Chapter Four: The Phantom of the South (Part I)

Dedicated to:

This chapter is dedicated to the brave Aussies, Kiwis and Sikh Soldiers (Of 14th Ferozepur Sikhs Division of Sikh Regiment of then British India army) who layed down their lives in the battle of Gallipoli.

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GOD Of A Man

“A war always has three sides: the killing side, the dying side and the saving side. The first one is hated, second one remembered and the last one respected.”



Chapter Four: The Phantom of the South (Part I)


Dated: Summer of 2011-12




It had been more than a year since NATO forces launched their first offensive against Iran in April of 2010. Since that day the battle had lingered on as if for ages. It was true that no international power was supporting Iran, but then none opposed NATO’s military action. However, the invasion of South Korea by its northern twin had opened up a twin front to work on for the allies. And when China decided to join the war from the North Korean side, it made the matters a lot more complicated and difficult for the allies.



Many of the allies had good relations with China and as such didn’t want the war to be the spoil-sport. Thus the US was left to fight it out with nominal help from the British and the French. It’s war efforts got seriously jeopardized as it’s forces were fighting two battles simultaneously. As neither of the major players involved wanted the war to escalate into a full scale war, it lingered on. With no end to the war in sight China decided to increase it’s involvement to tilt the balance in favour of the North Korean side to get a favourable deal in armistice and also in doing so assert it’s superior presence in the Pacific. However the US was in no mood to let it’s global position as the biggest player slip. The war finally started to escalate. The US had to withdraw it’s troops from Afghanistan to support their counterparts in action against Iran and it pressed upon it’s old allies to pledge more naval might into the war of Korean Peninsula.



Sensing their opportunity Taliban forces accumulated in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan and along with support from the local tribesmen, invaded Pakistan from the North. The situation in the entire Asian region became grim. Patience was running thin, time was running short and the situation was getting worst.



There were dynamic changes in the political and power situation in the Asia-Pacific region. As Taliban’s assault on Pakistan stretched it’s military power to the hilt, it’s nuclear arsenal was compromised to the invaders. The purpose of their adventure had been achieved and they retreated back to the hilly regions of upper Pakistan and lower Afghanistan. The US and it’s allies needed to act fast and with precession in order to avoid a catastrophe. The allies pledged more forces to the two fronts. As a result China had to increase it’s forces in the Korean war.



As the situation worsened China’s dictatorial communism came to it’s aid. As the war intensified the whole country was converted into a war factory. Every industry was tailored to produce material for the war effort. People were forced to work extra in the name of national safety and the numbers of the red army ballooned. The allies had a job at hand which they may not have been completely ill prepared to deal with but definitely not too comfortable about.



Three major players in the region who were still not aligned to any side so far were India, Russia and Australia. While Russia has had it’s share of troubles with both the US as also PRC, it was caught in a dilemma of it’s own. If China was to get out of this war as a side with the upper hand it’s influence and stature in the region would have increased which would impacted the Russians more than the Americans as they still had some nagging issues to sort out with their next door neighbour. But Russia couldn’t have supported Americans primarily because it’s relations were better with PRC and also, Russians couldn’t stand the US gaining the upper hand as well. They chose to sit, wait and watch.



India, the other major player of the region was more pre-occupied with the developments in its close vicinity as it followed the swift and fierce Taliban assault on Pakistan intently. Any catastrophe for the neighbour would have meant a direct threat to it’s own security.



Australia, the last major player left in the region was caught in a tricky situation. It’s relations with China were too important it was hard to put them at risk for a war which was neither it’s interest nor it’s making. However, when the situation got desperate for the allies, last ditch efforts were made to coerce Australia into joining the war from the allies side. Australia pledged it’s support to the allies efforts in the gulf but was still non-committal about the battle at the Pacific.



However as the numbers of allied forces increased, the political equations also changed. The Arabian countries that had been staying out of the mess so far, suddenly decided to support Iran’s war efforts against the invaders from the east. Iran was provided man and material power and as the old saying goes, “Common enemies make common friends,” China passed on material support being mass produced across it’s length and breadth to the Iranians so as to keep the allies involved and their attention and power divided at two fronts. To make matters worse, the south-eastern Asian nations like Thailand, Malaysia and others refused the allies to use their ports for replenishments and declined any man or material support, perhaps due to Chinese pressure or just plain camaraderie. The allies’ situation was getting grim and the war slowly slipping out of their hands.



As the allies increased their pressure Russia finally decide to join the war. But as if fate didn’t want this war to end so easily. Ukraine and Georgia decided the time was opportune to settle their scores with Russia. Perhaps China had some role to play in it, or perhaps Iran, no one knows and no one ever will. Russia couldn’t provide undivided attention to the allies cause. It finally left Australia no choice but to yield to the request of the allies and commit it’s forces to the war of Korean peninsula as well.



“HMAS James Martin,” named after the youngest Anzac martyr to commemorate his service to the motherland and originally meant to be a “Landing Heavy Ship,” or in other words a craft and personal carrying and deploying class of warships, was modified into a frigate with ability to carry and deploy crafts. It carried two modified LCM -8 landing crafts, three Seahawk helicopters and was armed with a Harpoon and Modified Sea Sparrow missile launcher, a 20mm gun and 2 torpedo tubes. It’s front deck was modified to enable a Harrier plane to land as well in case of an emergency. With an inert Silicon Carbide coating on it’s exterior, which made it heavier than the normal vessels of it’s class but provided it extra protection against environmental variables that cause erosion and hence increasing it’s life-time by decades, it was a class apart in it’s design and a hallmark of naval and ship engineering.



The modifications delayed it’s formal induction by an year and it was finally inducted into service on 13th February, 2012. It’s induction was a gala ceremony that took place at the Sydney Harbour with the Australian Parliament paying glowing tributes to the master craftsmanship of the Aussie engineers and remembered those who created the spirit that runs through the veins of Aussie servicemen. Australia was sending two squadrons into war, one for the Gulf from it’s western port of Perth and the other from the Sydney port. HMAS James Martin was destined to face action on it’s very first voyage, straight after induction.



HMAS Perth left the Perth supported by three patrol vessels and a submarine HMAS Gallipoli heading to join the allies in the Gulf while HMAS James Martin, supported by five patrol vessels and a submarine HMAS Wagah left for the battle at the Pacific.



However, as the fate would have been, HMAS Wagah developed some technical problems and had to return to Sydney within 24 hours of it’s departure leaving HMAS James Martin and the rest of the squadron on their own for the remainder of the course and possibly first battles. It was hard to supply another submarine for the squadron at that critical juncture immediately as the rest of the submarines were all stationed at different corners of the globe and couldn’t have joined the battle at Pacific on time and there was no scope for delay as every moment lost meant China gaining further and firmer control of the waters, which would have spelt doom for the allied forces war efforts. The incident generated an outrage among the Aussies for the irresponsible attitude of the people concerned as there shouldn’t have been such a hiccup in the first place had the vessels been properly checked and tuned before their departure. However, there was nothing that could have been done at that stage. HMAS James Martin was on it’s own with minimal squadron. However the bright side of the things at that time was that they were supposed to be joined by the Russian squadron as they were to sail around the islands of Japan.



