BEADS (Episode 1)

The injection frantically found its way through the skin of the young man stretched on a chair, and the room was not in any way less than a science laboratory. "How do you feel?" Dr. Mag asked in her feminine sonorous voice, which greatly helped to console the young man of his situation. "The initiation process would commence shortly" A voice said from somewhere in the room. The young man was sure it was Bill's, the computer operator. The young man expected to feel strange after the injection, just as Dr. Mag explained to him during his briefing. But, he didn't feel anything strange at all. Rather, his mind and body were still very much alive and at alert. He could still remember his wife and son, and how they played together the night before. "Honey, why must you be the one to go?" Angella, his wife, asked him the previous night. "I really don't know why I was chosen. But, to me, it's an honour to be chosen for such a great task." He replied reluctantly. "But, I think it has something to do with my race and my real identity". He had being asked the question countless times by Angella for the past one week, since he was officially briefed about the mission. The mission looked so simple, but, he has learnt never to see any mission as simple. "Baby, I'll be back before you know I'm gone." He assured. He understood time-travelling so well, and he knew getting to anytime in the past is so fast like the blink of an eye, and except the mission itself is time consuming or there were hindrances, time-travelling missions do not take more than few hours. Infact, at IIPO, time-travelling was so common among the agents that any of them could travel back in time about twice a day.  Angella wanted to cry, but she felt a thumb reach for her left eye even before tears could find their way out. The finger was specific because Angella's tears always start from her left eye. "But, why are you so sad about me going on this mission?" Angella was questioned. "It is just a little different from past missions". "This is very different" Angella said, as tears betrayed her. "You are travelling too far in time, which nobody has ever done." She said. "It's too far...and you are travelling to Africa" She added.  "Sergent!" A deep voice interrupted his thoughts. He recognized the voice so well. It was the voice of Commander James. "Yes sir". He replied, trying to salute, before remembering his hands and legs have been bolted to the chair, and his head was fixed to the chair aswell. With his head, he signaled to his bolted hands, as if trying to explain why he could not salute his superior. Commander James perfectly understood what he was trying to do. "That's ok" Commander James said. "I hope you know that this mission is so important to our country?" Commander James inquired. A slight nod was given as a response to the question. "Your mission is simple and clear. Get the files, get the names and head out." The Commander summarized. "Simple and clear" The young man said to himself. "Nothing about time travelling is simple and clear" He whispered to himself. He remembered those were the words he was told when he went on his first mission, and the same Commander James said those words. But, things didn't go totally as planned on his first mission. He was supposed to be sent back in time to Chicago, 25th of January, 2001, to spy on a particular terrorist. But, when he landed, he realized he was sent back to 18th January, 2001. A week earlier than his mission date. He had to move around like a loafer for a whole week before executing his mission. This is because time-travellers always have a chip permanently attached to their neck. This chip is programmed in such a way that the departure date and time of time-travellers for a particular mission are recorded on the chip, which even the time-traveller can not over-write. Moreover, IIPO has not been able to get a way around over-writing the departure date of a time-traveller from the mainframe without killing the time-traveller in his present location. If he doesn't die, there is a high tendency that such time-traveller might get stucked in the past, FOREVER. His second mission was not so different, as he was sent to a different location entirely. When he came back from the mission, he complained. "It was a little technical issue" was all Dr. Mag could say as an explanation. "Simple and clear" Commander James' words rang in his head again. "What could be simple about a mission I have never done before?" He asked himself. "I am to time-travel far beyond what I've ever done, and to Africa at that." He reminded himself. If he wasn't sure about why he was chosen for the mission, atleast, he knew it has a lot to do with his race - Black American. The year he was to travel to was when most African countries were just witnessing the advent of colonialism. The year was also not too far from when Christopher Colombus discovered Africa, and there was a great influx of foreigners in Africa. Then, there was nothing like Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, hence, no Black-American. This was the very reason the young man was considered the best for the mission. "We are ready to launch out sir." Dr. Mag told the Commander, who gave an approving nod. Dr. Mag moved close to the young man, and whispered some words to him. He didn't hear what she said, and before he could call her attention with his eyes, she was already walking away. He looked at the Commander beside him, but he was gone too. "Dr. Mag, what did you say?" He wanted to ask. But, the seal on his mouth did not help issues. "System Initialization begins in 10…9…8…7…6…5…" As the computer gave a countdown through the speaker in the room, the young man wanted to know what Dr. Mag said. "4…3…2…1…" A beep was the next thing the young man heard, as the chair moved into a large cylinder and its door closed.  Red and yellow lights seemed to be chasing each other in the cylinder, and that made him feel dizzy. His mind was so troubled and unstable, especially about what Dr. Mag said, which he didn't hear. Like the flash of lightning, the red and yellow lights stopped, and he found himself on the ground close the a river bank. He was naked. 

                                                            (c) 2017. Austus Ofmat Nwanne

Welcome to science-fiction. Welcome to history. Welcome to BEADS. As you can see, the story has started, although, a little behind the sscheduled date, and I greatly apologize for that. My schedule has become tighter now, but I still have to just squeeze out time to serve Daily Diet. Take this episode 1 as the introduction to the story, because you are set to witness a thrilling story. I'll come your way soon with the next episode. Once again, I say, welcome to BEADS. 

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ENJOY !!!

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OFMAT AUSTUS NWANNE
Inspirational Speaker/Media Consultant,
Swift24 Multimedia Services.
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