‘Here sir, I have located the next building.’ The voice sounded from the pad on Brian’s wrist. ‘50 yards to the left of your position. I await your next directions.’
‘Load down, Snap. I will be there shortly.’ Following the directions, Brian soon found himself at the base of a structure that had once been a four-story business building but was now a crumbling pile of bricks and mortar open to the sky. He checked his charts. Lorden Life Insurance. Ah, he remembered his research. This building had also once housed a rustic television station bought by a man who was influential in the city politics in the Golden days, when politics were the way of life. It would be sufficient to spend the night in.

Later that night, Brian sat shivering in his insulated self-warming blanket. He could not get over the chilliness of the desert night. The dark blue sky winked back at him with a thousand tiny eyes and off in the distance something howled - a blood-chilling sound in this age of computerized communication. It brought back memories of nature prevailing over man in this part of the universe - the knowledge that there were forces beyond human control on this planet called Earth. Brian had sent Snap into hibernation, a time to recharge his self-maintained batteries. Shivering in the middle of a yawn, he crawled back into his protective tent and closed his eyes. Damn the ISSA for not sending a radio pod linked to home, or anywhere with the sounds of another human voice.
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‘Welcome, strange neighbor.’ White hot sun flooded into Brian’s eyes as he squinted towards the voice, his hands automatically groping for his weapons.
‘You need no weapons here, strange one.’ The lilting voice held an edge of authority. ‘However, where you go, you will need something greater by far than that which you have.’
‘Where am I?’ The sergeant’s voice cracked with sleep.
‘You are where you are needed… you are where you belong.’
Brian could make out a figure in the light now… a man-creature such as he had never before beheld. Its face was ageless, its eyes a hard flinty grey. Slightly pointed ears split the cascade of white-blue hair streaming straight down the figure’s back. Standing against the background of light, the powerful body appeared immortal. He held a staff at arms length, it’s broadened base flat against the short cropped grass. His clothes…they were the strangest of all. The stranger wore a silvery foot-length robe fasted with an elaborately embroidered belt. Heavy silver chains adorned his neck and rings of silver were clamped around each wrist and ankle.
‘No.. no, I’m pretty sure I don’t belong here,’ Brian stammered. He rose to his feet, brushing his heavy-duty uniform clear of wrinkles. This had to be dream, or someone was playing a cruel trick on him.
‘I not blame you for being unreceptive to this change from your world, Strange One. However, listen to me before you dismiss what I have to say.’ Brian shrugged. If this was a dream, he would wake up soon enough.
‘Go ahead, Light-Man.’
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