//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: First Contact - Kansas City // by Shadow Walker //------------------------------// Chapter 2 "In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future." Alex Haley Planet - Earth Location - Joplin Missouri Time - 12:00 AM Now driving at night is truthfully a bad idea and driving with no destination in mind is even worse. But, if you have a rough idea of where you are going, you can map out a route to take. This was the unfortunate position that Isaac now found himself in. Leaving just after the graduation party, he decided to make up for lost time and just drive till he reached Kansas City. Now -as with any ill thought idea- this was a bad idea for the soul reason that it would take three-and-a-half hours to reach his home. So for the sake of everyone's sanity, and sleep, he decided to head to Joplin Missouri where he could find a hotel, sleep and head out in the morning. As the now Second Lieutenant drove along the highway he thought about stopping at his grandparents house before finding a hotel for the night. "I'll stop for a minute, say hello and find a hotel." With that he drove into the small Midwestern town to say hello to old relatives and to find a hotel. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As Isaac pulled into his grandparent's driveway he could tell that nothing had changed since the last time he came to visit. The house itself was a two story Virginia style house. Completely made of brick and mortar, a koi pond made it's home in the front yard, surrounded by cat tails and was covered with lily pads and lotus flowers floating along the surface of the water. As he stepped out of the car he was greeted before he could even reach the door. "Howdy Isaac, what took you so long?" Asked the sturdy old man. "Grandpa? How did you know is was coming? I didn't even call you." The baffled Marine said to the elderly man standing in the doorway. "Simple," the gruff man replied. "Your graduation was today and as always there's a party. You stayed until you thought necessary and you left at around eleven. You thought that you could make a drive home at night, but then you thought that your parents would be asleep when you arrived home so you decided to come here say hello, but since your too humble to stay the night you thought you'd find a hotel so you wouldn't bother us." When he had finished, all Isaac could do was stand there, mouth open, and gawk at how his thought process had been so meticulously described in great detail on what he was planing to do. "How? How in the wide world of god did you figure all of that out?" The perplexed Marine asked. "Son, I know you remember you spent more time here than you did in the town." The old man stated with mock pride. "Besides, you know we aren't going to let you stay at a hotel so I don't know why you thought to look for one." "I'm humble, remember." He said in a halfhearted tone. "So can I come in?" "Of course, just leave your stuff in your car and come on in." He said waving Isaac inside the cozy confines of the elderly man's home. As Isaac locked the doors of the car he walked into the olden couple's home where he was welcomed with the smell of Lilac, Orchids and apples. As he stepped into the foyer he noticed the pictures lining the walls; pictures from when his Grandfather served in Vietnam, his mother as a child playing with her brother, pictures of him being born, and the most recent when he Graduated with his NROTC class at Crowder. "Isaac, It's so good to see you." An elderly woman said walking up and kissing him on the cheek. "It's good to see you to Grandma. I thought you'd be in bed by now?" He asked. "Ohhh, well we figured you would come by so I stayed up to say hello. I'll have a nice breakfast for you in the morning." She said as she walked away to bed. "Right, thanks. Good night Grandma." Isaac yelled after her. "Good night honey." She responded. "Anyway, I see you've added some new pictures to the wall." Isaac said turning and pointing to the framed photo of his relatives in South Korea. They were standing in front of the War Memorial of Korea with the museum in the background and the Statue of Brothers to the left of them. "I didn't know you went to South Korea. When did you go?" "Oh, that was last year when we went. Since I joined the Marine's I thought it would be nice to pay my respects." The elderly man said, his eyes looking at something Isaac couldn't see. "Did you see it? The DMZ I mean." Isaac asked his elder that was looking beyond the picture and it's reflective frame. "Huh. Oh yeah we saw it. Despite what you hear it's actually pretty peaceful. Played the golf course there." He said with a smirk. "Really. How was it?" "Lets just say you don't want to retrieve your balls." His Grandfather said, chuckling as he walked into the kitchen. "Well, you can stay in the guest room for the night then you can eat and leave when you want." "Right, see you in the morning." Isaac said closing the door. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Location - Aviation Weather Center, Kansas City "Sir, it's happening again." A weather Monitor said waving his overseer over to him. A man standing on a raised platform turned his attention to the operator's station and started walking down to the man. "What?!? Is this the third time this week?" "Actually, the forth time sir, and it's always in the same place; it never changes in size or density, it just hangs there." The operator said circling the area of distortion with his index finger. "There appears to be some electromagnetic disturbances around the anomaly thats interfering with my instruments so I can't get a good lock on it. I'll try to filter out the disturbances to grab a positive i.d. but no promises." As the Weather Monitor tuned his instruments to remove the disturbance surrounding the anomaly, his screen went blank and then the whole room went dark save for a few emergency lights and the exit signs. The Overseer grabbed a