Q suddenly had a brainwave. “Duck!” he said and activated his lasers.
Q didn’t even know that he had lasers. His mind just activated them and he kept twirling around till the only remains of the mummies was about 100 yards of shredded paper.
A stone door immediately lifted and light flooded the room.
“Guess we had to defeat the mummies,” Q said.
They rushed out as if they were animals that had been caged for a long time.
They were welcomed by an unfriendly sight.
A forest so large that you’d feel like an ant.
They ran into the forest hoping to find some way into the temple. They had only gone a few miles when they heard a loud bellowing noise.
Not wanting to find out what it was, they climbed a tree. Which was not easy, mind you. If you think it is, just try climbing an 80-foot tall tree.
They had climbed the tree when they heard the noise again, now much closer than before. They could hear large and heavy steps coming toward them.
A few seconds later they heard trees collapsing.
“What was that?” Elizabeth asked nervously.
“I don’t know and I don’t wanna find out,” Q said.
Q and Elizabeth climbed down quickly. Their desperation showed the fear they had within them. They waited for Chris to follow but she just hung on to a vine.
“Drat! My foot is stuck in some vines,” she said.
“I’m coming up,” Q offered.
“I’ll do it myself.”
Q didn’t wanna let her do it herself but her tone suggested that he would be in more trouble if he helped her than if he didn’t.
The sound came closer. They could see the top of the beast. It was a monster all right. It was a huge beast!
It walked on four legs. Each seemed to be thicker than even a tree trunk. It was completely blue with shades of lighter blue appearing in streaks. It seemed to be wearing some sort of armor.
“Anytime now,” Elizabeth told Chris.
The giant was only metres away when Chris pulled free and jumped down. You’d have thought it was the ‘all clear’ for her but it wasn’t.
The monster hadn't seen them yet but it was still knocking down the trees around it like they were bowling pins.
Fortunately Q and Elizabeth avoided getting crushed by the trees but Chris was paralyzed from her jump. A tree was falling down and Chris was right in its path.
“Chris! Move!” yelled Q, but yelling wasn’t going to solve the problem.
Just as the tree was about to crush her, a shadowy figure pushed her out of the way. Q and Elizabeth ran to Chris.
She was looking at the guy who’d saved her.
“Hi guys! You okay?” a voice asked.
Q and Elizabeth were astounded. It was Kai!
The guy had never even fought a battle before and now he was going around risking his life.
So much for splitting up, Q thought. But he realized it was good that it happened; else they’d be short of Chris now.
Kai suddenly fell to the ground. It was only when Q went closer did he realize what the problem was. His leg was stuck under the tree.
“We’ll get you out of there, buddy,” Q said
Taylor unsheathed her sword and in a blurry motion she hacked him free.
Luckily Kai’s suit had protected his leg from being crushed and he managed to get up.
“What was that thing?” Elizabeth asked.
“It’s a kronogravia. A time beast,” Taylor informed.
“A time beast?” Q asked.
“It can see the future and read the past. It’s supposed to be a deity for a few Zyxians.”
“So a time beast in the temple of time, huh?” Kai said “Can't say I didn't see that coming.”
“Is it dangerous?” Chris asked.
“It’s quite a calm creature. It attacks when provoked,” Taylor said.
Q was back on to the main topic. He needed to get the map.
“We’re not going to split up anymore. That isn’t working right now. We’re staying together. Let’s go get that map!” he suggested.
They walked towards the tower. Q talked to Taylor on the way.
“So how did you find us?” he asked.
“We followed this huge monster until Kai spotted Chris on the ground,” she explained.
“We were fighting these mummies. Let me ask you something. Are those mummies this planet’s animals or are they Zyxians?”
“They’re animals. You shouldn’t be surprised that mummies exist though. Most of the myths we know all are real. The mummy, wyverns, dragons. All real. They’re just animals from different planets. They probably visited Earth at one point in time, and giving rise to the so-called ‘myths’”.
Q sighed a breath of relief as they reached a huge door. The entrance to the tower.
“You suppose we should break it down?” Taylor asked.
“We’ll just knock,” Q said.
And yes, he did feel like an idiot saying it.
The others just stared at him. He ignored them and knocked. Believe it or not the door actually opened!
Q turned and smiled cheekily at the others. The others were still staring at him.
They went in to find a long, long staircase that probably led to the top.
“Looks like we have to go up that way,” Q said, pointing to the stairs.
“Aww man!” Elizabeth sighed.
“You got that right,” Kai joined in.
And so it began. The second most important climb in the history of mankind. Mt. Everest was first because it was more dangerous. Yeah right!
They climbed and climbed. Q smiling, Kai frowning, Chris grinning, Elizabeth groaning and Taylor laughing.
All that disappeared when they realized they were going to learn the real meaning of danger.
Pyrophate
It seemed to be a never-ending climb. Each step they took drained more and more energy out of them.
After what seemed like an eternity, they finally reached the opening.
They entered a large stone room. The golden stones glistened in the light.
Suddenly, Elizabeth started flailing about.
