The Abduction
0100 Hours, May 24 2517
Paris IV, Paris System
The bedroom was dark, as it should be at such a late hour. Young Thomas was sleeping in his bed, dreaming of having a better life, of being a rich man with a rich family, instead of the poor family he had. He had lived his life, the whole six years of it poor, barely able to afford anything. He was lucky to be able to even get into school. His father used to work in the shipbuilding industry, however that industry had died a few years back when the docks had moved elsewhere, where it was cheaper. His father lost his job and with the loss of the docks, the economy had plummeted. Of course this was beyond young Thomas’s comprehension, he was only six years old, he had no idea how the economy worked. His mother was a nurse at the hospital, she dealt with a lot of people who had overdosed on drugs and had alcohol problems, she hated it but they couldn’t afford for her to leave her job, they could barely get by with it.
A woman had been to see Thomas a few months earlier, a tall beautiful woman that looked like she was in control. She had asked Thomas a few questions, about him, his life, family and about what he wanted to do when he was older. He told her he wanted to be a strong man, who could look after everyone, this seemed to please her. He didn’t see her again after that, Thomas soon forgot about her.
Thomas woke up, he had heard something, something wasn’t right. His father rarely came home this late at night, and his mother was always quiet. It sounded like there were many people moving as well, more than one.
“Hello?” He called out. Thomas tried to be brave, he knew that sometimes people broke into other people’s houses and took things, valuable things to sell. This wouldn’t be the first time this had happened, they always left him alone, as long as he left them alone. He crawled under his bedsheets and lay still, hoping that the burglars would leave him alone and they would leave soon.
There was a loud crash as the door was broken down, Thomas was getting very scared now. The burglars never did this, they never broke doors down. He pulled the sheets down enough to see what was happening. Three men in black suits that were standing in the room, looking around holding guns, two were holding small guns, that had two handles with a long cylinder at the end, while the other man held a smaller gun, a pistol like Thomas’s fathers gun, but with a long cylinder at the end as well. They wore masks over their heads, covering their eyes and most of their faces. The man with the pistol saw Thomas.
“Over here, I found him!” He said,
“Quick, get him and tranq him, we need to move. The local authority will be here any second!” Said one of the other men.
The first man put his gun away and walked over to Thomas and held him down. Thomas struggled but he was too strong, he called out for his mother, shouting for help, but nobody came.
“Shut him up!” Said the second guy, anger in his voice, “He’ll wake up the whole block!”
The first man just grunted in reply and pulled out a needle, and pricked Thomas’s arm. Thomas struggled but the man held him tightly, so he couldn’t move, he shouted for help but nobody came. Thomas had never felt so alone, he was so scared, he even noticed that he had wet the bed in his struggle for freedom from these scary men, his captors. All he wanted was to be let free, he didn’t know what he had done wrong.
The needle in his arm suddenly felt very cold, ice cold. Thomas looked and saw that the man was injecting him with something, something cold. He struggled as much as he could, but the man was too strong. But then a warm feeling began to spread from his arm, around his body and into his head. Thomas started to feel tired, his mind felt fuzzy, he couldn’t concentrate. He tried calling out but his mouth wasn’t working properly, he could only make a gargle, a pathetic sound. He felt his arms and legs become very heavy, as if they were made of metal. He couldn’t struggle anymore and he felt his mind getting confused. He tried to stay awake but he couldn’t fight the warmth, he eventually surrendered to bliss; and oblivion.
-X-
He awoke later, he did not know how much later, and was taken to a large atrium. He was among seventy five other children all his own age. Many of them wanted to get free, but men that looked like doctors held them in place. Thomas tried to get up but he couldn’t, the warmth and tiredness was still with him, a man was next to him, with his hand on Thomas’s shoulder, holding him in place. Thomas couldn’t focus and hadn’t realised a woman had walked onto a platform in front of them and started speaking. He could barely understand what she was saying, but one thing stuck in his mind.
“You will be the protectors of Earth and all her colonies.”