The Awakening: Imortum

by JK Stone

  Jason nodded then walked down the corridor to the medical room. The doors had been sealed so he put his hand up to the wall and said, “Entry,” and an archway appeared and opened in front of him.

  Jason entered the room and heard Jeff yelling a litany of curses. His cousin was immobilized on the medical table, and though he was unable to see Jason, Jeff seemed to know someone else was in the room with him now.

  Jeff yelled, “Get over here you fucking asshole, so I can kick your fucking ass!”

  Jason chuckled and said, “Language, language! Is that any way to talk to your favorite cousin, who by the way just saved your sorry ass?”

  As Jason came into view, Jeff got a dumbfounded look on his face and croaked, “What the hell? Jason? Or is it Jerren?”

  Jason laughed and said, “It’s Jason, and you just experienced a severe trauma. I’ll drop the immobilization field, but don’t try to move very fast, and I will explain what I can.”

  Jeff nodded. “ah yes, I see the scar on your jaw.”

  Jason sighed and dropped the field and helped Jeff to a sitting position. Jeff removed his shirt and turning it around, he looked it over. “Man that hurt like hell!” He peered at Jason through the bloodied holes in his shirt. “How the hell is this happening?”

  Jason explained to Jeff about the murder of his brothers, then about the ship coming for him, the extremely beautiful Alise and their relative Elgon, his own circumstances and those of the rest of their family. Jeff looked a little lightheaded from either the blood loss or the information, but otherwise, he seemed to be taking it well enough.

  Jeff took a hard look at him, and said, “Damn! It’s been nine years since I saw you last and you don’t look a day older. As a matter of fact, you look younger than me now.”

  Jason chuckled. He knew he was in better shape due to the bonding, but he hadn’t seen his reflection yet and he didn’t know how much he should tell his cousin about the chlorophyll. So, he just said with a laugh, “Healthy living and exercise, little cousin.”

  Jason helped Jeff to his feet and escorted him to the control room. He looked around for Alise, intending to introduce Jeff to her but she was nowhere to be found. Shrugging off her absence, he led Jeff to the inner corridor, told him to stand in the same spot Alise had told him to stand then said, “Ascend level three.”

  “What the hell!” Jeff shouted as his feet left the floor.

  As Jeff was ascending, Jason told him, “Get some rest. I’ll be back with the others as soon as I can.”

  Once his cousin passed the ceiling and it closed under him, Alise came up behind Jason and whispered into his ear, “You are an evil cousin,” followed by a laugh.

  Turning to face Alise, Jason smirked and told her, “I knew he was going to be difficult, so I didn’t give him a choice in the matter.” Jason thought about that a second and laughed, “That’s why you did it to me!”

  Alise had a guilty smile as she said, “We are coming up on the next rescues.”

  *****

  Jason was disappointed at the small turnout for his funeral, but it didn’t surprise him. Ever since getting out of the military he had been reclusive and had lost touch with all but his family, and it showed, as they were the only people who’d come to the services.

  His father and stepmother were in the front row with his Uncle Tom and Aunt Cindy on the opposite side of the isle. His half-brother Tim and Tim’s wife Sherri along with his nephews were sitting directly behind his parents, and they were all seated facing an enlarged photo of him from back when he was in the military, that was propped against a podium.

  Someone Jason didn’t know, but who he figured to be the preacher, was giving a speech from behind the pulpit. Their movements slowed to a crawl, and in the blink of an eye, the transports of his living relatives and pastor to the ship and the clones to the church had been completed. A moment later, the room filled with fire after the bomb detonated. At that moment the blurring occurred as the time dilation engaged, and it marked another successful mission for them.

  Alise smiled at him. “All of your family are in decon. It will be another hour until we can retrieve your brothers. The man who was giving the sermon is sedated in medical at the moment. Any ideas on what you want to do with him?”