Japan had decided to stay out of the war but had allowed the allies request to let their vessels travel through it’s water. The plan was that the Russian and Aussie squadrons would sail around the Japanese group of islands and take on the Chinese and North Korean navies from the north while the remainder of the allies will keep the enemies engaged from the south side. However as the Aussie’s approached the bend around the Japanese islands, there were still no signs of any Russian squadron. Eventually the hard news that the Russians were too involved in fighting the Ukrainians and Georgians and in no position to send their naval enforcements arrived. The Aussies were on their own now and fast running straight into the first wall at sea, the North Korean squadron of one powerful frigate supported by seven supporting vessels. The Aussie submarine HMAS Wagah had been fixed and dispatched for the assignment again but was too far to be of any help in the first battle. The only bright side was, like the Aussies the Koreans were not supported by a submarine.



On 25th March, 2012 HMAS James Martin was about to get it’s first baptism with fire. The North Korean wall with one of it’s kind powerful frigate “Soho” as it’s backbone, two missile crafts and 5 patrol boats as it’s arms, was fast approaching the Aussies to intercept them. Their radars had been detecting the six strong Aussie squadron and the Korean men were busy tracking the radio signals emanating from the Aussie squadron. Taejwa (Senior Captain) Seo Ji-sung was at the helm leading his men into a battle that could potentially cripple the allied force grip in the region or leave his own brethren vulnerable. It was a battle neither of the sides could afford to loose and Koreans had a distinct advantage in numbers, as well as firepower.



Sangsa (Senior Chief Petty Officer) Cha Byung-hyun was intently glued to the radar screens along with his team of experienced Chungsas (Chief Petty Officers) keeping a close eye on the advancement of Aussie squadron. Chungsa Danny Jai-hwan was on the radio trying to decode the conversation between two Aussie seamen on a two way radio that he had traced a couple of hours earlier.



“Yeah mate, when she turns to her left even if marginally she gives the looks of Sandra,” one voice was saying.



“Oh boy, mine is Keira in every way, doesn’t matter whether you look at her from front or either of the sides. Every hour without her at sea is like a wedge through my heart,” the other voice responded.



“I don’t understand what these guys are chatting about on a two way radio? In just a matter of a few hours we’ll be into a battle and they are discussing their love lives!” Chungsa Danny looked bewildered as he asked Senior Captain Seo for his opinion and possible instructions.



“I am sure the Aussies are not idiots. They are upto something. Keep listening keenly and see if you can break into their real intentions,” was Taejwa Seo’s experienced remark.



“Sir, you need to have a look at this,” Sangsa Cha solicited Taejwa’s attention, “Their main battle ship has a slightly bigger size than the normal on the radar for it’s class and distance.”



“I am not surprised. They have heavily modified it’s structure in the last six months just to suit this war. But keep watching and tell me if you notice anything suspicious,” Taejwa Seo replied.



“You know mate, about 2 months ago this fish with my rod which was nearly the size of my arm, around Seventy Five centimetres in length,” the conversation between the two Aussies on the two way radio continued as everybody inside the control tower of “Soho” continued with their interested jobs and Taejwa Seo gave the battle formation orders for his squadron.



The Aussie squadron had been arranged into a wattle-leaf formation with one patrol boat at the top, two on the side of HMAS James Martin at forty five degrees from it’s bow and two vessels tailing on it’s side at about twenty degrees from its stern. They gradually approached the pentadentate formation of the Koreans. Their powerful frigate “Soho” was supported by two missile crafts right behind it’s stern end at thirty degrees, while the five patrol boats made the five arms of a pentadent at the top. As the two naval squadrons approached each other the moment every naval warrior dreams of was fast approaching for the brave men aboard the two.



The arms of the pentadent along with the tailing missile boats started to spread laterally, covering the water with their wide spread and moving into positions to take on their counterparts who in turn also started to open up. It was a sight to behold if you were in the skies watching the pentadent spreading as if many arrows had been shot simultaneously from a crossbow while the wattle-leaf spread out as if growing in size. Soon enough HMAS James Martin and “Soho” started to turn diagonally in opposite directions as if they were going to fight each other sideways as in old times. The distances between the two fleets were still far enough to warrant a shot.



Aboard “Soho” Taejwa Seo was watching the proceedings intently as his juniors were busy with the tasks intrusted to them. The two formations were getting closer.



“Ha! Looks like the Australians have got the wrong impression about Soho’s power. They are heading straight into our sitting duck range,” Sangsa Cha remarked with a wide grin of his face.



“Perhaps they have or perhaps they are trying to get into a position where we will be in their firing range,” Chungjwa (Commander) Park Jae-eung replied, “Keep a close eye on them.”



As the various vessels of the formation came closer the first shots were fired. And as the first shots were fired Hagup Pyongsa (Seaman)Byun Wu-min who was busy with the communications with the North Korean base exclaimed, “Sir, we got a message from the base. HMAS Wagah their submarine has changed it’s course and is heading towards the Arabian Sea now rather than coming in to join their squadron over here.”



“That’s strange!” Taejwa Seo exclaimed in surprise.



“Perhaps they realize they won’t be needing it’s services in these waters anymore,” Sangsa Cha replied, “Their main ship is approaching striking range in two minutes time.”



Everybody got glued to the radar screen as they saw the Aussie battleship nearing it’s end or so as everybody in Soho’s control tower thought.



“They are idiots!” Chungjwa Park remarked but Taejwa Seo was far from impressed. His eyes constricted as if in deep consternation. Why and what were the Aussies up to was the question doing rounds in his head.



“I will choose my baby in front of two hotter women any day. I love how she does her karate spits,” the two Aussie men were still talking rubbish, as the Koreans called it, as their battleship approached their perceived doom.



“Why the hell are they still talking crap? What does it mean?” Chungsa Danny was still bewildered.



“Sir, the Aussies approaching our firing range in ninety seconds,” Sangsa Cha diverted their attention to the radar screen once again.



“Prepare for launching the missiles,” Taejwa Seo gave the orders.



“Time to Tango Commander Panech,” one voice on the Aussie radio boomed.



“Tango it is Captain,” Commander Panech replied.



The Koreans were taken by surprise by the sudden and last piece of two way radio communication as they turned their heads towards the radio set Chungsa Danny was manning.



“Sir, you better have a look at this,” Sangsa Cha nearly screamed and jumped out of his seat, as everybody turned their eyes towards the radar screen and watched in horror as the oblong signal from the Aussie battle ship suddenly became two signals, one battleship and one submarine.



The two signals spit within seconds as HMAS James Martin manoeuvred to its right side to stay out of the range of Soho while the submarine went deep into water and turned straight towards Soho at the same time. It was a near 180 degree Karate split. In an instant missiles were launched from HMAS James Martin and as the Koreans fumbled at controls to counter the missiles and Taejwa Soho started giving instructions to his crew to turn the ship to it’s right, the submarine fired two torpedos at their ship. Too much happened in too quick time. Within two minutes the battle in the Korean waters was over and only the formalities were left to be completed. However if the Aussies thought the rest of the Korean ships would surrender, they were dreaming. The Koreans preferred to die than surrender and the last of their vessels drowned itself when it was out of fire power and support.



But the wall had been breached and the Aussies were free to enter the war-zone.

