The Decade After Tomorrow Chapters 8-15.
.
THE DECADE AFTER TOMORROW
Here is the continuation of my fic:
Special thanks to ammorgan21 for her beta-job!
Any mistake still in the fic is totally my fault!
Update: Final Chapter is in now!
8.
TEN YEARS LATER
"Welcome on the Lunar Subway. Next stop is: Cooper Park."
Penny looked around as the subway doors closed behind her.
"The Lunar Subway, property of the Second Start Corporation is the fastest and safest way to travel under the surface of our new home, the Moon. Please be seated, to avoid any accidents."
Penny wanted to just sit down on the first seat she spotted, but before she could do it, she saw Leonard waving towards her from four seats farther on. She smiled, and went to go sit next to him.
"Hey!"
"Hey, Penny! Are you nervous?"
"Why would I be nervous, Leonard? It's just a job," she said with almost enough confidence in her words to fool her friend.
"Yeah, you look pretty nervous to me." he said, jokingly.
"Fine, alright!" she said. "I am a little nervous."
"Don't worry, Penny! You'll do fine!" He tried putting her mind at ease.
"Thanks again, and to Raj too! Without you guys, I never would have gotten this job!" She was really grateful to them. Getting a job these days wasn't actually hard, because there were plenty of jobs needed to be done just to keep Lunar City up and running. Some jobs were more dangerous than others, and many of them were essential. The government of the Second Start Corp. had randomly assigned these social works around the common people. There was just nothing to do. After couple months ago, when Penny was almost died, during one of these so called social works, Leonard has insisted that she let the guys get her a better, steady job at the Centrum.
"Tell me about Raj! What's with him? I hardly see him anymore." Penny asked Leonard.
"Well, he is working on something top secret research about the radiation. That's all I really know. I myself don't see him as often as I used to."
"Wow, that seems pretty interesting." She said not really meaning it. She had enough from this damn radiation years ago. The fact that it still hasn't complelely decayed, just pissed her off to no end, so she just tried not to think about it.
"Welcome on the Lunar Subway. Next stop is: The Centrum."
"This is our stop." he said, and they both got up to get off from the subway.
Leonard let go Penny ahead. As she walked in front of him, he was thinking how she seemingly hasn't changed in the last ten years; she was still beautiful, young and fresh as ever, and how simultaneously she looked like she lost something, an innocent part of herself. He was the same way, actually feeling very old himself, even if it wasn't really true.
In the first year in their new home, they decided to stop tip-toeing around each other, and got involved. It was a nice thing what they had, but it didn't last too long. About six months after they started their relationship, they realized, that they just really didn't belong together. For Leonard, Penny was the stereotypical beauty, the girl he always wanted, so it wasn't actually so surprising, that it wasn't Penny that he really craved, more like an idea of her. And for Penny, he was just the nicest guy she ever met, but not the one, if there even was such a thing as that. The best thing in their relationship was, that they were finally be able to be real friends, and it became a friendship that helped them through many things since then.
"Okay Penny. From here you are on your own. I have to hurry." he said to her at the entrance of the Centrum, a large complex, from where all Lunar City was governed. He added,"There will be another shuttle flight today down to the planet. Maybe this time we will be able to go through the barrier."
"Good luck with that." said Penny dully. They tried to go back to Earth. A new material they found in the far depths under the Moon's surface has been able to resist the radiation, but the technology to use it wasn't perfected yet. Not that she cared really. Of course it would be nice to go back, but on the other hand, everyone who she cared about down there were already dead. She just didn't know what she could do on her home-planet again. Not that she liked Lunar City and the Moon that much more, but it was just how things were now.
She waved goodbye to Leonard who was already on his way to the Spaceport Operation Center. She went on to go into the massive complex of the Centrum. Her new job was awaiting her.
9.
Leonard was at his post, now scanning the surface of the planet, and analyzing the data that he got from the shuttle. It was pretty bad down there. It turned out that the radiation was deadly to only 90 percent of the lifeforms on Earth. Unfortunately, humans included. The few remaining animal and plant species had undergone serious mutations thanks to the effects of the radiation. Again, the situation was very bad down there.