  Jason looked over at Alise and asked, “Can you look into his mind and see who he is? Find out what kind of response we can expect when we tell him what’s happened?”

  Alise said, “Will do, Commander,” and gave him a mock salute.

  Jason snorted. “Me Commander? Ha! More like you Commander. I’m just along for the ride. Once you’ve determined whether he is going to be a problem or not, could you arrange quarters for our new guests?”

  Alise nodded and Jason headed down the corridor toward decon. Upon approaching the room, he heard very faint yelling from behind the wall.

  Jason put his hand on the wall and said, “Entry.”

  Within seconds, the sounds of yelling voices and crying children exploded out of the room and when he entered, he thought his father was going to have a heart attack and die on the spot. He rushed and pulled Jason into a tight hug, and he began crying. His aunt looked like she was about to pass out, and his half-brother said, “What the hell?”

  “Okay…okay,” said Jason, “we need to get you all settled so I can explain what’s just happened. I doubt you’ll accept my word for it, but seeing is believing. What you’ve experienced so far should have done it, but follow me.”

  As he walked down the corridor he asked Alise in mind, How’s it going?

  Alise sighed. We might have a problem if this fellow wakes up on a spaceship. Apparently, he is highly religious and may not take this very well.

  Jason sighed and replied, Okay, I’ll deal with him in a bit. I need a room set up to talk with my family. Do you have any ideas?

  Take them to level two. A few couches have been arranged so you can speak to all of them at once. Afterward, we can convert the room into bedrooms.

  Jason knew without Alise’s help his family would all be gone. I don’t know how I can thank you enough.

  Alise simply replied, It is my pleasure.

  Jason made it to the inner corridor with his family in tow. Turning to them he told his younger half-brother and two nephews to stand where the gravity lift was, and said, “Ascend level two.”

  His two nephews busted out with giggles and his brother said, “What the hell?”

  As they floated up, Jason heard his stepmother from behind him. “Well, that’s going to be interesting.”

  Jason cracked a smile. “Just wait, it’s more fun than it looks.”

  Jason got them all settled on the couches and told them he had to get Jeff and he would be back as soon as he could and would explain everything as soon as they were all together. Then he headed for his bedroom.

  *****

  Jeff was lying down when Jason arrived, but stood up and met him halfway across the floor, and pulled him into the tightest hug. Jason patted him on the back. “Let’s get you cleaned up then we can go confer with the family.”

  Jason walked over and put his hand on the wall and with a smirk, he said, “Wardrobe.”

  Jeff let out an audible gasp when he saw just how many outfits were available. he picked out a suit similar to the one Jason was wearing, and they exited the room.

  Jason opened the bathroom and pointing to a spot on the floor he said, “Stand there and I’ll activate the ion shower.”

  Jeff looked confused. “I don’t need to get undressed first?” he asked.

  “No, the ion shower will clean you and your clothing.” Looking at what remained of his cousin’s prison uniform he said, “But somehow I don’t think you’re going to want to keep wearing that outfit, especially in front of the family, or more particularly your father.”

  Jeff snorted. “You know it!”

  Jeff stood in the ion shower and Jason activated it. A few seconds later Jeff was clean and Jason gave him a moment to put on h
is new outfit.

  Jeff let out a chortle from within the room and Jason asked, “What’s that about?”

  Jeff replied from inside the bathroom, “I was just thinking that if they had showers like that in prison, you wouldn’t have to worry about dropping the soap.”

  Jason started laughing and signaled for Jeff to follow him, and once he was out of the bathroom, Jason brought up the display so Jeff could select a pair of shoes. Once again, Jeff opted for a similar style as Jason was wearing. He had always done that growing up, he’d always emulated Jason, Jerren, and Justin but it didn’t bother him.

  Jason asked Jeff, “Are you ready to be reunited with the family?”

