Revolutionary Triathlete Nessa

    It’s been 70 years since the Federation for Peace finished their conquest. A brutal and bloody campaign unified the entire country under the control of their military. 2 years later food rations got announced. The earth was scorched and salted during the war and crops were refusing to grow around the world. It wasn’t long before rebellions started to pop up in scattered spots around the globe. The news portrayed them as WarMongers hell-bent on ending world peace. To me, they just seemed hungry. My Nana says it’s a blessing in disguise to have not known what it was like before the rations. I think I know what she means but I would still like to know what a full belly feels like. Revolutions were put down quickly and with great force. Military positions were given the highest salaries, the most food rations, and the best living accommodations, they were everyone’s dream jobs. The race started in year 10, the Federation said it was their way of replenishing numbers after the war. Radical media sites preached that it was really for psychological oppression. About a year later the Federation passed the Media Reform Act and from then on all media platforms were controlled by the Military too. The winners of the race are given a position in the Federation and all of the salary and benefits that it includes. Of course, those who don’t win rarely come home, and never come home the same.

My parents raced in year 60, I was only 10 at the time. The victor's ceremony was televised so I knew my Dad won, but I didn’t see what happened to my Mom. Either way, no one came home afterward and I’ve been with Nana ever since. 2 years ago Nana got sick, it started as a cold but it only ever got worse, she was bedridden in a matter of weeks. Before the year was over my Nana died, she was the last thing keeping me on this godforsaken planet. The race was only two weeks away. I remember thinking I was only going to be alone for 2 weeks then I would never be alone again.

***

The first leg was around the island, it was a 5-mile boat race and was notoriously deadly. About a third of the 25 people who joined the race would die before we got off the boats. I was in Thunderclap, it was my Dad’s boat and he was in first place coming out of the first leg. Part of me wanted to take my mom’s boat, Lightning Bolt, it’s faster but smaller and my mom got pushed off her mark and it cost her time. If I was going to win this I was going to need to bully my way through the first two legs so that anyone bigger than me couldn’t catch me in the third. My starting plan was to hang back pretty far so I didn’t risk antagonizing anyone but I could start to head in at exactly 45 seconds to go and I should cross the starting line right at 0. The wind was howling, blowing leaves off the trees and into the water just to get crushed and drowned by the white caps of the waves. The course record was an hour and 13 minutes, I’ve done it in an hour and 5 but I didn’t have other people to worry about. I needed to turn around now. I couldn’t get distracted, I pressed start on my watch and spun the boat around until I was positioned straight at the tip of the island going through the starting line. As I was racing towards the start line, I noticed a huge man in the biggest single-person boat I’ve ever seen coming up behind me. Further behind him, I could see the water rippling, this could only mean one thing. There was a gust coming, and a big one at that. “Shit” I muttered under my breath. At this rate, a gust will push me across the start too early. If I’m gonna start this race on time I’m gonna need to slow down. I didn’t have much time to think but this huge boat trailing me might work in my favor. If I could get behind his sail when this gust hits then I wouldn’t catch any wind and I’d slow down.

I let the main loose a bit and I could feel Thunderclap slowing down as the big barrel-chested man kept speeding up past me. He laughed as he came up beside me assuming I’d lost control of the sail by accident. At that moment the gust hit and the man was knocked back as his boat lurched forward propelling across the start line just before the siren blared. Simultaneously I pulled the mainsail back in and harnessed the rest of the gust to get my speed back as close as I could to where it was. I crossed the starting line almost at full speed right at zero seconds. But I was in first place, so far so good. As I raced towards the point of the island I took a second to look behind me. The barrel-chested man had just turned around and was finally starting the race. The closest person to me was about half a boat length of open water behind, they had a slim, small, all-white boat that looked like it should be really fast but on a rough day like this she was taking too much water over the sides and it was slowing her down. I was glad that I decided to take Thunderclap, with rough conditions like this a slightly bigger boat made a huge difference. As I jibed around the endpoint I saw the Barrel chested man was gaining speed and leaving a trail of wreckage behind him. 4 boats didn’t even make it past the start line another 10 had sunk or given up already. Good, the fewer people the better there was still a lot of race left and I couldn’t have anyone catching up.

The second half of the sailing race was more or less uneventful, the big barrel-chested man took down another 7 people and climbed his way into 3rd but didn’t have enough time to catch the skinnier man in the small boat. Meanwhile, I had expanded my lead to a solid 2 boat lengths of open water. I wanted a larger lead at this point. The second leg was a horse race, and easily my slowest leg. It wasn’t all my fault we just couldn’t afford a fast horse. I had been training with my parents for this race for as long as I could remember. At first, I was just on the sidelines watching my parents train, but over time I joined them, it was the only fun I ever knew. I remember when we built Thunderclap and Lightning Bolt. It took us the better part of a year but we were good friends with the harbormaster and he didn’t mind us holing up for hours to work. 

