Earthlings

Earth's blue turned into a murky grey, dangling in space like a
battered conker awaiting the final blow to finish it off. Fallout from
the bombardment engulfed the planet in a sombre veil. Earth, destined
for annihilation since Homo sapiens evolved on it millions of years
ago.
God, in his infinite wisdom, had created man in his own image, a
supreme being to protect lesser intelligent creatures. Man hunted them
into extinction and failed to protect his own species from man himself.
He became obsessed with power and greed. Human beings raped earth of
the commodities put there to make their existence a privileged one.
Destroyed a world bereft of dignity.
An exodus of humans fled the imminent apocalypse in spaceships in
search of a new earth. Or roam the heavens for an eternity. Suddenly, a
monstrosity from hell steamrolled the other way on a collision course
for earth. The impact shook the planet, spewing more deadly radioactive
fallout into the atmosphere. The light, thin veil already around earth
turned into a thick, black shroud, like an octopus injecting ink around
its prey.
A turbulent backlash rammed shockwaves across the stratosphere,
hammering against the frontiers of time, ripping an orifice into the
unknown. Like Satan's playthings, spacecraft spiralled out of control.
Sucked into a demonic vacuum of phenomenal mass, a vortex of swirling
colour and molten lava. Stretching out through an endless tunnel of
time, men, matter and metal, twisting out of all proportion; torrents
of slithering patterns, injecting life into the veins of space; a blood
transfusion, giving life to a living creature.

The spacecraft emerged, apparently unscathed, on the other side of the
vortex into calm hyperspace. Inside one of the ships, a reptile-like
hand grabbed the control panel. Commander Jabez hauled his dishevelled
body to his feet, his civilian clothing in disarray. He and the
uniformed crew, recovering from the rough passage, almost resembled
humans. Their shoulders buckled, as if under a great pressure, and with
a bronze coloured flesh plagued with bulging warts. Male hair straggled
their ears and lacked brilliance. Female locks also dangled lifeless,
but beyond their necks. They spoke with asthmatic hissing in English.
The ship steadied and they staggered to their feet, occupying posts at
the control panels.
"Damage report, Major Sholto?" wheezed Captain Hebe, a female, face
more wart-like than the others. Right now she resembled a scarecrow,
hair stuck up with bits of straw sticking out.
"Minimal, Captain," answered Sholto
"Status report, Lieutenant Finn?" Hebe's hand brushed down her
hair.
Mouth agape, Finn, another female, replied. "Look Captain." Finn
pointed to the heavenly objects on a viewing screen above their heads.
A blue planet was obeying the laws of gravity and swirling around its
sun. Astonishment went round the crew.
"Earth&;#8230;?"
"It survived the holocaust!"
"How?"
"It's a miracle."
Jabez looked at Hebe, flabbergasted. "But - but&;#8230; Hebe, it
would take Earth an eternity to get back to its former glory. We all
witnessed Earth explode - we all felt it."

"Maybe this is an optical space illusion, Commander," offered
Sholto.
The Captain shot Sholto a disparaging look, "A malfunction more like,
Major."
"Not according to my instruments, sir," said Finn, looking up from the
dials. "It appears we came through a time warp. Not long. Two point two
minutes to be exact."
"Minutes?" scoffed Jabez, almost amused.
"Yes, Commander." Finn pointed to an indicator to confirm the fact.
Finn fed some data into a computer. "Scanning planet Earth to make
analysis, Captain."
Jabez grimaced and faced the viewing screen and the rest of the
exodus, racing across a great divide of space. He narrowed his eyes,
thoughtfully, pointing a finger. "Shouldn't we be making contact with
the rest of the ships?"
The crew looked at each other in disbelief. Hebe spoke up. "But
Commander, they're our enemies."
Jabez raised a brow.
"Ah, yes Captain Hebe. We, and our enemies, finally destroyed our own
planet. Well, enemies or not, we need each other now to survive."
