by JK Stone
Alise could tell it was still difficult for him to discuss what happened to him, so she decided to change the topic. She said, “Okay now it is time for me to ask you about something else that has been eating at me.”
“What would that be?” Jason asked.
“That language you and your brothers speak. Where exactly did you learn it?”
This topic seemed to lighten Jason’s mood a little, he appeared to ponder the question a moment then said, “you know, I don’t really recall. We’ve just always spoken it as far back as I can remember. Why is it so interesting?”
“That language you three speak is ancient Imortum, and as far as I knew it had not been spoken aloud in almost four hundred thousand years.” Alise paused a second and saw the doubt in Jason’s eyes, then continued. “The only reason I know that is because my first host commander Andel knew how to speak the Imortum language.”
“Are you sure?” Jason asked.
Alise nodded then said, “See for yourself. You should have access to his archived memories by now.”
*****
Jason closed his eyes and focused. He found the location with Andel’s memories and sifted deeper and deeper, but the further he got the more he realized he was getting nowhere fast. Andel had been alive a very long time, so Jason decided to take a different approach and he located the beginning of the entries and started there.
Jason finally found the memories where Andel was speaking the language. It was definitely the language he and his brothers spoke, although Andel’s version was a bit rough.
Jason was listening more than observing at that point and was about to end the search when he looked at the person speaking to Andel.
The lady speaking to Andel looked familiar as if Jason should know her from somewhere but he couldn’t quite place where. He thought it must just be a resemblance to someone he’d once known, but it nagged at him that he couldn’t quite place where he had seen the woman.
Jason decided to sift a little more and went further forward until he came to another point where they were speaking the language again, and he focused on that point.
The woman said to Andel, “Your training is complete and your ship will be here in a few days. I know the commanders are all eager to pass on the reins. They have been in those ships a very long time and they are looking forward to their transformation and moving on to be with the rest of our people. It is time for me to leave as well.” She closed her eyes, extended her arms out from her sides, and with a brilliant flash, she transformed in front of him.
The woman’s body radiated with energy. She retained the shape of a person, but her features were blurred in what looked like a combination of shimmering gold and energy flowing and crackling from head to toe and throughout her being. Her eyes took on the appearance of miniature stars glowing from behind her hood, and they were so bright they were almost painful to look at. In a different voice, she said, “You will do well in your new position, I have seen what you will accomplish and I am proud to hand this duty over to you.”
With a gasp of shock and awe, Jason pulled out of the memory.
He bolted upright to a sitting position in bed beside Alise while he tried to gather his thoughts and lower his heart rate. His hands were trembling and his heart was racing and he took in some deep breaths in an attempt to calm down.
“Are you all right?” Alise asked.
“You were right,” Jason told Alise. “It is the same language.”
“And?” Alise prodded.
“And the ancient Imortum who was speaking to Andel, is the same being my brothers and I knew of as our imaginary friend Inola. To top it off, her voice is the one that helped me through my captivity and torture in Iraq.”
Another memory flashed through his mind and he added, “Now that I think of it I’ve heard that voice more recently.”
“When?” Alise asked.
Jason tried to gather his thoughts and once he was ready he said, “It was during the first attack on our ship by the Toralin’s or the consortium. The memory is just now coming back to me. I was trying to move and I couldn’t muster the strength when I heard her say, ‘Get up. This is your awakening.’ I remember thinking I didn’t know what the hell that meant. Then I heard a loud ‘GET UP! YOU ARE ALL IN DANGER!’ It sounds strange but I know it was her voice.”
Alise hugged him a while before she finally spoke. “I am beginning to think this Inola may be the one guiding us on this merry-go-round.”
Jason sighed and nodded. “You may be right. I just wish she would tell us to what end.”
*****
Jason and Alise stayed in bed a while longer trying to think through their situation. Jason’s mind was all over the place. His first concern was the protection of his family. They were safe enough at the moment on the ship but their discontent was palpable and he knew the civility was not going to last much longer. He knew he would have to do something about it pretty soon, and he decided to inform Alise as to why he’d gone into the master control room. “Alise?”
“Yes?”
“Is everyone awake below?”
“Everyone except the little ones, why?”
Jason could hear the trepidation in his own voice as he said, “I think I may have come up with a plan to keep the family safe, but I know they won’t agree to it.”
Alise sat up in bed. “What is your plan?”
Jason wavered a second. “I think we need to put them in stasis and wake them when we’ve resolved the issue with TDS 5.”
“That sounds like a good idea but we have nowhere to keep them.”
“Actually, we do. The master control room has a stasis chamber off of it. I just accessed the information about it. The room is like the void storage in a way. According to the data, the stasis chamber is out of space-time and can only be accessed through the master control room itself.
“Seeing as how the other ship’s commander doesn’t seem to know about the master control room, the family should be safe in the stasis chamber. For the time I was in the master control room you couldn’t track my DNA and that room is nearby, so we can keep a close watch on them. I think it would be the best solution, temporarily of course.”