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Chapter Three: All for One, One for None

Content Warning: The following article contains detailed description of some gory events. Parental guidance is recommended.

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GOD of a man

“History of mankind may have been written by the courage, valour and foresight of a few brave men or by the collective action of an unsatisfied populace, but one thing that always remains constant is it’s always written with the blood of mankind.”


Chapter Three: All for One, One for None
Dated: 25th February, 2425

Men are so predictably greedy it’s easier to make a man close his eyes than making a woman open her mouth. If the greed is not for money it can be for power, or if you happen to be living in prehistoric future, just the greed for a better tomorrow at the expense of another man. Men who know this simple trick are the ones who rule over other men. If anyone could have killed the president in cold blood and still made it look like the best thing ever to have happened to humanity, it was Steve.

“..and the only way left to stop him was to kill him. Being the President doesn’t give him right to kill anyone for a personal grudge,” Steve was presenting his case to the Congress. They had just returned from Frank’s burial in ice at the “Medical School and Hospital” cemetery. His body was to be used later for study by the three students who were studying medicine.

“But why did you have to kill him, you could have chopped his arm?” Charles questioned.

“Chopped his arm and left him to die a painful death? We have no medicines or ointments over here. If it wasn’t for the sake of keeping the knowledge flowing through the generations, we may have as well closed the medical school and hospital,” Robin Sutherland, a senior member of the congress answered for Steve.

“But who’s going to be the next President?” Shiva asked.

“I recommend Joseph Jenkins name gentlemen, primarily cause he is the most experienced of us all and secondarily he is a very intelligent man and as popular as Frank was,” Steve replied.

After a short discussion Charles rose up and announced the decision of the congress to elect Joseph as the next President of Hatsu Saisho.

After a bit of studied over-awe and surprise Joseph accepted the position, gave a quick speech of thanks and reminded the house of the more important situation they had at hand.

“What about Mike and Clara?” Charles asked.

“What about them?” Steve questioned in return and continued, “Mike is going to put his life in danger for our community by joining our team to the ship. What more does a man need to prove his commitment to the welfare of our society?”

That settled the issue once and for all. Any questions left were buried along with Frank.

So the team was finalized and all was set for the odyssey to the drifting ship. Steve was going to lead Mike and Martin, roughly around 5 miles by their own fair guess, in the ice cold waters. Their only hope was that the small kayaks they’ve made of penguin skins and bones from various sources will withstand the ordeal and get them safely aboard the ship, and if nothing worthwhile is found on it safely back.

The time was running short and every hour wasted was another metre or two added to the distance kayaked. Everybody got on with the job at hand at the earnest. The best of the kayaks were made available for “The Three Musketeers,” as they were now being lovingly touted as. However “All for one and one for all” was definitely not going to be their motto for this trip.

At the shore, Steve gave final instructions to his juniors on the mission, “Once in those waters, remember you are on your own and no one can help you. If your kayak collapses, we won’t even be able to use your bodies for educational purposes. The sea will be your grave. However, if we don’t do the job we have at our hands we may perhaps loose the only chance of our lifetimes to give ourselves an opportunity to at least improve our lives for a few days or months, even if we are not able to use it to travel in search of a better habitat. So boys, get ready to be the men who made their own destiny and the destiny of entire human race.”

His words were scaringly practical as well as motivating at the same time. However, motivated or not but just like Steve, the other two were in a predicament their fate had willed for them. While Mike was caught in a mess of his own indiscretions and Steve had no choice, Martin was the only one who had the heart and soul of an adventurer and was in it truly with the benefit of his community at heart.

After bidding what might be their last goodbyes to their beloved ones “The Three Musketeers” set out on the open sea that lay in front.

“Easy boys, don’t try to out-stretch your muscles and kayaks. You will need both to make it to that ship,” Steve’s maturity cautioned the over enthusiastic young guns, as the huge crowd of 30 odd people gathered at the shore watched and cheered them. Soon they all made up to the nearby ice cliff to have a better view. Joseph stood at the top with the majesty of a President as he was more involved within himself, cherishing every moment of his newly elevated status to the most powerful man on the earth, having forgotten how the one before him lay haplessly headless on the ground less than 12 hours ago. Robin Sutherland had the binoculars in his hands and was more or less giving a running commentary to those present about the progress of the three hopes of humanity as they sailed further away from life and closer to the ship of ghosts.

None of the three had earlier kayaked this far out in sea, or this long in water. Their Kayaks were barely out of experimental stages. However, when men set out on tasks that put their existence at stake it’s neither a time for retrospection nor a time for half-hearted measures. The Three Musketeers truly lived to their names and made earnest progress towards their goal. Each passing minute and decreasing metre raised the hopes of those who braved the chill to watch their new found heroes sail for their future, while Sutherland’s enthusiasm kept mounting along with his pitch, as he provided the live feed of the feets of humanity to the keenly interested populace.

“Martin is still leading the trio. He just doesn’t seem to get tired. Mike is trying to keep up with him while our good old Steve is making up the muster not too far behind,” Sutherland was saying when suddenly he nearly jumped out of his skin, his face strained in an instant and his voice laboured out as a disbelieving shriek, “What the hell?”

Tragedy had stuck in the middle of the cold waters. Martin who was leading from the front, keen and enthusiastic to make a difference for his brethren, was sucked into water as if he just stepped into an open manhole in the dark. His kayak collapsed and folded on him like a flower closing it’s petals at the end of the day, only in this case it happened all too quick. Milliseconds may perhaps feel longer than what it took for the bones making up the skeletal structure of his kayak to give away.

“Martin!” loud shrieks escaped from Steve and Mike in unison and at some point along the sea between the land and them, they must have resonated with the ones from those waiting and watching from the shore.

Martin surfaced quickly but his fate had already caught up with him at the wrong time. No one in Hatsu Saisho knew swimming anymore. The waters surrounding their home were too cold for the week human bodies to survive the ordeals of training even for a couple of minutes.

As Martin gasped for breath and as the cold water surrounding his body quickly seeped in through his clothing making his body realize the wide gulf between the strength of human spirit and frailty of human body, he must have realized in an instant, it was his end.

“Help! Steve!” were a couple of feeble but painful shrieks that escaped from his mouth as he fought of the heavily salted ice cold waters entering his mouth and struggled with his hands and feet moving in all directions to help stay afloat, while gravity of mother earth kept pulling him towards the bottom of what was going to be his grave.

“Damn!” was all Steve could muster, while everybody along the coast was running haphazardly in all directions and none knew what to do, but everybody was sure of one thing, Martin’s dead, even before he had actually died.

“Martin!” Mike shrieked again as he kayaked as hard as he could towards his drowning and freezing mate. It was hard to say what would happen first, will the Mother Nature preserve his last moments in a frozen stupor or will he first suffer the pain of cold water entering his lungs freeze each and every alveoli in them while struggling until his last breath to stay above water and then slowly sink to the ocean floor?

“No Mike! Don’t” Steve’s warning voice reverberated on open sea as it echoed between the ship and the coast, but Mike wasn’t listening. He was heading straight and quick to his pal and death.

