TOP SECRET

When the government sent us to that God-forsaken hell hole that the men call "Eden" we were told that our work was to be top secret. Top secret, Mister, there were ten of us on that base and in the eighteen months I was there I saw exactly n ine people besides myself. Women, you ask ... as far as I know there ain't no such thing.

We were picked for the operation because we were all single and without parents living. And we were told that we were gonna be in on the biggest thing since the atomic bomb. We were gonna be the top guys with the top secret ... a secret so top that e ven we didn't know what was coming off.

We spent weeks doing paper work that we didn't really understand and learning toy control boards and instruments. We studied all kinds of stuff about atmosphere and space.

Then one day we were all called into the briefing room. The general was there with his brass shining like Broadway neon.

"Gentlemen," he said to us, "You are about to become the makers of history. To-nite a new era begins ... and you men shall begin it.

"As you know, this nation is at war. To-nite that war shall end. This country has created a bomb that will bring our enemies to their knees. And you men shall have the honor of dropping this bomb."

When he finished talking we filed silently out of the room and over to the hanger.

Top Secret was in that hanger. Top Secret in a ship that would carry us beyond the Earth's gravity out of danger from the explosion. And it was my job to see that the ship would be in such a position in space that the Earth, moving on its orbit, woul d pick us up in its field and get us back on the ground.

The kid who'd been taught to handle the controls of the ship seated himself before them.

"How do you feel?" I asked him.

"Kinda sick," he replied and I knew what he meant.

I seated myself at my work table.

Somebody shouted and then we moved, shot up into the sky. I couldn't see anything outside the ship; the only ports were up front; but I was conscious, for a moment, of great speed. Then there was no feeling of movement. And the silence ... I could h ear my own heart beating and the blood pumping thru my body. "Faster than sound," I thot, "that's a Helluva speed to travel." Sure, I'd been thru the barrier plenty but not in anything like this Tin Monster. Then a silly thing came to my mind. It was a thing that had happened when I was a kid. I'd had a pet white rat and one day I'd gotten mad at it, the way kids do, and I'd set off a firecracker right under the poor beast. The whole event kept repeating itself over and over in my mind.

Then I heard the voice over the I.C. "Zero minus five ... minus four ... minus three ... minus two ... minus one ... zero ..." I didn't see anything but I felt it. There aren't any words to tell you what I felt. I sat there a moment and li stened to my heart beat. Then I heard the pilot's voice over the I.C.

Do you know what's happening?" he asked.

"No," I replied.

"Do you remember what the Brass said about ending the war?" he stammered, "And beginning a new era?"

"Yeah," I replied questioningly.

"Well, he was right in a way," his voice sounded funny, "Come up here and look."

"Are you alright?" I asked, "Not air sick?"

"No," he replied, "I'm alright." He was almost giggling but not with humor, "We started a new era all right! Yeah ... we started a new era ... We've just blown up the whole damn planet!!"

ENLIGHTENMENT

I dwelt within my mind
And dreamed my dreams alone
Until I found another
Who had dreams like my own.

I found that there were many
Modern thinking men
Who thot and dreamed together
And called themselves The Fen.

by Lee

((( . . . . )))
(( . . ))
(_)

The 1988 Super Krantz!!! The finest low priced rocket ship on the market!!!

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One
Must
Fill
These
Li'l
Spaces
You
Know
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Data entry by Judy Bemis

Updated July 4, 2001. If you have a comment about these web pages please send a note to the Fanac Webmaster. Thank you.