When president Thomas Dumpston was elected into office eight years ago the world was filled

with a level of angst that had rarely been seen.  Even with regards to the last two presidents who

had their fair share of haters.  With Dumpston came a feeling of hopelessness and despair.  A

sensation that this was just not going to end right. 

  The sad thing about this is that the collective conscious was as always correct.  Dumpston quickly 

severed any times the United States had with any country.  He quickly put an economic plan in

place that destroyed everything.  He back off the highway projects and upgrades across the nation. 

But, perhaps worst of all he drew the anger of China. 

  China was of course a country that bailed the United States out in several situations.  This made

the United States be trillions of dollars in debt to the Asian nation.  China was then put in the

catbird’s seat as far as being able to control the United States.  It didn’t appear as though China

was going to be using this against the United States any time soon.  That China was just going to

take things by the chin and continue their flood of support.

  But, this wasn’t the case.  The Chinese realized from day one that bailing out the U.S.A was

going to be in their favor.  For years China and other Asian countries have been trying to find

ways to take down the States from their pedestal.  It was just that nothing seemed to be able to

accomplish this.  Then, once the U.S went broke, China saw its opportunity.    

  There is always a price that must be paid when one agrees to the terms of a contract.  It was very

literal in this case.  And unfortunately, the United States was just not able to be able to pay this

price.  And that would not on be the down fall of the once great nation, but the world.

  The Chinese threatened nuclear warfare, which the U. balked at.  It didn’t appear that any country

would be crazy to take part in this.  All that this would carry out was further infuriating the Chinese. 

Allies started to align themselves.  Any Asian allies that U.S had were of course lost. 

  What took the world by storm was the fact that many European nations partnered with China to

gain power.  It became a world war three that was almost all against the United States.  A cold

world war three at that.  It was matter of who would strike first or even if someone would strike

first.  President Dumpston was confident that the Chinese would be docile. 

  However, this was just not the case.  China and Japan decided to combine their nukes and perform

an all out attack on America.  The United States, England and France decided to perform an all

out attack on Europe.  This lead to massive nuclear warfare.  Skyscrapers were destroyed in a wink

of an eye.  Millions of families were wiped out.  Historical landmarks, gone. 

  Once the European nations who were on Asia’s side joined in that spelled the end for the world. 

The earth in an instant had turned into rubble, dust and darkness.  It soon became inhabitable.  Just

like that, the world power had created hell on earth. 

  Now, with the world destroyed, scientists everywhere began looking for alternative ways of

living.  It was becoming abundantly clear that earth was not going to be sustainable for much long

and the fate of humanity was hanging in the balance.

  NASA organized trips to outer space in order to scope out other planets that human could go to. 

Just as they thought however, no planet was safe enough for human existence.  The next best thing

and the only option then became obvious.  Living on moon rocks.

  Earth has a moon of its own that had kept it going for millions of years.  All the same, there were

several moon rocks inside the galaxy.  Some were larger in mass than others.  But, were able to

sustain human life.

  So, just like that, human were all transported to moon rocks.  Domes were built to protect

everyone from space.  Now, everyone was living inside a space center.  Each country got their

moon rock to inhabit, which already allowed for some (albeit fake) peace to come around.

  This new way of living was slowly becoming the norm.  Some people were even beginning to

enjoy this more than living on earth.  Everything was new and big.  It was like they lived inside of

a snow globe.   It was one kind of world on the inside.  While on the outside, it was something

totally out of this world.  Literally. 

  That’s what humans do.  They adapt to changes and then make the best of it.  It allows for some

sanity to stay within their minds, bodies and souls.  Even if that said change is caused by events

that could have and should have been prevented in one way or another.  It was just how things

worked out.

  One young man in particular though did not fully embrace the change.  That young man was

Alistair Francis.  Born in London England and moved to the United States at age ten, now 17,

Alistair hated his life on the moon that he lived on.  With dual citizenship he could have lived on

the moon that England owned or the United States.  The sole reason that he choose the United

States was because he hated England even more.

