The World's Game

by Jacobo Izquierdo

  “Have you really done that?” He asked surprised. “Where is Cabolun’s body?”

  “It was full disintegrated. These remains of ash are the only thing that remained of him.”

  “But that is incredible. As far as I know, you had never produced such a powerful ray.”

  “To tell the truth I had never produced one before, but I managed to do it in the right moment.”

  “How did you manage to heal my wounds? I notice I’ve lost a lot of blood,” he said looking at the floor.

  “I healed you!”

  “How strange!” Beiler, who still did not believe Palac’s words, said. As far as I knew, the healing power couldn’t be learnt. Only your grandfather could transfer it.”

  “That’s exactly what has happened,” he sentenced without giving any other details. “Now we have to come back to Mida. Our people need a leader.”

  “You’re still too young. You’ll have a hard time to win our people’s respect.”

  “I’m fully aware of the fact that I don’t have their respect. Even several midarians loathe me. That’s why I’d like you to help me raise Mida naming you co-leader. It’ll be the first time in the history of our planet that there are two leaders. What do you think?”

  “It’ll be an honor.”

  Chapter 57

  «How do I come back to Earth?» Without any knowledge of Egyptology, it was almost impossible to select the right destiny. Panic took control over Josef. With shaking hands because of the fear, he closed his eyes and pressed one of the thousands of destinations at random. The light went off and it came back again. Very carefully, he pressed the button and the door opened. Walking decisively, he went outside the cabin and breathed deeply, but his lungs did not receive anything. «Be very careful! If you make a mistake and select a destination with different weather or atmospheric conditions from the Earth, you’ll die in a matter of seconds.» His grandfather’s omen came true since the chosen destination lacked oxygen. Hastily, he closed the door with the hope the cabin had some trail of oxygen, but he was not that lucky. «I have a minute to get out from here,» he thought aware of the fact that if he did not manage to breathe in that lapse of time, his life would come to its end. Desperately, he took Margaret’s notepad and started to glance through it with desperation. One of the marked symbols on the paper caught his attention. It was a triangle wrapped in a small circle with several hieroglyphics inside it. «Last destination,» she had translated. He raised his eyes and tried to find it as soon as possible. «Here.» His fingers fully impacted against the screen. The light went off and immediately after that, Josef opened his mouth and with all his might he exhaled as much air as he could, as if he were an apnea practitioner. Two minutes were enough for him to recover his breath and continue with his adventure. The door opened at being operated, but this time he was more cautious when he left the cabin. «I can breathe,» he celebrated when he entered the room. He quickly went up the stairs that led outside the pyramid and when he got out of it, he realized that he was back in Wiros. Although the idea of staying in such place forever did not displease him, not knowing anything about Margaret did it. Once more, he went down the stairs, pressed the four hieroglyphics that gave access to the room that held the cabin and entered it. Without thinking it twice and moved by the adrenaline of the moment, he chose on the screen the symbol of the triangle wrapped in a circle. He closed his eyes and before he could open them, he felt Margaret’s hand as well as her vanilla scent and the sound of her breath. Josef looked at his right and met her again. He hugged her as tight as he could for a second and then he moved backwards.

  “Where were you?” He vociferated waving his arms around. “You left me alone! I didn’t know how to come back! I’ve been lucky to accept the correct option…”

  Margaret shrugged.

  “The last thing I can remember is that we pressed «Wiros» on the screen and now I’ve appeared here again,” she said confused by his angry reaction.

  “Do you really think I’m going to believe that excuse? If you didn’t want to come, you should’ve told me. It’s not necessary that you invent all this nonsense.”

  “It’s the truth!” She exclaimed without knowing what it was happening.

  “Let’s get out of here!”

  They left the cabin and found the room completely destroyed. There were rubbles scattered everywhere. There were cracks and black stains on the walls. It was as if a bomb had exploded inside it. There were some pools of a transparent liquid similar to water on the floor.

  “We’ve destroyed the room when we took off,” Margaret said.

  “There’s no time for laments,” Josef said walking to the exit.

  “Stop!” An unknown voice ordered.

  Both of them remained petrified because of the fear. «Who has said that?» They thought terrified. The voice was robotic and lacked affection. They looked everywhere without spotting the emitter. Except from them, there was nobody in that place.

  The two midarians stayed hidden behind the transport cabin. Although the veteran warrior had accompanied Yewut on his trips to Racot on a lot of occasions, he still did not trust in its inhabitants. Seconds before and when they were going to the transport cabin, it had lit up. Fearing the soldiers loyal to Cabolun had gone after them, they decided to hide.

  “Who are you?” Margaret asked.

  Palac decided to leave his hiding place and showed up before them. None of them made the slightest movement. «He’s huge,» the golden-haired girl thought. His golden suit glowed all over the room. The difference in height with respect to them was significant.

  “My name’s Palac.”

  Josef looked at the midarian through the helmet and he felt even more terrified.

  “I love you!” Margaret whispered.