He tried not to think about these kinds of things and just continue his research. The robotized shuttle was already in the atmosphere, and the test animals were still alright. This could be it. The lunar material alloyed with several other materials was just be able to resist the radiation in a short period of time. This wasn't much actually, but it was a start. No one knew for how long exactly the radiation will be present in the Earth's atmosphere, so they had to figure out a way to be able to safely return home.
---
"Hold the elevator!" Penny yelled as she ran towards the closing doors, her hands full of papers.
A hand reached out and held the doors from stopping. She jumped in, already thanking the man who helped her out. When she actually saw, who he was, her voice suddenly broke as she realized, who was standing in front of her.
"Oh, my god!" she said.
"Yes, I am," said the man jokingly.
"Oh sorry...I just wasn't expecting to...bump into the most famous person on the moon." Penny was blushing. The man who held the doors for her was Henry Gordon. Practically the face of the Corporation.
"It's alright. You know actually my father owns everything in here. I'm just his poster boy so..."
Penny couldn't really figure out if he was joking or not.
"My name is Penny." she figured she could at least be so polite to introduce herself. Besides, he was quite hot. He was tall, and good looking with blond hair, and a boyish smile. He wasn't the Corporation's poster boy for no reason.
"Nice to meet you, Penny!"
They shook hands, as the elevator started to go up.
"So, Penny. Are you working on one of the upper levels?"
"Oh, god, no! I just have some papers to bring up."
"Well don't worry, you're not missing much. Most people up there are boring as hell." He tried a charming smile and he didn't miss with it. He never did. Penny smiled back.
Honestly, besides the nice face, she always thought that someone like Henry Gordon must be a gigantic jerk, but he actually seemed quite nice in person.
"Well, that's my level" She said when the elevator stopped. "See you." She said goodbye as she stepped out.
"You can bet on it!" He said smiling again, as the elevator doors closed.
Penny couldn't help but smiling back at the blank doors for a second. Then she realized, that she had some work to do, so she hurried along to deliver the papers.
10.
A couple weeks later, it seemed that Penny was finally fitting in somewhere again. Her work was great, she met a couple of new friends, including the Corporation's Poster Boy himself, as Henry used to say jokingly. Everything just looked great. Until the phone call.
"Second Start Corporation. My name is Penny, how can I help you?"
"Penny, is that you?"
"Raj? Where were you all this time. We were starting to worry about you!"
"Listen to me Penny! I don't have much time now, but I am in some trouble. Well, actually we all are in trouble!" He sounded very excited, and even paranoid.
"What? Sweetie, what are you talking about?"
"I can't tell you more on the phone, just get Leonard and meet me at 'you-know-where' in an hour!"
"Raj! What is going on?"
"I will tell you everything in an hour! Please be there."
Penny bit her lips. "All right."
"Thank you Penny! Don't be late!" Raj said then the call was terminated.
Penny didn't know what to think about this strange call. It couldn't be a prank, Raj was too sincerely freaked out for that. An unpleasant thought started to form in her head. Everything just seemed to be too good lately...it was time for something to go very wrong.
---
She was the first to arrive in the Cooper Park. It was a beautiful place. The people who built it really did everything what they could, that everyone who come here really could feel like they were in an actual park, and not just under the Moon's surface. She sat on a bench in front of the big memorial tablet.
"IN THE MEMORY OF SHELDON COOPER, PHD.
THE LAST HERO OF THE PLANET EARTH"
They used to come out here often, Penny and the boys. But she hasn't been here in a while, and it just brought back bad memories now.
"Hey, Penny!"
"Leonard!" She didn't see when he arrived, but he already was sitting next to her. He looked at the tablet for a couple of seconds in silence.
"So, what are we doing here?" he asked finally.
"Well, Raj will tell us that. Or at least I hope he will." she told him.
And just then they both saw Raj, as he walked towards them.
"Hi guys!" he said that without a hint of cheerfulness in his voice.
He was nervously looking around himself as he stepped in front of his friends. Penny thought, he looked even more paranoid now, than he sounded on the phone. She already got used to him being able to speak in front of her, but this, completely freaked out Raj was really something different.