"But we didn't destroy Earth, Commander," said Hebe, flicking her eyes
at the image on the viewing screen.
The Commander scoffed. "That's not Earth, Captain. It's a mirage
brought on by our own guilt. Nothing but space out there. Captain, at
least follow our enemies. God forbid we get lost and die in space
alone."
Hebe glared at Jabez, defiantly, but conceded. "Plot a course
Lieutenant - but keep a safe distance. And maintain red alert. Crew on
full battle stations."
"No, Captain," urged Jabez, and then smiled. "Let's have no more
violence." He spoke softly, as an after thought. "I was against war on
Earth from the beginning."

"Captain," said Finn, without looking up from the computer. "Earth
appears to have gone through drastic geological changes in the past, as
long ago as ten thousand years. Craters evident. Probably a bombardment
of some sort&;#8230;meteorites&;#8230;or asteroids."
"That's absurd," mused Jabez. "You mean we've been shunted into the
future?"
"Yes Commander," Finn looked up at Jabez then the Captain. "One other
thing, sir." Finn braced herself and faced the Captain. "Earth's now
riddled with Radithium Crystals."
Jabez frowned, as if meeting an old enemy. Hebe raised an
eyebrow.
Radithium Crystals: discovered by Earth geologists. Known as RAD C,
this orange, radioactive ore is ten times more potent than plutonium,
naturally processed over millions of years. RAD C, when crystallised, a
fuel for nuclear reactors to provide life support systems. Propulsion
for military and domestic vehicles, laser power and warp speed in
spacecraft. One unique propensity is in transporting human molecules
from one location to another. RAD C was first discovered in asteroids
in the Asteroid Belt between Jupiter and Mars. Control for the mining
of RAD C was fought in the asteroid belt. Military nations, using laser
beams, inadvertently, knocked several asteroids out of orbit, sending
them on a collision course with Earth. Nothing could stop the imminent
apocalypse. The exodus witnessed it as they fled the holocaust on
Earth, a doomed planet.

Lazily, the sun rose above the Indian tepees dotted along the banks of
a snaking river. On either side, parched lands spread for miles.

A dust bowl with tumbleweed and sage bush its only vegetation. Beyond,
a range of mountains stood out like calluses on the smooth palm of a
hand. Suddenly, a slap on bare flesh followed by the sharp roar of a
newly born baby, eager to snatch its first gasp of oxygen from the
air.
Chief Eagle Feathers, shot out of his lodge, carrying a naked baby
blooded and not yet cleaned up from its birth. He yelled a triumphant
war cry. Weary eyed Braves staggered out of their tepees, yawning,
embracing the morning mist. Campfires still burned. The Chief waded
into the river waist high with the screaming child. He held it high
above his head. The Braves screeched their approval by going into a
ceremonial dance. Swirling around the campfires, shouting welcoming
chants.
Eagle Feathers wearing only a bearskin around his loins and two eagle
head feathers, proudly plunged the screaming child in the fast, icy,
waters, and briefly held it submerged. He then hoisted it high above
his head again, turning the child to all four directions of the winds.
He made his voice heard against the hysterical baby. "Oh, Great Might
Spirit, I offer my first born and name her Tallulah-Running-Water, her
first look on life. Take this Sioux into your Lodge. Accept her as the
daughter of a Chief, for true Sioux blood now fills her veins. Sioux
oxygen fills her lungs. Sioux wisdom fills her mind. Show her the ways
of a Sioux, so that her ancestors will be proud of her. Remind her of
how the Sioux tribes once roamed this valley freely and hunted buffalo,
like their forefathers before them, before the white eyes claimed it
for their own, driving them off our lands. They desecrated our sacred
burial grounds in search of the yellow iron known to them as gold. Tell
her how the lying white eyes cheated the Sioux out of land, theirs by
ancestral right.