  Josef took her hand and held it tight. Beiler appeared and both of them moved backwards until they bumped into the wall with the panel. «We have to get out of here,» she thought. They were trapped in an unknown place and in front of two gigantic beings. Suddenly, Margaret turned around and started to type the sequence that opened the door. Just when she was about to type the fourth hieroglyphic, she felt she was incapable of moving her body and remained paralyzed. Josef realized about that and started shaking her, but his friend did not move.

  “What have you done to her?” He shouted.

  “Nothing compared to what we could do to both of you,” Beiler answered.

  “Why doesn’t she move?”

  “She’s paralyzed,” the captain answered once more. “If you do as we tell you, nothing will happen to you.”

  Seconds later, Margaret recovered the control of her body and the door opened after pressing the fourth symbol. None of them tried it. They let it close again and remained in silence.

  “You’ve used a mean of transport which doesn’t belong to you,” Beiler said approaching them. “It took millions of years for our scientists to develop this technology and you…” he pointed to them “…do you think you have the right of use it as you please?”

  None of them answered.

  “Your planet,” he continued “has been besieged for thousands of years by mysterious and hidden forces with an unbeatable destructive power. Such actions have been orchestrated by our controllers. Nothing that happens here remains unnoticed to us. As you can see… it only took us a couple of minutes coming here in your search.”

  “Who are you?” Josef asked in an outburst of courage.

  Beiler stopped in front of them.

  “My grandfather created you when this planet was uninhabited,” Palac said from the distance.

  “Our technology allows controlling any environmental or physiognomic parameter without any difficulty at all, as well as, for example, confirming any of your characteristics and features,” the captain of the midarian army added.

  “Do you control our actions as well?” Margaret asked frightened.

  “Only living beings are exempted from any modification. Your decisions depend
exclusively on your will, but some parameters can condition them though. You’re so predictable!” Beiler exclaimed.

  “What was the purpose of creating us?” Margaret asked.

  “That’s irrelevant.”

  “What do you want from us?” Josef asked.

  “Nothing,” he answered sharply. “You have nothing to give us. Get out of here and never ever come back again. Understood?”

  “Can I take my bag before leaving?” Margaret asked.

  «She’s crazy!» Josef gave her a threatening gaze. She was staring at Beiler. Any of them could have smashed them effortlessly, but that was their lucky day. Palac approached them and gave the bag to her.

  “No one can ever know about this encounter!”

  Chapter 58

  The subterranean chamber that Margaret and Josef found was in no way alike to the one they had left behind hours ago. «We’ve destroyed the Great Pyramid.» A crack went down the south Wall and stretched along a big part of the ceiling. The ascending way was quite rugged. Piles of stones and debris had blurred the stairs, turning it into a kind of irregular ramp. They had to cover some stretches dragging themselves over the ruins.

  “Where are you coming from?” A firefighter asked them stretching his hand to Margaret to help her out of there.

  “We were trapped,” she answered.

  They reached outside and they were amazed to see the rescue device it had been organized: dozens of ambulances and police cars with their sirens activated, fire trucks and some communication media broadcasting live to the whole world. The deployment was incredible. And with good reason, the earthquake registered in Cairo had been one of the most devastating in history. Local authorities had sent a great number of officers to the area to evacuate tourists who were enjoying the pyramids when everything happened.

  “A rescue team entered inside the pyramid twice and verified that there’s nobody there,” the firefighter, who couldn’t understand where they had been, said.

  Several doctors approached and, very kindly, led them to one of the ambulances. After they went through several tests and once the doctors had verified that everything was fine, they dismissed them. Some journalists tried in vain to get some news for the tabloids. «We’re fine. We’re going to a hotel to rest.» Avoiding hundreds of curious people, they got to the taxis area. Just when they were about to get into one, they saw a man running towards them at top speed and shouting. He was the ticket seller.

  “You didn’t listen to me!” He shouted visibly nervous. “I told you to get out of there before eight and it’s twenty past four.”

  “We were trapped,” Josef said.

  “You’re a liar! The earthquake was at half past three in the afternoon. At half past eight I entered the pyramid to look for you, but I couldn’t find you. Where were you?”

  “Beholding the majesty of the Chamber of the Queen,” he answered mocking at him.

  “Liar!” He repeated. “I spent half an hour in that room and you weren’t there.”

  “After having been there, we went back to the subterranean chamber. Maybe when you got in we were there,” Margaret added.

  “I checked that room as well and you weren’t there. I should order you were arrested right now,” he threatened.

  “Arresting us?” Josef said with half smile. “There’s no reason for us to be arrested. The only one who did something illegal was you. You’ve received a big bribe in exchange of a private visit. Who do you think is going to be taken to court?” He asked tweaking his chin.

  “You’re so miserable!” He shouted with rage.

  “Thanks for the flattery.”

  They did not understand the last words, but judging by the taxi driver’s expression, they must have been very offensive insults.

  “Don’t be silly,” Margaret said pulling his arm. “Get into the taxi and let’s go.”