flashlight from one of the emergency compartments in the wall and flicked it on. "Is everyone all right?" He asked moving the flashlight around the room making sure no one was hurt. Fortunately no one seemed to be hurt and the only damages were to the computer monitors. "Did we do that?" Someone near the back asked. "I don't think so. If we did someone's going to have to tell us how we did it." Another Monitor walked over to the windows to let in fresh air since the air conditioner went out. "Uh Sir, I don't think we caused that." "What makes you say that?" The Monitor just pointed out the window in the the pitch black of the night as the Overseer walked over to him. "What the hell?" The Overseer was looking out into the expanse of darkness that covered Kansas City and the surrounding area. The entire city was pitch black, not just the station. No light could be seen from a stop light or a window or a large building in the city. The only sources of light came from the automobiles that drove up and down the highway. The scene looked like something out of a zombie apocalypse. "Jesus, what did all this?" The Overseer asked looking at the morbid scene in front of him. "I don't know I just hope th-" before the operator could finish his sentence the light in the city came back on and in a crescendo effect the light to the surrounding area returned. "Well, at least we won't be in the dark." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Next Morning Planet - Terra Location - Diamond Dog caves, War Room As two lone ponies stood around the only table in the War Room of the resistance, the silence between the two could only be disturbed by a pin dropping. Before the silence could take hold of the Lieutenant, he decided to confront the only remaining superior in the resistance. "Mam, it's been five months and we still haven't heard anything from either the research team or the incursion team. We have to assume the worst, even if we don't like it." "You think I do not know that Lieutenant!" Trixie snapped at him. "Do you think I wanted to become leader like this, to take power because the only pony that could lead us is now Celestia knows where along with most of our best fighters?" "No Mam, it's just that we can't let ourselves be overcome with self-pity. Captain Armor would want us to fight on, to never give up even if things went to Tartarus." The Lieutenant said standing up straight. "What would you have me do? Would you like for me to transfer command to the pony that's seen the most combat, or would you like to take charge?" Trixie asked him apprehension tugging at her mind. This set the Lieutenant off. He trotted up to within an inch Trixie's face with the most insufferable look on his face she had ever seen. "Mam, stow that talk right now! Your stallions are awaiting orders. Now you can go left or you can go right, I don't give a damn, just make a decision." Not wanting to look him in the eyes Trixie turned her head to the round table in the center of the room. A map rested on the center showing the positions of enemy soldiers in Equestria and the supply routes on them that allowed them to stay. "Mam?" After a brief minute of contemplating his words Trixie turned to face the Lieutenant, renewed vigor dominating her facial expressions. "Lieutenant, you are right. I can't just sit here and wonder what might have been; what's done is done and nothing can change that. So, as my first order, I need you to collect any-and-all ponies willing to fight and any that have survival experience to help train any new recruits. We cannot face the enemy with only a hoof-full of ponies. Also, have the Shadows gather as much information as they can, I want to know where the Elements, Shining Armor, and the Princesses are, now. For now, we will wait and bide our time, no need to throw are selves into the dragon's mouth." As Trixie finished giving him his orders, the Lieutenant he couldn't help but smile at how a mare on the verge of collapse suddenly overcame her fear and started to take command. "Lieutenant, wipe that smile off your face, we have work to do." Trixie said as she walked out of the war room to converse with the other officers. "Yes Mam!" He said as he trotted off to fill her no doubt tall order. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Planet - Earth Location - 20 miles out of Kansas City Aa Isaac drove up I-49 he tuned the radio to the city's Classic Rock channel in hopes of listening to music from his parent's age. The music drowned out any-and-all thoughts from his head leaving only the thoughts of the road and breathing in his head. But there was one thought that refused to leave him alone and the cause was sitting in the passenger seat next to him. His Grandfather, had deemed it necessary to give him his .32 caliber revolver; the one that he had carried with him in Vietnam. The conversation still stood in his mind, refusing to give in to the music. Flashback "Grandpa, you've had this pistol since Nam, why would you give something so memorable to me?" Isaac asked his grandfather through his car's open window. "Because, through our family tree, it's customary that 'if a grandson or daughter goes into the service, the elders should leave a piece of themselves to the grandchild to keep watch over them and to guild them.' This pistol was given to me by my father when I joined the Marines and now I want you to have it. I've already filled out the paper work to file it under your name so all you have to do is take it." Isaac's Grandfather said handing him the gun case through the car window. With much hesitation and reluctance Isaac reached out and took the case with him. "Well, I guess tradition dictates my course of action." He said putting the case in the passenger side seat. End Flashback Turning his attention back to the highway he noticed that Kansas City South was coming into view. Kansas City, Missouri had a long history in the United States from being a major transportation hub during the First World War to being