How the Sioux fought back, but the white eyes were as many as the fish
in a River. Many Sioux warriors died. Squaws and papooses hungered when
the whites slaughtered the buffalo for their hides. Now the numbers of
buffalos are few.
Oh, Great Mighty Spirit, make Tallulah strong like Sitting Bull, the
Sioux Chief who planned the massacre of many blue coats and their Chief
yellow hair, Custer. After Little Big Horn many scalps of the long
knives hung in out lodges that day. Hear Tallulah's voice, Great
Spirit, so that you may add your own strength and wisdom and guide
her."
On the other side of the river, a small herd of buffalo wandered up to
the bank side and waded into the water to drink. Eagle Feather braced
himself, proudly, as if ten feet tall. "See, my brothers, the Great
Spirit sends a good sign. Though my daughter Tallulah, because she is a
squaw, cannot become a Sioux Chief, one day she will make me
proud."
Taking a necklace of wolf fangs from around his neck, Eagle Feathers
spoke of devotion to his tribe. "This was handed to me by my father,
whose father handed it to him. My grandfather killed the wolf with his
bare hands when the wolf, a great leader of his pack, attacked the
Sioux lodge to quench his hunger for meat."
He gently placed it over the head of the bawling child and around her
neck, kissed her cheek, gentle as a lamb. "Wear it well, my daughter,
and you will become wise and the daughter of great warriors, like the
Sioux of old, who feared no whites."
Chief Eagle Feather waded out of the stream onto dry land, raised the
baby Tallulah to the braves who encircled him, each in turn
congratulating their Chief with a slap on the back, or a bear
hug.

"Tallulah grows impatient for her mother's breast," said the Chief,
bracing up. Slightly impatient, he quickly disappeared into his lodge.
Inside, his squaw, the child's mother, lay on a bed of animal skins.
Elderly squaws, acting as mid wives, took the baby from Eagle Feathers
and cleaned it up. While this was being done the Chief embraced the
mother, squeezing her bare breasts, sucking milk from a nipple.
"Tallulah will feed well, my squaw," he grinned as a midwife placed
the sobbing baby into its mother's outstretched arms. They giggled as
they left the tepee. The mother guided Tallulah's lips to her succulent
breast and it immediately pacified the child. "Next time I shall honour
Chief Eagle Feather, my husband, with a little warrior who will one day
be a great Chief of the Sioux, like his father."
The radiant smile on her face suggested her main purpose in life was
to please her husband. He straightened his aching back and removed his
Chieftain headdress and threw it down, revealing balding hair with and
a high forehead. He looked a youthful thirty something. Although his
midriff already showed signs of a middle aged spread. He wiped the bead
of sweat from his brow and now spoke more like a mule packer rather
than a Sioux Chief. "Cut the crap, Mabel honey. I'm sure goddam glad I
don't have to wear this shit all the goddam time."
"You're so impatient, Larry," said Mabel, rattling the child's
necklace. "I thought you looked forward to these tribal get-togethers,
my sweet? This is Sioux land where we can live the old ways, sleeping
under the stars as our ancestors once did. I thought you were proud to
be Sioux."
Slightly dejected, he wiped clean a pair of spectacles and slipped
them on, spoke with a morbid pride.

"Well&;#8230; not like it fucking used to be. Yeah, our forefathers
once walked fucking free, as far as the eye can fucking see. Hell, I'm
fucking seeped in Sioux tradition and culture. Born a fucking Sioux and
die a fucking Sioux. And just witnessed the goddam birth a Sioux. But I
shan't goddam rest until those sonsofbitches give back the lands that
are rightfully Sioux lands."
Still agitated, he embraced both child and mother together. "Now it is
time to wet the baby's head." He uncovered a box and a large jug from
under a blanket. He opened the box, took out a cigar, put it to his
ear, rolling it between finger and thumb, and pushed it into his mouth.
He shook the jug vigorously. Then joked. "Think this'll be enough
firewater for them no good Indians, Mabel?"
