“I dare say that we already scored today…,” the counterman said finally while beginning to wash the glass in which the man had gulped down his whiskey.
“So, tell me: what’s with the mission, bro?”
One of the five men, a colored one, went next to Michael and put a hand on his shoulder, as if he, who did not believe anything he said either, wanted to mock him, especially given the condition in which the ex-Marine was.
“And to think that I was bothering about dying here on Earth while this hero is going to save us all!” a man mumbled snootily. He and other men were surrounding Michael, who was still sitting comfortably on his stool. Sten had already realized how things would go on, so he tried to handle the situation.
“Boys, let it alone!” he said, but another big guy motioned for silence.
“So, big man… If you can’t save yourself, how could you save mankind?”
As soon as the man uttered these words, Michael swung around abruptly, hitting him with his violent fist right in the face, which made him almost fall off the stool.
A fight broke out among the five men and Michael. Kick after kick, punch after punch, Michael could do nothing but watch that show that was nothing short of poor while the remaining people were about to leave that place hastily. Apparently, Michael was doomed, since he was fighting alone against five petty thugs. Instead, he made it. He hurled the stool at two of them, who were floored and left lying stunned on the ground. Then he floored two other men by hurling two glasses at them right in the face. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the four men that he had hit moving in front with difficulty towards the exit of the pub. There was still another man and that is the first who had hit him. Given that Michael was hardly lucid anymore, the man choked him out, which made his head slam against the counter, stunning him.
“Here is your mission!” he exclaimed. He was convinced that he had knocked Michael out. So, he could walk towards the exit and join his accomplices. But the ex-Marine got back to his feet, all of a sudden; he grabbed one of the wooden cues and used it to hit the man’s neck from behind. The man felt he was attacked, so he tried to set himself free by kicking back at Michael that was therefore obliged to ease the grip. As they faced each other, Michael used one of his knees to break the cue into two pieces, whose ends were now pointed.
“Let’s go, son of a bitch, come close!” Michael mumbled through split lips. He pointed the sharp cue at the colored man.
He was about to attack him, when the man stopped him.
“NO! DON’T MOVE! OKAY!”
He was still speaking when he beckoned the four other men to leave. Finally, he said, “Let’s quit… He’s mad…”
The five men left the place, leaving Michael, who was holding what remained of the cue in his hand, and Sten, who had watched everything without saying a word, alone. Michael threw the pieces of wood on the floor once they were alone. Then he turned to the counterman. Disorder was all around.
“Sorry, Sten, sorry…”
While he was trying to apologize for what he had done, he put one hundred dollars on the counter, trying to repair the damage done in the pub. They glanced at each other one more time, and then Michael left the premises.
San Diego, California.
Amelia was in her now familiar operating theater with her team. She was struggling with yet another case of acute myocarditis in a relatively young patient. Unfortunately, it was a rather widespread pathology caused by Polytected Heartimus virus that had been gripping the global population, especially the people aged between 20 and 35, for almost ten years. According to scientists, the strain of the virus came from inadequate hygiene in most of the citizens. Thankfully, this pathology could be treated with a heart surgery that, however, most of the times could not keep the virus from spreading. That morning it was more difficult than usual for the doctor to work due to lack of concentration.
“Doctor, is anything okay?” Sady asked her. Sady was the third member of her team.
“Yes, it is, Sady. I’m only a bit tired… We’re almost done. Open the fourth arm,” Amelia answered.
Jenny kept on looking at her friend. She knew her well and she knew that there was something odd about her.
After about fifteen minutes, the surgery was successful as usual. Amelia took off her surgical mask and left the room without saying anything beneath the gazes of the rest of the members of the team.
Once she was in the corridor, she heard someone calling her from behind.
“Wait, Amelia!”
It was Jenny, who was walking fast. Finally, she caught up with her.
“Is anything okay?” the woman asked her.
“Yes, everything is okay…,” Amelia answered in a tone that sounded anything but sincere.
“I know you too well not to see that there is something wrong with you,” the woman made it clear. Then she kept on saying, “What about going grabbing something tonight?”
Amelia waited a few seconds before answering. Then she said, “Well, I don’t know…” Her tone was a bit undecided.
“It’ll be good for you to go out for a while,” her friend kept on saying.
“That’s okay. I am picking you up at 9 o’ clock if you don’t mind,” she said.
“Very good! See you tonight!”
The two friends said their goodbyes. Amelia started to walk through the hallway to reach her room.
That same evening the two friends met at one of the most fashionable Chinese restaurants in San Diego. They were sitting facing each other while having sushi and spring rolls.
“…Many more young people than older people will be going under the knife,” Jenny said before sipping some white wine, and then she looked at Amelia. “You were telling me about the lecture,” she kept on saying.
The woman’s expression changed as soon as she heard her colleague utter that sentence and she, too, drank a little white wine to take the edge off.
“So, who is that famous doctor that should hold that lecture?” Jenny asked once again.
“Actually, I lied to you…,” Amelia answered.
“What do you mean?” her friend asked her straightaway.
“It wasn’t an Australian doctor’s lecture, but the lecture of the American government in collaboration with NASA!”
Jenny frowned.
“You lost me, Amelia…,” she said.
“In short, a mission to take some groups of people on another planet beyond the Solar System in order to colonize it,” Amelia said.
Once these words were uttered, Amelia felt like she had just set herself free from a burden. Jenny did not say anything for a few seconds.
“Many professionals are being recruited. I have been selected as surgeon in order to start a new medical center on Proxima B!” the doctor added while Jenny kept on looking at her.
“Well, hell, Amelia, this is a fantastic piece of news!” her friend exclaimed suddenly. Then she added, “That’s why you’ve been so mysterious in these last days… And why haven’t you said anything about it before?”
“Well, actually, only Mr. McKenzie knew about it. And now you know it too,” Amelia pointed out while starting eating some pieces of fish again. Her gaze was still a bit lost anyway.
“I don’t know what the problem is,” Jenny wondered.