Q held her by her shoulders. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
Elizabeth dropped to the floor unconscious.
Q and Taylor knelt beside her. Q didn't dare take off her helmet and expose her to the atmosphere. They needed to get her back to the ship as soon as possible.
“Guys?” Chris pointed to a rock in front of them.
Only it wasn't a rock. It was a huge rhinoceros. Or at least it resembled one. It had a grayish body and a huge horn coming out of the top of its head.
They slowly walked around the animal. Kai tripped over a stone and fell to the ground with a thud.
The ‘whatever it was’ got up and bellowed with a loudness that would’ve scared even King Kong away.
“It’s a pyrophate. Get away from it, it can breathe fire!”
As though it could understand what Taylor said, the pyrophate blew fire straight at them.
They scrambled around, desperately trying to get away from it. There was no way they could defeat the giant even if they attacked it all at once.
Chris glanced at its head. It looked really angry, which wasn’t a good thing, but there was something behind it that aroused her interest. There was a huge metal lotus on the ceiling and inside it was a stone tablet.
“I found it! I found it!” cried Chris, jumping up and down in the air.
Taylor looked at her quizzically. “Found what exactly?” she asked.
“The map,” she said pointing to the metal lotus.
Q saw it as well. It was at almost a hundred feet above them. “How are we supposed to get up there?” he wondered aloud.
He was still thinking when he heard a distinct voice calling out to him. He turned in its direction.
He could see Taylor charging him. She was saying something that he couldn’t make out qui
te clearly.
He waited for Taylor to stop but she just kept on coming at him. She caught him and dragged him ten feet away.
“What was that for…” He was interrupted by a loud crunching noise. The pyrophate charged into the wall, crushing it into pieces. Q would’ve been killed if Taylor hadn't saved him!
Taylor looked through the hole. She could make out that they were about 200 feet in the air. Not the place you want to be trapped with a cranky fire-breathing giant.
“Thanks,” Q told Taylor. He didn't know what he would’ve done if Taylor hadn’t saved him.
“Don’t mention it,” Taylor said.
Q focused on the situation. The pyrophate was in a daze after crashing into the wall. He had to make a move now.
He kept looking at the ceiling and back at the floor. He needed another idea.
“Give me a rope,” he told Taylor.
She gave him a rope. He tied one end to one of his Durendal discs and the other around himself.
He got ready to throw the Durendal. He had to make sure his Durendal got caught in the rocks in the ceiling. Not fun.
He threw it as hard as he could. It went and attached itself to the ceiling, taking Q along with it. Q shimmied up the rope to the photon disc.
The map was right next to him, but it was just out of his reach. He started to swing himself towards the map. In a few swings he was able to get it.
That was the good news. The bad news? The disc detached from the ceiling. Q yelled out as he fell. He flailed mid-air desperately trying to fly.
He looked down. The pyrophate was right below him. He could see its mouth open. A huge blast of fire emerged from it.
There was no way Q could survive that. He braced himself.
Suddenly a huge shield appeared between him and the pillar of fire. Q floated down towards the ground perfectly safe. He had no idea what was going on.
A cry echoed through the tower and left the floors shaking. The side of the tower blasted open and in the gap was a huge eye. Q was terrified at first but then he realized what the thing was.
“The kronogravia!” Taylor exclaimed.
The pyrophate immediately went to a corner and curled up into a ball. The kronogravia bellowed once more and went away.
“That was awesome! I can’t believe the kronogravia created a shield for Q! It must really like you,” Kai said.
As usual Q completely ignored him and showed the others the map.
“That’s awesome too!” Kai said. “Now can we go home?” he acted like a kid whose mom had dragged him to the supermarket.
“Only three more to find,” Chris said.
Now the only problem was getting down again. The staircase was out of question, the giant standing right on top of it.
The Orion, Q thought.
“The Orion is our only option,” Q said. “Can we get it up here?”
“Now why didn’t I think about that?” Kai chuckled. He took out a remote and pressed a few buttons.
They heard a loud whirring sound and the Orion appeared at the hole the pyrophate had made.
“Oh wait... I guess I did!”
The pyrophate uncurled and looked around. It seemed to realize that the kronogravia was gone. It turned around and bellowed.
“Go go go!” Q urged. He picked up the prone Elizabeth and jumped into the ship. The Orion immediately flew away from the tower. Q could see the pyrophate trying to hit them with its flames. Luckily they were far from its reach.
“Where to, captain?” Kai asked.
Q closed his eyes. He waited for an image to form.
Nothing happened. He tried again but the same result.
Nothing.
Q shook his head “I’m getting nothing,” he told Kai.
“Are you sure?” Chris asked, looking a little nervous.
“Nah. I just think it’s because I’m tired. I’ll try again in a little while,” he said.
That seemed to calm Chris down.
“I guess I’ll just put the ship into outer space and hang in there,” Kai said.
They agreed to it. Kai set the co-ordinates. Q still stood behind him.
“Anything wrong?” Kai asked.
“Won’t we run out of oxygen at some point in time?” Q voiced his doubts.