He laughed heartily and then left. Mabel turned on the portable
television just in time to see Neil Armstrong, the first human being to
set foot on the moon, uttering his immortal first words. "This is one
small step for man one giant step for mankind."
Mabel cuddled the little bundle in her arms. "See my precious
Tallulah, the Great Might Spirit has sent you a heavenly sign."
Earth, in the twentieth century, was on the verge of conquering space.
An unmanned space probe had already travelled millions of miles across
the galaxy to orbit and send data back to Earth from Mars. It will then
go on to study other planets of our solar system. A manned mission to
Mars was inevitable in the not too distant future.

On the viewing screen, the exodus ships were now engaged in a
ferocious battle against each other. Radlaser torpedoes fired at
anything that moved. Space was filled with fighter craft. One mother
ship disintegrated into a lifeless shell, drifting in space. Another,
constantly bombarded, lost steering control and collided with several
ships.
A burst of Radlaser put it out of its misery. Captain Hebe took evasive
action when a Radlaser headed for the ship's bows and veered to
port.
"Maintain retaliation, Major Sholto," ordered his Captain. She could
see Jabez
was dead set against retaliatory fire. "Remember Commander, control RAD
C and I -we control the universe."
"Have we not had enough destruction, Captain Hebe?" stressed
Jabez.
"Not if we want to get to Earth before them," Hebe grinned.
She had expected her weak-minded Commander to show restraint. Though,
on numerous confrontations with each other, Jabez would differ. He
claimed Captain Hebe confused impetuousness with tact. Hebe, an all
systems go female, had no time for diplomacy. She preferred action not
talk. Hebe knew she would make a better Commander in spite of her
rashness. She got things done. And never allowed herself to be made a
fool of. But Federation power was handed down through the generations.
Jabez's reign on Earth had failed miserably. Hebe, if she had been
Federation Chief, would have stamped her authority on RAD C from the
beginning. If Jabez had been strong, like she, Earth would not have
been destroyed. Jabez wasted time, trying to appease the rebels,
negotiating while they planned a full-scale attack for control of RAD
C. Jabez, on the other hand, would not put it passed Hebe to be the
instigator of the uprising in an attempt to overthrow Jabez and seize
power. Jabez suspected her treachery from the start, but failed to
obtain proof.
It was not in his nature to crush any despot on mere suspicion. Hebe
thought that being too trustful was Jabez's main weakness.
"There's something heading straight for us Captain," shouted Finn.
"Too slow for a Radlaser, and too small for a an enemy fighter. And
it's unarmed, but sending out some sort of electronic signals."
The object concerned suddenly came up on screen from the direction the
exodus was heading. Hebe ordered magnification. On the craft's side, in
broad lettering, read. UNITED SATES OF AMERICA. MARS EXPEDITION.
"Enemy probe," said Captain Hebe, somewhat panicky. "Destroy it!
"
A Radlaser beam blasted it into smithereens.
Fighter after fighter succumbed to Captain Hebe's Radlaser power and
exploded into oblivion. Hebe's ship was designed for speed with the
latest technology in space artillery and combat fighters. Built mainly
for Jabez's protection, the Federation leader witnessed the bloodbath
from the viewing screen. He was not impressed. Most of his subjects in
the exodus transporters had been cut down drastically.
"This is madness, Captain Hebe. Surely they are beaten now and willing
to surrender."
A metamorphosis was taking place. The crew's body warts had almost
dissolved and their skin smoothing out and pink tincture. Male hair
started to have a shine about it, females' more silky and bouncy.
Stooping shoulders were beginning to strand erect, voices less
reptilian. The evolution process had speeded up to look like humans to
suit this particular era they now found themselves in. The ship's
science officer put it down to the effects the time tunnel had on their
metabolism.
"You tried appeasement on Earth - remember Commander?" Captain Hebe
openly displayed her megalomania. "It didn't work with the rebels then
and it won't work now. Keep the defence shields up, Lieutenant Finn.