  Jeff nodded looking a little nervous and Jason led him to the corner, then said, “Descend level two.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Peering around the room Jason saw his stepmother Gwen seated by his father, and beside her was his uncle Tom followed by his aunt Cindy then on the other couch sat his nephews with his sister-in-law Sherri and his half-brother Tim. Gesturing Jeff forward, Jason explained what was going on regarding Jeff.

  All in all, the family took Jeff and his return to the fold pretty well. Jeff and his father had been estranged from the time he was little and they sat in the room in uncomfortable silence at first. The family was astounded to find out the reason Jeff had been missing was that he was in prison, and it appeared Jeff’s father thought he was guilty.

  Jason could tell his Uncle Tom was about to tear into Jeff, so Jason decided to defuse the situation by enlightening the family to the danger they were in and he said, “You all need to give Jeff a break, he was set up and almost murdered. As were all of you as well.”

  This statement got the family quieted. That was until Jason explained exactly what was happening and that their next stop was to retrieve Justin and Jerren. His father looked shocked and didn’t seem to grasp what Jason had been saying. But a moment later his father’s confusion turned to irritation that he didn’t know any of the family history.

  Jason reminded him that his Great Grandpa Stone had died when his grandfather was only a baby, and since his grandfather died in world war two a little after uncle Tom was born, he couldn’t have passed on the history even if he had known it.

  “It’s been fifteen thousand years since all that happened at Lantis and in all that time any number of things could have happened. The truth had been lost to time until I was picked up by this ship, but at least you’re all safe for now.”

  Alise called him in mind a few minutes later. Jason, we are almost ready to retrieve your brothers.

  Jason got to his feet and told her, Okay, I’m on my way.

  Jason looked at his father and said, “It’s time for me to get Jerren and Justin now.”

  His father still looked confused, as if he thought Jason had lost his mind, and his Uncle Tom began to speak, but Jason cut him off by telling the family to hold their questions and said he would be back as soon as possible.

  *****

  Jason was watching the scene of his brothers’ murders play out again. It had been very brutal but he forced himself to watch. Alise had stopped her probe in time ten seconds after the attacker had left his brother’s in the living room and entered his bedroom, and she set that time as their destination.

  Alise said, “This one is going to be very close. We will have to do the transports later than I would like but we cannot cut it any closer. Otherwise, the attacker might notice the transfer. We want them to think all of you are dead.”

  Alise moved the ship to their targeted destination and with a shimmer and a slight bump they were there. A second later she swapped the bodies, then activated the engine and they were off, and man they were hauling ass! It looked faster than any science fiction spaceship ever went and Jason was finding it hard to believe this was really happening and wasn’t some fanciful hallucination induced by a mental break.

  Alise looked at Jason and said, “Your brothers are alive, but with the time we had to wait for the attacker to leave the room we almost lost them. It is going to take a few more minutes of healing before they are conscious.”

  Jason didn’t realize he’d been holding his breath throughout the rescue. He gasped for breath now and felt a sense of ease come over him that he hadn’t felt in over a year now. His brothers were back.

  Alise looked at him and must have known what he needed to hear because she told him to go be with his brothers when they awoke.

  Jason didn’t have to be told twice. He kissed Alise on the cheek then in a matter of seconds he was opening the door to medical and entering. He noted there were now three beds crowded into the small medical bay. His brothers were in two of them and the preacher was in the third in an induced sleep. He rushed to stand between Justin and Jerren’s beds and held each of their hands and waited. As if on cue, both Jerren and Justin awoke, and within seconds they all began babbling in their special language nobody else could understand.

  Jerren looked at Jason then at Justin on the bed across from him and asked, “What just happened?

  Jason stood there with tears welling in his eyes. Looking back and forth between his brothers he replied, “You were both dead. This ship is a time machine of sorts, and we just rescued the two of you. Well, the whole family actually. Someone was trying to kill all of us.” Jason rambled out lamely.

  Jerren and Justin looked skeptical but allowed him to continue not saying a word.