"All right, Raj. We are here. Now tell us what's going on!"
"Oh, yeah, well... this will sound crazy, but you have to believe me!"
"Ok." Leonard said confused.
"Leonard, it's big! I mean it's like X-files-conspiracy theory big!" Raj was shaking as he spoke, Penny and Leonard looked at him suspiciously.
"What the hell is he talking about." Penny asked Leonard.
"I don't know, but if it's something like X-files-conspiracy theory big, than I'm sure it can't be anything good."
"Oh, god! Raj just spit it out already!"
"They lied to us!" He sat down next to them.
"What do you mean by that?" he started to became as pissed off at Raj as Penny already was.
"Okay, listen" Raj was trying to pull himself together. "I will tell you everything from the beginning!"
...
The robotic shuttle was slowly sweeping over the surface of the planet. There was nothing alive anywhere. Or at least the shuttle couldn't sense the presence of any lifeforms. Actually, there was a lifeform not far away from it, but this particular lifeform didn't want to be discovered.
The man was standing on a ridge, holding some sort of binoculars, watching as the shuttle pulled away. From time to time, a vague blue energy field was glowing up in around his silhouette. He straightened his rifle hunging on his side, than just looked at the distant shuttle.
.
"They will come soon." He said to himself. The desert wind picked up his words, and smashed them hard against the nearby ridges.
11.
"So you know, i was working on this secret project." Raj was talking slightly less agitated now.
"Yeah, we remember."
"Well, I didn't know at first what I was really a part of, I just had to study the radiation. Until one day, when I was working late, someone contacted me."
"Wait! What do you mean by someone contacted you? Who?"
"I don't really know. He just hacked into my work station and started to write me messages, in like Morpheus style."
"Okay, I'm not following you again!" Penny interjected.
"Well, he was asking me if I wanted to know about a conspiracy, actually."
"And?"
"What do you mean by 'and'? You know how much I like conspiracy theories."
"So, let me see if I understand you correctly" started Leonard. "Someone, a hacker wanted to tell you about a conspiracy theory, and the first thing you did wasn't to report this to your supervisors?"
"Well actually I didn't report it at all."
"Are you crazy?"
"No, listen to me! This hacker, he showed me things. For starters he showed me what research I was a part of.
Leonard they were trying to use the Lunar material, to create full body armors."
"Body armors?' Leonard was shocked. ' I can not believe that we would be this far along in this technology already."
"Oh, Leonard, there is much that you don't know yet. He showed me evidence that the Second Start Corporation actually existed since the late 1950-s, and that that's how long as they really knew about the radiation wave."
"Wait, no!" Leonard interrupted him. "What you're saying can't be true."
"I saw the evidence with my own eyes Leonard. They knew about it all this time, and they didn't do anything to stop it!"
"And this hacker" joined in Penny. "How does he know about all of this? And who is he?"
"Well, that's the most disturbing thing. I can't figure out who he could be, I only know that he sends his transmissions from..." Raj paused, mot really knowing how he could say the next words.
"Alright. So he sends his transmissions somewhere from Earth."
"What?"
"What do you mean by somewhere from Earth?" Leonard was completely puzzled.
"I mean what I said!"
"No, that can't be right" said Penny. "Everyone down there is dead. They all died a decade ago."
"Well, obviously someone didn't! And get this: he wants to meet with me on the surface."
"On the surface? Are you completely out of your mind?"
"Listen to me Leonard. The body armor works. It could resist the radiation's effects for days, maybe even weeks." Raj looked pretty determined.
"I am going down there. And I want you to come with me!"
Leonard just shook his head.p
"I will go with you" said Penny to their surprise.
"Penny, are you serious?" asked Leonard.
"You heard him, Leonard. If what Raj said is true, then we all were deceived! I wanna get to the bottom of this!"
Leonard was still hesitant.
"Even if this is all true. How are you planning to steal experimental body armors and a shuttle from Lunar City's most guarded facility."
"Well, actually..." started Penny, "there is this guy I met...."
"Penny you have a boyfriend?" Raj asked from her.