a huge contributor to the jazz and Blues age. The food is nothing to laugh at ether, the city is famous for it's barbecue; known to be the best in the country by some. And with museums like the Nelson Atkins Art Museum, they weren't lacking in culture either. Being a major contributor during the Great War, the World War One memorial is located right across from the train station. being placed right, smack-dab in the center of the country, the only amazingly bad things that happened out here would be a major football team losing to the Kansas City Chiefs (believe me, it's happened and when it did the ground froze over, most likely from something else from freezing over) and that's only second to the Royals. Seeing as how he only had two weeks to relax before being sent out to Basic School, Isaac wanted to see everything again. He wanted to visit the Museums and the Stadiums and the memorials all over again before heading out. He also thought about stopping by Truman's Library in Independence seeing as how he hadn't been there in almost sixteen years. His memories on the place seemed a bit fuzzy; but first, a quick jaunt over to his parents' house. Being a native born Missourian and raised in the city, the graduate (even after being gone for almost six years) had no trouble finding his way around the city and back to his parents' house. Their home was located just on the outskirts of the city, a twenty minute drive past North Kansas City. "Lets see, if they haven't moved in the last few years they should beeee...... here" Isaac said. His parents made a promise to themselves after their first move in 20XX. After all the hassle of boxing up, they said that they would never wait Sixteen years to move again. Fortunately, they hadn't and he pulled into the driveway. Isaac walked up to the front door where he didn't even have the chance to knock before it opened. "Isaac, so good to see you" Said the woman. "Hi mom" he replied. "How have you been? Was the trip long? Did you get enough to eat?" As the woman continued to pelt Isaac with question after question he couldn't help but to reminisce in the memories of her always worrying about him and her always doing the best she could do as a mother. "Yes Mom everything is fine with me and no the trip wasn't long at all. I actually need to talk with you and dad about something. Speaking of which where is he?" Isaac asked, but before he could receive an answer the sounds of metalwork flowed in through the door to the garage. "Never mind." As Isaac walked to the door leading to the garage, the sound of metal being cut in two gradually increased until he could no longer hear his own thoughts. When he entered the dimly lit room he noticed metal chips and shavings littering the floor and power tools laying in every direction imaginable. Fortunately a path had been carved through the 'leftovers' so it was easy to traverse the minefield of tools. Just as Isaac was about to tap his father on the shoulder he turned around and instead of receiving a tap on the shoulder he instead received a finger to his nose. "Oh Jesus Christ, what the hell. Why would you go and poke me on the nose?" The old man said rubbing the soreness out of his nose. "Sorry. I was trying to tap your shoulder, but then you turned around so don't blame me. Its not my fault that you have shit depth perception." Isaac said chastising the man standing in front of him, not an easy task seeing as how Isaac was dwarfed him by a good six inches, which is saying a lot seeing as how he stood at around six-feet, one inch. "Oh so now you're trying to blame me is that it you little shit!?" The older man retorted poking a finger in Isaac's chest. "NOOOOOOOooo, I'm just saying that if you'd pay more attention to your surroundings instead of fornicating with those tools of yours then maybe you wouldn't be slamming that oversized ego of yours into things all the fucking time!" Isaac replied raising his voice into a mocking tone that only furthered the rage on the older man's face. "Well, at least my ego doesn't make me want to go and get myself killed. "Oh don't even fucking star-" "And another thing, when was the last time you were able to catch yourself any tail. Maybe if you didn't find the need to sneak up on people all the time then maybe you'd be able to actually grow a pair and get somewhere!!" The older man replied raising his voice to match Isaac's almost to a pitch. "Well maybe if you didn't spend all of your time locked the God damned garage then maybe you could find some decent work where you could learn a thing or two about respect and spending time with your fucking family!!" Isaac said flailing his arms around to indicate the garage that was half a metalworking shop. "And maybe if you'd bothered to show up more often then maybe I would find a decent job and spend more time with my family you little shit!!" The older man replied jabbing his finger into Isaac's chest making him sway back a little. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... "Phhft, hehe, hehe, hehe... Ha ha aha ahahahahahahah." ".......... HAHAHAHHAAHHAAHHAHAHAHAH." After the briefest of moments in the heated and stupid argument that had started with a simple poke on the nose to an argument about sexual relations, and then careers, the two men, both father and son, began to laugh themselves silly until their legs could no longer support them and they fell to the floor in a heap of body parts, clutched stomaches, and uncontrollable laughter. "Must the both of you really do this every time you meet." Isaac's mother said from the doorway, standing there through the entire scene. Seeing as this was the normal operation that happened every time Isaac and his father meet, one became accustomed to such goings-on in the family. "Really, it was bad enough when we meet for dinner after his graduation." The moment she was talking about could only be described as 'the meeting,' arguing about each other's clothes and choice food before they started laughing and