As I drifted into the dock I dropped the main then flew off the boat throwing the line to a race official to tie down. From there I sprinted to find my horse, both my mother and father’s horses had to be retired, they were far too old for this race. I was riding Calypso, my own horse. She was tough and I had learned how to ride on her, but I feared she wasn’t going to be fast enough to win this race. I would have to think of something if my lead got threatened. Calypso felt ready to burst into action and she took off as soon as I got into her saddle. The second leg of the race was a 50-mile horse race straight through the desert. It was going to take another couple of hours, and I was already starting to breathe heavy. In the distance behind me, I could see another horse galloping and I started to panic. The man in the slender boat may not have been a particularly skilled sailor but his boat was intricate and beautiful. Similarly, he didn’t seem to be a strong rider, but he was on a beautiful all-white Arabian horse and was gaining on me quickly. Luckily as I saw him bouncing uncomfortably around on the horse I thought of another idea.

I brought Calypso directly in front of the skinny man and began to stand up on the horse. I could see the man was scared, he barely had control over his horse and he had no idea what I was planning to do. Without a word I jumped off Calypso and kicked the man off his horse while falling into the saddle myself. In truth, the man was far stronger than I thought he would be, if he weren’t already unbalanced from riding so fast he wouldn’t have fallen and I would be in big trouble. As I grabbed the reins and began to speed up in my new steed I noticed the barrel-chested man in the distance as well. Mounted atop an enormous black stallion it took time to get up to max speed but anyone who passed him before that had been mowed down. The barrel-chested man was also wielding a spear to cut the legs of the other contestants' horses. I couldn’t see anyone behind the barrel-chested man anymore, it was likely they were either dead or disheartened, it had come down to three people and only two had a horse. The last time I looked behind me in the second leg was when the barrel-chested man caught up with the skinnier man. I half expected to see some heroic attempt to get back in the race but instead, I just witnessed the only other competitor in the race get skewered as the barrel-chested man threw his spear and committed to riding at full speed.

The rest of the second leg felt like a blur. I didn’t have time to look back anymore. I knew who was behind me and what would happen if he caught me, there was only ever one option; Win. The finish line of the second leg was the tree line to an enormous forest. The last leg was a foot race through the densest part of the largest forest left in the world. 5 miles of pathless forest darkness, this was the only part of the race that couldn’t be televised because the contestants can’t be found in the brush. The last time I ever saw my mom was when she sprinted into these woods. I felt a tear welling in my eye as I approached the tree line. I quickly wiped it away and forgot about it, this was not the time for emotion, I had a race to win. 

The first thing I noticed after I broke through the tree line was that the visibility was very low. There was a dense fog coming from deep in the forest and soon I wouldn’t be able to see at all. I kept pushing through the brush but I had to be careful with every step, there were poisonous plants and insects in these woods. I couldn’t afford a single misstep. I wasn’t progressing as fast as I wanted to but if I died before the finish line my speed wouldn’t matter. Through the trees, I could see sunlight beaming through. I hurried my pace to see what it was, it felt way too close to be the finish line. As I came up to the end of the tree line I saw a huge open field with waist-high wild grass. On the other side was just another tree line, it looked like the field was almost a perfect square. Most people’s instinct would be to run straight through the field, but that was almost certainly a trap. Most of the species of poisonous insects live in tall grass and latch on to animals that brush against it, without a machete to bushwhack, it was practically suicide. I couldn’t be sure but it looked like going around would add a solid half an hour to my trip, if the guy behind me could push through the field he’d be able to catch up. It was a risk I was going to have to take, I hurried along the tree line where the visibility was at its best and made my way around the field. Before I could even turn the corner I heard a noise in the trees. Suddenly the barrel-chested man burst out of the tree line covered in cuts and scratches, holding an enormous machete. He saw me running along the treeline and we briefly made eye contact, he smiled at me and began cutting his way into the field. I could feel the panic start to head in, not only was he closer than I thought, but he also had a machete and would be able to go straight through the field. I shook it off and started to run. I had no time to panic or worry. I had to play it safe but go as fast as I possibly could. 

I got to the end of the field faster than I thought but I no longer had any idea if I had the lead. I just decided to sprint into the forest, the fog instantly got dense again and my nerves started to creep back up. I decided to stop and take a deep breath again. The most important thing was getting to the end alive, if I gave up on being safe now there’s no telling what would happen. I kept progressing through the forest and eventually I could hear heavy breathing up ahead of me. I sped up until I could just barely make out the barrel-chested man. Something was wrong, he was moving very slow and he was limping. He must have lost the machete at some point in the field because he wasn’t using it now and he didn’t look like he was going to make it much further. Up ahead of him I could make out another clearing in the trees, I was far more confident this was going to be the finish line. The barrel-chested man had conveniently cleared a path through the forest for me so I took off in a full-on sprint to catch up. As I caught up it developed into a footrace, he was ahead of me but I was gaining on him quickly. Nothing I had done in this race mattered unless I could catch up, my legs felt like gelatin at this point but I refused to listen to the pain. I was about to catch up when we broke through the tree line, about 100 meters ahead of us we could see the finish line and a huge group of soldiers waiting silently at attention. Despite the exhaustion and the pain, both the man and I picked up the pace and emptied our tanks I was still gaining on him but less now. I was starting to feel my legs give out. As the end got closer I knew I was going to have to dive for the finish line if I wanted any chance. I didn’t know if my legs would have enough energy but I would have to try. I closed my eyes and just jumped with everything that I could muster. I didn’t open them again until I hit the ground, lying next to me was the barrel-chested man who seemed to have collapsed right after he crossed the finish line. I asked him who won but he didn’t know either, suddenly I noticed four pairs of black boots appear in front of me. I looked up to see what appeared to be military officials.

