A Higher Calling

By Courdney Ramsaroop

(Rish) is specially selected to save lives on Earth as it is about to face Armageddon. Rish agrees to help, is put to sleep, then wakes up on an unknown planet in a strange single person capsule. Before exiting the capsule a strange black suit is attached to his body. When Rish exits the capsule he is on a beach on a unknown planet with Orange trees. His life threatening journey begins there into adventures unknown to him.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Mar 27, 2020
• ISBN: 9781098303921

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A Higher Calling

Courdney Ramsaroop

ISBN (Print Edition): 978-1-09830-391-4

ISBN (eBook Edition): 978-1-09830-392-1

© 2020. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Table of Contents

In the Beginning

And Then There Was Light

Killing Abel?

The Forbidden Fruit

Ashes to Ashes

Parting the Red Sea

Ye of Little Faith

Patience Is A Virtue

The Flood

The Dove

chapter 1

In the Beginning

Rish is home only for a moment before realizing she has left him again. She must have left in a hurry this time, because a trail of undergarments in the hallway leads to the front door. Yet again he finds himself walking around an empty house, observing the photographs of each other that had been taken these last ten years, hanging quietly on the walls. Smiles of happiness in the beginning gradually morph into fake half smiles, barely hiding the last six years of their pain. Sweat drips down his legs, accompanied by the smell of dry blood in his nose. He won’t call or text her this time.

Rish (looking at the ceiling): Why is my life like this?

His body heat rushes through his skin; rills of sweat run down his skin as he removes his vest. Feeling exhausted from his overnight shift, he sits down in his rocking chair. Sadness and relief sweep over him as he slowly begins to drift into sleep….

Suddenly, a loud banging on the front door. Rish jolts from his sleep, grabs his gun, and rushes to investigate. His gun at the ready, he cautiously opens the door. He observes two men cloaked in tactical gear from head to toe, a third man wearing a suit, and a convoy of black SUVs in front of his house. His neighbors across the street appear to be packing in a hurry. One of the men flashes a badge.

Badge Man: I’m with International Intelligence and I need to speak to you about a matter involving global security.

Distracted by his neighbors while understanding the legitimacy of the men’s presence, Rish waves his hand, gesturing for them to come inside. The two men in tactical gear seem tense. Rish speaks before the redheaded man wearing the suit can open his mouth.

Rish: You guys can relax, I’m not going to hurt you.

Suit: Says the man holding a gun.

Rish: Oh, my bad. Sorry, it’s been a long night" (He places the gun down.) And your name is?

Suit: My name isn’t important, what’s important is the mission.

Rish: ‘Red’ it is then. What mission?

Suit: We don’t have a lot of time so I’ll get down to it. You have a choice to make that could save lives around the world. I’ll give you a minute to decide yes or no, then we move on to the next candidate. You can’t ask questions, not one. It’s a simple yes…or no.

Rish: Wait—you said the world?

Suit: (Remains silent.)

Rish (understanding): Right, no questions.

Rish takes a few seconds to think about the wife who just left him for the eighth time. He hasn’t spoken to his mother in eight years. His father has always felt ashamed of him for not becoming a businessman. Then there’s his eight-year-old son who visits only twice a year when he needs something.

Rish (answering): Yes.

Suit signals to one of the men in tactical gear as he mumbles a few words into the radio. Another man enters the house. He carries a large heavy suitcase. The four men instruct Rish to sit down. In a matter of minutes, Rish is hooked up with wires attached to various points around his body. An oxygen mask is placed over his face, and one of the men inserts an IV into his arm. Thinking back about the ultimatum Suit presented him, Rish nevertheless avoids asking why this is happening. Sadness and relief are suddenly replaced with fear and confusion. It’s not the fear of death that concerns him, just the fear of uncertainty.

Suit: I’m going to give you a sedative and you’re going to sleep for a while. When you wake up, you’ll receive a full mission brief and objectives, then you will understand why and what you have been chosen to do. (He pushes a small vial of creamy liquid into Rish’s IV.) Count backwards from ten.

Rish: Ten…nine…eight…seven… (He slips into darkness.)

Moments later, Rish struggles to wake up. Pain pierces his right shoulder. His nose is bleeding and his mind feels hazy. Rish is strapped inside a large capsule with multiple cracks zagging across the glass canopy immediately in front of him. Looking down at his body, he observes he is wearing a suit he’s never seen before. The suit is black and fits tightly over his skin; electrical pulses seem to be running through his body. An electronic speaker from inside the capsule loudly repeats Eject! Eject! Eject! Rish looks up at a small computer screen above the windshield: the voice seems to be coming from there. A notification to silence the alarm appears on the screen. Rish reaches up, fighting through the pain in his shoulder, attempting to touch the screen in order to silence the alarm. He feels a slight tug around his crotch, a sudden pressure in both his genitalia. There are two objects inside of him from what he assumes is collecting his bowels. The windshield appears to be some sort of computer with a half-spelled message stating instr. He realizes the screen is cracked from the impact of the landing.

