CREATIVE WRITING: A CONVERSATION WITH COLONEL MORGAN LANGTREE

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Submitted Date 10/20/2021
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Colonel Morgan Langtree, born in Earth year 1986, is the leader of the Wraith Squadron, an Army Ranger unit put into cryogenic stasis when the world became too dangerous to live in. Natural disasters followed by a final nuclear war all but decimated the planet Earth, leaving a very strange world for her and her team to discover when they came out of stasis 2,000 years later.

A natural-born leader, stubborn, loyal to her friends but deadly to her enemies, Morgan has a quick sense of humor and a bad knack for jumping into situations without looking back. Upon following her mission parameters, she discovers alien life in Belize, and lost her heart and soul to Lord Jericho Juriath, our handsome and charismatic alien leader.

Allorvian News Network had the chance to sit down with Colonel Langtree and have a chat.

Thank you for agreeing to speak with us. Our people want to get to know the young woman who has captured our leader's heart. So, tell us, what false impression might other people have about you?

That I'm a pushover. I'm not. I'm very focused when I'm on mission, I take everything into account before making a decision, and I'm not easily swayed to an opinion. People have mistaken me for a pushover because I know how to balance caring and compassion with a sense of duty. The see the one and forget that I am…was…career military. My training will always come into play, but I can still show kindness.

What do you feel is your greatest achievement?

Still being alive? *chuckles* Hey, we didn't know if we would make it through cryo-genic stasis, so in all honesty, it's up there in my list of achievements.

We certainly understand that. Is there anything else in your list you would like to share?

Earning the rank of Army Ranger. There weren't many women with the rank when everything started going sideways, leading us into stasis. The ratio of men to women was still very uneven. I was only the second woman to lead my platoon into active combat, so, yeah, it's a big deal.

Do you have a memory that you cherish like a treasure? Either from your service or just in general?

My last vacation. Alex [Major Alex Brandon, Morgan's second in command] and I decided to go backpacking across Ireland and Scotland. It was the most amazing vacation I'd ever had. We already knew even then that the governments were preparing to put people into stasis so we took the time to do and see everything we could. I don't know why, but I kept a bunch of those photos in my locker when we were put under. The pictures are long since faded to nothing, but I remember all of it up here. *taps her head*

What's something you usually lie about?

*laughs* I usually lie about my age. People always think I'm younger than I actually am, so I never bothered to correct them.

What do you think about when you're trying to fall asleep?

*pauses in thought* I used to run through the list of things I had to do the next day. Now? Now it's how Jericho and I are going to keep both our people safe from the Bordock.

Keeping the Bordock threat in mind, can you tell us what one of the worst things you've ever done in service to your people? And would you be willing to do it again?

I've killed in service to my country. Terrorists. From what I've learned about the Bordock, they are, in my eyes, no different. A militant group intent on destroying what we have built here for their own gains. Would I be willing to do it again? Yes. I'm trained in combat. I'm trained to protect my people and I will do it even now.

If you could go back in time for one day, where would you go?

With my memories intact?

Sure.

I'd go home. I'd go home and tell my dad that alien life does exist. That some of the conspiracy theories we loved reading about were true. And that there are worse things in the galaxy than our imaginations could conceive.

Let's turn to some more light-hearted topics. What kind of entertainment do you enjoy?

Um…wow, that's a tough question only because what I used to enjoy for entertainment is pretty much gone. Good music…I liked a lot of hard rock, but also loved classical music. Used to enjoy a good action movie. Loved to go to plays and see the performers live. Comics…I liked reading comic books…

What else did you like to read?

I am a big fan of high fantasy novels. Dungeons and dragons' kind of stuff. *pauses* You have no idea what I'm talking about. *laughs* Honestly, I enjoy reading just about anything. Jericho gave me a book on Allorvian history that I've been pretty engrossed with. Learning more about your culture has been good for me.

We have plays as well for entertainment. With that in mind, if someone were to write a play about your life, what performer would play you?

*smiles sadly* Before everything changed, I would've said actress Karen Gillian. She was well known for a…a…video program about a man who traveled through space and time, and a science fiction character called Nebula. Now? I have no idea.

What is your most treasured possession?

My journal and the bracelet my Captain [Captain Mark Averton, specialist, deceased] gave me on my last birthday. My journal holds a lot of memories of my team, our missions, things we saw and did. And Mark was one of my best friends. Knowing what happened to him…it just makes that gift even more treasured to me.

One last question. Do you believe in the existence of soul mates or true love?

*smiles a bit embarrassed* I do now. I always thought it was a fantasy to think that there was someone out there you were destined to be with. Obviously, I had to wait 2,000 years to find my soul mate in Jericho. But I did. And I can't deny it.

Colonel Langtree, thank you for sitting down with us and having this conversation. This is the Allorvian News Network signing off.

Copyright 2021, Beth A. Freely

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