Steve saw helplessly as Mike approached an already half frozen Martin and grabbed his hand and tried to drag him to the side of his own kayak. In his dying moments, Martin grabbed Mike’s hand in one and put the other one on the body of his kayak. His weight and uncomfortable grasp was the only straw that was needed to break the back of Mike’s camel. His kayak collapsed as Steve watched in disgust and his counterparts on shore watched in horror and agony. It was the end of two young sons of their land in the most gruesome of fashions, right in front of their hapless eyes, and in one of the most tragic ways.

Steve stopped kayaking for a moment as his kayak floated past the two drowning helpless men, one already dead or fainted to die, the other looking at Steve with tears of helplessness in his eyes and about to cry. “Steve!” was the last word that escaped his mouth as he realized his would be fate and knowing well what Steve can and will do. He still cried out to him faintly hoping against his destiny.

Steve turned his head away and cried out loud in disgust, “Damn!” and kayaked vigorously past the two drowning fellas who were once a bright spot in the last surviving human city of Hatsu Saisho. He didn’t turn his head around even once as he knew well enough what was going to happen to them, and he also knew the same could be his fate in less than a few minutes if he doesn’t have better luck. Turning around would still not guarantee his life cause if it was his fate the distance was far enough at both ends of his kayak.

As Steve kayaked away Mike realized his fate, haplessly turned around and looked at his panicking, painful and grieving mates on the shore, made a hapless attempt to push his body towards the shore but it was all beyond his powers. His mouth opened to make one last sound but the voice somehow froze somewhere deep down his throat. Not even a muster was passed as his body and limbs froze and he sank down to the bottom of the sea, to join Martin whose motionless body was already heading down.

There was not even a single eye on the shore that wasn’t filled up with it’s own ocean as men cried louder than many women would have in their lives. Everybody forgot about Steve who was still out there, striving to make a difference, or perhaps save his life. It was hard to say. But the tragedy that had just happened was too much for anyone to fathom. Everybody wanted someone to wake them up from their sleep so they would realize it was all just a bad dream. But life is as cruel as it is beautiful. Some love to live it, some hate to live through it.

What is once started has to be brought to it’s logical conclusion. Steve’s only objective now was not only to get to that Ship but also to find a way to get back to his home safe from it. This ship had already claimed more than what anyone knew it could offer to humanity, if anything at all it really would. Steve kayaked hard for hours to finally reach the stern of the ship on it's starside.

As Steve approached the ship a chill ran down his spine. The silence that surrounded the ship gave it a ghostly presence in the surroundings and the state of wear it had gave it a ghastly look. But the job at hand was towering his mind now. He had to kayak around the ship of ghosts to see if there was any way of entering the ship and proceed from there. There seemed to be no way to get on the monster as Steve kayaked from it’s stern to bow and turned around to face it’s portside. That’s when he noticed the first bright spot of the day. The ship's heavy anchor chain was hanging down deep in water. Perhaps it’s anchor had been once lowered to stop it or perhaps some human error or mechanical fault led to it’s dropping on it’s own. How far down the water the anchor went or if it was still attached to the chain Steve couldn’t have known and neither was he interested in finding out. Using all his courage and remainder of strength he climbed up the slippery and heavily worn out chain, well aware that if he slipped, he would die cause there was no way of getting back on to his kayak which had already floated away. So with strength and determination he climbed up the chain and made it to the deck.

On the shore everybody was so aggrieved of the tragedy that had just stuck Hatsu Saisho that they had all but forgotten about Steve and no one looked at him as he waved from the top of the deck. Wasting no time, Steve got down to business. He had still a few hours of light left but he had to find out quickly what could be used to leave and return to the ship. His eyes took their time to adjust to the general darkness that clouded the entire ship’s interior but his unfamiliarity with the ship’s design only made his job tougher than what it would have otherwise been. He struggled through maze of dark and stinking corridors with partial decomposed bodies of humans littering every conceivable space, be it corridors, rooms, halls. There was no way to determine how long the bodies must have been decomposing as one thing was sure, radioactivity mush have wiped out all forms of life in most part of the world, and the only place any micro-organism form could have started to decompose the human flesh and meat, it must have been in the waters surrounding the Antarctic, even if the radioactivity may have receded from some other part of the world.

Unmindful of his hateful surroundings Steve continued on with his search. The faded maps on the walls gave him no help. After an exhausting two hour struggle he finally managed to reach the boat housing. In front of him were two massive structures that looked like boats and there were a couple of small boats that Steve knew must have been motor boats. Along the sides of the room there were massive sealed drums. He tapped on one of them and the dull sound it generated meant they were full of something that hasn’t leaked due to their sealing. The ship was in bad condition and so was most of it’s stuff, but the fact that it was a warship specifically designed to withstand extremes of weather and human activity made everything about it last long enough for Steve to be standing there in pursuit of something valuable for mankind. He tried to move one of the drums but it was too heavy for him alone.

He shifted his concentration to the small motor boat. The boat looked in usable shape and definitely a lot safer than his kayak, but how was he supposed to get it into water and more importantly, make it sail.

He looked around everywhere and was finally able to determine the exiting point from that space but his problem was how to open it. There was no one to guide him and no power to test the various controls he could notice on one of the control panel that was staring at him from one dark corner. He frantically searched the entire place, tried to pull each and every lever he could find till there was only one big lever and five wheels, one of them massive, left that he hadn’t tired so far.

He waited awhile, gathered all his strength and gave the lever a massive push. There was a sound of metal rubbing against metal as if something tried to move, but the lever was still in it’s place just like everything else appeared to be. He looked around and scratched his head trying to figure out what happened where and what needs to be done. Took him a while to figure out there were four other massive blocks of metal boulders holding the launch platform tightly in it’s locked place. Steve used all the theory he was taught in the school at Hatsu Saisho and finally figured out he needs to turn the four wheels connected to the four blocks one by one to move the locking boulders out of their place to unlock the sealing of the platform. Once he had done that he tried the massive lever again. It took all his strength but once he had pulled it back the exit was completely unlocked and the platform hung to the outside as bright light outlined it’s top edge and the two sides. The light was bright enough to make Steve first close and then strain his eyes for a while to readjust to the new lighting conditions. The only problem was, the platform had still not flung open into the sea. What now? Perhaps he needed to turn the last wheel left in the room as well.

He tried to rotate the wheel but it had been locked by a metal lever. He had to first pull the lever out to release the lock on the wheel and as he did that, the wheel started to rotate by itself as the weight of the launch platform pulled the platform down. The chain that connected the wheel used to closing the platform was pulled which inturn rotated the wheel at full fury when finally the platform crashed on to the sea surface with a loud thud and a heavy splash of water some of which was thrown inwards and Steve felt a few drops of ice cold water tinkle his cheeks and for a few milliseconds bright light blinded his eyes once again.

As the whole interior was lit up with sunlight, Steve saw all the names and markings that were still decipherable and nearly littered each and every conceivable space on the walls. The red drums were labelled fuel in faint yellow paint. He grabbed a couple of small canisters that he could spot now, put them in the small motor boat and pulled all the remainder of his strength together to slowly drag the boat to the edge of the ship, just where the platform which was now under water, started.

His problems have still not ended. He didn’t know how to operate this machine. Theory, doesn’t matter how brilliantly taught, cannot replace practical experience. He scratched his head in vain trying to figure out how to start the motor, opened a canister with his hunting knife and poured the fuel in it’s tank but how to do it was beyond his brain now which was already tired of all the commotion and intense activity coupled with human tragedies he had seen in the last twenty four hours.

