The Disciples of The Orb
Book II of The Ascendancy Series
Marshall Cobb
Copyright © 2019 Marshall Cobb
Kindle Edition
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
This book is a work of fiction. Places, names, characters and events are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
About The Promise of the Orb
1. Peter
2. Matt
3. Irene
4. Eli
5. Home
6. Jenny & Peter
7. What is Banished?
8. Old Feelings and New Powers
9. Logistics
10. The Joyless Vacation
11. Secrets
12. Hoover Dam
13. Paris
14. The Trouble with Matt
15. New Guardians
16. Recovery
17. A New Day
18. No Good Options
19. Contraction
20. Running Out of Time
21. Practice Afar
22. Secret Plans
23. Gibraltar
24. Doubts
25. Game on
26. The Reckoning
27. End Game
Author’s Note
Excerpt from The Orb Book III
About the Author
Hello!
In case you haven’t been able to check out the first book in this series yet, The Promise of the Orb, I wanted to include a recap here so you can start reading The Disciples of the Orb without any confusion. If you would rather start with Book 1, you can purchase The Promise of the Orb here. Otherwise keep reading for this spoiler recap of Peter Davidson’s first adventure!
Happy reading,
Marshall
Peter Davidson, thirteen, struggles to find happiness on his family farm. His father, known for obvious reasons as Big Ed, has not been himself since Peter’s mom passed away from cancer. Big Ed’s only focus is keeping their farm afloat, but that requires all his time—and the time that would otherwise be free for Peter and his older brother, Eli, who wants nothing to do with farming.
Events take a turn for the worse when a large commercial farming operation convinces local politicians to dam the river that serves as the lifeblood for Peter’s farm. When everything seems like it cannot get any worse, Peter finds an unlikely ally in the form of a small, glowing Orb hidden amongst the rocks of the dried-up river bed. Orb communicates with Peter telepathically and demonstrates his superior abilities by absorbing the contents of the entire internet in one night.
Orb thanks Peter profusely for saving him. Orb claims an evil entity called Cube won control of Earth thousands of years ago. Cube broke Orb into pieces called receptacles that were hidden around the world and watched by guardians, animals gifted with extended lives and abnormal strength and agility Per Orb, Cube represents free will for humanity. Free will that has led to wars, famine, disease, overpopulation, and pollution. Orb offers to fix the problems faced by Peter’s family and reverse the damage caused by Cube.
Peter, overwhelmed by this information and not quite able to grasp what he is dealing with, reluctantly agrees to help Orb travel across the state to a cave where several of his receptacles are watched over by a guardian of Cube. Orb stresses that secrecy is paramount, so Peter lies to Big Ed and Eli and hitchhikes across the state. During the journey, Orb proves his value by saving Peter from a driver who would have kidnapped him. Orb then sends Peter into harm’s way by sending him deep within a cave where his receptacle is held. Cube’s guardian of the receptacle turns out to be an ancient mountain lion. Peter is severely wounded by the lion, but Orb kills it and heals Peter.
Orb lives up to his promises. Now almost at full strength, Orb frees Big Ed and other farmers who were jailed for protesting the damming of the river. Orb also changes the minds of the politicians who dammed the river, and lets Big Ed take the hero’s mantle at a photo-op event where a giant backhoe destroys the dam and frees the river.
Big Ed is the talk of the town. In addition to saving the river, the governor himself asks Big Ed to take a new position specifically created to look out for the interests of the small farmers in the state. Eli is delighted as Big Ed’s new job means more money for their family, and better odds that he can go to college. Peter is conflicted. He’s happy for his father and, to some extent, Eli, but fights with the knowledge that he, and Orb, are the ones who solved all the problems.
Orb, still very much concerned about secrecy from adults and authorities, enlists the aid of Eli, Eli’s friend Matt, and two of their classmates, Jenny and Irene. Orb is bigger and stronger but says he needs the help of the newly formed group to retrieve his final receptacle and end Cube’s reign. He promises to apply a “fog” to their parents, classmates and friends so that they will not be missed. He also promises to stay out of their thoughts—which is something that bothers Peter. There is no way of knowing what Orb is actually doing, and Orb only reveals what suits him.
Claiming he still lacks the strength to teleport all the way to his final receptacle in Costa Rica, Orb takes the group to an old ghost town in Mexico called Real de Catorce. While in Real de Catorce, Jenny and Peter meet a strange caretaker hidden away in an old church. The caretaker, Bartholomew, explains that he and the church are a waystation of sorts for a larger game that involves humanity, Orb, Cube and the entire universe.
Bartholomew tells them it is no accident that they have arrived at this spot. He also warns that things are not always what they seem to be, and that Orb tends to pick the parts of the truth that help him the most. He tells them that Peter will soon have to make a decision that impacts all of them, and the entire planet, and encourages them to trust and help one another.