Alise had a concentrated look on her face and a moment later she said, “There is nothing in the database about a stasis chamber. How do you know those details?”
Jason steeled himself for another tongue-lashing. “When I was in the master control room I …may… have reactivated the neural link. Data…could be streaming between me and the control room as we speak.”
Alise didn’t let Jason down. She chewed him up one side and down the other. He thought his ears were going to be ringing for a month but it didn’t bother him though. He knew her anger was out of concern and he loved her for it even more.
It took a while before Alise calmed down and the shoulder rubs and kisses on her neck didn’t seem to hurt. He waited until he felt it was safe to return to the topic and asked, “So, what do you think?”
Alise let out a sigh. “It sounds like a good option. How do you plan on getting them in there?”
“When they go to bed tonight we knock them out then Jerren, Justin and I will carry them in and place them in stasis pods.”
“You are not going to put your brothers in there as well? Or do you think they will go in voluntarily?” Alise asked.
“No, I doubt they will go in on their own, and I won’t force them to go, but I will give them the option, even though I know they’ll refuse it.”
“Okay, it is a better plan than keeping them all bottled up in this ship the rest of their lives,” Alise stated.
Jason affected a fake hurt look. “Sure, let them be at peace, but me, I can be bottled up all you want.”
Alise cracked a wicked smile. “This bottle is made for two babe, and I do not share well.”
That statement got them both cracking up. Jason leaned over and kissed Alise softly and said, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“So, what is to be done with your brothers?” Alise asked.
“I don’t want to make decisions for them. I’m just going to offer them a treat and see which one of them bites.” Jason then explained about TDS 3 and how he thought he could assign one of them as the new commander. Alise seemed intrigued by the possibility, and after detailing what he would like her to do, he stood and motioned for her to join him.
Alise did and upon standing, she let the blanket covering her drop to the floor. “Oops,” she said and nibbled her lower lip seductively.
Jason eyed her up and down with amusement before saying, “I really hate to do this to you but…” He waved his hand over Alise’s body and clothing appeared on the both of them.
Alise’s lower lip jutted out and she stomped playfully. “I want to stay in bed and have fun.”
“Later,” Jason told her. “Definitely later.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Jason and Alise materialized in the far corner of the second level, and he could hear his uncle and half-brother going at it once again. They really didn’t like each other for some reason. Jason and Alise’s appearance ended the unfriendly discussion. His uncle, apparently still needing to vent, turned his anger on Jason. That is when Jason noticed the bandages and blackened eyes on his uncle and his half-brother, and any doubts about his plan were gone.
Jason knew Alise was about to step in, but he put his arm around her waist and called out. “We may have found a solution to the problems we’re facing. We’ll know for sure by tomorrow. It looks promising, so in anticipation, I’ve decided to throw a little feast tonight since we’ll probably not be seeing each other for quite a while after that.”
This statement got them all excited and over the next ten minutes Jason was bombarded from all directions regarding the plan. All he would say is he didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up too much, but repeated that if it worked this would be the last chance to get the whole family together for a while.
They were not happy about being left out of the details but in the end, they relented. Jerren and Justin, on the other hand, seemed to know something was up. Once again, Jason gave them his I’ll explain it to you later look and he and Alise left the room buzzing in anticipation.
*****
Hours later the family was gathered around the table happier than they’d been since they were brought aboard and were laughing and talking, which was something they hadn’t done since being brought back aboard the ship.
A few hours into the feast Jerren and Justin approached Alise and Jason under the guise of asking him how he got the strange music to play. They walked over to a console and Jason was pointing to it randomly as he told them he would explain it to them after the family went to bed. Both Jerren and Justin raised their voices just enough to be heard and said at the same time, “I love this music. Where is it from?” This got both of them yelling playfully, “Jinx! You owe me a Coke,” followed by, “Where do we get a Coke?” in unison followed by another, “Jinx!” then laughter from the three of them and Alise. This playfulness drew admonishing glances their way.
Jerren said, “Seriously, though, this music is mesmerizing. I really like it.”
Jason looked at Alise for the answer and she said, “It is a Lantin rendition of an ancient Imortum song. The music is the same but the language is different.” She looked between them with a curious expression, then led them back to the table.
*****
Jason, Alise, Jerren, and Justin sat at the end of the table, and thinking to prepare his brothers for the potential of one of them becoming the commander of TDS 3, Jason and Alise explained to them what was expected of Jason now that he was the commander of TDS 1, so they would be informed when Jason offered the ship to them.
Time seemed to fly past and a few hours later Jason told them all he was going to need to get some rest for the next day. He and Alise said their good nights and Jason gave his father a hug and he said, “See you in the morning.” Then Jason took Alise by the hand and transported them out of the room.