He looked around the place, saw a pair of oars, grabbed them and threw them in the boat, pushed the boat into the sea, and jumped into it. Using all the strength he had left, he powered his way around the stern and waded through the murderous waters towards the shore. The relief of his accomplishment and the thought that he was safe pumped up his confidence enough to provide him that extra push for the home run.

But home wasn’t the same anymore since the events of the afternoon. Everybody had forgotten Steve and was busy moaning the loss of two beloved sons of land. Nobody noticed the tired warrior struggle through the waters for nearly three hours to finally land on shore just as the sun was setting down for another night.

“STEVE!” a shout broke the relentless lamenting of people. Shiva was the first one to notice that Steve had returned with a boat.

“YEAH!” everybody shouted in unison and within the fraction of a second Mike and Martin were forgotten. Everybody rushed to Steve, lifted him in the air and the air was full of victorious chants for Steve. Steve was accorded a hero's welcome which he deserved. He was given bumps in the air, lifted and carried on individual shoulders, and the chanting of his name continued for nearly half an hour. When finally he was allowed to use his own feet on the ground, Joseph walked up to him.

“Did you find anything on this ship?” was a prompt question.

“Plenty to be brought back,” Steve replied with pride of accomplishment.

“What’s the name of the ship?” was the next question.

“HMAS James Martin – The Aussie Pride” Steve replied.

“The Phantom of the South?” Joseph stated rather than asked.

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Chapter Two: Head of the head

Content Warning: The following piece is a work of fiction and is the story of mankind at it worst time. It contains sexual content as well as content that may be against the moral and ethical beliefs of some individuals. Readers are requested to read it at their own discretion.

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GOD of a man

“What an irony of fate, the present of mankind is more primitive than the prehistoric times!!”

Chapter Two: Head of the Head

Dated: 13th February, 2425

First there was earth, then there was man, and then there was division. Man somehow has a strange fascination for claiming everything for himself and sharing is a virtue which can be taught to a man over and over again and he would divide the learning itself into what’s useful and what’s to be pushed to the back of his brain never to be utilized again.

Many of the then powerful nations of the world divided Antarctica into regions of political control and set up their state of the art research stations. Four hundred years down the line, all of them lie in varying degrees of ruins and are nothing more than ghostly places. However one such research station, “Molodyozhnaya” once the pride and hub of research activity for the Russians, served as the last stable and safe structure to sustain any human population before the fateful cyclone of July 2147 destroyed most of the structures. Mankind was finally on it’s own to deal with the nature. Mankind was pushed behind not by centuries, but by epochs. Men who once build sky kneeling monsters of concrete were forced to dig their homes in snow. The winds that storm the Antarctic lands can freeze as well as flatten. The homes had to be dug under ground. “Scubes” was the latest advancement in the field of construction.

A “Scube” was a dugout in snow that had four entrances, at four different corners of a raised snow mound. The entrances led in a “Z” shape to a central hall which had one room attached to it via a long “L” shaped corridor. The shape was hailed as a stroke of genius and the biggest advancement for the betterment of mankind. The snow mount was to provide protection to at least one of the entrances from getting blocked by snow in case of a snow storm. The Z-shape of the entrance was to cut out most of the chill of the air entering the scube in the absence of a real gate, metalic or wooden, and the L-shaped corridor further cut out the chill from entering the only room of the house, which served as bedroom, kitchen etc. all in one. The inner walls of the scube were lined by penguin skins, to insulate it to whatever extent was possible.

Of all the scubes in the new spiral-form city of “Hatsu Saisho” the one right in the middle of it belonged to the now most powerful man on the earth, the President. He had been nominated unopposed by the 250 odd human population for the third consecutive term. Franklin Abbott or Frank as he was more popularly called, was a man that everybody respected for his wisdom.

“Hey! Sweetheart! Wakeup! It’s hunting day tomorrow and you need to designate men for the job today,” Clara’s lovely voice rang in Frank’s ears as she softly kissed him on his cheek.

“Hmm..?” a sleepy sigh escaped Frank’s lips as he turned around and put his arm around Clara, kissed her on her forehead and complained, “Why do they need the president to decide on who’s going to kill seals and penguins?”

“Well! I don’t know if there’s anything else around here that would require a president to strain his mind, exercise his power and test his vocal strength,” Clara smiled and added.

“I guess you are right!” Frank said as he tried to shuffle around in the worn-out quilt, now lined with penguin and seal skins on the outside to keep it warm.

“Dad? Are you up?” A voice from the hall caught their attention.

“See, Mike is already here. Now you better hurry up,” Clara made it sound urgent.

“Oh C’mon! It’s not a world changing decision that I am required to make,” Frank joked with Clara and then shouted to Mike, “I’m coming son.”

“Alright dad, I’m waiting,” Mike replied.

“He cares for you so much no one can say he’s just your clone and not your real son.”

“Clara, I’m lucky to have had so many good people in my life. My first wife Susan was an Angel. She loved me and Mike to pieces. Right after her you came into my life and I’ve never felt even for a day that we weren’t together forever,” Frank replied. “I sometimes feel that Mike may be my clone but he takes more on her as he is so soft hearted and caring towards everyone, and he loves both me and you a lot. In fact, it surprises me at times that you two are the same age yet he respects you as if you were Susan,” Frank added.

“He’s your son, your clone. I guess he’s just coming up like you,” Clara replied as they both got ready and walked into the hall.

“Good morning dad! Good morning Clara!” Mike greeted them and continued, “Father the men are waiting in Steve’s scube.”

“This boy’s always in a hurry! Ok lets go!” Frank said patting Mike on his shoulder.

“He sure needs a girl doesn’t he?” Clara teased Mike.

“I sure do but where can I find someone like you? I ain’t lucky like my father!” Mike replied.

“I second that. It’s hard to find a good girl like you Clara. Your mother, from whom you were cloned, was the only other woman that I’ve come across in my life who was so beautiful, inside-out like yourself. To be honest I always envied your father for having got your mother,” Frank added his bits.

“I am sure you more than made up for it by becoming the President, and he must have been jealous of you,” Clara replied.

“Anyway, we better get moving now!” Frank said, “I’ll see you soon my dear! Love you!” He kissed her and started to leave.

“Love you sweetheart!” Clara said.

“See you Clara,” Mike said while leaving.

“See me when?” Clara teased him again, “You seem to be getting busy somewhere now!”

“I’ll never be that busy for you to need me and me not to be here! Dad won’t forgive me will he?” Mike asked with a smile.

“You two enjoy pulling each other’s legs! C’mon Mike! They must be waiting!” Frank pushed Mike from his arm and they both walked out of Frank’s scube.

“FRRAAANNK..!” as soon as they stepped out of the scube, a loud shout from behind caught their attention. They waited as the speaker sprinted up to them. The way he was panting, looked like he’d been running for miles.

“Franks.. You.. won’t believe this Frank.. You just.. won’t.. believe it!” the speaker was trying hard to overcome his excitement and shortness of breath.

“Relax Martin! Catch your breath first and then tell me what happened?” Frank tried to relax him.