That night a large wolf acting on behalf of Cube overpowers the small network of guardians Orb assembled for protection, and nearly kills Peter. Orb returns just in time to save Peter’s life, then whisks them all to a remote spot deep in the forests of Costa Rica.
The group enters a giant, hollow strangler fig tree that houses a being identical to Bartholomew who calls himself Malcolm. Malcolm explains that Orb has brought them to this spot, where his final receptacle is indeed guarded by Cube, to participate in what he calls The Game. The Game is played throughout the universe with the intent of learning which form of rule is best: free will, where beings are able to make their own choices or, instead, a system of absolute power where one entity, Orb, makes decisions that control all aspects of life.
They discover that Orb needed all five of them because they will compete against a group of five Buddhist monks Cube has assembled to defend his control of the planet. Should Peter and his group win, Orb takes control of the planet and Cube is broken into receptacles that are hidden around the planet as a way to restart The Game. If they lose, their lives in their present forms are over but some remnant of them will continue.
Peter is also presented with another, uncomfortable option. He, as the leader of Orb’s group, can choose not to compete and give the victory to Cube. This will ensure Cube’s rule for another round of The Game. Peter’s friends would return to their lives and remember nothing of him.
Peter would become the living guardian of the last Orb receptacle and would stay in that form for what is likely to be thousands of years before Orb manages to regather his receptacles and challenge Cube’s rule.
Peter is inclined to yield to Cube and save his brother and their friends, but is overruled as Eli and the others prefer to fight—even if they don’t necessarily believe that a world ruled by Orb is a good thing. Each member of Peter’s group is paired off against one of Cube’s monks, who also struggle with the idea of winning and keeping Cube in charge. The challenges for each pair vary widely—from races in alien forests and finding needles in haystacks to a contest to see who can better follow a recipe. The monks have a great deal of freedom in how they approach a problem, while members of Peter’s team are forced to follow terms dictated in advance.
Peter and the leader of Cube’s group, Jigme, are pitted against each other for the final match with the score even at two wins apiece. With Malcolm as the referee, the two must race aluminum boats across a huge lake full of giant waves and creatures large enough to swallow their boats whole. Jigme, representing free will, can choose whatever path he chooses while Peter, representing absolute authority, must stay on a path indicated by a crude version of a GPS.
Jigme succeeds in reaching the landing spot first, but, when presented with the likely outcomes for humanity with thousands of additional years of free will, cannot bring himself to finish. He yields to Peter, who reluctantly claims victory and unleashes the full power of Orb on Earth.
Peter, Eli and their friends are instantly transported to their hometown and find that Orb has already begun his work. Peter, now the chief Disciple of Orb, continues to harbor doubts about what they have done, but also thinks there might be a way to unseat the absolute authority of Orb.
CHAPTER ONE
Peter
Peter eased the front legs of his chair back onto the plywood stage. He stared out at the sea of thin faces before him, their features obscured in the dim light which came only from windows that ran along one side of the large room.
“Last chance. Has anyone seen a friend, or neighbor, with one of the illegal weapons?”
Peter heard his voice bounce off the hard surfaces of the high school gym until it was absorbed by the mass of people sitting on the floor of the basketball court. He watched as a man likely twenty-five years his senior used the shoulders of those seated on either side of him to push himself to his feet. Once up, the man shook each of his legs in the small space allotted as if they had fallen asleep.
“Excuse me. I don’t understand. If Orb is all-powerful, why doesn’t it just make the weapons disappear?”
Peter used his rear end to scoot his chair forward. The legs squeaked a bit as he leaned in. It was awkward, and more than just a little uncomfortable, to defend something you did not believe in.
“We’re not here to debate Orb, Sir. He does what he does.”
Peter watched as the man in the crowd sucked on his teeth and frowned. The frown proved contagious and began to appear on other faces within the crowd.
“My name isn’t Sir, Peter. My name is Carl. I used to manage the grocery store down the road.”
Carl opened his hands and raised them towards Peter to display the welts and calluses now on his palms.
“Now I spend my days, the days I’m not called over here to listen to you or your cronies, trying to grow vegetables on the small tract of land I was assigned to on what used to be the fourth hole of our municipal golf course.”
Peter nodded but said nothing.
“My family and I live in a tent on that same property, Peter.” Carl spread his arms and looked at those seated around him. “Many of you sitting beside me live on other parts of the old course. We help each other boil water from the ponds so we have something clean to drink.”
Carl pointed at several different members of the crowd. Most averted their eyes as a way to distance themselves from any conflict. “Many of you join me in digging new community latrines every couple of weeks.”
Carl turned back to Peter. “You know what a latrine is, Peter? It’s a hole in the ground that everyone uses as a bathroom. When it gets too full, or the smell becomes too strong, we fill it in and dig another one. You probably don’t know about that because you probably live in a house, like Victor.”