"Well, it's not like that. We just went out a few times, but anyway. The thing is that he is Henry Gordon."
"Wow, Penny! Are you actually dating the Corporation's Face? I heard that he is one of the most popular people in the Moon."said Leonard.
"Yeah, well the point is. I bet, that with his ID card, we would be able to get past pretty much any security system."
Howard nodded. The plan started to form a steady shape. Now only one thing was uncertain to him.
"Dude, are you coming with us too?"
"Fine!" said Leonard sounding not so sure.
12.
The grey haired man was sitting in his chair, looking at calculations, casualty projections and the latest achievements from the Lunar armor studies. Everything was working out well for him. For some reason the radiation didn't decayed as fast as he predicted, but it was just a minor setback. He was still on the right track.
"Sir!"
He pushed a button, and then answered.
"What is it?"
"We were able to backtrace the suspicious data transfers, that kept occurring lately."
The man nodded contentedly.
"Give me a name"
"Rajesh Koothrappaly."
"Koothrappaly" He just stared at his monitor thoughtfully for a moment before he said, "We have a problem!"
"Sir?"
"Get my son here! I want to speak to him now!"
---
"Hey, Penny! I was just thinking about you!" Henry had just finished talking on the phone with someone when Penny walked in to his office..
"Really?" She felt really bad for what she was about to do. Henry really looked like a nice guy, and she was just preparing to stab him in the back, figuratively speaking.
"Yeah" he got up from his table. "And I know we were supposed to have dinner together, but it looks like I can't make it."
"Oh" He was putting on his jacket, it seemed like he was already late to somewhere. How could she steal his ID card if he's going out somewhere?
"I am really sorry Penny, but my father wants to talk to me, and it's actually so rare that he wants something from me, or even to meet me... I just have to go."
"Oh all right," she said unsteadily, her mind constantly working, thinking about some contingency plan.
He walked to her, and kissed her on the cheek. "I will make it up to you." He said it accompanied by one of his irresistible boyish smiles. And that's when Penny figured out just what to do. As Henry leaned back from the kiss, she grabbed his nape with one hand, pulled him back to her and kissed him fully on the lips. Henry didn't hide the fact, that he would be open to more than a friendship with her, but still, this sudden action of Penny startled him. The kiss hit him pretty much unprepared. He could only smile as Penny pulled away from him after a couple seconds.
"Yes, you will," she said to him smiling.
"Oh, ok, well...I have to go." He was still taken aback from the kiss so much, that he almost bumped against the door as he started to walk out, still looking at Penny.
"See you!" He said.
"Sure" she replied. Than Henry walked out the door. Penny was sure she was going to hell, as she looked at the ID card she now held in her hand.
13.
"So?"
"You've got it?"
"Of course I've got it. Guys, don't worry so much."
They were in front ot the Centrum's entrance. Penny was handed the ID card to Raj, who started to inspect it.
"I think it could work!" he said.
"It better work! I just sold my soul for it." She said mildly ashamed.
---
The station's lights were simulating night, so it was pretty dark when they got to the Centrum hangars. They already picked up three full body armor suits for the ride. All they needed now was a shuttle. Leonard used the stolen ID card, and the back entrance opened up in front ot them. They got in quetly, moving very cautiously. It was a really small hangar, only two shuttle was in it. Penny and Raj walked in front of the closest one, while Leonard went to open the hangar doors, and unlock the magnetic lock on the shuttle. As he finished, he started to run back to where his friends were, while Raj already opened the shuttle's doors.
Five minutes later they were all wearing the massive body armors, and the shuttle was ready to leave the hangar. Raj and Leonard both knew how to pilot it, but Raj was the more experienced one, so he became the pilot. The engines went online, and they slowly flew out from the hangar, and then started to head towards Earth.
"Do you think it will be awful?" Penny asked them as the planet started to became bigger and bigger through the front cabin window.
"Well, it's mostly a desert now." Leonard answered. "Not many thing were be able to survive the radiation, and that includes plants and insects as well."
"Alright. So it will be bad!" Penny said sarcastically, and then sighed.
