Savior (After Earth: Ghost Stories, Story 5)
Michael Jan Friedman
Language: English
Pages: 26
ISBN: 2:00175385
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
On a distant planet called Nova Prime, the United Ranger Corps defends the galaxy's remaining humans from an alien race known as the Skrel and their genetically engineered predators, the Ursa--and one Ranger will learn just how high the cost of victory can be. "Ghost Stories: Savior" is the fifth of six eBook short stories that lead up to the events of After Earth, the epic science fiction adventure film directed by M. Night Shyamalan and starring Jaden Smith and Will Smith.
Ranger Jon Blackburn wakes up from voluntary brain surgery, dazed and confused. He is a hero... or at least he will be one, if the delicate operation to remove his sense of fear was successful. Blackburn consented to take part in the experimental initiative to increase the Rangers' reserve of "Ghosts," soldiers whose lack of fear renders them invisible to the deadly Ursa. All indications are that it's a spectacular success--but Blackburn doesn't feel special; he doesn't feel honored when Cypher Raige, the Original Ghost, personally thanks him. In fact, he doesn't really feel much of anything. Doctors say that his fear is gone, but something else is missing, too; something Blackburn may not be able to get back, unless he can piece together this twisted jigsaw puzzle and find a way to become whole again.
Jon has never been so close to a dead Ursa. As it lies there, inert, he comes to a realization: He has something in common with the creature. The Ursa is a biological machine, engineered to carry out one purpose and one purpose only: to kill. And so is he. So is he. Jon looks around for Doctor Gold. She’s gone. Somehow he’s not surprised. He takes stock of himself. A couple of his ribs are broken, and half his face is bloody from a cut over his eye. Otherwise he’s unscathed. But his victory
conditions in the facility are reaching a critical level—one that will result in its destruction. Jon isn’t daunted in the least. In fact, destruction is precisely the outcome he has in mind. In the golden light of morning, the air mercifully cool on his skin, Cypher Raige walks through the debris field that was, until the events of the day before, the site of the North Side Power Relay Facility. Raige has spoken at length with the survivors of Blackburn’s squad. They have all said the same
thing, that both Blackburn and the Ursa were destroyed in the explosion. The magnitude of the blast seems to support their observation. There are chunks of ceramic composite—pieces of the relay facility—hundreds of meters from the building’s footprint. Nothing exposed to such a massive release of energy can have survived. Raige frowns. And yet … The Savant’s forensic team has discovered bits of flesh containing Ursa DNA. Plenty of them, in fact. It’s no less than what Raige expected. But as
not sure what the doctor is asking. “You mean …?” Doctor Nizamani pats Jon on the shoulder. “Never mind. Just walk.” Then the doctor leaves. The nurse with the dark hair approaches Jon. “Ready to take a walk?” he asks. Jon says he’s ready. With the nurse’s help, he gets out of bed. His legs are weak, and they shake a little. But he walks. Jon and Marcus negotiate the length of the hall four times. Then Marcus helps Jon back into his bed. “Nice job,” Marcus says, extending his hand. Jon
“Everything about you is interesting.” And she turns away from him to check the data on his holographic screen. Something changes in her expression, but Jon can’t decipher the change. His tutorial covers only so much. “Is something wrong?” he asks, venturing a guess. Doctor Gold shakes her head—a negative response, he’s learned—and says, “Everything’s fine.” But she continues to study the data. Then she runs out of screens. But instead of turning back to Jon, she turns away from him. This