pain; others realized they were alright, but lay immobilized in shock. People. Friends. Jack! Ross! She saw an outstretched arm lying on the pavement in front of her. She followed it up to Jack's unconscious body, lying beside her. He's breathing. She turned the opposite direction to face Ross. Ross! She was covered in much more black then they were. Ross! Paige moved her arm over to her and gave as much a push as she could. Ross! Don't! Ross! Paige's week jabs continued. Ross suddenly coughed, letting dark smaug out of her burned throat. She opened her eyes, revealing watery whites in the middle of a dirty and bloody face. Paige found her voice.
"Ross!" Her friend opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She was experiencing the shock as well. Her hands shook. Paige slipped her hand back to where Ross's lay, and held it tightly. She then turned her face back to Jack. With her other arm she nudged him. Jack! Something horrible has happened here. Jack came-too after a few seconds, and moved his eyes to scan the area. We're alive.

      In the distance, the air raid sirens still droned on; the sky was grey with fallout, but still shone a slight light on the destruction below. Fog and dust swarmed around in the breeze… it was getting colder. And colder. There was nothing to do, but become encompassed in the terrified stillness.

      The three friends lay there, observing the misery around them. The Covenant had come to Earth. Earth is ours. Paige made a decision. A decision that would forever change her life. Her purpose. Her existence.

      I am protecting my Earth.

Part I of Civilian
Written by: Andrew Matlock

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