Angel: Epilogue

Sept 6, 2057

        In the National Cemetary in Chattanooga, Tennessee, a large pedestal is unveiled, supporting a group of life sized bronze figures. A gaunt man kneels by the wreckage of an aircar. In his left arm, he cradles the body of a woman, her limp wings draping to the ground. Seven bullet holes pierce her angelic gown. In his other hand, he holds a radio. His face, raised to the sky, is etched with an awful remorse.
        A plaque bolted to the pedestal reads:

POLK COUNTY WAR

TENNESSEE

On June 15, 2056, 37 FORCE Deputies moved on Reverend Jacobson’s Pure Earth League and the Greater United States Secessionist Movement. In the three-week war that ensued, five agents lost their lives, seventeen mutants were rescued and the Greater United States Secessionist Movement was crushed.

                         In Memoriam:

Sgt. Norman S. Skiller, Deputy — Aug 28, 2056

Lt. Marvin W. Abler, Deputy — Aug 30, 2056

Sgt. Thomas R. Dugger, Deputy — Sept 3, 2056

Sgt. Lee T. Cooke, Deputy — Sept 4, 2056

Lt. Alaina Hazelton - Angel, Deputy — Sept 6, 2056

Sept 7, 2057

        A new song is introduced on the Country Music circuit. It breaks Gold in its first week, crossing genres to become the #1 hit in the country for nine straight weeks. The song: Mutant Burning. No one will admit to recording or producing the original release. After a year of investigation, the author was discovered. All royalties were given to FORCE.

MUTANT BURNING

by Thomas Edward Drake

Oh, I was just a nobody, until the aliens came,

And hunted thru our peaceful skies and play’d their deadly game

Of cat-and-mouse, until our skies erupted with their hell,

And raining down upon all men, the radiation fell.

It crept into the genes of men, and there it left its stain,

Its incubus of shame and dread, its all-consuming pain.

Insane, deformed, or different, we chang’d under its stress,

And men began to hate and kill, the mutant to suppress.

They say I’m just a mutant, and I’m only fit to burn,

Ne’er asking what I want from life, or towards what goals I yearn.

I never ask’d to be this way, but now I have to die,

Because one day, some aliens came, and battled in our sky.

I didn’t know that I’d been changed until one fateful day

A mutant-hunt went down our street; a man was left to lay.

Not knowing what was wrong with him, I brought him back from death;

I heal’d his knife-wounds and his bones, and gave him back his breath.

My healing powers grew and grew, I could but it obey,

A healing nimbus ’round my form, I could not say it nay.

And then my wings began to grow, no longer could I bide

Within the town I knew so well; I had to run and hide.

Although some call me Angel, now, and prais’d my healing skill;

Still others called me Satan’s Own, and wanted me to kill.

At last, one day, it happen’d, and a traitor bade me stay;

A mob of people took me then, I could not get away.

And no-one came to help me now, to save me from their glee,

They whipped me and they hurt me and they took my clothes from me,

And naked to the burning-post, they bound me, wrist and thigh,

And they threw wood upon the heap as people shouted, “Die!”

A sudden rush, a booming voice, and lasers stabbing down,

The torch that meant to take my life lies gutt’ring on the ground.

And, “This is FORCE, surrender now!”, the voice above me said.

A burst of shots, the laser’s hiss, and then five men lie dead.

Then frighten’d and outnumbered, the others break and run,

Not wanting to face punishment for the evil they had done.

A man lands close beside me now, a lone FORCE Deputy;

And when I ask, he laughs and says, “There’s no-one else, just me.”