Distant Lands

The two-story building is black glass, darkened for privacy. We enter through the double glass doors and join the line with other recent graduates.

“This is a military base?” I stand behind Isa.

Isa turns to me, “Yes. Today we get our assigned weapons and equipment.” She quickly looks forward when she sees a military officer coming our way. An officer wearing a uniform stands beside me with an oversized, oven-mitt-looking electronic device with my picture on a holographic screen, “Soldier Elizabeth, put your right hand into the device,” she says.

“What does that do?” I look at the device then I look at her. She remains silent, but her face hardens into a serious stare. I quickly place my hand inside the machine and stay still—what a strange ice-cold sensation. Now I feel little painless pricks on my wrist.

The device lights up, and the officer takes off the machine. My wrist feels warm. I turn over my hand, and a black double infinity tattoo is on my wrist. I never thought about getting a tattoo before, and nobody asked if I wanted one, but I like the design, so I guess I don’t mind. Isa turns around and excitedly shows me her tattoo. I smile at her and show her mine.

“Attention, Soldiers.” A voice from a speaker says. “Your tattoos symbolize that you voluntarily commit to serving Azure’s military. They also contain a unique code inscribed in ink with your identifier. Wear it proudly.”

The line moves forward. I reach the front of the line and place my tattooed wrist on a screen, and my ID shows up. An officer hands me a backpack that contains my tools. I meet the girls outside of the building.

Emerald hands us our ear comms, “We are to assist police officers in providing security at the festival. This year is extra busy because the royals from Argent will attend.”

“Where are our uniforms?” I ask.

Emerald inputs something on her watch, “We won’t be wearing uniforms. We don’t want to show a presence of force. We want to remain friendly and blend in with the crowd.” A large vehicle self-drives and stops in front of us. It looks like a jeep and bus combined into one. “Alright, let’s go.” Emerald motions for us to get in. We take our seats and are now on our way to the festival.

“What kind of festival is it?” I ask.

“It’s an annual festival celebrating the peace between worlds,” Nina says.

“Yes, it’s my favorite festival,” Isa says. “Each world sets up a section in the festival where they decorate it to represent their world and serve their food.”

“Wow, that sounds great,” I say excitedly.

“Were not attending to enjoy the festival. We have a job to do,” Emerald says.

I narrow my eyes at her. “What a joy kill Emerald is. Who says we can’t do both?” I whisper to Nina, and she giggles.

“I heard that! I’m serious, Elizabeth!” Emerald glares at me.

“Alright, alright. Copy that,” I look out the window.

We arrive at the festival and get off the vehicle. I am in awe of the colorful explosion before me. Stands have themes representing a different planet.

One stand has a tropical setting with a gold pyramid, palm-like trees, and sand on the ground. Women and men wear elaborate golden headpieces.

Another section has a forest theme with women wearing flower crowns and long dresses decorated with leaves and flowers. Some people even color their skin green, unless that is their natural skin color?

We pass by a section that has a blue honeycomb dome building. A woman with long red hair and glittery blue skin wears a long dress that changes colors. People stare at her, and she smiles and greets people. She is mesmerizing.

The sky has colorful lanterns floating above our heads. We walk towards the back of the festival, taking our position. I smile, looking at excited people having fun, eating, and drinking. Kids run around beaming with excitement. People dance and enjoy the upbeat alien music. It has a dope beat, and It’s getting me into party mode. I discretely dance to the beat.

A boy passing by sees me and stops. Then he looks at my belt, smiles, and stares at me like I’m a superhero. It fills my heart with pride. I wave at him, and he waves back, then runs to catch up with his mother. Nobody seems to pay attention to me, so I continue dancing and watching. Suddenly, the boy and his mother come up to me.

“Hi, my son wanted to give you a little gift; he says he can’t wait to join the Academy and be just like you and his father,” she says. I look down, smiling at the boy; he has a flower crown in his hands. I kneel, and he places it on my head.

“Thank you so much. You are very kind. To be like your dad and me, you need to work very hard in your studies, ok? Also, make sure you follow every order quickly and don’t talk back to your teachers. They get pissed if you do,” I say. The boy smiles and nods, “Thank you, I will do my best,” he says. I get up, and the lady looks at me with gratitude. The lady and the boy leave.

I look around, and everything seems normal. I touch my earpiece. “All clear on my side,” I say to Isa, Nina, and Adira.

“Roger,” Isa responds. Every thirty minutes we have to communicate with each other.

The lady and the boy come back with a drink and a box of food. I feel overjoyed.

“Here you go, thank you for your service,” she says, handing me the drink and food. I happily reach for them.

“Thank you so much. I truly appreciate it,” I say, and she nods and walks off with the boy. I begin to eat and drink while keeping watch. The box of food has foods I don’t recognize but are delicious. I pick up a skewer with meat and vegetables and bite into it. I hear some commotion up ahead, but I don’t hear any teams reacting, so I continue enjoying my food.

“He’s running! He’s heading toward the back!” I suddenly hear in my earpiece.

“You hear that Elizabeth, a man dressed in a brown shirt and black pants stole something and is heading your way,” Nina says in my earpiece.

“Oh shit!” I quickly take a few more bites of my skewer, setting down my food on the ground. I grab my baton from my belt and scan the area for a man running.

“Copy,” I say.

I see him running toward me, pushing people out of his way. I keep my eyes on him, waiting for him to come closer. My adrenaline starts flowing in me. He passes me, and I run behind him; he is fast. People move out of our way. I have a clear view of him, and I point my baton towards the guy, and I squeeze the button on the baton, it shoots out a long metal rope wrapping around the man’s legs, tripping him, and he falls forward, crashing hard onto the ground.

He sits on the floor, trying to unwind the rope from his legs. But this rope is magnetized, and it’s impossible to remove. I smash the bottom of the baton down on the ground; it anchors into the ground, tethering the man.

Damn, I love this weapon; it saved me the energy of tackling him. Other people and officers come running towards the guy and arrest him. Emerald arrives at the scene and pats my back.

“Good job,” she says. I feel so proud of myself. I caught my first bad guy. A higher-looking officer comes up to me.

“Good job. Now that he is in our custody, go ahead and release him,” he says. I smash a button on the baton, and it demagnetizes, and the officers unwind the rope from his legs. I press a button and slowly reel the rope back into my baton. An officer comes up to me and scans my baton. I look at him with a questioning look.

“It’s for evidence and to keep a record on the police report,” he says. I nod. So many cops and military surround the man like some dangerous wanted criminal and lead him away.

“What did the man steal?” I ask the officer.

“He stole the princess’s diamond bracelet when she was greeting some kids,” the officer says.

I look at him in shock. “Well, good thing I caught him. That bracelet must be priceless.”

“Oh yes, this is a big deal. And you’ll probably win a medal for this,” he says and leaves laughing. I can’t tell if he was joking or not. I mean, it would be nice to win a medal. But bringing that type of attention to myself might not be the wisest idea. But what was I supposed to do? Let the thief go?