Battlefield Read Free Page B

eyes never once left the man, almost as though he were trying to intimidate their visitor, but JD doubted it would work.
    Alan reached into a pants pocket and pulled out a small shining orb. It glowed and radiated with a similar red light to what Alan had projected earlier—if not more potent. It was beautiful, so much so in fact that JD couldn't help but reach out his hand to touch it.
    â€œWow,” he said breathlessly. Now it was Cadence's turn to be the voice of reason. She smacked his hand, and he instantly coiled it back against him. “Ow, not cool. What'd you do that for?”
    â€œCause you shouldn't touch it,” she said. She glanced over at Alan and bit her lower lip worried as to how he would react. “What if it kills you?”
    â€œOr gives me sweet super powers.” It made sense to him, and having super powers was not something he would miss out on just because she had no spine. JD batted at her hands a little and moved in to touch the shining object again.
    â€œIt could be radioactive or whatever it's called,” she added.
    â€œHello, that's how you get super powers.”
    â€œAnd cancer,” Orlando replied casually. “By all means, touch it so we can see what happens.”
    JD looked from the shining orb to Alan and sighed. “What is it? What's it do?”
    â€œIt doesn't give special abilities or cancer,” Alan said and motioned for all of them to move closer to get a better look. “I suppose you could compare this to a more sophisticated version of your portable DVD player. Only it's more powerful and more compact. This movie, I guess you could call it that, will explain things a lot better than I can.
    â€œThe information may not make sense right away. In fact, you might not realize you've even seen anything until some time later, or I should say, you might not realize how much you've seen. We're not quite sure what it does to human brains from your planet, but they assured me that since you are chosen, you'll be fine.”
    Orlando and Cadence took hesitant steps forward to peer down at the ball of light. That hadn't sounded reassuring or convincing to JD. However, he stared inside the orb out of pure curiosity alone. He wondered if they felt the same way.
    The more focused his eyes became, the more he could see beyond the mass of red and burning brightness. In this orb, JD saw puppy- and kitty-like animals playing with small children.
    â€œAltura,” a voice narrated in his mind as different images continued to flash before his eyes. Instead of cute animals and children, he saw large glass cities that sparkled in the sunshine like precious gems . “A planet similar to Earth, and only slightly larger in size, is home to 9,000,265,563 individuals. Alturans are similar to Earth humans in body shape and mass. The differences in genetics are slight.
    â€œThe planet’s nations are divided into tribes. Each one sports its own animal and color, much like the nations of Earth. Also much like the countries of Earth, the tribes of Altura ally and war with one another. Two nations of Blue and Green have declared war on the peaceful Yellow and Purple. This war has expanded off of Altura and out into the depths of the universe. The next location for their battle is Earth. Other countries, including the nation of Red, have put it upon themselves to stop this expansion.”
    The voice stopped, and the light dimmed until the ball was nothing more than a dead, black shell.
    â€œThat was...” Cadence started.
    â€œInformative?” Orlando supplied for her.
    â€œAmazing,” JD stated and nodded at her. This was almost like a dream come true for him. He'd been waiting for so long for something interesting to happen.
    She shook her head at them both. “Disturbing.”
    Orlando scratched his chin. “You've definitely got my interest piqued, Alan. But I gotta ask, why us? Why involve us in this?”
    JD wanted to ask if any