The Third Corridor

by The third corridor (NCP) (lit)

  Sera raised the transmitter to her lips. "This is the Ptino asteri! I command the Nyx warriors to retreat or you will be destroyed!" Sera scanned the faces below.

  "NOW!" she screamed. At that moment, Clay hit the alarm again. Hundreds of Nyx warriors dropped their swords and began backing away. Clay turned off the alarm and joined them on top of the shuttle.

  "The Oneroi!" someone yelled.

  The Nyx warriors turned and ran.

  A heady feeling came over Sera. She knew what was occurring. In like with the mural in the Third Corridor, they were seeing a great silver bird with the Oneroi on top, giving it powerful command. The name was even labeled on the side of the shuttle. It would have been a humorous thing under lighter circumstances.

  Wait.

  There were four Oneroi, but only three people stood atop the shuttle.

  Sera whirled around and gasped. Garret stood behind Clay holding a gun to his head. Jerad did not move. Though he had never seen such a device afore, he knew deep in his gut it was a very dangerous weapon.

  "Blasted cowards," Garret remarked as he watched his warriors retreat. "Those disgusting weaklings will pay."

  "Where did you…" Sera’s mouth dropped open. "You’re in the POSSUM lab, aren’t you? You’re linking!"

  Her eyes flicked to the gun. He must have retrieved it from one of the crates before he climbed to the top of the shuttle.

  Garret brushed past Jerad, still aiming his gun at Clay, until he was within Sera’s reach. With a quick exchange he pushed Clay away and pressed the barrel of his weapon to Sera’s temple.

  "You might risk that one’s life, Noble, but I doubt you will risk hers."

  Jerad flinched and snarled at Moros.

  "Inside the shuttle now," Garret ordered. "Oh, and Chancellor, wave off that glide flyer above me. If he pierces my flesh with that arrow he is raising, I just might slip and pull the trigger."

  He puckered Sera’s mouth between his fingers and thumb. "It would be such a shame to split open this beautiful face."

  Jerad had been watching his men on the ground. They were ready with their arrows, waiting for his signal. He was also aware that the glide flyers overhead did the same. He turned to Clay to confirm if what Moros warned him about were true. Clay nodded and Jerad signaled his warriors to lower their weapons. There was nothing he could do.

  For now.

  He and Clay climbed down the ladder and went inside of the shuttle.

  "If you kill me Garret, not one warrior will spare you, and I don’t need to tell you what Jerad would do to you."

  Garret pushed her towards the ladder. "Ah Nai, Sera. And you would risk your life to save the Noble wouldn’t you?"

  "Yes," Sera stated firmly.

  "Thanks for the warning." He moved the gun to her lower belly. "You might live, but I could do grave harm to the brat you carry. Will you risk its life, Sera?"

  Sera froze and a chilling terror swept through her.

  "Yes Sera, I know about it."

  Sera’s stomach churned with repugnance. All those years he raised her as family, claimed he loved her. Even if it was other than a brotherly love, still, he claimed it. Would he actually destroy her unborn child? Sera bit her lip and tried to tamp down the emotional hurt. Her loathing of him could not be greater.

  As if Garret could read her mind, he responded. "I could care less for the life of that imp. I will do anything to rule Protogio. The planet belongs to me. Once the Noble realizes you carry his child, he will not risk both of your lives. He will bring me the Key to Orion’s belt and I will have access to both planets. Think of the power I could gain."

  "Oh god, you’re insane," Sera gulped.

  "Get moving, Sera." Garret pushed her and Sera climbed down the ladder. He then shoved her through the shuttle’s door.

  Garret kept Sera close to him while they moved to the cockpit. Jerad stood rigid, eyeing Garret with vicious anger. One wrong move and Jerad would personally snap his neck.

  "Now what?" Clay asked Garret.

  "You’re going to fly this bird to the Fourth Zone."

  Clay ignited the engines and worked the controls. The shuttle rolled forward--at a turtle’s pace.

  "What the hell are trying to pull?"

  "Something wrong, Major Moros?"

  "Do you take me for a fool? I know you can’t get lift at this speed."