When Peter did not respond, Carl looked to either side of the crowd, trying to find a connection, support. Everyone in the crowd, more than a little scared of what might happen next, stared blankly at Peter and refused to make eye contact. Failing to find a friendly face, Carl eventually turned back to Peter.
“So, you’ll disappear after this little meeting and we’ll return to pretending to be farmers. Nothing will change except for the fact that that little weasel next to you will add a new room to his house, or expand his personal garden using us as his slave labor.”
Peter looked to his left to see Victor, the focal point of Carl’s rage, smile joylessly as he used the yellowed nail of his index finger to pick at his equally yellow front teeth. If Carl’s words had offended Victor it was hard to tell, but it did compel him to push himself out of his chair and rise to his full height of just 5’8”—an attribute that weighed heavily on every aspect of his personality. Victor, who was in his 50s, looked grateful that Peter, barely a teenager, stayed in his chair and let Victor seemingly tower over him.
“What are you trying to accomplish, Carl?” Victor asked. “Why do you always cause problems? Just play ball and everything will be great, just like Orb said.”
Carl stared down and tried to make eye contact with the woman sitting to his right. Her long, brown hair was tangled, dull with streaks of gray at the roots. Her skin was drawn in tightly around her cheekbones. Her eyes betrayed no spark or joy. Her lips were dry, puckered. Carl used his right hand to gently stroke the hair on the top of her head but received no reaction.
“Why, Victor? Because our only child, our daughter, died of dysentery she got from tainted water when we were thrown out of our house and forced to live outside, communing with nature.” The sarcasm Carl used to deliver the word ‘communing’ finally drew a slight snarl out of Victor.
“Those who can’t adapt will depart this overcrowded world and make space for others, just as The Orb said,” answered Victor.
Peter winced at the exchange. There was something significant missing from Victor, who sat back down to indicate that the conversation was over, or that he didn’t care, or both. What was missing from Victor? Empathy.
Victor has plenty of ambition, but no empathy. Just like Orb.
Peter pushed his chair back, stood and sent a somber look in Carl’s direction. “I’m very sorry for your loss, Carl. I lost my mom a few years ago.”
Carl blinked, clenched and unclenched his hands, then replied softly, “The difference is no one turned your family out into the night and made them scramble for food while they lived out of an old, moldy canvas tent.”
“You’re right,” answered Peter, “but I didn’t do that.”
“No, your friend, Orb did all of that, and whoever didn’t hop to those orders was ratted on by your other friend, Victor.”
I could tell him, in front of all these people, that neither Orb nor Victor is my friend, but I have no idea if someone in the crowd is running yet another game for Orb.
Back when he had attended school, when school existed, he remembered his history teacher talking about communism. The exact quote escaped him, but the gist of it was that communism’s greatest trick was the ability to inspire the people oppressed under that system to report their neighbors and, in so doing, ensure that the oppression continued.
Peter met Carl’s stare. Neither of them blinked, though a small twitch in the muscle above Carl’s left eye slowly grew in intensity.
This man isn’t going to back down. Victor will probably have Carl and his wife deemed unfit right after I leave, and I’ll have them on my conscience too.
Peter broke Carl’s gaze and turned t
o look at Victor, who grinned at the exchange. That smile crumbled when Peter turned back to the crowd and announced, “From this day forward Carl and his wife will be the constable for this zone. Victor is stripped of his responsibility and will move immediately to the tract of land currently occupied by Carl and his wife—who will now reside in Victor’s current home.”
Victor’s mouth fell open. He pushed back his chair, stood, and tried to use his slight height advantage to intimidate Peter.
“You can’t do that,” Victor hissed. “Orb made me promises.”
Victor’s fingers clenched and unclenched as he spoke, promising violence.
Peter looked on, disinterested, as Victor drew back his right arm and, in the slow-motion used by people who have not been trained to box, tried to land a haymaker on Peter’s chin. Though Victor’s slow wind-up presented plenty of opportunity to move, Peter held his ground and let out a small sigh as Victor’s fist, and entire body, flashed briefly before disappearing.
A gasp went through the crowd. “It’s true! He can’t be harmed!”
The screamer was quickly muffled by those around him, and within moments the audience fell silent as they stared at the boy on the stage.
Peter took a step closer to the crowd, and winced as those in the front rows shrank backwards in an attempt to put more distance between them. “Please remain calm. I’m only here because your district asked for help.”
He snuck a look back at the spot Victor had occupied and added, “The problem is solved. Carl will run things for you now, and he seems like an honest, reasonable person.”
A portion of the crowd turned to look at Carl, who had remained standing but was now bent down conversing quietly with his wife. With the exception of their shared whispers the room grew quiet.
Several moments passed before Carl nodded, then offered his hand to his wife, who took it and then joined him standing.
“We don’t want it. We don’t want anything from you, or The Orb” she said flatly, calmly, to Peter.
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