Seven Shades of Guilt

By Sergio I. Carrera and Julio Martínez

This symbolic story recounts the lives of Charlotte and Jack, two among thousands of victims of religious intolerance, who flee from the intransigence that reigns in their natal planet, and arrive at a region harassed by ghosts. The warrior ghosts represent the mistakes and memories of a painful past. Guilt and losses, turned into obsession, take the form of inner ghosts that threaten the very essence of a human being and drive him into annihilation.

Facing the inevitable devastation caused by the passing of time, not even a taxidermist, who stuffs and preserves a past event, can give life to what has already ceased to be. Only fantasy offers a refuge from the capricious destruction of death. Trying to remain, at whatever cost, in the unreal world of memories, the mind is blurred, distorted and becomes a trap.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Palibrio
• Release date: Dec 28, 2017
• ISBN: 9781506523477

Sergio I. Carrera

Sergio I. Carrera and Julio Csar Martnez Romero studied screenwriting at the General Society of Writers of Mexico (SOGEM). Sergio holds a degree in Psychology. He studied Method Acting and he has attended directing, production and filmmaking workshops. Julio is an academic assistant at the National University of Mexico (UNAM) and professor of Differential Equations at the Undergraduate Program on Genomic Sciences. He has taught mathematics since 1985.

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Copyright © 2018 by Sergio I. Carrera; Julio Martínez.

Library of Congress Control Number:             2017919731

ISBN:                   Hardcover                                   978-1-5065-2346-0

                            Softcover                                     978-1-5065-2345-3

                            eBook                                           978-1-5065-2347-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 26/12/2017

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CONTENTS

Chapter 1 Shades of Red

Chapter 2 Shades of Orange

Chapter 3 Shades of Yellow

Chapter 4 Shades of Green

Chapter 5 Shades of Blue

Chapter 6 Shades of Indigo

Chapter 7 Shades of Violet

The authors thank Gilles Figuier and Ismael Alvarez León for their valuable comments. The models on the cover and interior of the book are Noelle Ann Mabry and Gilles Figuier. All photographs were taken by Ron Polk.

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CHAPTER 1

Shades of Red

Alexander Ivanovich Kazarian, Sasha, was not yet a man, but he was no longer a young boy. Skinny and tall, beautiful and kind, Sasha’s voice was deep and passionate. His fellow warriors were his age or even younger. They sat around a campfire and they listened enthralled by Sasha’s passion.

- When a boy is the only one in his class to answer correctly every question in an exam, he should be extremely proud of his achievement. That is the healthy reaction to being successful. However, it would not be so healthy if he imagined that all his answers were right, and then killed all his classmates for having their answers wrong according to his fantasy. It sounds preposterous but it is exactly what the Fundamentalist Alliance is doing. They believe that God revealed their truth to them in their Holy Books, that they are the only ones who hold the true answers, that everyone else is mistaken, and that all those who do not embrace their faith must die.

A faint sound was heard. Sasha shut up. It seemed like a rhythmic drum, far away.

- Explosions. - A girl said. - Still far away.

- At this very crucial moment, we are preparing ourselves for a definitive battle against the Fundamentalist Alliance. Ours is a quest for survival. They believe that they hold the truth and that we, who do not accept their faith, must die. We are advocates of diversity. We think that human beings have to adapt to new environments and new situations. We believe in the freedom to choose and to express a variety of ideas. We fight for tolerance. We are convinced that intransigence and selfishness lead to destruction. Progress, growth, and solutions to problems can only arise from a profusion of different thoughts.

The explosions were approaching them. Sasha was quiet again.

- We were able to join our forces tonight because one man, my father Jack, called the Taxidermist, left this planet a long time ago, the planet where humankind originated, the Planet of Origin. He went to outer space, fought his inner ghosts, guilt and fears. Once he had conquered his own mind, he was able to organize all of us. This is the story that I am going to tell you tonight. It is a love story too. There is a girl in our tale, Charlotte, the girl he loved, my mother. However, this story does not start with either of them, but with my two grandfathers.

I

- When a fox sneaks into a henhouse, hens panic. In the general confusion, they flutter all around in anguish. The fox realizes that the hens cannot escape because they are confined. The hunter is overwhelmed by a murderous frenzy, and kills them all. The only predictable outcome is a massacre. This is our case now, Ludwig! Are we going to wait for them to annihilate us? Why don’t we leave? Why do we stay here and risk our lives and Charlotte’s? When the invasion begins, the Conservative Alliance will kill us all.

Ludwig watched Helmut attentively and wondered how many more times they would repeat this very same discussion. How could Ludwig make Helmut realize that there would be no such an invasion?

- Please, Helmut, how is it that we always end up repeating the same arguments?

- Why don’t you listen to me?

- There will be no invasion, Helmut. There will be no massacre. The Conservative Alliance will not exterminate us like chicken. The Progressive Front will never allow it. They will not let the conservatives seize the Planet of Origin. Our planet represents humanity. He who controls this planet will have the power.

- The Planet of Origin is a very important symbol, but it has no strategic value. It is too costly to defend a planet. The situation is very different with the space cities. He who holds control over them, will be the one who wins the war.