  Jason took a few breaths to compose himself and continued, “I was mourning the loss of the two of you a few days ago, when this ship appeared. The commander of the vessel had been injured and was dying, so he came to Earth to collect his replacement. The commander was an ancient ancestor of ours, and he wanted a family member to take over for him.

  “From what I understand this timeline was messed up, and I was the only acceptable replacement left. After talking with me, Alise…she’s the artificial intelligence on this ship, she sent out temporal probes and found that someone was trying to kill off our family line. So, we devised a plan to save all of you and make it look as if they succeeded.”

  Jason thought about it a second and said, “I don’t know where we’re headed at the moment. Wherever it is, you should all be safer there than back on Earth.” He ran his hands through his hair and continued. “The killer was creeping around in a suit that greatly resembled some DARPA tech I saw when I was in the service. I can’t think of a reason our government would want all of us dead though. Can either of you?”

  Jerren and Justin had pale shocked looks on their faces, apparently trying to take it all in. They both shook their heads.

  Jason asked, “Do you feel up to meeting up with the family? I know father will be relieved to see you two again.”

  It looked to Jason as if Jerren and Justin were struggling to believe what he was saying. Jason knew that if it were anyone else telling them all of this, they would have laughed it off. But he was their older brother, and something about the expression on his face as he spoke, and or the tone of his voice must have told them he was being deadly serious.

  Jason used to be an outgoing practical joker growing up, but after his captivity in the military, he seemed to have lost that part of himself, and his brothers knew it.

  Jason tried to instill that this was no joking matter. Both Jerren and Justin stood and approached him. They each placed their hands on one another’s shoulders, and he knew his brothers believed him.

  Jason, Justin, and Jerren finished their conversation and Jason told them it was time to see the rest of the family. He looked over at the preacher and figured he would deal with him later. Getting his family settled was more pressing to him at the moment. He thought about it a second then asked Alise in mind, How long can we safely keep the preacher in this state?

  There is no set time. I have him in an induced stasis at the moment. Alise replied

  I guess we’ll leave him here for the time being then, thanks. Sighing, Jason gestured for Jerren and Justin
to follow him, and they did without question. He peered around the control room to introduce his brothers to Alise, but once again she was absent, so he motioned his brothers to the inner corridor.

  Jason took Jerren and Justin to the location of the lift and he’d intended to surprise them the same as he had with Jeff, but Jerren and Justin looked at each other as if they expected something, and then back at Jason, then they both chuckled and said in unison, “What are you up to?”

  Jason couldn’t hold back the smirk any longer and he said, “I was just going to give you a thrill ride. With how much you two enjoy skydiving, you should like this.”

  Jason let out a chuckle and once he was in place, his brothers joined him and he said, “Ascend level two.”

  “Whoa! That’s wicked!” Jerren said with a laugh.

  Jason laughed and replied, “See, and you spoiled the surprise.”

  *****

  The reunion was a joyous one. Upon seeing Jerren and Justin, their father broke down completely and it took almost an hour for him to regain his composure, but the room was still abuzz.

  At this point, Jason was inundated by one question after the other, most of the questions he had no idea how to answer, but he answered the ones he could. His uncle was being a pain in the ass, and despite the gravity lift, and being transported, he was still in denial and Jason was at a loss as to what he could do to convince him that he wasn’t having a flashback to his hippy day’s at Berkley.

  In the end, it was his aunt Cindy who drew everyone’s attention. “Where are we going exactly?”

  Jason replied, “You’re all safe for now. We’re looking into a few planetary options, and we’ll let you choose in the end. I won’t have you saying I abandoned you on some godforsaken rock or forced you to deal with damn dirty apes.” Jason’s planet of the ape's reference was lost on them and he sighed inwardly.

  Jerren and Justin looked as if they were about to bust a gut, but the rest of the family just stared back at him as if he had gone mad. It was Alise’s giggle in the back of his mind that lightened his mood.