For Me

For my Family

For my Friends

For my Kids who aren’t my kids, but are

For Allee

I hope I make you proud…

Thank you to Alyson Lee, my Beta, who made my work so much better.

You are a gem

Artwork by: Pauline Mac

Please consider that I’ve put a lot of hard work into this story. If you have enjoyed it, great, please let me know. But please, do not plagerize this material as you will be taking that which you have not earned.

Dare To Be Different

Persistance, Patience, and Perserverance Pays Off

And I’m aiming for the stars

The trouble started almost two minutes ago. Tim was visiting his sister, Annie, at the creche where she worked. He was playing around behind Annie’s back, amusing the kids, making faces, when the vibrations started. At first he thought it was some hot jock pilot buzzing the building to give the kids a thrill, but when the vibrations didn’t stop, increasing instead, Tim knew something was wrong. He helped Annie get the kids down to an evacuation point then turned tail and ran.

Gravel dug deep into his palms, as Tim scrambled to his feet, after being knocked down by an invisible force. He kept running. His heart pounded when he glanced back. Buildings were starting to fall like dominoes, as if being shaken apart, and they were coming straight for him. He didn’t have much time. He turned forward and put on as much speed as he could.

It wasn’t a huge distance, but it seemed to take forever before the Laboratory Block came into view. Tim knew it would probably mean his death, but he ran inside just the same.

Organized chaos was what he came across as he flew through the door.  People streamed out of the emergency stairs and raced for the exits. Out one door, out another. There were no hysterics, but fear and a desperate need to escape, was clear to see.

Tim shepherded people toward the exits as he fought his way through. He had to get to his husband. “JOE!” he screamed as he broke free of the horde.  A sudden blast of air slammed him to the ground and onto his back. He opened his eyes and came face to face with danger. He couldn't breathe. The imposing replica of the shuttle Enterprise above his head was moving. Despite being tethered by reinforced steel, the big hulking mass of metal was bouncing - big time. Tim felt extremely vulnerable... and small. His pulse raced as he scrambled to his feet. "Where’s Joe?"

“Come on!” Joe's order echoed across the massive foyer.

Tim ran towards his husband who was holding a door open, ushering people out of the emergency stairwell. Tim pointed to a young man who was  standing at the halfway point between Joe and the exit, ushering people to the exit . “Get out, Alex!” he yelled as he ran.

“You sure?” Alex yelled.

Tim nodded. “Go! I’ll help Joe.” He didn’t wait for a response, but he saw Alex nod as he ran for the exit. 

“Keep running!” Joe screamed.

"Joe!" Tim yelled.

“Do you know what’s going on?” Joe asked as he continued to guide people to safety.

Tim shook his head. “Not a clue.” He instinctively reached out when one person stumbled over another, and fell in their frantic quest to evacuate. What could have amounted to a disaster was avoided when Joe quickly dragged them out of the way, preventing more people from following suit.

“Keep running!” Tim screamed at the two who fell, when they stopped to check for injuries. Nobody had time for that. The two stared at Tim for a few seconds, blinking wildly, before they found their momentum and ran.

The sound of their feet, crushing segments of ceiling that had already fallen under the pressure of the vibrations, was nothing compared to the sound of Tim’s pulse drumming in his ears. His heart was ready to explode out of his chest.

He tried not to look at the walls that were moving and closing in around him. He swallowed hard against the image of being trapped... 

“Keep running!”

Joe's urgent plea snapped Tim out of his sudden inertia. He stared in disbelief when Joe disappeared behind the door. “What are you doing?” he yelled, running as fast as his shaking legs would let him.  He pushed past the last of the workers spilling from the staircase in their desperate bid for safety, He opened his mouth to once again call for his husband when Joe reappeared. 

“I was just checking,” he said.

Tim grabbed his arm. “We’ve gotta go.”

They spun as one, ran as one, and headed for the exit - checking for stragglers as they did.

“When we get out,” Joe said, out of breath.

“Yeah?”

“We’ve got to investigate this phenomenon, cause this isn't normal.”

They ran a few steps more.

“When we get out,” Tim said, just as breathlessly.

“Yeah?”

Tim glanced at his husband. “We’re going for a drink.”

Joe chuckled. “That too.”

As they neared the suspended Enterprise one of the cables anchoring it in place suddenly snapped, causing the nose of the aircraft to drop at an alarming angle. It swung in a slow arc for a heartbeat before, with a sickening grind, the whole thing came down, bringing the ceiling along with it. The noise was deafening…

Tim and Joe scrambled to the right, but there was already a mound of rubble in their way. They turned to the left, then turned again…

“No!” Joe yelled.

They had no way out.

“Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.” Tim spun around. “What’re we going to…”

Windows exploded above them, raining down shards of glass. They did their best to protect themselves from the deadly missiles, but it was futile. Tim could feel the stinging cuts as the glass shredded his clothes and cut through to his skin. “We’re not going to make it, Joe!”

“Yes we are.” Joe took him by the arm and led them towards the wide staircase that led from the mezzanine floor to the first. It was made of reinforced steel, so Tim could only hope that it would provide them with some protection. They skidded across the floor together, feet first, under the stairs, glass cutting deeper and deeper. 

Then the roar began - a precursor to the coming disaster. Tim tried to breathe. “We’re gonna die.”

Joe took his hand, and squeezed. “Not with me around.”

Tim kept eye contact with his husband when, all too soon, the building collapsed around them. “I love you…”