“I can’t.. wait to tell you this!.. Guess what I saw.. when I went to check the shore.. to see if seals have left.. for the season?” Martin continued.

“What did you see?” Frank’s curiosity increased.

“A ship!”

Those two words must have sounded more powerful and history making than the first presidential speech that George Washington had delivered to US parliament in 1789.

The word spread like fire, even though it was just the metaphor that fire existed in now. With the fuel finished and with no dry grass or wood to burn, mankind had been pushed to go raw with their feeding habits. Mankind was indeed primitive.

So the entire populace of Hatsu Saisho barring the children and a few handful of child-carers, made a beeline for the shore to have a look at the first thing in more than a century to have come from anyplace other than Antarctica. It was hard to say if it was excitement, curiosity, or just the entertainment value of the entire episode that was more enticing, so much so that those who were left behind to care for kids had to be promised to be relieved within a few hours so that they can also go and have a look.

“That’s a monster!” Steven McDermott, the third most powerful person in Hatsu Saisho exclaimed, “Must be from a naval fleet!”

“You are right! I can clearly see the gun barrels on the deck! They are broken and dilapidated but still clearly visible. What I cannot see is the name on the hull and the flags are in rags, so can’t specify it’s origins,” Joseph Jenkins, a close friend and aide of Frank said as he looked through the only pair of surviving binoculars.

“How far do you reckon it is?” Martin queried.

“ Can’t say for sure but lets see how long before it drifts to the shore,” Joseph said.

“It will never come too close to the shore as the water is too shallow for a big warship like this one to navigate through. It will get stuck somewhere but the question is, where and more importantly by the looks of it’s condition, will it survive the impact with the ice bed below the water surface, or perhaps even if it will stay afloat that long? Looks like it’s already on it’s last legs” Franks wisdom showed in his words.

“That means we need to get to it before all this happens!” Mike raised his concern.

“ Let’s not be hasty son! We have our limitations to contend with! Lets give it a bit more time to come closer before we can think of something!” Frank was still calm and composed, “Steve, you take care of the hunting team and also set up a team to keep a watch on the ship. Any change in circumstances, let me know as quickly as possible.”

“Sure Frank!” Steve’s work was cut out.

For the next few days the ship expectedly became the talk of the town and everyone was busy discussing what could happen and what needs to be done. The ship on it’s part kept drifting slowly but surely towards the Antarctic shore. For all the new lovebirds of Hatsu Saisho it was a romantic sight to behold and they sat in each others arms dreaming their own odysseys together for hours. Everyone was anxious, everyone was waiting.

Then suddenly one day Steve rushed to Frank’s scube to give him the disturbing news, “Frank! Are you in there? I’ve something important to tell.”

“What’s the matter?” Frank rushed out of his room.

“It’s the ship. It’s started to slowly drift away,” Steve gave the horrible news, “It came to nearly 4-5 miles of the cost by rough estimates but now it’s slowly drifting away. We need to do something, and we need to do it quick.”

“Steve, summon the parliament quickly. Let’s not waste any time now,” Frank said.

The parliament was convened in the Parliament house right next to Frank’s scube. It was called the “White Scube” even though it was just like any other scube, just with a bigger room and still made of the same ice as any other scube, but who say’s humans don’t have a sense of humour or as some would call it, a sense of pride.

“So gentlemen the situation is we need to get to the ship. We always were supposed to but we only hoped it would be a lot closer than what it is now,” Steve finished updating the 10 men strong congress, excluding Frank and himself.

“Then it’s fairly simple, lets pick up a team to do the work,” Martin exclaimed.

“The problem is not picking the team Martin, the problem is how we can get to the ship,” Charles Brown, a senior congressman replied.

“You hit the nail on the head Charles. The last usable boat that we had has long been lost to the environmental appetite,” Frank lamented.

“Gentlemen, why are we forgetting our penguin kayaks?” Steve wondered.

“Penguin kayaks? That’s crazy! They won’t even survive 500 meters in water and anyone who tries such an idiocy will end up in his frozen watery grave,” Joseph sounded freezing in his statement.

“But we have to do something. We need to take our chances. Besides penguin kayaks are not all that weak. We have considerably improved their design and stability,” Steve reasoned.

“Steven, you may be right, but it’s still a hit and a miss, and I as a president cannot put any human lives at risk. We are already too few in numbers,” Frank reasoned.

“But if we let this ship go we would be stuck in this cold environs possibly forever. We need to get the human population out of this place,” Shiva Krishnan joined the discussion.

“True, but a the same time let’s not forget that even if we get to the ship and we find something to sail out, there still may be no land safe to live other than where we are,” Joseph put his side, “Lets not forget what happened in 2149, when we humans lost 20 bright young men to the spirit of exploration never to see them again. We all have heard this story from our fathers and grand fathers.”

“That may have been the case, but we still need to get to the ship to see if we can find anything useful for our lives over here in this place itself, equipment, boats, fuel, just anything useful. And besides who knows the conditions may have improved in the southern reaches of the world. How will we know if we didn’t try” Shiva Krishnan argued.

“I support Shiva,” Steve added his vote, “Rather than just letting this opportunity slip, we need to move swiftly.”

“You two do make a point but the question is who is going to risk their lives in those cold waters out there for a conquest none of us is sure of to be any worth?” Frank asked.

“I am ready to go the first thing tomorrow morning,” Martin volunteered.

“But we need at least three men for the job,” Steve said.

“Why don’t you go with him? That will make it two and we’ll find another one by tomorrow,” Charles said.

A momentary silence followed when Joseph added, “Yes Steve you are experienced as well to lead the team and besides it’s your and Martin’s idea.”

Steve may have not liked the situation but he was sucked in. He could have refused considering the risk he knew was involved but that would have meant an end to his career in parliament and a loss of face in public.

“That’s perfect with me,” Steve tried to sound enthusiastic, “But I need the radioactivity detection equipment for the mission just to make sure the ship and it’s contents are safe for humans.”

“I’m sorry Steve, but I’ll have to refuse your request,” Frank said, “We have only one set left and it’s too important for our survival and use over here that I cannot risk it to be taken across the waters in a hazardous mission to be lost forever.”

“Then how will we determine if anything is safe for us or not?” Steve questioned.

“I guess you just have to go there, inspect what is there for us, and if you find a usable boat, you can always come and take it with you to do the needful,” Frank said.

“I agree,” Joseph, Charles, Shiva and others said almost in unison. Steve had no option.

“Can I take Mike as my third team member? He’s a team man and very sincere and hard-working,” Steve put Frank on a tricky wicket.

“Well, you have to ask Mike for that. I cannot force him to do it,” Frank tried his best to hide his discomfort. “What do you say Mike?” he turned around to ask Mike. “Where’s Mike?” It’s just that Mike wasn’t there. He was some place else that none of them could have imagined.

Inside the room of Frank’s scube, content in the thought that the parliament is busy working it’s brains empty on the ship that is neither here nor there, Mike was holding in his arms what didn’t belong to him, what was just so wrong.

“Why are you so hot baby?” Mike whispered in Clara’s ears, as he bit her ear and then her neck and his hot breath caressed her neck and slipped through her penguin skin overcoat and the clothing underneath, to warm her heart.

