Lincoln

Lincoln stood on the roof of the Complex and peered at the bright structures that crowded the city. He noted that the sun was getting lower in the sky, and the buildings would soon lose their white exterior in favor of a more heat absorbing black. He then took a deep breath and leapt over the railing. Speeding head first toward the street, Lincoln reached into his pack, grabbed his plasma chain, and attacked a molecular bonding unit. After he dropped about a thousand stories, he shot his plasma chain at the side of an adjacent building. It stuck and the chain gave just enough so Lincoln’s wouldn’t get ripped arm off. Lincoln swung toward the other building and in one fluid motion; he repelled off the side, detached the chain, retracted it, and fired it down toward the lower floors of a building up ahead. The chain once again stuck to the side and Lincoln hit the retracted button, causing him to hurtle toward the wall. Before he smashed against the building, he let go of the button and slowed himself down just enough so he could stick his particle blade into the wall and slide down to the street.

Lincoln began sprinting as soon as his feet hit the ground. He flew through the alley, constantly looking back over his shoulder. He then made a sudden turn onto a narrow street between two commerce buildings and ran toward what appeared to be a small crack in the side of the building on the left. He reached the crack and paused for a moment to catch his breath. Lincoln looked around carefully and checked his sensors before finally pulling out a small, spherical device with a green strip running around its middle. He held the device up to the crack and pressed a button, causing the wall around it to flicker, and then fade into a door shaped hole. As Lincoln went through the doorway, he hit the button again and the wall reappeared as if it has always been there.

It was dark and there was very little space inside of the doorway. Lincoln grabbed blindly along the far wall until he felt a lever. He pulled it and a small opening formed in the floor. Quickly, Lincoln slid through the opening and fell down a dark tunnel. Lincoln soon landed and found himself in a pitch-black corridor. Believe it was now safe, he pulled out a small flashlight and checked his locator. After gathering his bearings, he started to run through the corridor. Several miles later, he reached what appeared to be a dead end. Lincoln then pulled out his optical enhancement prism and held it up to his eye. Through it, he saw a ladder that was invisible otherwise. Lincoln climbed up the latter and it led him through another tube. He went as fast as he could, while being careful not to lose his footing. After a few hundred feet, Lincoln reached the end of his climb. He lifted his hand up and pushed away a manhole cover that must have been centuries old.

Lincoln pulled himself out of the tunnel and dropped to the ground exhausted. As he lay there, he smiled. He looked up at the reddening sky as dusk approached. The wind was gentle and refreshing. Lincoln felt the grass rubbing against his body and was happy. This was Lincoln’s garden, and there was no other place he would rather be.

After a few minutes, he got up off the ground and walked toward a small tree growing in the center. It was a young tree, only about five years old, but it meant the world to him. Lincoln reached into his pack and pulled out a canteen of water. He watered the tree with the care of a mother nursing a child. He then sat down and began to gather his thoughts.

The time passed slowly in the garden. The outside world meant little here. Lincoln had been able to keep this place a secret for the past few years, and came to it often to get away. It grew just outside of the city, in the barren lands where factories and atmospheric stabilizers existed. It was situated inside a large mound of dirt the Lincoln had built to keep the garden hidden. Other than the garden, nothing grew in the Barrens. The land was cultivated to keep industry moving. The world had become mechanized; the garden became Lincoln’s only means to get away from it.

Lincoln sat there quietly and actually began to doze off. Everything was peaceful and quiet until a loud rushing sound broke the silence. Lincoln quickly stood up and reached for his accelerator pistol, but it was too late. Within seconds, several troops, clad in grey, got out of their high speed carriers and surrounded Lincoln like a swarm of locusts. They pointed their guns at Lincoln and began to move in. Lincoln had no choice but to drop his pistol and surrender. He fell to his knees and put his hands behind his head.

A voice then called out, “Do not take your guns off of him. He is far too dangerous for any of you to let your guard down.” Then a tall figure dressed in a black uniform made his way through the troops toward Lincoln. It was Captain Tiller, a high-ranking officer of the city’s protective services. He had come for Lincoln.

