Clash of Powers: The Colonist

Clash of Powers - The Colonist

Author: Zara Sarafina

First Edition

Copyright © 2016 Zara Sarafina

Published by Zara Sarafina at Smashwords

All rights reserved

ISBN 978-1-4951-9149-7

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead or actual events is purely coincidental.

Table of Contents

Note: Click ^ at chapter ends to return.

Acknowledgements

1 Arrested

2 Imprisoned

3 Trial and Punishment

4 Dubai Wedding

5 Palm Island

6 Preparation

7 Training

8 The Voyage

9 Sabotage

10 Relationships

11 Dawn of a City

12 Ambassador’s Arrival

13 Earth Ultimatum

14 Subversion

15 Escape

16 Life on the Dark Side

17 Sharing

18 Destruction

19 Olive Branch

20 Epilogue

About Zara Sarafina

Connect with Zara Sarafina

Acknowledgements

Cover Image: NASA Blue Moon

NASA Copyright Notification: Photographs are not protected by copyright unless noted. If not copyrighted, photographs may be reproduced and distributed without further permission from NASA. NASA makes every attempt to use media on our web pages (e.g., graphics, artwork, sounds), that is free for use or in the public domain.

^

ARRESTED

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes my lecture on the New Green World Order for 2030 proposed by the United Global Nations. Implementing this new Green Order will fundamentally change the world as we know it. It promotes one global nation where individual countries have no say concerning their sovereignty. Therefore, we must reject this universal change of collective globalization. If we do not, our children will never know the freedoms we enjoy today," stated Zara, ending her speech.

Zara's assistant, Sue, walked to the podium from behind the curtain. She whispered, Look there he is again, dressed in Armani with a gorgeous olive complexion and jet black hair. He looks more like a god than a man. Don't you find it strange his being here every night this week, sitting there in the third row, listening to every word of your lecture? Even stranger, he must have brought friends tonight because every man in the third row is wearing Armani.

Or, Armani is the required fashion for men sitting in the third row this week. Zara laughed gathering her papers from the pedestal and stuffing them into her briefcase. This week has been long and tiring. It will feel good to get home, take a bath, and lie back in my chair.

Yep, agreed Sue. Experimenting by day at UT with electromagnetic space flight trackers and giving these nightly lectures can take a toll on a twenty-seven year old astrophysicist.

Let's get out of here, suggested Zara, pulling on her trench coat and tying the belt at her slender waist. She released her dark hair from the bun to let it flow down her back. Both women walked through the now empty auditorium to the double front doors. Pushing open the doors, they found the night sky was clear and stars were shining brightly on the freshly rained earth.

Zara's green eyes twinkled with exhilaration. Oh, how nice it would be if the government had financed that 2020 space program. I would be traveling and building out there, instead of working on minor projects for the now underfunded NASA program. I could be looking down at the Earth from the Moon or maybe even Mars.

True, but that came to a halt when the UGN decided to stop all future exploration and focus on redistributing the world's wealth. That has led to our necessities costing more and having less necessities from which to choose. Oh, look, there is John. Sue looked lovingly at a young man standing below with his car door open, beckoning to her. Have to run. We have reservations at that new restaurant over on Maple Street. See you later.

Have fun. Zara was exhausted and lost in her thoughts as she made her way down the entrance steps. As soon as she reached the lower level, two police cars stopped directly in front of her.

Dr. Zara Johnson? questioned one uniformed officer.

Yes, answered Zara.

You are under arrest. Come with us.

^

IMPRISONED

As dawn arrived, Zara found herself sitting on a stone floor. She looked around the area. This was the first time she could see her place of confinement. Imprisoned here last night in complete darkness with no explanation made her feel very frightened. The police had taken her brief case and left her with only her clothing. Repeated requests for a statement of charges being ignored, a silent matron dressed completely in black then escorted her into this cell.

Black wrought iron cages faced one another in long rows around a large courtyard. Each cage contained about thirty women of various ages. Women dressed in black from head to toe with only slits for eyes showing them to be human carried batons and walked the aisles outside of the cages staring hatefully at cage inhabitants.