“After review, we have determined that you crossed the finish line together and therefore we have a tie. This is highly irregular, however not unheard of. In the entire history of the race, there has only been one other tie. We will resolve the situation the same way. Only one of you may join our ranks, the other has talent and reason for vengeance and therefore must die. To prove you are military material you must kill the other contestant. That is all.” The military official spun and left just like that, leaving me and the man speechless.

I looked over at him and he looked like he barely had the strength to stand, I could finally see what was wrong with him. It looked like he had been attacked by an animal in the grass, he had claw marks all up and down his back and what looked like to be a seriously poisonous insect bite on his calf. I forced myself to my feet, my head was spinning and my lips were cracked from dehydration. I noticed that the military official had left a knife lying in the mud so I stumbled over to pick it up. I turned around to see that the barrel-chested man had made it to his knees.

“What’s your name?” I asked, tears already welling in my eyes.

The man spat blood out onto the ground in front of him “It’s Erik” he said. 

“My name is Agnes but everyone calls me Nessa, I am sorry for this, you were a worthy competitor,” without a warning I slashed the knife across his neck killing Erik instantly.

“Well done Nessa,” a familiar voice said behind me. I turned around and saw that everyone had already started filing back into their transports. The only person in front of me now was my father with a big smile on his face.

“D-Dad?”

“We will have time to catch up but first we have to deal with some formalities and I’m sure you have some questions.” My father grabbed my hand and held his over mine squeezing them tightly. “I’m sure you’re aware of this but winning means you will join me in the Federation ranks, what you do not know is that in the time that I have been here I have risen to general of this army. I have always known that you would join me here and take your rightful place at my side.”

I pulled my hands out of his grasp and took a step back. I had so many emotions flooding into my brain, I had never killed a person before and I was also finally seeing my father. Tears started to fall from my eyes but I was able to choke out my response. “I never gave up, I never stopped training. I just have one question, and I am ready to leave with you. What happened to Mom?”

My father's eyes shot to the floor before meeting my gaze. “We worked it out perfectly, we figured we couldn’t guarantee a solo victory but with a partner, you would have an advantage. The only reason it never worked for others is they figured they’d have to betray their partner before the end. We thought if we crossed over together they would accept us both.”

“Wait-- you crossed together? But -- you couldn’t have.”

“You will come to learn that these sacrifices are what make us strong, Death is as natural as life, it is also just as unforgiving. I know you know this better than most, Nana was taken from you too, and it gave you the courage to find me.”

“Those are not the same! Nana got sick there was nothing that could have been done, but you killed her, your own wife, my Mom!” My emotions were still boiling over and I was still taking in way too much information, I feel like I didn’t really know my father. I felt like everything I had dreamed of was a lie.

“They are not so different, you have much to learn. You cannot save everyone, the good of the many outweighs the good of the few. Your mother and your grandmother, even poor Erik here were sacrifices made for our benefi-”

“-I have one more question. I interrupted.” There was something that bothered me about what my father was saying, he kept talking about Nana and my mother and Erik in the same way referring to them as sacrifices. And he also said he always knew I would end up joining him. I wiped away my tears and forced out my question as sternly as I could. “Did you poison Nana so I would be alone and forced to come to find you?”

My father looked genuinely surprised by the question. Suddenly he relaxed and chuckled. “You’re even more perceptive than I gave you credit for. I wasn’t going to tell you that until I thought you'd understand.”

“Well there’s your mistake - I’ll never understand that. How could you murder your own innocent family members and say it was for my benefit. You are a monster.”

“I cannot express to you how much it pains me to hear you say that. You will understand, in time, I promise. Not all lives can be saved, there is a greater purpose and a plan for those who are gifted.”

“And you deem yourself worthy enough to judge who is gifted and who is a sacrifice.” I spit at his feet. I didn’t even recognize my own father. More than ever, more than when Nana died, more than when my parents left me, I felt so alone in the world. I truly had no more family left anymore. I don’t know what possessed me at the moment but I have no regrets. Without another word I turned and sprinted in the opposite direction. I still had my knife, I could hide in the forest for as long as I needed but I couldn’t spend another second with the man who used to be my father. As I got to the tree line I looked back and saw that no one chased me.

“Out of love you may run, but I will find you, Nessa, you will take your rightful place at my side. It is a destiny you cannot hide from.” My father yelled out after me as I descended into the jungle.

***

I was on my own for a while, and I’ve been running ever since. I found other people with grudges against the military though. We’ve been sowing the seeds of revolution ever since. The people are coming to take back their planet.