Alise and Jason re-materialized on the first level and she turned on him. “I cannot believe you just lied to your father about seeing him tomorrow.”
Chuckling Jason said, “I didn’t lie to him. When he wakes up next, it will be tomorrow…for him at least. I’ve decided to stop thinking in linear time. It’s easier on my conscience, and my headaches as well.”
That statement drew Alise’s laughter and she replied, “I think I would have to agree with that,” then she stretched up to kiss Jason and sighed. “So, now all we have to do is wait for them to fall asleep.”
“I imagine it’ll be less time than you might think. I increased the level of tryptophan in their imitation turkey meat dinner.”
Alise got a shocked look on her face. “You drugged your family?” she asked.
Jason let out a booming laugh. “No, I didn’t… I just made sure they ate a lot of food so their digestion would kick in and they would get tired faster.”
With a chuckle, Alise closed her eyes a moment then reopened them. “Your plan appears to be working. A few of them are already heading to bed. I would say we could get your brothers in about twenty to thirty minutes.”
It ended up taking a bit longer than they had anticipated, owing to Jason’s uncle taking extra time to get in bed, but once he was lying down, they activated the stasis protocol on each of the beds. When Jason was sure they were all in a deep sleep, he went to the second level, where he was greeted by his brothers.
*****
“Okay, what’s up?” Jerren asked with a raised brow.
Jason pondered where to begin, the Imortum or the family. He decided to enlighten his brothers to their imaginary friend first. “Do either one of you remember where we learned to speak our private language?”
Jerren and Justin seemed to ponder the question a few minutes, then Jerren replied that he only remembered speaking the language and nothing about learning it, and Justin agreed.
“Why?” Justin asked.
“Alise heard us speaking it at our birthday party and was surprised because it’s actually the ancient and apparently dead language of the Imortum,” Jason explained about how the Imortum had turned over the running of the time ships to the Lantins, who were known on Earth as Atlanteans and that Alise’s first host Andel was able to speak the Imortum language.
Justin looked at Jason as if he were playing a trick on them and he said, “Good one, you almost had me there.”
Jerren spoke a moment later and said, “No Justin, I can see he believes it. What makes you sure she’s right?”
“Alise had me look into her first commander Andel’s archived memories and she was right. I found the memory where he was speaking with an Imortum during his training. He was not speaking the language well, but it was definitely the same language, and here is the strange part—
“Stranger than us speaking a dead language, oh this must be good,” Justin quipped.
Jason said, “Yes, well it does get stranger.”
That statement got Justin and Jerren’s full attention and Jason continued. “Well Andel was speaking with the woman and I was about to pull out of the memory when I looked at her. She looked familiar but I couldn’t quite place her, so I sifted through more of Andel’s memories until I came to the next one. She was Inola.”
Jerren asked, “Are you sure? It’s been twenty-five years since we saw her last.”
Jason took in a deep breath. He had sworn to himself he would never tell anyone else about the voices in his head for fear they would react the way his shrink did back on Earth, but now he knew the voice was real, so he looked at Jerren and asked, “Do you remember when I was captured in Iraq?”
Jerren’s face flushed with anger a moment and he looked at Justin a second then he must have figured top-secret information didn’t matter much where they were now and nodded for Jason to continue.
“Well as you know I was tortured extensively. What you don’t k
now is a few months into the captivity they decided to get creative with their new techniques.” Jason described, perhaps a little too graphically, if the expressions on his brothers’ faces were any indication, what they had done to him and how he started hearing voices. Then how he heard a different, more soothing voice, and the others faded into the background and how the pain subsided as well.
Jason explained how he was brought back day after day and subjected to more of their methods, but as soon as he heard the voice, none of their torture caused any pain. “I remember having conversations with the voice, but to this day I cannot remember a single word of it. I know now that the voice I heard was the same voice that came from Inola after she changed.”
Both Jerren and Justin looked stunned and Justin asked, “That was you in Iraq?”
Jason just looked from Jerren to Justin in shock. “What do you know about it?”
Justin must have had the same moral dilemma Jerren seemed to, but Justin quickly overcame it as well. He paused a second then opened up to them.
“There was a coded message transmitted over all of our military bands. I later found out that none of the crypto guys or linguists could figure it out, so they sent it into the Cray supercomputer. It worked for days but couldn’t decipher any of it.
“My commander was in a V-Tell meeting with the joint chiefs when I went in to deliver a critical mission brief to him. They were playing the message and I recognized it as our language. The message was a simple one. The voice said, ‘Sandman is in the nest. Bright boy is sleeping. It gave a latitude and longitude just outside Mosul and a time and date the sandman would go to sleep and bright boy was coming out to play.’ The message just kept repeating.
“I translated it and all hell broke loose. I was told that information was SCI 4 top secret and not to speak a word of it to anyone, then the military police proceeded to escort me to the barracks where I was placed under house arrest for the next eighteen hours.”