  Right before he turned 10, in London, Alistair’s mom was killed in a brutal murder and his sister,

Francine was crippled.  All of this was also loosely connected to his father, prime minister

Theodore Francis.  After confronting his father about this, Alistair was sent with his sister to the

United States, Los Angeles California to be precise.   

  While in Los Angeles Alistair’s life started to expand.  A key reason for this was meeting his best

friend, Drake Troph.  Both Alistair and Drake were black young men.  However, Alistair grew up

in an aristocrat society.  His behavior demonstrated this on several occasions as well.  Drake grew

up just outside of the projects in Los Angeles.  He was what Alistair would call a “typical black,

low life American.”

  Alistair was taught at a young age that he should look down at people like Drake.  That people

like him were not even worthy to lick the dirt off of his boots.  But, when he met Drake, he found

something that he could never find.  A kindred soul.  Someone who was as tortured as him. 

Someone who was as figured out and motivated as well.

  Most of all, he found a friend.

  Quickly, Alistair, Drake and Francine all became close friend.  They went to the same school, ate

the same places, and always hung out.  Slowly, Alistair began to realize that he was being feed

bullshit by his father for his entire life.  That someone like Drake is not and should be considered

to be any lower than him.

  Drake proved his worth to Alistair once they got into a fight.  Alistair, while smart and is in fact

blessed with genius level abilities was surrounded by bullies who were looking to mug him.  Drake

was able to intervene and fight them off as Alistair was able to alert the neighborhood gang of the

activity that was gone on, causing them to attack the bullies. 

  Drake was an extremely strong individual.  Already a black belt in Kung Fu, Karate and proficient

in weapons training, Drake had skills that could be matched by few.  Only Alistair’s thinking

ability and keenness about strategy could match this.                    

  It was right there and then that the two of them were able to realize just what was right in front

of them.  An amazing partnership.  Together there was truly nothing that could stop the two. 

  Or so it seemed.

  The Nuclear war proved to be too much for the whole entire world.  And Alistair and Drake were

no exceptions to this.  They were both narrowly able to escape the explosion as a great deal of their

friends were killed in the explosion.  And worst of all, Francine was killed in the disaster. 

  Now living on the month and finishing up their senior year of high school at Saint Claire’s high,

Alistair and Drake went on with their lives the best way that they could.  For Drake that meant

joining the military.  After all that went down, Drake wanted to have some say as far as what was

going to happen to him and his country.  And he has the brute force to make this happen.

  Drake joined as soon as they arrived to their moon and quickly rose to being on leader among the

other cadets.  The army now had combined with NASA and everyone piloted machines called

Hydro-Plates.  Hydro-Plates were a cross between robots, tanks and spaceships.  They had the

firing power of a tank, the intelligence of a robot and the speed of a spaceship.

  What Drake did with his was rather unique.  These machines usually had about 2,000 horsepower

in them.  Drake having enough mechanical knowhow to begin to tinker with the Hydro-Plates and

began to find ways to bring more speed to it.  He was able to increase the horsepower in his Hydro-

Plate to 2,500 horsepower.  With his fighting skills and the extra speed, he was easily the best

solider on the field.

  On the surface, Alistair just seemed like he was going through the motions.  Drake and him hung

out with a group of kids at school.  There was Stacey Robertson, demure and pretty blonde young

lady, Erica Ruth, a firery tom boy red head young lady, Bryce Haplin, a geeky, but kind young

man, and Joyce fields, the analytical school president.

  While a good student, Alistair really didn’t show any particular interest in school.  He would

constantly cut his classes so that he could go and hustle people in pool down at the local pool hall. 

His attitude seemed to be that of a “holier than thou” one.  Like he didn’t really want to be there

whatsoever.

  And this was actually a correct assumption if one had it.  He certainly did not want to be there. 

He wanted to get revenge on his father, England and the United States for what had happened to

mom and now his sister.  He wanted to be able get the answers that he had been searching for. 

Most all, he wanted the kind of the power that could alter the universe forever. 