  There was a dormant chaos reigning in the city: blocked-off streets, dozens of collapsed buildings, over turned cars and fires everywhere. When the taxi driver stopped in front of the place where some day there had been a hotel, Margaret started crying. The building where they were staying had now turned into a mishmash of irons and debris. Some corpses covered with blankets where scattered along a big part of the road. Without even hesitating it for a second, they went to the airport and took the first fly they found. «Let’s get out of this place,» Josef said when his friend asked him why he had bought a ticket to Rome.

  “You’ve overcome your trauma!” Margaret exclaimed smiling, trying to distract her partner’s mind.

  He closed his eyes and held her hand very tight. Once the place had finished taking off, he calmed down and opened them again.

  “What are you talking about?” He asked a bit numb due to the effect of the sedative.

  “When we got out of the pyramid, the noise of the sirens didn’t affect you. Mr Travis has managed to heal you.”

  “Well, now that you men…”

  “What happened in Wiros?” She asked interrupting his explanation. “You haven’t told me anything yet.”

  Josef eyes were filled with happiness. His visit to the place was the best that happened to him in his entire life. Meeting his parents was what he had always dreamt of. But of course that what he liked the most was meeting his grandpa again. Seeing him again had comforted him in an incredible way. Now he knew that one day he’ll be with them and that game him great confidence.

  “It’s an amazing place!” He exclaimed with his eyes wide open and waving his arms around. “There are green fields full of trees and plants of unimaginable shapes and colors. All kind of people are engaged in their eternal conversations. Dance, sing and art groups share their passions…”

  The explanations stretched for several hours. Margaret did not seem to be very surprised by her friend’s words. She was uneasy, nervous, patiently waiting for Josef to finish talking. She had something to tell him; something that surely would change the idea he had about her.

  “Did your mother tell you something about me?” Margaret asked.

  “She told me to take care of you as if you were part of the family.”

  “Only that?”

  “Yes,” he answered sharply. “What else did you want her to tell me?”

  “Nothing,” she said with disappointment. “I just asked.”

  “Do you like me as more than a friend?”

  Margaret shook her head no and the conversation finished. They remained in silence for the rest of the trip to Italy. Just when they were about to land, her bag fell to the floor and something inside it made a metallic sound.

  “What are you carrying there?”

  “The passports and the wallet,” she answered with a serious expression.

  Josef picked up the bag from the floor, opened the main zip and started to look inside it. As Margaret had told him, it only contained the passports of the two of them, some brochures with information about Egypt, her notepad and a small pink wallet. The young man introduced his hand and explore inside it with suspicion. Inside one of the inner side pockets, he felt something unusual; a bulge that stuck out. Judging by its size, he thought it was a bottle of cologne or something like that. Great was his surprise when he opened the zip and a glowing light emerged from inside the bag.

  “Where have you found this?” He whispered without taking his eyes from inside her bag.

  According to Josef, that must be made of gold. The object was cylindrical, of about twenty centimeters long by five centimeters in diameter. On the top, it had a kind of opening covered by a cap made of the same material. Several hieroglyphics at the bottom were its only ornament. The rest was completely plain and it seemed to have been manufactured as an only piece.

  “Life water?” The girl translated. “I’ve no idea of how it reached here.”

  Chapter 59

  “Have you given it to her?” Beiler asked just before returning to Racot.

  Palac nodded. The transport cabin located in the middle of the esplanade of
the city of Nalactia turned off its light. The two million soldiers gathered around it put on their guards. Countless rays started to impact on the cabin walls. None of the assistants could believe what it was happening. The fugitives had come back to Mida during their leader’s absence. Without Cabolun ruling them, they attacked them over and over again for hours. Every time one of them approached the exit gate, the rays were incremented. «Cabolun has died,» Beiler communicated telepathically to all the people gathered there.

  “I’ll get out,” the novice whispered.

  The young midarian set out to go outside, but the captain stopped him.

  “No! I’ll go outside to explain what happened.”

  Taking firm steps, Beiler went outside. Imitating his leader’s action of some hours ago, he stood on the top of the cabin.

  “Where is our leader?” A warrior asked.

  “Cabolun has died!” Beiler shouted. Although he had communicated it telepathically, listening to it at the top of his voices caused a major stir. “Palac has killed him.”

  “That’s impossible!” Another warrior shouted.

  “The protected is weak and can’t fight,” a third one said.

  “Shut up!” Beiler shouted. “I witnessed the battle and that’s the only truth.”

  The two million soldiers that were surrounding the cabin did not believe the captain’s words. Palac, who had remained guarded until that moment, decided to go outside. Silence took control of the landscape.

  “Here you are your new leader!” Beiler shouted pointing to him. “From this moment, this planet will be ruled by both of us. No more prohibitions, threats and blows. Those who don’t agree with use, is allowed to leave the planet at any time.”

  No one dared say anything. Some of them refused to think that Cabolun was dead and thought this could be a loyalty test.

  “At last!” A midarian shouted raising his arms and breaking the reigning silence.