Spare them no mercy. Damage reports Major Sholter."
"Still negative Captain," came the reply.
"They're no match for this ship, Captain," cried Jabez, seeing another
fighter bite the dust.
"If they were, Commander - you'd be dead by now. They know about Earth
and RAD C and want it for themselves - just like before!"
"I order you to stop this slaughter."
"And I'm ordering you to your quarters."
Jabez protested. "I'm still Federation Chief."
"But surely that's debatable, Commander."
"When we do find a new planet, captain," stressed Jabez, "it'll need
somebody with a level head to run it."
"You had your chance, Jabez," grinned Hebe. "Now it's my turn." Hebe
gestured two armed security guards. They stepped forward, phasors
ready.
"You - you wouldn't dare, Captain."
Hebe addressed the guards. "Escort the commander and confine him to his
quarters."
Jabez, suddenly realised, as the crew made no effort to help him. "I
see you thought of everything, Captain. I hope you show more loyalty to
the crew than you did to me." He moved to Hebe and pleaded. "Hebe,
there's evidence of life on Earth."
"It's not been confirmed, Jabez," scoffed Hebe. "Maybe it's some trick
- the rebels have conjured up. We'll not know for sure until we get to
Earth, Commander."
"But if Earth is populated," urged Jabez. "It's their planet now. And
who knows, maybe they'll look after it better than we did. I don't
understand how things came to be, but&;#8230; Well, at least let
them live in peace. I implore you, Hebe. We can start afresh on a new
planet."
"No, Commander," said Hebe adamant. "We are the true people of Earth.
If life exists on it now, well&;#8230; they must be a backward race.
Anyway, Earth is ours by Galactic Law, Jabez."
"Then we must try to live with them -live in peace&;#8230; as
equals. Rule Earth together."
"No!" Hebe crashed his fist down on the control panel. Pointed to the
battle going on. Once I finished off the rabble out there, we'll
conquer Earth. Use these - these Earthlings as slaves to work RAD C
mines. If they resist&;#8230; we'll kill them"
Jabez lunged at his throat. Suddenly the ship went in a spasm of fits
and jerks. Jabez let go of Hebe who hurried to the control panel to
investigate. "What's happening, Major? "
"Negative sir. Just losing firepower, Captain," shouted Sholto,
frowning as he pressed dials, frantically.
In desperation, Hebe shoved him aside and took control. "Why are we
losing firepower?"
Sholto, failing to come up with an answer, looked up in awe at the
battle scene ahead. Radlaser beams were hitting their targets, but with
less devastation to the few ships left.
The science officer gave his interpretation of what was happening.
Apparently, the forces in the time tunnel must have drained the potency
of the RAD C banks. The ships were now running on their reserves. Soon,
they too would dry up through constant use of Radlaser power.
Furthermore, the RAD C in reserve might get the ships to their
destination. Once on Earth, RAD C can be mined, processed and the
crystals replaced. Meanwhile, a mutual ceasefire must be maintained.
All hostilities must stop to conserve power. Conquering the enemy now,
without firepower, was out of the question.
Earth is the closest planet known to sustain life. There was nowhere
else for them to go. And, depending on how fast the RAD C reserve banks
drain, the ships are in danger of malfunction and drifting into
space.
Jabez saw the funny side of it all. "Well, Hebe, it would seem the
backward new Earthlings would have more firepower than us old
Earthlings. Let's hope they're not as hostile. We could finish up their
slaves. Or even dead."
Hebe ogled the screen as a spaceship's lights suddenly dimmed, faded
altogether and then drifted off into the blackness of space. Then
another. It had started sooner than expected. She had to do something.
The crew awaited instructions. This was no time for indecision or
panic. What would Jabez do in this situation? Jabez seemed to be in his
element now that Hebe appeared to be floundering.