  Only, there was one issue.  While everyone saw Alistair as smart, he had a lack of influence.  He

wasn’t strong enough to join the military and they wouldn’t accept him as a strategist without

going through basic training at the very least.  With that out of the cards, his options were limited

to what he could do to say the least.  And this brought great frustration to him.

  It was a though he was just stuck in a box that he had no hope of breaking out of.  Everything just

seemed to be stacked up against him this far in his life.  No lucky breaks, just pain and more pain. 

He desperately sought a way to alleviate this pain.  But, it just prevailed.  Seemingly without cause.

  However, his fate was about to change.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  While getting ready to ditch class one day, Alistair noticed a young woman that was outside of

the protective dome over their moon.  She was drop dead gorgeous.  Blue hair, piecing green eyes

and a body that would turn any guy’s head around.

  Alistair had to do a double take just to make sure that his eyes were not deceiving them.  He

wondered just how she was able to get out there?  He went right up to window and started

motioning towards her, hoping to get her attention.  He was finally able to do so and what happened

next shocked him even more than seeing her out there to begin with.

  Suddenly he was pulled into space.  At first, he began to freak out, full expecting to suffocate to

death.  But, he was to his surprise, able to breathe.  He stared at the woman with a great deal of

intrigue mixed in with “just who the fuck are you?”

“Hi.”  The mysterious said, greeting him.

“Uh, hi.”  Alistair replied, still caught off guard.  “Can you tell me just what the hell is going on?”

“You’ve never been out here in space before?”

“No, because I’m human.  Just what the fuck and who the fuck are you?”

“Man, man, man.  Your language is rather rough isn’t it?  Did you kiss your mother with that

mouth?”

“My mother is dead, so that is irrelevant.””

“We’ve just met, and you dropped that on me?  You must be fun at parties.”

“You’d be surprised.  So, tell me, what is your name?”

“Regen.  And you?”

“Alistair.”

“Oooh.  Fancy.  Nice to meet you Alistair.”

“Now that we’ve gotten our intros out of the way, tell me, why are you out here?  How are you out

here?”

“Isn’t that an interesting question.  Why?  How?  How did it all begin?”

“Are you even human?”

  Regen looked at Alistair with a friendly, yet smug expression that spilled across her face.  He had

hit on something and this impressed Regen.

“I suppose if it wasn’t obvious, it’s obvious now.”  Regen started.  “Nope, I am not human.”

“Then what are you?”

“I’m a galaxy witch.”

“A galaxy witch?  What the hell is that?”

“We live inside different galaxies across the universe.  I’ve been living in this galaxy for thousands

of years.”

  Alistair stared at Regen for a beat.  What was coming through his ears was processing.  But, it

just made no sense at all to him.  The thought that the woman who was right in front of him, who

looked no older than 25 was in fact thousands of years old was stranger than fiction.

“How does that work?”  Alistair asked with a great curiosity.

“Dunno.  I was born this way.  A blessing and a curse.”

“Why is it a curse?”

“You seem intelligent.  Ponder what it would be like to not be able to die.”

“Sounds like, a blessing and a curse.”

“See.  Knew that you had the brain power to get it.”

“What are you doing out there though?  What are you trying to do?”

“I’m…”

  Before Regen could finish her sentence, bombs began to be fired right towards her and Alistair. 

She quickly got in front of Alistair, took his hand and flied up.  Along for the ride, Alistair was in

disbelief at the situation that he had suddenly found himself in.  Looking down into space, all he

could see was darkness, and the possibility of dropping down to his death being consumed by it.

“Where is your broom?”  Alistair asked, still taking the time to be a smart ass.

“Haha.  Nice to see that good little boys like you still read their fairytales.”

“Their classic stories.”

  As another bomb was fired off in their general direction, Alistair was able to make it out and saw

that it was in fact a Hydro-Plate.  Not only was it a Hydro-Plate, but it was Drake’s super advanced

Hydro-Plate.  Alistair was instantly aware of the danger that they were in.

“You need to leave.”  Alistair warned.

“What?  Why would I do that?”