On the outer sides of these pens, the morning light revealed the horrors of this encampment. A firing squad wall stood at one end of the large enclosure with blood stained columns embedded into the ground. Beneath the pole structures were crimson patches of dried sand. A hangman’s gallows stood in the center area with multiple looped ropes hanging from a large rafter. Beneath were open trap doors through which unfortunate victims would fall to their deaths. Several scarlet stained whipping posts were strategically stationed around the compound so the caged prisoners were forced to watch the savage beatings. An area on the far side of the grounds contained holes dug deep enough to bury a person to the waist. A ten story building formed one end of the compound. At the base of its wall was lined with bloody remnants of prisoners previously thrown from the top. Their bodies were being loaded onto a flatbed truck. Nearby was a platform topped with large burgundy colored concrete blocks. Beside them were bloody baskets into which severed body parts had obviously fallen. In the distance she saw large machines digging trenches. Previously dug arroyos were smoldering and a stench of burning flesh and clothing emanated for miles.

The commode, encased in a black curtain, flushed at the opposite end of the barred enclosure. Hah! They give us bathroom privacy before they mutilate us, Zara quietly exclaimed to the woman who emerged and came to sit beside her.

An older woman across from them stood up, raised her hands to the sky and began praying loudly. Lord, help me. Take this cup from me. I did nothing wrong. I am a good woman. Within seconds, two dark clad matrons rushed into the cell and began beating the woman about her body. The praying stopped and her unconscious body was dragged from the enclosure.

Aren’t you frightened? asked the woman sitting next to Zara. She was clad in a dirty torn western style dress and a yellow head scarf.

I am, but I have been able to hide my feelings since I was a little girl, answered Zara.

My name is Muna, said the woman. We are all here for some supposed crime against society. The Judge for this place believes in order according to the rules of the UGN. For newly incorporated regions like this the UGN has created laws designed to force assimilation into their dominion or be put to death.

I am Zara. Who is the Judge and what does rules of the UGN mean? questioned Zara.

A United Global Nations judge believes in keeping everything in order within the laws of the UGN for a better society, explained Muna.

Are all these women here for such crimes?

The law is very strict where women are involved, continued Muna. Women are considered especially susceptible to evil and therefore need to be cared for by men. Remember, Adam was given the forbidden fruit by Eve. Have you noticed that the men walk behind women when they are shopping? That is to make sure that no other man looks at their wives or daughters.

What kind of crimes did these women commit? inquired Zara.

See that woman over there, pointed Muna. She wrote hot checks to feed her children. If her hand is cut off for stealing, she will have no way to feed her little ones. She will also be known as a dirty thief because usually the right hand, which is considered clean, is amputated. The left hand is considered dirty because that is the hand utilized when one uses the bathroom.

What will become of them queried Zara.

At best, a relative will take them in, but usually they are left on the street to die. Few families want the stigma of an accused thief living with them. Family honor is very important.

The women in the corner are charged with committing offenses causing them to have dishonorable reputations. That means fornication, rape or adultery, continued Muna. Unmarried girls who commit fornication are usually flogged and exiled. Those exiled girls either feel obligated to commit suicide or their families may carry out honor killings. Rape has to be proven by four male witnesses seeing the act. If not, the rape victim is charged and can be flogged, given a long prison sentence, or stoned to death. If four men had indeed seen the act, she would get the same payment as a bride. She and her family will still be shamed, the girl will not be suitable for marriage, and suicide or an honor killing could still be her fate. Adultery is simple. Death, usually by stoning, continued Muna.

What about DNA, inquired Zara.

There was no DNA when these laws were written. These are ancient laws and conform strictly to the antiquated rules written many centuries ago, Muna explained. Modern technology has no place in the United Global Nations laws. One must obey the laws without reservation or face the consequences.

What about those two women who are kissing and holding each other, asked Zara.

Homosexuals are doomed to the wall, stated Muna. Sometimes, the courts get creative. They have been known to throw the offenders off mountains. Once, a cement block was dropped on two perpetrators. They were told that if they could live under the wall for thirty minutes, their lives would be spared.

What about the older woman by the bars, queried Zara.

"She is a missionary who has been charged with helping a woman of a Green World religious sect marry a man of another sect. UGN Law does not allow intra-sect marriages because women usually take on