Paradise

Seven

3019, Earth

"What did you do to him?" Jones suddenly demanded. "What did you do to Jose?!"

Angelo corrected her. "Richard. He is the one who is unconscious. Why don't you come here and surrender yourselves? Besides, what you're doing is completely hopeless."

He continued with his expression darkening as he spoke. "The spaceship, Revolution III, will launch with its human cargo. You don't have your powerful weapons. Perhaps. . .I shall destroy it." He chuckled cruelly. " Oh, and by the way, Jacob is with the Robed One. He shall be very useful in persuading Glejar to complete our greatest weapon! And Jose? I do have special plans for him."

"You monster!" Jones shouted. "What have you done?!"

He announced. "My work here is done. I shall see you again. . .after 347 humans will die!"

Then the hologram disappeared. Ben and his team are silent. There were too many things. Angelo's words swirled in his mind. Richard. . .Jacob. . .greatest weapon. . .Jose. . .special plans. . .Revolution III. . .the Robed One. . .347 humans will die. . .

"He's right." Justine suddenly said, breaking the silence among the group. "It is hopeless."

"Shut up," Rizza hissed, her tone tough even after the conversation. But Justine knew it was a way to keep his hopes up. It worked sometimes, but in this case, it didn't.

Justine turned to Jones again. She was hurt. She was confused as everyone else in the speedboat.

"We'll get him back." Justine said to her. "I promise."

She didn't reply, and so he left her be.

"What do we do, then?" he asked Ben.

Ben was thinking. Minutes later, he had an idea. His face lit up. "We'll split up," he replied, giving a hopeful smile. "Justine and I will stop the bombing of Revolution III while Jones and Rizza will get the weapons."

All of a sudden, Jones shouted. "Land! There's land."

Everyone turned and saw odd boats appear on the scene. Spaceships zoomed across the sky and ahead, still miles away, was a lumpy land form. The speedboat seemed to get them closer and closer to the island.

"I know a place where there is a lot of ships," Ben mumbled, but the rest of the group heard. Minutes passed and there were a lot of those oddly shaped boats parked along with the dock and swaying with the ocean waves. It was a windy day and the clouds were charged with the onset of a storm.

They left the speedboat and walked until they saw a market. The smell was stinging Justine's nose. "What is that smell?!" he exclaimed, making some passersby stare at him like he was crazy. The rest of the group smelled it too, but they tried to act like strangers; they didn't want to attract people.

"Hey you!" someone in the crowd shouted as he came to meet Ben and his group. He walked to them, wearing an American suit and a necktie, which was odd in the middle of a fishing port.

Ben reluctantly shook his hand with the stranger's. "I'm Daniel. You guys seem to need a place to stay perhaps."

Ben was about to object when Justine replied. "Of course. We'd love too."

Daniel led him to his vehicle, which was a floating limousine. Ben and the group got in and the rich person got the driver's seat. Soon, they were on the skies, going where Daniel would take them.

"I'm a nephew of a booming business that sells spaceships. Perhaps, we know each other, Ben Connors."

Ben was dumbfounded, so are his other comrades. "You. . .you know this guy?" Justine asked, surprised. Then his tone softer, he replied. "He's kinda rich."