“That’s a Hydro-Plate.  And I know it’s pilot.  Not only is it faster than anything that flies in this

universe.  But the pilot is one hell of a fighter.”

“What are you trying to say?  That I won’t stand a chance?”

“Pretty much yeah.”

“Well… I’ve always been a realist.”

  Shocked at how she gave in, Alistair all of a sudden became motivated to help her.  Perhaps it

was just the side of him that enjoyed problem solving.  But now he wanted to see how things could

shake out. 

  He was aware that while Drake was an amazing solider, he was also not some strategic or even

tactical genius.  He relied on brute force and was supremely honest.  To a fault really.  And this

was his major issue out on the field.  It caused him to be vulnerable and that was where Alistair

would have to strike.

“Get closer to him.”  Alistair told her.

“Come again?  You want me to get closer to him?  And then what?  Die?”

“If you get closer to him and make it seem like you are surrendering, he will not shoot you.  Then,

you can do whatever you need to do.”

“Hmmm.  Interesting.  How do you know that you are not setting me up?”

“That is up to you and whatever trust issues that you may harbor.” 

“Good answer.”

  Regen scooped out the area and went towards Drake at a decent rate of speed.  Inside of his

Hydro-Plate, Drake watched her do this with a great deal of confusion. 

“What the hell is she doing?”  Drake asked himself.  “She must be throwing the white towel.”

  Regen stopped about 10 feet in front of Drake.  She then waved her hand at him, further confusing

him.

“What now Walter White?”  Regen asked with annoyance.

“Act like all of this is an understanding.”

“Like he is going to believe that.”

“I think you’ll be more than surprised.” 

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Let’s just say that most, if not all soldiers believe in honor.  And an honorable soldier isn’t going

to take down someone who is surrendering.  In fact, no soldier would.”

“Ahhh.   I see.  Sounds stupid.  Though, it also sounds very human.”

“And there you have it.” 

“Who are you?”  Drake finally shouted over his intercom, growing impatient with whatever was

going on right in front of him.

“I’m Regen.  And you?”

“This isn’t time for pleasantries!  Just what are you doing out here?  And how are you even

breathing?”

“I guess those are valid questions.  Sorry.”

“Sorry?  Is that all you have to say?”

“Must I really say anything else?” 

“I want an explanation!”

“I was just trying to help out moon.”

“In what way?”

“I was still looking for the way.  Is that so bad sir?”

  Drake was really taken aback by her behavior.  He wanted to take her in and see if she was she

was truly up to.  However, she just seemed to damn innocent to call for that. 

“I see don’t understand this.  Drake said.  “How are you out here with no space gear?”

“Space is simply an illusion.  I do not buy into that illusion.”

  Even Alistair was impressed with her quickness.  He knew that this would only confuse Drake. 

And if he could only see what was going on inside his Hydro-Plate, he would be able to take notice

of just how right he is.

“Look.”  Drake started.  “You seem like a sweet lady and have nice intentions.  I’m going to let

you off with a warning.  But, you can’t be coming out here like that.  It’s dangerous.  Do you

understand?”

“Yes sir.  Thank you so much.  What was your name though?”

“You can call me officer Drake Troph.”

“Office Drake Trophy.  It was lovely to meet you.  Maybe we will see each other again.”

“Yeah, just not out here.”

“That’s a shame.  The black atmosphere can be awfully romantic.”

  As Drake flew away, Regen turned to Alistair in disbelief.  Alistair could just not hide the big ole

smile that came across his face.

“Wow, what just happened.”

“You duped him.  With ease.”

“Yeah, but, how did you know what was going to work?”

“He’s my best friend.”

“Best friend?  You just worked against him.  What are your reasons for that?”

“At first it was nothing worthy or significant.  I was just bored.  Then, once you got the balling

rolling, I couldn’t help but be engaged.  You are truly something else.”

“Just who are you?” 

“Let’s get out of here and discuss that properly.”

   After getting back into the dome, Alistair took Regen to his apartment.  He lived in a luxury

apartment that was funded by the British government due to his mother’s side of the family.  It

was certainly a lot nicer than what Regen was expecting as she couldn’t help but look around very

aggressively. 