Jabez's presence unnerved the captain. She summoned the two guards.
"Get the Commander off the deck." Showing signs of hysteria now, a
devious plot was hatching in her mind. At last she would be rid of
Jabez and take power. "Take him to the launching bay and set him adrift
in one of the space shuttles. Any resistance - shoot him!"
"But Captain---," stressed Finn."
Hebe cut Finn short, as Jabez left the deck under armed guard. "I'll
not tolerate insubordination from you Finn - or any of my crew." She
rocked on her heels, clenching her fist, trying to justify her sudden
hysteria.
The crew studied their new leader with awe. A light flashed on the
control panel. The shuttle had been launched. Hebe faced the screen.
The shuttle came up on the viewing screen, heading for Earth. The crew
bowed their heads in respect. Suddenly, the mother ship went into
violent shuddering. Lights flickered.
"What's happening, Major Sholto?" screamed Hebe.
"I tried to warn you Captain," explained Sholto. "Launching the space
shuttle has apparently drained the last of our RAD C, we're helpless,
sir."
Traumatically, Captain Hebe gaped at the shuttle as it disappeared out
of sight.
She stood, helpless, as the ship's lighting slowly started to blink and
drain away completely. Hebe screamed in the total darkness of
space.

Screams echoed across the valley and faded away. The covered wagon,
stampeding across the vast prairie had capsized. The family aboard were
flung down into the steep ravine below. For them, like many other God
fearing folk, the gold rush had come to a tragic end. Perhaps they had
preferred death to a lifetime of poverty.
The yesteryear plains Indians regarded gold the most useless commodity
in the art of survival; can't eat it, can't grow it, or hunt it for
food. Gold won't make clothes to keep papooses warm in the winter.
Indians judged another Brave's wealth by the number of horses he
possessed. But gold was vital to the white man's ambitions. And they
slaughtered the Indians to almost extinction to get it.
Tallulah Running-water's vision of the way her ancestors coped with
the old west came to an end. Now a mature woman in her late twenties,
she finished rocking to and fro on her haunches, grabbing handfuls of
soil; lifting it above her head and then letting it fall back to the
ground; wailing a tribal lament to mourn her dead father outside his
lodge.
Tallulah got to her feet. She shoved her black hair, hanging loose
over her shoulders, partly covering her face, out of her eyes. Now it
rode down her back to her waist in true Indian style. She had a curvy
body that would grace any film starlet. The whites of her eyes enhanced
her red skin of mass splendour and beauty. She looked to the heavens, a
proud Sioux, with the same determination of a Sioux; spoke in defiance
her ancestors had shown to the White Chiefs in Washington many years
ago. "Chief Eagle Feathers, my father, now that you have joined your
fathers in the happy hunting grounds, I, your daughter Tallulah, shall
carry on your fight to retrieve lands that are rightfully ours. You,
and your fathers before you, have constantly fought a losing battle in
the white man's courts."
Tallulah did not really believe the death of Eagle Feather and tribal
solicitor, was an accident. Her father, and indeed the whole tribe, had
used that snaking mountain road many times on hunting trips. Eagle
Feathers would not have gone at such speed, claimed by the police, and
crashed through the barriers. Tallulah told the coroner at the inquest
it would have been suicide. No, she believed, but dare not say it, that
her father had been killed, because he was making ground in the courts.
Big business would lose out. And it involved vast compensation payments
if the powers that be lost the court case.
Many suns ago, the Sioux Territory was rich. Rich because food was
plentiful, buffalo herds, during the hunt, stampeded like thunder. Then
trespassing white man discovered gold on it and the 'savages' were
moved this present reservation, useless for grazing or hunting. Now, in
the twentieth century the Sioux and other Indian nations, cheated into
signing away their original lands, want them back. But the way ahead is
not easy. And as Chief Eagle Feathers so gently put it, in a way only
he could: 'Only goddam punks to profit out of this shit so far is
goddam white, fat ass lawyers."