Kai just laughed. “C'mon, I’ll show you something,” he said.
He took him to the end of the ship and opened up a panel in the floor. Inside it were a lot of pipes and gauges in there.
“What’s that?” Q asked.
“It’s a decarbonator,” Kai explained. “It takes out carbon from any substance put into it. In simple terms it takes out the C in CO2 leaving us with just…”
“O2 . I know,” Q completed the sentence, a little turned off. “I know how it works. I just wanted to know what you use to recycle the air.”
After the chat with Kai, Q headed to the infirmary. He noticed that Chris was there as well.
“How’s she doing?” he asked.
“I have no idea what’s wrong with her. It almost seems like she has a psychotic attack.”
“A psychotic attack?”
“Yes. When a person has multiple personalities, the personalities fight for control of the body. This puts the body in a fragile state.”
Q felt a shiver across his spine. It didn’t sound pretty. He looked at her face. She still looked healthy.
“It’s got to be something else,” he said with hope. “It’s just got to!”
Just then Elizabeth yelled out. Her whole body twitched like she was throwing a fit.
Her eyes shot open. They were pure white, no pupils at all. Q looked at Chris. She had noticed it as well. Her face was full of fear.
Elizabeth kept screaming in pain. There was nothing that Q could do. There was nothing that anyone could do. Q felt so helpless at that point.
He had never felt helpless before and now that he finally felt it, he didn't know what to do other than sit and cry.
Suddenly Elizabeth’s eyes closed and her whole body just stopped twitching. Q quickly turned to Chris.
“It looks like the attack stopped,” Chris said.
“How long does she keep going between attacks and coma?”
“Till she dies of dehydration and starvation.”
“Can’t you inject any food into her?”
“I tried giving her drugs but her body is not accepting them. There could be dangerous side effects if I force the drugs in.”
“I see. Okay, you go get some rest. You must be tired,” Q said
“You’ll be okay?” Chris asked.
Q nodded. Chris left the infirmary.
He looked at Elizabeth and brushed a strand of hair from her face.
“We’ll save you. Don’t worry…”
Space Patrol
Kai was up in the pit having the time of his life.
Sports, food, machines. That’s all a guy needs, he thought.
He was watching the NBA on a flat screen he had installed in the pit. Even he was surprised that he was able to get the signal even though they were so far away. Good ol’ radio waves. Sad part was that because of the distance they were at from the earth, Kai was watching the 1995 Yankees vs Mets. The TV was receiving radio waves that left the earth in 1995.
“Darn it” he said, slamming his coke down. “Can’t these guys hit the ball!” he yelled, reacting to the three strikeouts in a row.
Suddenly the alarms went off. The blaring sound surged through the whole ship.
“What’s wrong?” Taylor and Chris asked as they charged into the pit. They turned off the alarm as they went in.
Kai looked ahead. His heart beat faster and faster. Fear radiated from his face.
“Space patrol. They’re attacking us,” he said.
“Why are they after us? We haven’t done anything wrong,” Chris argued.
“I don’t know, but I don't think I want to find out either.”
An explosion sounded near the ship. A few more followed
in succession.
“We’ve got to hit those things back,” Chris said.
She had just finished saying it when the alarms went off again.
“We’ve been hit?” Taylor asked.
“No,” replied a confused Kai. “It’s the hangar”
“Why would the hangar open up?” Chris asked.
They all looked at each other.
“Q,” they said in unison.
Kai tried to tap into a few surveillance cameras to find out what was actually going on back there. They were right. Q had opened the hangar.
He was in his armor which conveniently had a booster at the back and wings on the sides. He was planning on taking on the space patrol. Single-handedly.
Blocked out
Q waited for the hangar door to open completely. On the other side were a fleet of space ships. All had ‘Space Patrol’ embedded on them. Q surveyed all of them carefully. There were five ships in all.
“They’re going to regret shooting at the Orion,” he said and jumped out.
Kai couldn’t believe what he was seeing!
Q jumped into space. Just like that!
Kai took a closer look at Q.
Q’s Durendal discs merged together and turned into a rod of light. Just like the Star Wars thing. He made slashing motions and instantly bolts of blue energy shot towards the space patrol ships.
A few explosions occurred. In a few seconds smoke started rising from every patrol ship. He wasn't trying to attack them. He was only sabotaging the ships. In a few minutes the patrol seemed to realize they had no other option.
Q knew he’d won when he saw hundreds of escape capsules leave the ships.
Q returned back to the Orion in a jiffy.
Taylor stormed up to him “What were you thinking? You could’ve got us killed!”
“C’mon. I saved all of us.”
“Exactly. You don't need to save us all the time. We know how to save ourselves. I’m a dark knight for god’s sake!”
Q stepped back a little. Taylor seemed to be mad at him for no reason at all.
Taylor took a deep breath. “It’s just that I don't want you risking your life for us all the time. Sometimes, we have to step in and try to save our lives as well. You don't have to take everything on your own shoulders, okay?”
ConQuest (The Quest Saga) Page 12