“How?”

“Let’s just say that the British owed me one and I cashed in on that favor.”

“Something tells me that there is a lot behind that.”

“You would be correct.”

“Please, tell me, what is your purpose as far as this galaxy goes.  What are you attempting to

accomplish?”

“It’s quite simple really.  I want to break out of this galaxy and enter a new one.”

  Nearly doing a spit take, Alistair couldn’t believe what he was hearing from Regen’s mouths.  He

had been studying the theory of breaking out and being free of this galaxy ever since he was

brought to this moon.  To hear that someone else was looking into it, all be it a witch, was gratifying

in its own way.

“What made you get into that?”

  Regen turned to Alistair with a look of intrigue all over her face.  The more that he spoke, the

more that she couldn’t help but grow more and more impressed with him.  But of course, she was

too cool for school to allow him to really see this.

“Tell me, what do you know about it?”

“I know that it’s considered a whacked out theory at the moment.”

“Hmph. You humans and your lack of faith in anything that isn’t super tangible.”

“Well, that is our way.”

“And that is what has gotten you all here today.”

“Anyway, from what I’ve been studying, the only way to break out of this galaxy is to be able to

create a rip in the galaxy that will cause a quantum shift.  And this quantum shift would transfer

us into a new galaxy.  Hopefully a better one than this.”

“Well, I’ll be dammed.  You really did do your homework.”

“What can I say?  I try.”

  Alistair got up and went over to his desk as Regen watched intently, trying to figure out just what

he was up to.  Alistair pulled out blue prints that were so detailed that it was obvious that he had

been working on them for some time.  He brought them over to Regen as he inspected them with

a heavy amount of interest.

“These are my plans that I’ve working on ever since I’ve been sentence to this new hell on earth. 

Well, hell on moon.”  Alistair explained. 

“You need one of things that your friend had for this?”

“You mean a Hydro-Plate?  Yes indeed.  That’s going to be critical.  Outside of the fact that they

are the fastest ways to get through space, the military isn’t going to take too kindly to someone

taking this kind of action.  I suppose one could say that it’s just a bit too out of the box if you will.”

“And how will you have the means to get one?”

  Alistair went to the corner of the room and took off the covers of what was a smaller Hydro-Plate

on a table.  Most Hydro-Plates were two stories tall.  Drake’s five stories tall.  Alistair’s?  A mere

one story.  If that.

“Are you serious?”  Regen asked in disbelief, not even trying to hide her laughter.

“Look, I’m not in the military.  It’s amazing that I could even put this together.”

“How did you put this together anyway?”

“It was simple really.  I bought the chassis used.  It was pretty cheap.  Then I went to the junkyard

and found the body.  I was able to use the engine from an old jet plane and suit it up to gain

horsepower.  It’s not fast.  It’s not mean.  But, it’s serviceable.”

  Regen shook her head, not believing the creativity that was shooting out of this guy’s cranium. 

She had met a lot of different ambitious men through the years.  However, Alistair was cut from a

different cloth. 

“What are you going to do?”

“That’s the issue.”  Alistair confirmed as his mood shifted.  I just lack the real influence to be a

mover and shaker.  All I have are plans and ideas.  Plans and ideas with no real way of execution.”

“What if I were to tell you that this could be fixed?”

“Huh?”

“I am a spiritual witch, come now.”

  Out of no where, Alistair face lit up.  He had overlook the fact that he was dealing with a spiritual

witch.  She had mad capabilities.  She had the power to get him to where he needed to be.  Perhaps

it was better that he didn’t notice this.  He came across less needy in that way.

“What do you mean by spiritual witch?  Seems contradictory to me.”

“Many things in this universe are in fact contradictory if you haven’t noticed.  But, I am witch that

been conceived from the energy of the universe.  So, I am here to serve the expansion of the

universe.  Hence, spiritual witch.”

“That’s the main reason why you are looking for a new galaxy then?”

“Well, duh.  That would literally expand the universe.”