  "Hmn, I suppose you’re right," Clay responded with sarcasm.

  He flashed Jerad an unblinking glare. "You might want to hold on to that safety bar as tight as you can, Jerad."

  Jerad nodded as he reached back and closed his hands around the bar. He might not fully understand all the silver bird was capable of, but he comprehended by the look from Argilos, to be alert.

  Garret shoved Sera towards the co-pilot’s seat.

  As Garret moved across the bay, Clay slammed the brake lever. Simultaneously, he reached under the control deck to activate the shuttle’s self-destruct mechanism. The shuttle lurched and threw Garret off balance. Jerad lunged forward and yanked Moros’ gun hand away from Sera’s body.

  Sera scrambled away.

  The gun went off and the bullet lodged into the control deck. It sizzled and a fire erupted. Alarms began to screech. Clay flew from his seat and both he Jerad struggled to subdue Garret. The shuttle started rolling forward again.

  "Get Sera out of here!" Clay yelled over the noise of the sirens. "The damn ship is going to blow!"

  Jerad grabbed Sera’s wrist and dragged her to the shuttle’s open hatch.

  "Out, now!" he ordered Sera and turned to assist Argilos. The two men dragged Garret toward the hatch.

  Sera climbed down the ladder with the three men just behind her.

  Well, this escape is a bit less than impressive, Sera thought as she looked at the ground.

  The shuttle was moving so slowly it was like jumping from a tricycle being pedaled by a three year old, but then she looked beyond the shuttle’s nose. The craft was rolling straight towards the ravine.

  "Jump, Sera!" Clay urged from behind her.

  "Yep, time to go!" She leapt to the ground, landing on her feet. Clay was right behind her. They turned in time to see Garret break free from Jerad.

  "My weapons! I have to save my weapons!" Garret climbed back through the hatch.

  Jerad shook his head at the monarch’s foolishness and jumped from the ladder just before the shuttle reached the brim of the ravine. The nose tipped over the edge. The shuttle teetered a few times and then plummeted.

  Sera, Jerad and Clay ran like the wind just as the shuttle burst into several ear-piercing explosions. They dove for cover beside a large bolder. A small amount of debris rained down. Most of it was contained between the walls of the ravine when the craft tumbled into it.

  Sera experienced a grievous moment when she realized that Garret was probably dead. Even though he held hateful intentions toward Sera and the people she loved, it did not erase all of the years of caring she felt for him. Also, in truth, he was the cause of her meeting Jerad, bless his angry, black soul.

  Garret reached Protogio through the POSSUM. Sera wondered what was happening in the lab. Was he disengaged in time, or was it too late?

  Melissa was in the hall, on her way to the POSSUM lab when the sounds of alarms reached her ears. She quickened her pace, but found the door locked. She reached into her pocket and fumbled for her access card. She then swiped it through the key slot, shifting on her feet until she was permitted access.

  Garret was lying on the cot, convulsing violently. The computer panel was nearly overheating in a frenzy of flashing emergency warnings. Melissa noticed that Garret was connected to one of the reciprocator headpieces, and darted toward the KNOE to disengage him, but before she reached it, his body burst into shards of exploding flesh, leaving only the remains of torn, bloody tissue scattered about the room.

  Melissa’s screams echoed throughout the third corridor of the C.O.R.E.

  Chapter Twenty-nine

&nb
sp; Sera, Jerad and Clay stood and brushed themselves off. Several glide flyers, including Mekal, landed nearby. The allied warriors on the ground began moving closer to them, but all movement stopped when a low vibration rumbled along the ground beneath their feet. It increased in intensity as it reached Eksaf ‘anise--riseward across the plain. Orion’s constellation brightened in the dusky sky above.

  All eyes turned to watch.

  The air above the middle peak became dense and started to spiral. Alnilam, the center star on Orion’s belt illuminated brighter than all the stars in the sky. A beam of light fanned around Eksaf’s center peak and began to glow in a sequencing of colors as a euphony echoed from it--the melody of the spectrocorde.

  Earth appeared inside and then the globe shrank as the image soared along Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the rest of the planets and beyond. Orion’s constellation grew large, then small, and Protogio appeared.