falling out of their seats gaining the attention of the entire restaurant and nearly caused them to be thrown out. As she talked, Isaac and his father filled out of the garage and into the kitchen to cool off after the little comedic spat the both of them had. Taking a glass from the cupboard and filling it with water, Isaac slammed down the drink until only the bottom of the glass could be seen. "So, how long will you want to stay?" His father asked leaning on the counter to rest his arms. "Hold on, before we go into that, theres something I want to tell the both of you and you have have to keep it a secret no matter what. You promise?" Isaac asked his parents, eying the both of them, his amber eyes darting back and forth. "Well, I don't know about your mother but I stay silent." His father said leaning back into a chair folding his arms across his chest. "Oh hush you; I can keep a secret better than you." His mother said punching the elder gentlemen in the arm causing him to fake pain. "Alright, if the both of you are done messing with each other." Isaac said staling for dramatic effect. "Then let me ask you this, how do you feel about adding another member to the family." Isaac said resting his head on top of his hand eyeing the shocked expressions on his parents faces. "......Son, you didn't get a girl pregnant, did you?" As his father asked this Isaac slid (more like fell) down to the floor catching himself on the countertop making him look like a complete idiot in the process. "WHAT? No, I mean, how did you come up with that?" Isaac asked pulling himself back up. "Oh you did, didn't you." His mother chimed in causing him to fall back to meet his new friend, the floor. "NO I DIDN'T GET SOME GIRL PREGNANT." Isaac said hauling himself back to his feet for hopefully the last time. "I mean how do you feel about me asking Anna to marry me?" He said, the shocked looks returning to his parents' faces, but with a new found twinkle added to their eyes. "OH Isaac yesyesyesyes." HIs mother said running over to his side with a little spring to her step and hugging him to the point that he couldn't breathe. "Isaac that sounds like a perfect idea, just make sure you give her a ring to remember." His father said a warm smile on his face and a lightheartedness shining from him. "Oh now that you mention it; Isaac stay here." His mother said releasing him from the life ending hug and running to the back of the house. She returned a few minutes later with a small black box in her hands. After she reached him she held out the box motioning for him to take it. Wondering what his mother was thinking now, he took the box from her small hands and opened the lid revealing the contents. Inside the box sat a platinum ring resting ever so carefully in the center of the box. Atop the shining metal a lone jewel perched, held in place by four metal lines that formed a semi-circle around the jewel. The jewel itself radiated with the colors of a rainbow whose brilliance was matched only by its perfect spherical shape. Suddenly, as if on cue, the sun started to dip down and a beam of light caught the ring and a collage of colors from blue to red and every color in-between danced around the room until Isaac's mother rapped her hands around the lid and closed the container, cutting the light show away from its power source. Mouth hanging low, too stunned to move or even say anything, Isaac could only put the box back into his mothers hands and folded her fingers around it. "Mother." Isaac said looking her in the eyes locking his amber with her green. "I cannot in good conscience take this from you." The ring in question was a Temple family heirloom and quite possibly the only one of it's kind. The ring was found in 1832, two years before Isaac's ancestors immigrated to America. The gem was found when his great great great great grandfather was working in a excavation job; apparently his pick hit solid rock and broke in two. But before he could retrieve another pick to continue, the rock split in-two revealing a rainbow covered gem the size of a small child's fist. Acting on instinct, he grabbed the gem, retrieved a new pickaxe, and returned to work. Well to make a very long story very short, the gem was split in two and rounded out to make a ring and a necklace. However, as all families do, the family fell on hard times and in desperate need of money they sold the necklace. Having sold the necklace, they used a small portion of the money for passage to America and a new life, but the ring was kept in safe keeping and was only brought out for special occasions. Isaac had never really seen the ring in person, but the stories told him enough of its beauty, but seeing it in person crushed all of the stories into nothing. The real deal beat an image every time. "Isaac, use this to propose to her, back at the graduation dinner you said she was coming up the day before you deployed and if the stories you've told us are true then she will wait for you." She said flipping the box over into Isaac's hand and closing his fingers. "I don't even know if she'll say yes yet." He said looking to the ground worry evidently showing on his face. "Son, I remember feeling the same way when I was going to ask your mother to marry me, and I can tell you now that every male from the dawn of man till the end of time will feel the same way." Isaac's father had moved over to his opposite side and placed his hand on his shoulder giving him a knowing smile in the process. This helped to alleviate some of the pressure on Isaac. "Thanks, both of you." Isaac said pulling the both of them in for a family hug. "For now I suppose we should leave the ring in the back and worry about that when the time comes." Isaac said looking at the box in his hands. "Don't worry Isaac, everything will be fine." His mother said pulling him in once again for a hug now joined by his father. ... ... ... ... ... ... "So. You did or did not get her pregnant?" His father asked innocently. "OH FOR CHRIST SAKE."