The First: EVO Uprising (70 page)

She looked around impressed that remnants of the battle from months before were gone.

Eventually Mohammad came to the mountain. With a detail of six Secret Service men, the President walked onto the lawn to meet with her.

“
Ms. Dennison,” he extended his hand, “or is it… Freedom now?”

She smiled at his perception and shook his hand.

“
Something my family from my island came up with,” she smiled.

“
So what do I owe this visit from the woman who saved the world… again?” he asked.

“
The UN General Assembly is in two weeks.” She got down to business. “I am asking you to please play this on my behalf.”

Opening up the compartment in her bracer, she pulled out a memory stick extending it out to him. Surprisingly, he took it from her without hesitation.

“
May I ask what this is in regard to?” He raised an eyebrow.

“
Peace was a psychopath,” she answered, “and her plans for this world would have been horrific. However, through the madness, some truth cannot be ignored anymore. Our world has changed, in the next fifteen years not only will the superhuman race have increased, many will have reached maturity. Some will have powers and abilities to rival my own. That is a fact that cannot be ignored. If we don’t want a repeat of several months ago Mr. President. It’s pretty simple… we either evolve… or we die.”

He reluctantly nodded in agreement.

“
What are you proposing?” he asked.

“
It’s more of an ultimatum.” She narrowed her eyes.

The President’s face switched from curiosity to concern.

“
It’s said that God created the world in six days and rested in the seventh.” She looked up at the sky. “I think seven years is enough time for you and the rest of the world’s leaders to get their acts together.”

“
You want us to remake the world?” He attempted to understand her weird statement.

“
No, I want you to fix it.” She smiled. locking eyes with him. “Let’s face it, Mr. President. You all have not been doing a very good job. When a bunch of geriatrics living off taxpayers’ dollars can shut down government in an attempt to fulfill their own agenda… then a good job is not being done.  When the one percent’s bottom line is more important that the realistic threat of global warming, which I have seen personally, then a good job is not being done. When we are afraid of those who should be protecting us… then a good job is not being done. When we permit murderous warlords, despots, and cartels to run rampant, when we hold white slavery and the exploitation of women and children on a lesser scale to a person walking around with a nickel bag… then a good job… is not being done. And that’s just the sprinkle of the problems this world currently has. This world is long overdue for an uprising.”

“
Ms. Dennison…” He lowered his head, contemplating the best Presidential response to her statement.

“
I don’t want your jobs, Mr. President,” she said. “I wouldn’t want it in a billion years. I prefer to be a mother… a good one. However, I cannot close my eyes and ignore the millions of people screaming for change that is constantly denied to them because of bureaucratic red tape. You’re going to create real change in this world… all of you. You will all find a way to work together, to do so without compromise. Your timeline is seven years starting the first day of the General Assembly whether you choose to play that video or not.”

“
What happens if…” he asked slowly, afraid to hear the answer.

“
I step in, and affect change,” she answered knowing his question. “And so you know I mean business, I’ll be doing little projects here and there, so that all of you will know that this matter is not up for debate.”

“
What if you meet with opposition?” he asked.

“
They’re welcome to try, although I think I’ve seen how pointless that would be.” She laughed. “Like I said, this is not some new tyrannical rule. You should look at it as motivation to get your ducks in a row and begin to do the right thing.  In time you won’t see this as something you are forced to do, you’ll see it as something that should have been done a long time ago, something that was well over due. Your actions as well as mine will inspire humans and superhumans alike that this can be a better world to live in, and that we must all work together as a family to achieve that goal. We cannot expect the world and future generations to change and be better if we do not lead by example, and we must start leading by example, not tomorrow, not two years from now, but today.”

The President smiled and nodded. Sophia hoped that the look in his eyes read that it was hard to argue with her logic. It would not change her decision, but she still prayed he understood.

“
You have my word that the UN Council will see your message,” he promised.

“
Thank you,” she nodded. “Now if you’ll excuse me. I’ve have to do this superhero thing.”

“
What’s that?” he chuckled.

“
Go look for trouble,” she smirked.

The President backed up as Sophia coiled her legs launching herself into the air with a powerful leap. He watched with amazement as she rocketed off taking flight into the clear blue skies.

“
Go get ‘em, Ms Dennison.” He nodded with approval. “Go get ‘em.”

˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜

She flew through Washington DC, cutting her speed to a slow cruise allowing people to see her. Next, she rocketed off to New York doing the same in Times Square, Los Angeles, Houston, and San Francisco, before heading off to other major cities around the world.

She wanted everyone to know that, despite the loss of many fallen champions, one had risen to take up the mantle as their protector.  Regular people raised their heads and felt a bit safer on that day, while superhumans who took up the mantle as heroes looked up and saw something to aspire to.

She picked up speed soaring higher and faster into the skies, remembering those that scarified their lives, those who stood beside her and continued to stand beside her.  She lost a lot, but gained a billion fold in the process. Her only regret was that it took so long for her to realize it. She added another promise to pay it forward.   