  Two more beams of light encased the other two peaks of Eksaf. A vast number of stars twinkled inside, encased in a gray, misty looking universe, but no other images emerged.

  An ethereal voice that seemed to come directly from the mountains reverberated across the land.

  Time brings all to light. Light of the dawn, dawn of new light will glorify. Here in lies your future my children…the beginning of the Starbird’s rising…be at peace.

  The beams of light faded and vanished.

  "What must this all mean?" Mekal scratched his head as he stared at the now silent mountains

  Sera unzipped her flight suit and pulled out the blanket she had wrapped around her body. "Do you think this has anything to do with it?"

  Clay peered over Sera’s shoulder to look at the cloth. "It looks like a bunch of symbols."

  He scanned the cloth and then he lifted his head toward Eksaf ‘anise. "Perhaps it unlocks the temporal folds to the rest of the universe."

  Sera threw back her head. "Pfft. Well you can count me out. I’m done planet hopping."

  "This is the shroud of Daedalus." Mekal took the cloth from Sera and studied it. He looked at the blue feather embroidered in its center. "It bears the crest of my clan and has been bequeathed through our lineage for centenaries. Where did you get this, Sera?"

  "I was wrapped in it when Moros took me from my mother."

  "My sister was wrapped in this when my mother left with her."

  He grabbed Sera by the shoulders and studied her face with dismayed awe. "But your eyes."

  Sera smiled up at him. "They were not always this color. They used to be a very deep brown. I didn‘t remember that before."

  The confused expression on Mekal’s face melted to a heart-filled joy. He drew Sera into his arms and hugged her close. "Ekaterina, you have come home. Our clan will be elated. We will leave immediately for the Eighth Zone…"

  Jerad grabbed Sera’s arm and pulled her from Mekal’s embrace. "What is your meaning by this? Sera will return to the Tenth Zone with me."

  "She is my sister and I am bound to her honor. This marriage will be dissolved."

  Oh god! Not again. Sera cupped her forehead.

  "By what reason!" Jerad demanded.

  "You, my confidante, are not fit to husband with her. You attempted to force your way with her…twice! You took her hand in marriage against her will…"

  Mekal’s stance stiffened and he drew his sword. "Consider yourself challenged!"

  Jerad rolled his eyes. The warrior could not possibly be serious. "This is much like closing the stable door after the horse has run off. Is it not my friend?"

  Nevertheless he drew his sword to meet Mekal’s challenge.

  Sera groaned, but she knew deep down her brother and husband would never hurt each other. A wave of dizziness and nausea grabbed hold of her and she dropped to her knees.

  "Sera!"

  "Kati!"

  Both men dropped their swords and were immediately at her side. She promptly threw up on Mekal’s boots.

  Mekal jumped back and glared at Jerad.

  "Look what you have done. You have made her sick. And now my boots need polishing!"

  "Ochi! I did not make her ill, she is carrying my child." Jerad knelt before Sera and held back her hair for her until she was through emptying her stomach.

  "How did you know?" Sera croaked out.

  Jerad handed her a canteen of water. "We were never truly separated, Starbird. I heard all of your words while you were gone from me. Though I knew some of the words you were saying, only clearly could I understand those you spoke in my language."

  Sera nodded as she recalled that she had spoken in Greek about their baby while reading the KNOE in the lab.

  "You have impregnated my sister!"

  Jerad stood and faced Sera’s true brother. "I am her husband fool! Aside, you are the one who gave advice to me on how to seduce her!"

  Mekal blushed.

  Sera looked at them, mortified.

  "Enough!" Aryan bellowed at the two men. "I have neither a sister nor a wife to banter over."

  "Do not be so quick to bury your wife, husband."

  Aryan turned on his heels. Ezra stood with Dex and a Nyx warrior.

  "It seems we have friends in the Fourth Kingdom." Ezra held out her arms and Aryan moved quickly to embrace her.

  "I thought I lost you, woman." He drew her into his arms and spread kisses over her face and neck.

  He nodded his thanks to the warrior who returned her safely.

  "Let me in there." Sera pushed between them and hugged Ezra. "I was so devastated when I thought you were dead. You have been such a good friend to me."