Rish: Well, shit.

The smaller screen continues screaming Eject! But Rish has larger problems to think about. The suit covering his body appears to be designed to allow for quick release; but there isn’t going to be anything quick about what he knows he has to do.

Rish (pulling slightly away from the tubes): Where’s some lube when you need it?(He chuckles mildly, insanely.) Now I know why she never let me back there….

He looks down and follows the tubes to a button he assumes will retract the constraints around his private parts.

Rich: Well, this is going to hurt…

His claustrophobia begins to set in, and he feels desperate to escape the futuristic tombstone.

Rish: Well, fuck it!

Rish pushes the button…and a slow rush of excruciating pain pulls on both his genitals. Screaming, Rish nearly passes out. Still strapped in, he has enough movement to silence the alarm.

Rish: Finally, pain and silence… feels about right. Now, how do I get out of here?

He spends thirty minutes looking for a release lever—anything that would loosen the padded harnesses securing him inside. Rish is hesitant to push the eject button as he imagines the experience to be something like a fighter pilot being propelled out of his plane. But nothing inside the capsule suggests that would happen. Pushing the eject button seems to be the only logical choice.

Rish: Maybe it will just open the door and let me out…?

Rish closes his eyes. Feeling soreness in his shoulder and genitals, Rish slowly presses the eject button. The harness lifts off of his body. Robotic arms attach armor plating to his arms, chest, back, and legs. A helmet extends out over his head from inside the neck portions of the armor. Small explosions erupt around the edges of the glass canopy, detaching it from the capsule. The next moment, Rish is ejected, his body thrown across a wide stretch of beach: he tumbles into sand. Rish rolls violently to a stop. Half-conscious, he rolls onto his back and looks up at the sky. The visor on his helmet rolls back automatically. The sound of water crashes against the shore, humidity latching to his face like grease to a sponge. He has a hard time believing what he’s seeing.

The sky is split into three colors: red, green, and blue. Three moons fill the sky like a mobile dangling over a baby’s crib. One is close, fairly large and purple. The others look similar to Earth’s moon, except one of the moons is blue.

Rish turns his head, spits some sand out of his mouth, and looks at the pink ocean tide rising toward him. Struggling to stand up, he gathers his strength then looks around at a place that clearly isn’t Earth.

Rish: Well, I hope there’s a liquor store somewhere. (He thinks for a moment.) On second thought, I might need to see a doctor….Is this a dream? Where am I? Where is everybody? (He pauses for another moment.) Jesus, I guess I’m talking to myself now. (Correcting himself:) Who am I kidding? I always talk to myself. Shit, I’m still doing it—STOP IT!...(He pauses, listening, then nods.) There, that’s better.

He looks in both directions down the beach. His suit compresses tight against his skin then expands out, providing relief: a cooling sensation sweeps across his body. The pain in his shoulder and genitals slowly subsides. He sees no sign of life anywhere, not even a bird in the sky…only an odd-looking jungle close by. The trees are red with bright yellow leaves.

Unsure about the time, Rish decides to search for shelter. It seems he’s going to be here for a while.

As he hikes through the jungle silence creeps in. Where’s all the animals? he wonders. As he travels deeper into the woods a cool breeze brushes his face. His heart beats faster. Anxiety sinks in as he is confronted with the uncertainty of this strange place.

Rish (to himself): Stay calm…figure out how much time you have until dark. (He considers.) Six hours? (He pauses.) How do I know it’s only six hours until dark?

Confused, Rish turns in circles, looking frantically through the trees. He continues searching. A few hours pass; everything looks the same. If he hadn’t marked his trail, he would have lost his bearings a long time ago.

Rish (annoyed): What good is this suit anyway!

Time feels like it’s passing by faster as the sun begins to set. Leaves from the strange trees begin to change color, random plants turn from bright red to neon yellow. Random vines glow neon green as heat radiates against his skin. An armored helmet emerges from the collar of his suit and wraps around his head. Oxygen flows across Rish’s face. A visor appears, along with a HUD. A message appears: radiation levels rising, idlh. Snarling and distant roars fill the silence. He hears branches breaking in the distance. Something is moving closer. Rish struggles to look through a yellow mist. A hazy neon green and fiery yellow flame appears a hundred yards away.

Roughly the size of a German shepherd, the torchlike figure draws closer, then becomes identifiable: the creature has rakelike claws and sharp teeth. It burns yellow but does not seem to be in pain. Its jaws slowly spread apart…yellow liquid oozes from its mouth. The creature glares at Rish as if it’s savoring the meal to come….

Rish: Hey, cutie.