She still couldn't believe that soon she will be standing and walking on her homeplanet again. She was curious, but the bad feelings were still there. And it all seemed too crazy.
"We are entering the atmosphere!" said Raj, just as the shuttle began to shook rapidly.
"Don't worry! Only a minute and the hard part is over. Get your helmets on!"
They did it. And Raj was right, as they entered the Earth's atmosphere, the shaking was gone again. This shuttle was very professionally designed. Mostly by Howard and Sheldon.
"Okay. We are almost at the rendezvous coordinates. I'm taking it down."
Raj smoothly landed with the shuttle. As they opened the doors, a new world was opened before them. Leonard was checking his suit. The lights on his wrist were blinking green, so his body armor was working according to its internal sensors. And he was still alive, right? So it had to be working. They were all still alive. He just hoped that it stays the same way, as they walked down on the shuttle's ramp, and their feet touched the familiar ground of the Earth again for the first time in a really long time. It was like coming back from war, just to find your home in ruins.
"Penny don't go too far," Leonard said to her through his internal communicator.
"All right, mom!" answered Penny, although Leonard couldn't hear it, because her intercom wasn't on.
"Penny! Turn on your communicator."
"Sure, but how?" she asked, but of course still no one could hear her, so she turned towards Leonard and raised her hands questioningly.
"The blue switch on your forearm."
"Oh, all right. How is it now?" She asked as she finally turned on her intercom.
"It's better." Said Raj to her. "Now, remain on this channel, so we can all hear each other."
"Hell, I don't even know how to switch the channel on this thing." She answered, and than she turned away from the guys to continue her private exploration of the surroundings. She almost let out a squeal, as she noticed the black man standing in front of her.
"He should be here by now." She heare Raj's voice over the intercom.
"Be patient"
"Oh, guys?" Started Penny shyly, as the black man took a step in her direction.
He was wearing a dark tunic, something that looked very appropriate to wear in a desert. And since everywhere was desert now, Penny couldn't find a reason to disapprove of the man's garment.
The rifle what he carried on the other hand, was not a good sign.
"Guys! I think your hacker has arrived."
Leonard and Raj both ran to Penny at once. But they both stepped back, when they found themselves up against the business end of the man's rifle. He was turned towards them with a curious look in his eyes.
"Which one of you is Koothrappaly?" he asked finally.
"Him!" Penny and Leonard pointed towards Raj at the same time.
"Thanks guys, really." said Raj to them.
"Hey, you were the one who wanted to meet with this guy!" Replied Leonard.
"You're right" He said, then he switched on the speakers in his helmet, so the black man can hear him properly.
"I am Koothrappaly!" he said it with a surprising confidence in his voice. "Are you Omega?"
The man just nodded.
"Great! I have a lot of questions for you!" Raj was starting to getting to hearten up, until the man raised his weapon again on him.
"Did you bring me what I wanted?" asked the man from him.
"What is he talking about?" Leonard and Penny didn't know about anything that he should have brought with him. Raj of course, knew what it was all about, but before he could say anything, a lot of things happened simultaneously.
First they heard the sound of the engines of another shuttle. Then a dozen body armored soldiers crowded out seemingly from nowhere. The black man tried to shoot one of them, but the soldiers were quicker, and three of them started shooting at him with their assault rifles. Penny, Leonard and Raj were on the ground in a moment, as the black man's body was shot into pieces by them. Then the soldiers grabbed all three. There was no escape. A thought crossed Leonard's mind as one of the soldiers pulled him up none too gently.
It was a trap.
14.
"Hello Penny!"
She was turned towards the familiar voice. An unarmed man wearing full body armor was walking towards her. He looked through his visor, and her mouth went wide open.
"Henry?"
The man was standing in front of her now. She could see the disappointment in his eyes.
"I trusted you! How could you do this? How could you betray me?"
"I..." she really don't know what to say.
"Never mind." he said. "I have learned my lesson." Then he just turned away from her, and waved for the soldiers.
"Bring them! Second squad! Spread out and search for other traitors!"
