Chapter 4

I stood there, my heart pounding, as Ivon disappeared into the portal. Finally it was time to return to our time and report back to the General. And yet, as I followed Ivon into the unknown, a sense of unease settled over me.

Zahra, always quick on her feet, entered the portal right after me. Her eyes were filled with determination, but I could see the flicker of doubt in her gaze. Francis, always the skeptic, was the last to cross over. He hesitated for a brief moment before taking the plunge.

But when we emerged on the other side, Ivon was nowhere to be found. Panic clawed at my chest as I realized something was terribly wrong. We had all been in this together, planning and strategizing for this very moment. Ivon wouldn't have left us behind without a word. Still, he was gone the whole time while we were in the past. Zahra accused him of being on the enemy's side. At first I doubted that claim until we briefly talked about his mysterious behavior.

Francis shared my suspicions, his brows furrowing in concern. Something didn't add up. We exchanged a silent glance, our unspoken words echoing in the air. Ivon had always been secretive, but this was different. It felt like betrayal.

As we surveyed our surroundings, we realized we were in the midst of a violent civil war. Also, when we arrived was early 2024. All of us believed Ivon deliberately set the date for that year cuz, y'know? Obvious reasons! He must've been plotting something during that time in the past and didn't want us arriving at the time we left. Currently, the Raylorians, as what everyone living on the space station was known as, a faction fighting for their freedom against the oppressive Hill-Adega Family, were engaged in a bloody battle. Her supporters called her Queen Adega. Lives were being lost, families torn apart, and the future of an entire nation hung in the balance.

Naira, the charismatic leader of this insurrection, had secretly planned to betray the General. She called him weak. She believed the people loved her more and had the numbers and support to prove her case. The entire situation felt like a nightmare. Before we left, it seemed like the people were split on supporting her polices and the General let her have free reigns of their government to enforce her Nairan code to the fullest. But have a hostile take over? It didn't seem likely but a lot of those unanswered questions instinctively had me believe Ivon had a part in it. 

Al the support Naira garnered of those who believed in her cause had to be from a third party—one Ivon was on. The more we discovered about this war, pieces of this jigsaw puzzle formed a bigger, much clearer picture. There were others, like the Hill-Adega Family, who clung to power with fervent desperation. In the corners of Sector C was an organization known as Project Gene. Their leaders were twin doctors, Eric and Erin Lunningham. Their army was that of genetically modified humans and genetically engineered humanoids. The latter had me believe Val was from their camp but Zahra and Francis, who seemed to know more about Project Gene, said that though the Lunningham's were philanthropists, they would not have access to time travel tech. Sigma's Quantum Chain was proprietary. 

What bothered me more was that the Mellis family was not in Sector A. So went searching for them all over the space station. Caught in the crossfire, the three of us had unwittingly stumbled into a war zone in every sector of this place. It was government official vs. Students vs. the Common People—a bloodbath of a free for all! The Queen had supporters in every group. Fear gripped us, but it was overshadowed by our determination to uncover the truth about Ivon. We searched for those clues of where the Mellis Family was hiding amidst the chaos. 

We immersed ourselves in the chaos, searching for answers amidst the cries of anguish and the clash of weapons. We became the detectives in a world torn apart, piecing together the puzzle of Ivon's disappearance and the true intentions behind this war. This was a war of ideals. Each side had a different view of justice but those against the Queen's regime saw this as a fight for their freedom against her tyranny.

With every step we took, we unearthed more secrets, unraveled more lies. The lines between friend and foe blurred as we discovered the complex web of alliances and betrayals that had led us here. And through it all, we couldn't shake the feeling that Ivon's vanishing act was just the tip of the iceberg.

One such alliance was that of Project Gene. Before the war, their aim was to improve on the human Genome through science. However, the Queen deemed them heretics for DE'MS behavior. Define DE'MS? It's short for demonic. Yet this term applied to all her enemies and we were called fools for being such. What the people realized that her rule was corrupt to the core. It was found that a truckload of incriminating evidence linked Naira to orchestrating the Evanston Massacre as government agents found GUB affiliates throughout her family. When the General saw this, he ordered she be immediately arrested. Her family moved to protect her and thus the civil war started as more families started fighting each other throughout the space station, trying to either assassinate the Queen or the General. Many believed the fighting would stop if one were killed. The wild card now was time travel. Someone could go back in time to prevent either one's demise or worse yet, erase either leader from existence.

But for now, ensuring the safety of the Mellis Family was a top priority. Now as a front to protect their people, Project Gene allied with a freedom fighter faction known as the Lunar Initiative, led by Alene Lansing. Their numbers were small but help from Project Gene increased their numbers. Alene didn't believe it was enough because the Adegas had more firepower and experience. Then someone on her team had the idea to recruit prisoners within the Raylorian Prison. 

It wasn't your average prison. This advanced technologically designed facility housed a giant digital realm. You could tell you were entering a different plane of existence the stepped into the building. The smell of new paint and dry wall filled each cellblock with a heavy metallic smell throughout the entire area. It was a world within a world. Inside, the Lunar Initiative gave the prisoners a choice. Most of them accepted joining the liberation front. Those who didn't were either too sick to fight or didn't desire to join either side. The latter were left alone. Among those who joined were Laura Giordano and Naira Hill-Adega II. I mentioned these two specifically because it was something about them that I felt would change the outcome of this war in our favor.

Laura Giordano's story of how she came to the space station was a dark one. Without going into a lot of detail, the Queen saved her from her mafian family, who happened to be GUB allies. The Queen betrayed Laura's trust when the girl turned to a bad life style instead of helping her adjust to life as a Raylorian. Laura seemed like a natural born leader. At an early age, she learned her family's business and made them tons of money. Sadly, doing so robbed her of a childhood as she experienced many traumatic experiences, including the death of her mother, the famous nomadic evangelists, Marta Van Wundt Schneider, a few years ago.

Naira II, affectionately known as Nai, was in jail just for being rebellious to her parents. She recounted that while other youths were sent to their room for punishment, she spent her days in the juvenile sector of the Raylorian Prison. What she experienced traumatized her and made the girl resent her mother for doing so. After the last rebellious act a few years ago, the Queen left Nai in prison. Nai was filled with an ever-growing hatred for not just her mother, but also her father, Vern, for supporting this abuse. She yearned to see day when both died at the hands of their enemies. Without hesitation, Nai joined the ranks of the Initiative in hopes to not just end the bloodshed but her mother's tyranny as well. 

Together, TTA, Project Gene and the Lunar Initiative planned to rebuild this nation but our main priority is still to ensure the safety of its true leaders—the Mellis Family.