“You make the woman in me burn with desire and passion,” Clara said as a sigh escaped her lips as she pushed his head to her bosoms and the two grappled with each other in passionate embrace, kissing each other wildly. Mike’s hand slowly opened Clara’s overcoat and the coat slipped to the floor. Clara opened up Mike’s and soon all their clothes were littered on the floor as they both clung to each other, shivering with cold but burning with desire. There hearts were beating so hard they felt like two wrestlers trying to put each other to the ground. They quickly slipped into the quilt kissing each other to the depths with Mike massaging her prides, bitting her at places soft and fresh like snow flakes, yet warm like sunshine.

“Oh Mike, I am gonna burst into flames,” Clara’s breaths became heavy as Mike went exploring places with his sensory organ of taste that were not meant to be any man’s land except Frank. “You’re going to kill me today!” a hot sigh escaped Clara’s lips as she bent and raised her back and then collapsed to the bed. Mike kissed her hard once again, biting her lips one by one as she coiled her soft long legs around his waist raising the blanket nearly to the rook.

Their bodies became one and the roof of the scube nearly collapsed on them. Their passions nearly melted the walls. The time seemed to have stopped but they kept moving, faster and faster. From sighs it became moans, louder and louder until the room reverberated with a loud roar.

“What the HELL?”

Their throats dried in an instant and it became hard to swallow the breaths through their necks. They had been caught in their dirty act. Mike quickly pulled away from her while Frank grabbed him from his arm and punched him hard in his face, “You rascal. How can you do this to me? You bloody scoundrel.” Punches kept flying around some hitting and some missing, as Mike tried to duck, grab his over coat, slip it on and escape into the hall towards the exit. Clara on the other hand wrapped the blanket around her and squeezed into a corner.

Frank kept yelling and hitting Mike as Mike stumbled outside his scube. It was getting slightly dark now.

“What happened?” Steve and Joseph, who were still discussing something outside the White Scube, came running towards them to stop the fight, or more aptly stop Frank.

“This bloody bastard, he’s been sleeping with my wife behind my back,” Frank said as Clara who had quickly dressed up sufficiently enough to venture outside, leaned to the edge of the entrance to Frank’s scube.

“WHAT?” Steve and Joseph exclaimed as they looked at Mike, shocked and in disbelief. No one could have thought of Mike doing such a sinful act against his father, even if he was just a clone of his.

“I am going to kill this bastard,” Frank said as he rushed into his scube.

“Have you gone mad?” “What were you thinking?” “What have you two done?” questions flew around the place as Steve and Joseph questioned Mike and Clara.

Meanwhile Frank came out with the Presidential weapon in his hand, a revolver which hadn’t been used in ages but was reserved for the President as a weapon of self defence. As he put in the bullets, loaded and cocked the weapon, he said, “You bastard, this is your last day on earth.”

“What are you doing Frank? Stop and think for a moment,” Steve exclaimed.

“Control yourself Frank,” Joseph reasoned as well.

But the harmones had taken control over Frank now as he took an aim. In a flash, metal was pulled, their was a swing and Frank’s head fell to the ground with a loud thud as his headless torso stood for a while before falling with a louder thud. Steve stood by the side with sword in his hand he uses for culling penguins, dripping blood on the ground.

“What the heck have you done Steve?” Joseph exclaimed as he, Mike and Clara they all looked at him in bewilderment.

“What? I had no choice. He was about to shoot Mike,” Steve replied.

“But why?” Joseph roared with anger.

“Why not? He was 35. He’s already lived 5 years more than the average human age. He was going to die anyway. Mike is still young. At 16 he has still got many years to give to mankind. Was there a better alternative?” Steve explained and reasoned.

“But it was Mike who was wrong. He was incestuous,” Joseph complained.

“Incest? I know nothing about that. For me he is just a clone of Frank, not actually related to him and Clara is a clone of her mother, and neither of them have any relation with Mike. We all are just clones. The relationships as we humans had once know no longer exist. So cut the crap and lets' think about this whole thing rationally,” Steve explained further.

“But he was our President,” Joseph was still visibly upset.

“He was already past his use by date and had nothing more to give to this community. Besides I think it’s time for someone younger like you to take charge,” Steve threw the dice for the right figure.

There was a momentary silence and then Joseph continued, “But how do we explain this to the congress and people?”

“We’ll tell them the truth. I am sure no one will have any worthwhile argument against the case. Besides considering the risk Mike is taking for our society by going along with me in the dangerous mission to the phantom ship, he makes up for his folly,” Steve closed the argument.

“Mission, what mission?” Mike asked.

“I’ll explain that to you later. You go back to your scube, relax and think about a nice apology for your actions and we’ll sort out the rest in the morning,” Steve said, “And Joseph you also come up with a nice opening speech as the new President.”

With no more left to argue and the thought of being the next President, Joseph excused himself and walked towards his own scube, while Mike still in bewilderment at all that happened and partly freezing because of inadequate clothing slipped towards his own scube.

Steve turned around and looked at Clara, “You have been playing with fire girl. If it wasn’t for me both of you would have been killed today.”

“If I was playing with fire that’s cause I know how to light it, sustain it and extinguish it,” Clara said with a wicked smirk on her lips and a tantalising look in her big round eyes.

“Why don’t you leave that to me to determine,” Steve said, as he moved towards her. She inched towards him. They both checked around for a millisecond as he put his arm around her waist just about her buttocks, “So you love men than boys?”

“The one’s who are strong and powerful,” she said as she lifted her heels and pressed her bosoms against his chest.

“So you like the men in Power? But I am not the king,” Steve said as he lowered his lips to suck her lips with soft warmth.

“A king maker is bigger than the king,” she said as his hands caressed and slipped below her buttocks to support her raised feet and she gave him a deep kiss.

They looked around one more time and slipped inside Frank’s scube whose head and body lay still on ice.

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Chapter One: Hatsu Saisho

Disclaimer: This novel is a work of fiction. Any resemblence to any person living or dead is purely conincidental and regretted.

Statutory warning: May contain content that is voilent or sexual in nature and not suitable for people below 18 years of age. By reading any further you admitt that you are over 18 and solely responsible for reading it. The author in no way takes any responsibility for any offense the following publication may cause to anyone.

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God Of A Man

Chapter One:

“Hatsu Saisho”

Human beings would perhaps be the strangest of all animal forms that ever existed on the face of earth. While on one hand they claim themselves to be the most intelligent of all creations, an epitome of evolution, yet they always manage to skip the learning process associated with every bad experience. They would sell their souls to let anyone believe otherwise but when crunch time calls for a decisions, they invariably make the same mistake. About 400 years ago in the summer of 2011 they wrote an encyclopaedia of mistakes that changed the face of human existence, along with every other conceivable life form, in a way that was by far the most dramatic event of the entire recorded history.

As the United States prepared itself for war on Iran, for harbouring and training Taliban militia on it’s soil, tensions between the Korean twins were at their peak. On April 16, 2011 the NATO forces launched the first offensive, deep into the heart of Tehran. For 5 days, the Naval might of the US, Great Britain and France was on full display. Iran however was no Iraq, and put up the resistance good enough to dispel any land based direct offensive, even from the Afghanistan side. NATO’s problems were compounded by the strong reservations raised by the entire Middle East.