  "As you have also been, Sera." Ezra hugged her back. "Despite my husband."

  Ezra winked at her husband, and Aryan, who usually wore a grim facade, winked back and smiled.

  Sera walked up to Jerad and placed her hands on his chest. "You will take me to meet my mother?"

  "Nai, of course, my heart."

  Mekal flashed a devilish grin in Jerad’s direction.

  Jerad narrowed his eyes at him. "What are you about my brother of the Mark? You look like the gatos that swallowed the kanarini."

  "I was thinking about your raging jealousy over the caring that Kati and I share."

  "Do not remind me of my foolish behavior." Jerad looked away with chagrin.

  Mekal tramped over to Sera. A mischievous grin graced his face.

  "Well then, since she is my sister, it really would not be compromising if I say, oh…" He grabbed Sera and wrapped his arms around her. "…decide to give her a great hug."

  Mekal tightened his hold and swung her from side to side. Jerad crooked an eyebrow.

  "Let me go, Mekal." Sera laughed and tried to pull away from him.

  Mekal tightened his embrace. "And I suppose, since I am her brother, it should matter not if I took her in my arms and bent her back and gave her a big, wet kiss on the mouth."

  He bent Sera back, leaned over her and looked at Jerad. "In a brotherly way of course." Mekal smacked Sera’s lips with his own.

  "Mekal!" Sera sputtered and wiped her lips with the back of her hand, just the way a sister might if being teased by a brother. She mused at the thought. She really had a brother.

  Jerad stalked over to them. He was not amused. "You will forever torment me about it, Nai?"

  "Hmn. Of course. What else are confidantes for?" Mekal released Sera and gave her a hardy whack on her bottom. Sera jumped, her jaw dropped and her eyes went wide.

  Mekal released a boisterous laugh. "After all, she is my sister." He then wrapped an arm around Jerad’s neck and one around Sera’s. He gave Jerad a smacking kiss on his cheek. "Ack. I suppose you are suitable to husband her."

  With a chortle Mekal released them both. Jerad grinned at him and held his hand up. The two warriors grasped palms, then knocked knuckles.

  Sera gasped, suddenly remembering that she brought something else with her from Earth. She patted her jacket pocket, reached inside and withdrew her palm pad. Sera motion Jerad to sit. She snugg
led between his thighs and leaned against his chest.

  "I want to show you something." Sera activated the record of their child’s conception and birth, explaining to Jerad all that was happening on the screen.

  "This is a remarkable thing, Starbird."

  Mekal approached and sat down beside them.

  "Look at this, Mekal." Jerad pointed to the viewer.

  "It is my seed," he announced arrogantly--proudly.

  Sera’s face lit to a deep red at the thought of what she and Jerad were doing at that moment.

  "They look lost," Mekal observed.

  "Nai, but watch. It will take just one to make our child."

  The three of them silently watched the viewer of Sera’s palm pad as the miracle of creating human life took place and the tiny embryo reshaped into an odd looking human form.

  "Oh, I am so sorry."

  "Why?" Jerad and Sera asked simultaneously and turned to look at Mekal.

  "Your poor child resembles its father."

  Sera snorted.

  Jerad snarled.

  Mekal stood and harnessed his glide flyer. With a wave he was off to the skies.

  "I will see you soon in the Corridor. I expect a grand celebration," he called as he drifted upward.

  "Just as long as its not a Challenge." Sera furled her brow.

  "No more Challenges," Jerad assured her. Then he smirked. "But I might let you tie me up."

  Jerad wagged his eyebrows at her and kissed her cheek. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, caging her within his embrace. This was one starbird he would never again, let fly away.

  A Possum Rescue

  The first thing you must do to save a baby possum is to get it warm. Being away from the protective heat that a mother’s body provides could be fatal. If you decide to pick up a baby possum, get it warm as soon as possible by wrapping it in a warm cloth. If this doesn’t work, place it against the skin of your chest beneath your clothing. Be careful it might scratch. Transport it for medical help.

  Note: Adult possums require special handling. Proceed with caution. You may get bitten…