- The war will not be won solely by military strategy. In the minds of all, the Planet of Origin is the symbol of victory. To yield the planet would be to admit defeat. There will be no invasion, you can be sure of that.

- I would really like you to be right and I wish I were completely wrong, but I fear that the invasion is imminent.

-Helmut, if I do not leave right now, I won’t have time to take Charlotte to the kindergarten.

Ludwig took Charlotte in his arms, lifting her from the chair where she had just had breakfast. She clung to his side as if she were a baby koala. Still talking, Ludwig walked to the door to leave the apartment that the three of them shared.

- You can’t imagine the amount of work I will have today. Yesterday, a batch of hundreds of nightmares arrived at the Dream Analysis Laboratory. Guess how many of those nightmares I have to process? All of them! All of them were dreamt by adolescents. Can you believe it? While the other employees spend their mornings drinking coffee and chatting, I work endlessly, do you know why? Because teens are haunted by the notion of a non-existent invasion. Only you, the very young, believe that the Conservative Alliance will invade us. Teenagers worry and they have nightmares. Since I am the only one specialized in that age group, it is my job to help them process all their worries.

Ludwig left the apartment with Charlotte and closed the door behind him.

II

Ludwig was just arriving at the Dream Analysis Laboratory (DAL) when his phone rang. As if he had not enough work ahead, Helmut insisted on harassing him with his concerns. The invasion was becoming an obsession for his young companion.

- Ludwig, they just announced that the invasion began. Right now, I am going to the kindergarten to fetch Charlotte. I’ll meet you at the airport. I’m going to prepare the Horus to get away. We’ll leave as soon as you get there.

Incredulous, Ludwig watched the screens that were all over the walls of the DAL. All transmissions had been interrupted. Helmut was right, the invasion had begun.

III

Collective panic seized the population. Simultaneously, thousands of ships were leaving the Planet of Origin trying to reach any space cities that were still under the control of the Progressive Front. In the distance, the huge ships of the Conservative Alliance descended to the planet. It was not their goal per se to destroy the fugitives. Apparently, they were just killing them by protocol. Around the Horus, other ships exploded in space. Helmut was a very skillful pilot and he avoided the debris of the damaged ships and the projectiles that, by dozens, were fired from the Conservative warships on them.

Having dodged quite a number of debris and shots, Helmut finally reached orbit. In that moment, a squadron of enemy ships changed course and headed toward them.

- Ludwig, run to the turret, we need to put ourselves in position to achieve light speed and escape.

Ludwig fired against the enemy ships that were following them and reached two before being shot by the alpha spaceship, one of the largest of the fleet. The Horus rocked all along its full extent.

- Helmut, we will never make it out of the planet. - Ludwig was concerned.

- Of course, we will. All you have to do it is to concentrate all the energy and form a shield in front of our ship.

- But that way we will leave our rear unprotected.

- Ludwig, please! Just this time, don’t argue. We have no time for doubts now.

Helmut changed the direction of their ship and he drove on for a suicidal crash against the huge mother ship of the Conservative Alliance. All the enemy ships followed them immediately. The mother ship began shooting in their direction. Horus was between two fires. Ahead, projectiles were shot from the mother ship. From the rear, the alpha ship and a squadron of enemy ships attacked them.

Helmut dodged the shots by turning and changing position. The projectiles from the mother ship blew up several of its own ships that were following the Horus, until those ships preferred to disperse. However, the alpha ship continued chasing them. A missile from the mother ship hit the Horus, but the shield stood strong upon the impact. About to crash against the mother ship, Helmut turned into one of the turbines of the mother ship and passed through a gap between the turbine and the wing. The Alpha ship tried to perform the same maneuver, but it was too large and crashed against the turbine of the mother ship.

- Well done, Helmut.

Helmut drove the Horus behind the mother ship. He activated the propellant that would bring them to the speed of light, and flew out into infinity without looking back. They never knew that the damage that they had inflicted upon the mother ship was enough to start a chain reaction that blew up the mother ship into a thousand pieces. Thus, it was Ludwig and Helmut, who delayed the invasion. Nevertheless, they never knew that if, instead of running away, they would have turned back to the Planet of Origin, they would have been received as heroes and they would have been remembered by history as such. Since they never returned, the only evidence of their feat was a satellite image showing a small ship that had wiped out the giant, just as David had done with Goliath. The images of the anonymous heroes were spread all around the Planet of Origin and shown on all screens.

IV

Valchonak, the wolf, ran and jumped nimbly around a circle. Ivan stood in the center of that circle. Valchonak looked like a grayish ivory lightning. Its long legs barely left tracks on the snow. Ivan spun on his legs twirling a stuffed rabbit at the end of a rope. Valchonak’s purpose was to catch that rabbit. The boy laughed every time his pet jumped trying to reach the rabbit and did not succeed. Even though he was only ten, Ivan was very tall. His skin complexion was hazel and his hair was black, as black as were his eyebrows, eyelashes and eyes. He was very thin and looked like an unreal creature. He looked like a character from the One Thousand Nights and a Night.

A rumble was heard from behind the hills, it sounded like an approaching engine. Valchonak stopped running and turned