Meanwhile, taking the opportunity of the US fighting a battle which it couldn’t quit anymore for it’s prestige, North Korea thought it to be the right time to settle all the issues with it’s brother from the South. A second front opened up for the NATO forces to take care of.

China, which always had clear intentions of dictating the terms in the region thought it to be the right time to express it’s stature as a world changing power and demanded an immediate halt of all hostilities by the NATO forces and let the Korean decide their future on their own or else they threatened to join the war.

Since the end of cold war no one had dared question the US might and authority and the US had become habitual of bulldozing it’s way through international affairs with it’s NATO allies hanging behind like a pack of wolves waiting for a lion to finish off his meal so that they can have the remnants of his kill as their share. The US refused to budge and China joined the war from the North Korean side.

Sensing the fluidity of situation and the resulting weakness of the NATO presence, Taliban along with the helpful tribal warriors from the troubled North Western Frontier Province in Pakistan, launched an offensive with an aim of getting access to the Pakistani nuclear arsenal. With US and NATO not in a good position to help as they were busy fighting on two fronts, Pakistan was caught in a mess that it was itself responsible for creating in the first place.

Taliban’s strength was not only in the ferocity and swiftness of their attack and the support it received from the local radical elements in Pakistan, but the fact that the only country that could have helped it at that time was India in whom unfortunately Pakistan had little trust.

Sensing trouble from the volatile situation in Pakistan and the attack of Taliban, India gathered it’s troops on the Pakistan border in order to counter any misadventure if it were to be by the Taliban against it’s sovereignty. Unfortunately Pakistan thought that perhaps India was planing to take advantage of the situation and it could not divert adequate number of it’s forces to counter the radical offensive.

Pakistan didn’t fall, but what fell was much more important than Pakistan. What fell was the fate of the whole world and entire life's existence on the world known at that time. Taliban was reversed but not before the Pakistani nukes and their technology had been completely compromised to the radical world.

It is surprising how it takes ages for the good words and deeds to spread among humans, but how quickly the evil designs and desires make their home in the farthest of corners. A vaccination for a disease takes longer to be dispersed in human civilization but the formula for nukes has more takers than the entire human population size. Perhaps it’s some kind of a romance that’s associated with doing what is wrong that drugs human minds and corrupts their souls.

Iran was soon busy getting ready for a final war, thanks to Taliban’s generosity. Human civilization as anybody had ever known to have existed was about to be wiped out to near extinction level.

NATO was fighting two wars, neither of which seemed to move towards an end. Political parleys were falling apart, partly because the neither the Chinese nor the Americans were ready to yield and partly because America was getting an impression that it’s forces will soon end the Iranian resistance and then only one battlefield would be left to take care of.

Iran was facing desperate times. To divert attention, on 10 November, 2012 Taliban nuked New Delhi. It’s hard to tell whether the resulting destruction was the worst, or the political chaos and the people unrest. International pressure on India to act with restraint was immense but people pressure on the Government forced India to launch an attack on Pakistan.

Pakistan had already been weakened by the fight with Taliban and resorted to the last step first. With a fear of nuclear assault by India in retaliation they jumped the barrel and used what ever nukes they had. India joined the mayhem. Iran, whose defences were about to collapse nuked whatever it could pick out of the hat. Israel had to pay for siding with US and torturing the Palestine brethren while NATO ships were nuked as well.

North Korea used it’s crude nuclear developments on South, and US had to join the line and China followed. Within the next two months, most of the humanity had been wiped out either by the nukes or by the resulting radiation.

The leaders of the most fearsome of nations had to run and hide for their lives, not from the enemies or from the public questioning their senses, infact there were none left to question anyone, but from the radiations.

But fate and time have their own ways of taking care of the garbage that needs to be disposed off. The Japanese who never made even one mistake in this whole mess found themselves at the receiving end of the hard fate brought on them by some idiots first up. An earthquake broke the construction of their arc, and the radiations took care of the rest. It takes ages for radiations to diminish to human body acceptable levels even after using all kinds of technology and protection. The Russians ran out of food, while Indians had only themselves to blame for their corrupt practices that even the arc they had build was of sub-standard material and gave in. The Americans and one by one the rest of the nations, they all ran out of food and died. The Chinese were strict and tried to ration by making a top priority list and culling the list from the lower end until only one of them was left, who died of cancer.

Humans saw it all before they finished along with all they had for themselves but what they never learned to share with each other. When food ran out, friends killed and ate friends, husband killed wives, mother’s killed children. The basic instinct of hunger made a mockery of all humanity if there was any left.

Far from all this, there was a small team of researchers who were working in Antarctica that were saved by nature to a limited extent as the radiations somehow didn’t spread to the farthest south of the world, perhaps because all the stupidity was staged up north, and inspite of all the idiocy, to a level that somehow limited it’s affect to a limit of a couple of hundred kilometres of Antarctica. By fate or by science, but one of the most hostile environments on earth was the new human home.

The researchers were joined by a few hundred people from the countries that lay just north of the south who may not have been rich or powerful or talented enough to make the arcs but their will to survive was enough to push them down south in search of a safer home. A new and the only human city left on the face of this earth developed. They called it “Hatsu Saisho” meaning “New Beginning” in Japanese, to laud the Japanese for not committing the biggest sin against humanity yet suffering the doom that was the least theirs’ in making. All the knowledge available was stored for future reference, solar power was the only source of power, and houses were dug in snow using all the equipment they had at disposal. One thing was clear, once they ran out of clothing, food or medicine, or damaged their equipment there was no way of getting any new. Conditions were harsh and resources were limited and needed to be rationed and carefully used. Once again, the human instincts of hunger and protection were testing the last remaining worn out threads of humanity.

But once a human, will always be a human. Sharing is a phenomenon that doesn’t come naturally to humans. Perhaps the animal origins had left their irremovable imprint on human psyche. To save the resources the first thing they did was, kill each other. Only very late did they realize they are the last ones of their kind and killing each other means effectively wiping out human existence forever. Conditions were harsh but one thing thats always surprising about human spirit is it’s resilience.

The last human habitation “Hatsu Saisho” tugged along it’s lonely existence. Humanity was pushed literally back to stone-age, except that they still had the vast knowledge bank safe and ready to be shared with their posterity. The only question was, would there be any posterity? The humans had finally learned to live at peace and work together to make a life of it but their fate was not in their control anymore. Infact it never was. Humans only thought they were masters of their own destiny. All they were was masterminds of their own destruction. Humans may have survived the direct impact of radiations, but they were not completely safe from radioactivity. The fish they depended on from the sea brought the radioactivity, even if in negligible quantities, straight into their bodies. Human life span had shortened, and reproductive organs were reduced to ornamental in general, and pleasure seeking bodily features in particular. The power to create posterity was lost. Cloning was the only alternative left. Life in general became a curse to live.

Without any fuel to cook, their diet became as animal as it could have ever been. Clothes wore out with repeated use. Penguins became their food as well as dress. Bathing and hygiene was an yearly occasion. Imperative to say, loss of faith was gradual but complete and the desperate times pushed the moral limits into oblivion. Humans that used to kill in the name of religion and fought so many crusades defending their GOD lost all faith in HIM. Faith was history, along with most of the mankind.

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Next Chapter: Next week!!