The soldiers were started to pull them towards the shuttle. They tried to fight back, but they really didn't have much of a chance against assault rifles. The soldier holding Penny hit her on her back with the barrel of his rifle. Leonard was able to get free from the grip of the other soldier holding him, and now he was trying to hit the soldier who hurt Penny with his hand. It was a weak attempt, but still, the soldier stopped, and stayed very still for a moment. And then he just fell on his knees, and forward. In his head there was a big hole, and blood was dripping from it slowly. It was a gunshot wound, Leonard realized suddenly. After this, all hell broke lose.
Three soldiers fell on the ground at once, as three other shot's were fired from somewhere. Than a couple of people jumped out literally from the sand, like they were hiding there all this time. Penny and Raj were already free and running away from the forming firefight. The men, who just came out from the sand, were pretty quick and efficient. They wore clothing similar to what the ill-fated black man was wearing, and it seemed like from time to time, some kind of blue energy shield was glowing up around them.
They fought with pistols and long knives, moving quickly, and the soldiers were definitely losing the battle. Penny was stumbled on a rock and fell. As she tried to got up, she saw, as a soldier hit Leonard on the head. He collapsed, and two of the armored soldiers were picked him up, and carried him into the shuttle.
"Leonard!" she shouted, and started to ran towards the shuttle, but a soldier caught her by the arm.
"You come with me!" He said harshly to her.
"I don't think so!" she heard another voice behind her, and something was all to familiar about it. One of the men wearing a dark tunic and a hood came to her rescue. He caught the arm of the soldier, and with an expert move, he yanked him to the ground. The soldier tried to get up, but the man kicked him in the head. Ather that he didn't move again.
The man wearing the tunic caught her arm then and started to pull her out of the line of fire. She resisted. Leonard was on the shuttle, and she had to help him. But the shuttle was already starting to take off from the ground. The soldiers realized that they've been beaten, and now they tried to retreat, in the midst of a deadly covering fire. Penny stepped on the man's foot, but he didn't let her go. A couple of rounds swept by just over their heads, and then Penny finally gave up the fight with her mysterious captor.
The man quickly pushed her behind a large rock. His hood slided back, revealing his face. Penny was looking at him with eyes wide open for a moment, and then she started to fall as she simply fainted. It was just too much for her.
"Penny!"
Sheldon caught her before she could hit the ground.
"Damn it, woman! This is not the time to become incapacitated."
He put her gently on the ground, and then he looked out from their cover. Two of his men had Raj, but Leonard was on the shuttle that just took off. He silently cursed himself because of the obvious flaws in his plan, which led to Leonard's capture. But it was something that couldn't be helped. He lean out more from his cover and shot the last two soldiers who were fighting. The others had all ran away or were on the shuttle. The battle was over. He won.
15.
Leonard was still pretty dizzy when the soldier unshackled him and pushed him into the room. It was kind of dark, but it definitely wasn’t a holding cell. It was very spacious for one. And at the far end of the place, there was a big window. He thought it must have been some kind of observation post. A man was standing there, looking at something, his black figure contrasting the light coming through the window.
“Come here, Leonard…” he said to him calmly, not even looking at him. “I want you to see something.”
Leonard did not understand what was going on. The man called him on his first name, with a tone that almost suggested they knew each other. But he was pretty sure he didn’t have close friendships with any ‘smoking mans’. And yet, he couldn’t help but follow his directions, step after step getting closer to the window. When he reached it, he instantly knew where he was. He was in the Northern Observation Post, which was directly looking at the Main Shuttle Hangar below it. He saw that giant hall many times before, but this time it was different. It was filled with people, running from shuttle to shuttle, and soldiers marching into them. Soldiers all wearing full body armor… hundreds of them… it was an invasion force.
Leonard recoiled from the window with disbelief. How? How this could be happening? The man turned around, as if he were sensing his unspoken question. Now he was facing him. And he was actually quite familiar. His hair was gray, and he looked much older than when he last saw him, but still he recognized him. His mouth went wide, he felt anger, happiness and most of all confusion. He felt as if the ground was slowly starting to roll out from under his legs. And the man was just standing there, smiling all-knowingly.
“It’s good to see you again, Leonard. It’s been a long time…”
END OF PART ONE