One Minute to Midnight by Steve Lang Page A

been here for a year and I can tell you that when you get
used to this place you're never going to want to go back home. Not
that we could anyway. I think the rift was a one-way ticket." Moira
said.
Richard walked next to her as they spoke.
"Something strange happened to me when I came through the rift, and
I think my ship almost got stuck. It felt like I lived my whole
life a hundred times." Richard said.
    "Yeah, me too. I'm not sure how long I
was in there but it must have been a long time. Some space junk
came along and dislodged my ship, sending me forward. I don't like
talking about it. Nice to have someone from home here with me,
though. It's tough to have a shared experience from our time with
the Atlanteans, and Khemitians, especially when they're so much
more advanced than us, and have never been to the Earth of their
future. Their technology will embarrass you, I'm afraid, and the
hospitality of these people is unmatched in our time. I've seen
them care for each other in ways that I thought humanity wasn’t
capable of." Moira said.
    "I'm still in a state of total shock
and awe. You'll have to fill me in on what you've found here, but
please, be gentle. I feel like an entire school of fish out of
water." Richard said.
    They entered the city gates and
Richard's mouth dropped open at the beauty of pyramids far to the
north, and homes lining streets of gold constructed of glass and
stone. It was awe inspiring, and their architecture was like
nothing he had ever seen.
"I think I'm going to like it here." Richard said.
Moira turned and smiled. "Like I said. You'll never want to go
back. Come on, let’s go."
     
    Richard, Moira, Ket, and Sheba will
return in the novel Eye of Time.

 
     
     
     
     
     
    hell hath no
fury
    My name is Suki Hiabashi, and until a
few months ago I was an assassin for the wealthy. There is a saying
that Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and I suppose that's
why I'm writing this tale. Humanity is on the precipice of a very
new world, one full of wonderful miracles, magic, and horror as we
enter a new age of man, and evolve into the creatures we were meant
to be. I’m leaving this for you to read and maybe you’ll understand
why I had to do the things I did.
    As a little girl, my father trained me
in aikido in order to protect myself against what he called 'the
evils of this world'. We immigrated to America when I was three and
lived in a rundown neighborhood filled with gangs, drugs, and
prostitution.
My father went to work for a man named Martin Breswell as his
personal driver shortly after we arrived in the states. Martin was
made quite wealthy by his various investments, and because he was
compassionate, and liked my father, he got me into the same school
his son and daughter attended. This school was expensive, and when
my father explained that he didn't have the money, Martin just
laughed and told him that as long as he was working him Martin
would pay the tuition.
    I attended the best pay-to-play
schools in Los Angeles but the high society life bored me, and my
family was never truly accepted by the ultra-wealthy. So, after
skipping my high school graduation I joined the Marines to become a
scout sniper, which was strictly verboten for women until 2019. I
was told that I didn't have the heart for combat because I'm a
woman, and that I was weak, so I smoked the entire male platoon on
the obstacle course on more than one occasion to prove my worth. In
the boxing ring I decked my drill sergeant, a man twice my size and
mean as a snake while our commanding officer was watching. My third
application for sniper school was approved the next day.
    For eight years I killed people I
didn't know for God and country, finding that I enjoyed the
experience. I’d squeeze the trigger and seconds later a target’s
head popped open like grape and then I moved on to the next one.
When I was honorable discharged from the Marines I most missed the
sweet smell of gunpowder as my bullet left the