Suddenly, a squadron of USAF jets flew above her on an elevated
course. No doubt, Tallulah thought, patrolling the skies due to recent
UFO sightings. Apparently, astrologers had picked up a large shower of
meteorites, in deep space, on a collision course with Earth. Most had
mysteriously burned up before entering the Earth's atmosphere. UFO
buffs, however, believed it an alien invasion. The US government deny
this. It that's the case, why jets on red alert, searching at a high
altitude?
Chief Eagle Feather's tribal wake went on into the night, squatting
around campfires. Soon they would have to choose a new Chief. The
elders talked about the old days. Some believed that a great Chief,
like Sitting Bull would return and lead them to glory. Sioux lands
would be rich again.
They had heard this prophecy from the Great White Spirit who had come
to them in a vision. Indians were superstitious. Their lives virtually
depended, on some sign or another. In the old days, the medicine man
was a very important tribesman. His prophesised omens were essential to
the outcome of a hunting expedition, or before a battle. If he foretold
bad signs, then the tribe proceeded with caution.
Eagle Feather's ghostly voice haunted Tallulah's mind, as she followed
the path of a shooting star. 'Shit! All we goddam need is a good omen
to beat this goddam thing and get our lands back from those fucking
thieving sonsofbitches.'
The shooting star burned out like all shooting stars. But this one
left a vapour trail behind it, like something shot down from the skies.
Lights flicked just beyond the campfires, as if a spirit was trying to
materialise, but with difficulty. An image partly appeared then faded
away. Then came back again and so on. The rest of the tribe, on seeing
this, quickly jumped to their feet. They gasped in awe as a figure
eventually materialised, but couldn't make it out. The flickering
lights disappeared. They took a couple of steps back, as Jabez
approached the fires. He raised the palms of his hands in surrender. .
"My name's Jabez - Federation Chief of-----,"
"Chief?" muttered the tribesmen in excited confusion to one and
other.
"Erm - My names Tallulah. Er&;#8230;I - I'm the daughter of a
Chief," she said, slightly apprehensive.
She ogled Jabez who, with reddish skin, now resembled a young, Indian
Brave. His handsome features enhanced by flowing, dark shoulder length
hair. He stood erect, muscles bulging through his thin garment. A fine
warrior, she thought. So much like her father.
He beamed a grin and moved towards Tallulah. "I come in peace."
"We knew of your coming," shouted an elderly tribesman. He and the
rest moved forward, excitedly, to get a better look.
Jabez, looking up to the skies and grimaced, as USAF jets sped low
above them. He looked at Tallulah. "They're looking for me. Will you
turn me in, Tallulah?"
They're eyes met, his in a plea, and hers in admiration. Love
chemistry immediately struck between them. She rubbed at the smoothness
of his face. He gently touched hers. It sent shivers down her spine.
Approving, she gently brushed her cheek against his hand.
The tribe, overjoyed that Tallulah had accepted Jabez, beat on the
drums and danced around the campfire to thank the Great Spirit for
sending them a new Chief. The jets zoomed above them at a lower
altitude. Tallulah's eyes followed them into the distance. "Has the
Great White Spirit really sent you from up there, Jabez?"
Jabez didn't answer, but shook his head slightly. Tallulah pulled away
from him and looked at the land, as far as the eye could see. It was
almost daylight. A strong wind rolled the tumbleweed, aimlessly through
the dancing. She went through the history of the plight of the Sioux
tribe. Jabez listened, remembering. How RAD C fever had succeeded in
wiping out a world that he once knew.
"This once affluent Sioux nation hasn't much to offer now," cried
Tallulah, hinting slightly. "But you're welcome to share all on this
worthless land."
He pulled her closer to him, kissing her on the lips. Then he told
Tallulah that the Sioux would flourish again in the near future, once
they mined the rich seam of Radithium Ore buried under their feet. She
believed him.

"