  Alistair got up in a great excitement, startling Regen quite a bit.  He just could not contain himself

in anyway.  The excitement of the possibility of working with her and being to obtain what he

desired the most was just to amazing of a concept.

“Why are you getting so worked up?”  Regen asked as she stepped back.

“We should form a partnership.”  Alistair suggested.

  Regen smiled devilishly to herself.  She had caught on to what he was all about now.  With that

information, she could use to it to obtain what she had been looking for all along as well.

“You want to have a contract eh?” Regen asked in a very sly manner.

“Correct.  I do believe that working together will benefit your greatly.  After all, we do in fact have

the same goal.”

“Not really.  I was born to expand the universe.  That is my job.  You are looking to do this for

more selfish reasons.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that.  Sounds like fun.  But, we do not

have the same goal.  We just have to go down along the same road.

“Even so, if would behoove you to work with me.”

“And it would especially behoove you for me to work with you.”

  Alistair had to smirk over that.  He was in his own way enjoying speaking to Regen.  The girls at

his school just weren’t like this at all. A constant battle of wits was at hand.  Never letting up. 

Never a dull moment.

“What can you provide me?”  Regen inquired.  “Huh, Alistair?”

“You said that it’s nice that I have selfish goals.  That is true.  This is a selfish goal.  However,

why don’t you cash in?”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Why don’t you allow me to grant you one of your selfish goals?”

“How would you be able to make that happen?”

“By you granting me the necessary powers and abilities of course.  Once the contract has be

satisfied in regard to what I want , I’ll do whatever you want.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Sounds good?”

  Regen look one long look at Alistair.  It was different than the expressions that she has conveyed

previously.  She had a very distinct, serious look on face.  Like this decision was going to be life

altering, life shattering for her.

“Okay.” 

“Okay?”  Alistair responded, a bit surprised.  He was expecting more of a fight.

“Yup.  Sounds good.  I’m in.  I’ve always wanted to truly act on my selfish desires.  And besides,

this place looks nice.  I’d like to live here.”

“Live here?”

“But, of course.  Where else would I go?”

“Don’t you have a home of your own?”

“I’m a witch.  Witches don’t have any use for homes.  We become non physical energy.”

“Then why don’t you just do that?”

“Just practicing on acting on my selfish desires.  So, do we have a deal?”

  Alistair didn’t really care for the idea of her living with him.  He however, couldn’t allow that to

stop the forward progress of his goals.  Not now.  He had to keep going.  If not for himself, but for

his sister.

“Yes.  Alistair replied with a bright smile.  “It is indeed, a deal.”

  The two shook each other’s hands in a very aggressive manner.  As though each was transmitting

their desires into one another.  The energy between the two was a potent one.  One that would be

necessary for the journey at hand.

“Stand still.”  Regen commanded. 

  She stared Alistair right in the eye and all of a sudden, swirls of energy began to wrap around the

two.  Alistair had no idea what he was seeing.  But, was able to still be calm.  She then shot the

swirls into his eyes.  The energy was so strong that it lifted Alistair off the ground, causing him

to levitate.  He was in the air, surrounded by the swirls of energy.  It had appeared as though he

was in a state of pure bliss.

  Regen then clapped her hands and Alistair fell right now to the ground.  Dazed, he got up and

began to compose himself.  He looked around and while everything looked the same, something

was different.  He was different.

“What happened?”  Alistair asked, still in a bit of a haze.

“Why don’t you go look in the mirror and see for yourself?”

  Alistair went over to the mirror to see if anything had changed.  There was in fact a big change. 

His right now.  Now, he had a nice, teal blue color in his right eye.  While this was alarming at

first, he smiled, knowing that it worked.

“What do you think?”  Regen asked in a sly way.

  All Alistair could do was smile as he stared at himself in the mirror.  Suddenly, a great, energetic

feeling of euphoria had washed over him.  Like he knew that the course of his life had changed

forever.

“I think that the world around me has changed so quickly.”  Alistair uttered with a bright smile. 

“And, I’m not who I used to be.  Which is perfect”