 
She tore through the Earth’s atmosphere long enough to plummet to the other side of the world.

She did it one time for Charlie.

She imaged him laughing and cheering her on from on high as she finally embraced her destiny willingly.

The world needed a hero… and a hero from that day forward… is what she would be.

Chapter 28

Today would be the worst day Fazilah Abusalih’s life. Today Fazilah  turned five years old. Fazilah was born in a small village in Eastern Sudan between the Red Sea and Kassala. She was the youngest child of two sisters and a brother. The night before her actual birthday, her mother gave her the biggest portion of Asseeda (porridge) and sheep that was cooked and slaughtered the night before. On that same night, her older sister stained her hands and feet with henna.

At dawn, her mother woke her up, gave her breakfast, and took her for a walk. The walk took about a half hour. As they neared the hut at the end of the village, her little heart began to beat faster. She remembered less than a year ago playing with her sisters in this area and hearing the screams and cries of a little girl. When she tried to go and see what was the mattered she was shooed away by some of the habobat (grandmothers) of the village. The wails became so loud she had to cover her own ears as she ran away. Haunted by the experience she never returned to play on that side of the village.

She looked up at her mother, who held her hand tighter as they entered the fenced in yard. As they walked around the large hut to the back of the yard, waiting for them were all the habobat of the village. Her tiny body began to tremble. She was the only little girl in the yard.

She looked up again at her mother hoping she would look down at her. She prayed she would look down and see in her big brown eyes that she was terrified and wanted to go home.  

As hard as she searched, she could not find her mother’s eyes.

Instead, she would feel her mother’s grip loosen as one of the habobat came to take possession of little Fazilah’s hand leading her into circle of female elders now formed.

In this circle of elders, little Fazilah would be mutilated.

They would force her to lie down on the mat in the center of the yard.  Several kinswomen would weigh down her torso. Two others would pull and hold her legs apart. The Miriam or the midwife would then take a sharp knife and quickly slice away her clitoris and labia minora; the rejected tissue caught in a bowl they would later toss away.

No words could possibly describe the excruciating pain and suffering to befall little Fazilah, nor how shattered her heart would be as she screamed out for a mother who would not save her.

To add to her suffering, the Miriam would remove a surgical needle from her midwife’s kit.  Threading it with suture, she would sew together the child’s outer labia leaving a small opening at the vulva.

If she was lucky to survive the procedure or the infection that could occur, on the day she consummated her marriage, her would be husband, with the help of a “little knife” would slice her open one more time.  This would allow him to penetrate her so that he could impregnate her, if she was capable of having children after the damage done. Even if she was lucky, there was a great chance she would still die during childbirth.

Fazilah’s eyes remained on her mother as the habobat laid her down on the mat.

Her little heart began to beat out of her chest. She squirmed and whimpered as four of the habobat held her down by her small torso. She felt almost suffocated.

The tears began to fall as they pried and held her legs open, the screams and cries followed as the knife came into view.

“
Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!”  Fazilah screamed her lungs out in fright.

She desperately searched through the cloud of elders pinning her down, bawling for a mother who would not save her. Despite her petite size, she put up a fight in an attempt to get free; the Miriam stepped in forcing her down while scolding her.

“
Be still child! And let us do what needs to be done,” ordered the Miriam.

Fazilah gurgled and cried as the habobat used additional force to keep her down. They stretched her little legs further apart as if to rip them off.

As the Miriam prepared to administer her first cut, a powerful wind blew sending dust flying, while the ground shook around them.

The force of the wind increased as a shadow casted over the group of women in the yard.

Fazilah would not feel one cut as the knife dropped from the Miriam’s hand, while the many hands of the habobat removed themselves from her tiny body.

She quickly sat up seeing her mother again, now on her knees clutching her mouth in fear. She quickly glanced little Fazilah’s way, then back up at the sky.

Screaming began, this time from the all of the habobat looking in the same direction as Fazilah’s mother and the Miriam.

Fazilah wiped her eyes of tears and stood up looking to the skies at a memory forever etched into her mind of her fifth birthday.

On her birthday, she witnessed a hooded wingless angel in red and black clothing with skin as dark as hers and blue radiant eyes that pierced the day itself. On her shoulders, she wore the symbol of freedom known throughout her homeland.

“
Cry for freedom… and I will come.”
 

Epilogue

Billions of light years away from the Earth’s solar system, something floated amongst the stars answering the question as to whether humans were alone in the universe. It’s bared the shape of a killer whale with the length and width of two aircraft carriers lined up behind each other. Its dark metallic form blended with the harsh black environments of space. Red glowing hieroglyphic like etchings around its nose and hull, along with the blue glow of the dormant thrusters that powered it were the only things that made it viewable amongst the blackness and stars.  

Within what appeared to be the main bridge was dark and cold. The same lights that glowed on its outside also illuminated its insides. Sitting at designated stations controlling it was a crew of eight. Their features, for the most part, were similar to humans, possessing two eyes, two arms and two legs, a mouth, nose, a pair of ears, and five fingers and toes on each hand and foot.