“Lincoln Cody, you are under arrest for unlicensed agricultural growth and unlawful harboring of flora particulates,” Tiller barked toward Lincoln. “You of all people should know better than to upset the balance that we have worked to create in the world. “

Lincoln glared at Tiller and said, “I seriously doubt that one little tree is upsetting your precious balance.”

“The balance is precious,” Tiller said with a grin. “And the tree is upsetting it. Along with these weeds. How can you look me in the eye and lie to me like that. You know that the O2 levels have been off and the stabilizers have been struggling to keep up. You reported it to me yourself. What the hell are you trying to accomplish?”

“I am not trying to do anything,” Lincoln snapped back as he began to climb back to his feet.

“Don’t bother getting up,” Tiller said sternly. He began to pace around Lincoln with his arms folded behind his back. “You were trained to use rational judgment in order to serve the greater good, so you should know that attacking me now is completely irrational.”

“The greater good? Let me tell you about the greater good,” Lincoln yelled in response. “These machines and this technology is good for…”

“Shut up,” Tiller said, cutting Lincoln off. “You words are like this tree here; meaningless. But I must admit that I am slightly amazed that you were able to grow anything here. Not only were you able to reverse the alkalinization process, but you were able to create a blind spot in the grid. Impressive to say the least, but that is to be expected from someone whose neuro-kinetics are in the top decitile.”

“What do you want,” asked Lincoln while he began eyeing up the pistol he dropped.

Tiller the reached down, grabbed Lincoln’s face, and lifted his chin and asked, “where did you get the seeds?”

“They were a gift,” Lincoln replied while his face was in the grasp of Tiller.

“A gift,” ask Tiller, dropping Lincoln’s chin. “From whom?”

Lincoln refused to answer. He just stared at the ground. Tiller grew impatient and pointed a gun at Lincoln’s head.

“Tell me now! Where did you get those seeds,” Tiller screamed.

Lincoln smiled and said, “if you kill me, then you will never know.”

Tiller then smash Lincoln in the head with the gun and kicked him in the face as he fell. Then Tiller ordered one of his men to set the garden on fire.

“No! PLEASE DON’T,” screamed Lincoln while coughing up blood. “You can’t! This is all I have left of them!”

“Them,” Tiller said raising an eyebrow and turning back toward Lincoln.

“My…my parents,” Lincoln said with tears forming in his eyes. “I used their ashes to help fertilize the soil. This is all I have left. You can’t take them away from me. Not again.”

“Take them away,” asked Tiller as he began to chuckle. “As I recall, you were the one that turned them in.”

Lincoln fought hard not to cry, not in front of Tiller. “I know…but it was a mistake. I see that now.”

“They broke the law, son.” Tiller looked down on Lincoln with eyes that were almost lifeless. “You did the right thing. They were a threat to the peace and had to be stopped.”

“No,” Lincoln replied. “They knew that this world wasn’t right, that it wasn’t supposed to be like this. I used to be ashamed of my parents. They handed me the seeds on the day they were executed. My father said ‘life is supposed to be alive.’ I thought he was just an unenlightened sloth. But now I see that he was right.”

“Touching,” Tiller said coldly. “But the law is the law and you must be arrested. Kenner, burn this place down.”

“NO!” screamed Lincoln as he rolled over to his pistol. Before he could grab it, Tiller kicked it away and turn his gun on Lincoln. Lincoln slapped Tiller’s hand, redirecting his shot. He then grabbed his particle slicer, but before he could use it, the troops shot him repeatedly. Lincoln dropped as blood poured from his wounds. With his last breath he wanted to tell Tiller that he was wrong and that the world was too big to control. But all he could say was “sorry.”

“Are you okay sir,” asked one of the troops.

“I’m fine,” Tiller replied. “Just grab the corpse and let’s get out of here.”

The trooper then asked, “What about the garden?”

“I said burn it,” Tiller answered.

With that, the troops lit the garden on fire and dragged Lincoln’s body through the deadened earth before tossing him into a carrier. Then the soldiers rode off, leaving the last tree on Earth to burn alone.