The War of All Wars

by J. Eric Booker

  When the ship stopped a split second later, they were about six hundred miles away from the outer atmosphere. They could now see every single little detail about this gaseous planet, of which Baltor still did not know its name. He had not thought about looking up information from the Internet about the names of these planets in this solar system, although he did remember in that second about hearing about a planet called Venus.

  A split second after the ship had stopped, Trendon answered, “This planet is named after the Roman goddess Venus. Now I’m not mad or anything, but next time…do not stop until I give you the order to stop. Understand, navigator?”

  “Aye, aye, captain.”

  “Tell me what you remember about the goddess herself.”

  After sucking in a deep breath, he answered, “The tour-guide told me that she was the Roman goddess of love, beauty, lust and fertility. The neighboring Greeks, of whom had often warred against the Romans, especially during their early roots in the Second century BC, even stole her identity and changed the name to Aphrodite—the Greek word ‘aphrodisiacs’ essentially means ‘sexually-oriented foods and/or delicacies.’ By the way, how far do you want me to keep going? Trust me there’s a ton I could say…”

  “No, that’s fine.”

  “Why do you want to know about this goddess?”

  Trendon answered, “Well, this is the planet she was named after—the planet that will, even if the Vompareus are stopped, will pass between the sun and the earth on Dec. 21st, 2012. We will have to be there and to use the anti-gravity forces from this ship, as well use all our magical powers, in order to stop Venus’s gravitation pulls, so it does not knock the earth out of alignment, and kill everyone in the process.”

  After nodding his head, Baltor answered, “Okay.”

  Trendon ordered, “I want you to open up the menu, open up the navigator-computer, and have it plot us a safe course for 'Alpha Pegasi' in the Andromeda Galaxy at a speed of warp-10.”

  “Yes, captain,” he said before he did, moving the joystick around and clicking the button until everything had all been spelled out.

  Twenty seconds later, a mini-map of the two galaxies popped up in his visor, revealing a trail that zigzagged until reaching the brightest sun in that constellation—the constellation resembled nothing like winged horses. Instead, it resembled a basic square with four bright corners…the trail ended at the star in the southwestern corner. Very few dim stars could be seen around the area.

  Twenty seconds later, a beeping sound occurred for a second, before the navigator-computer revealed, “Distance to destination: One hundred and forty light years away. Time until arrival: Fourteen years.”

  Baltor looked over at Trendon with a very confused look, especially at how long that trip was going to take!

  Sounding amused, Trendon chuckled for a few times, before he explained, “I didn’t say we were going to travel there that way. What I want you to do now is to physically tell the computer these very words, ‘Change Warp-10 to Universal-rift.’”

  “Change Warp-10 to Universal-rift.”

  The computer replied, “One moment…ready. In order to implement your order, say ‘activate.’”

  Baltor looked over at Trendon, who simply nodded his head one time. The navigator said, “Activate.”

  From all around, he watched as the universe itself literally folded in half in front of the ship—on the other side, he could now the constellation, now appearing to be but a trillion miles away.

  “Move us forward through the rift, Navigator.”

  “Aye, captain,” Baltor replied, before he moved the joystick forward. In turn, the ship moved forward until it passed through the rift. As soon as it did, the rift closed on other side—he didn’t have to see it in order to feel and know it had shut…

  Inside the center of this solar system that they were now fast approaching, there hovered two planets with a yellow sun in the middle.

  The nearest planet, about six million miles away, looked gaseous in nature—reds intermixed with blues—bearing three different types and sizes of moons floating around it.

  The other planet—about a trillion-in-a-half miles away but was only about five hundred thousand miles away from the sun—looked earthlike in nature—filled with various-sized-and-shaped rivers, lakes, oceans, as well all types of land terrains. However, there was no icy tundra, nor any clouds to be found, nor any moons orbiting this planet.

  Trendon said, “Navigator, fly us toward that earth-like planet—Warp-10. Now.”

  “Yes, captain,” said the navigator before he did.

  Perhaps ten seconds later, the captain ordered, “Stop.”

  He did—they were now a million miles away from the planet.

  Trendon revealed, “The earthlike planet below is called by Earthlings ‘51 Pegasi B.’ Though there are billions of life forms, there are only two species of primitive humanoids who’ve lived on this planet since their initial split five thousand years ago. They look similar to us, except that they have either green or blue skin, white or gold hair, and they call this world ‘Aquantis.’ Yes, they are quite intelligent.”

  After taking a deep breath, he taught, “Originally they all had blue skin and lived under the water with fins and gills, but one day, one rebellious member of this clan decided to check out the land—he came to discover, only seconds after swimming on the beach, his fins turned into legs! Excited about this newfound discovery, he searched out the lands beyond the beach for a few hours, before heading back home in the sea and let his clan know about his discovery.”

  After a short pause, Trendon added, “Instead of being happy, most of the villagers began to chastise, saying that living on the land was against the law! Despite the warning, this young man grabbed his willing girlfriend, as well a few more adventurous/rebellious friends, and they formed their own community on land. They in turn had kids, who in turn had more kids, etc. Eventually, due to the sun, their skin gradually turned from blue to green.

  “As for the green-folk nowadays, they have just learned how to melt bronze metals, for weapons and armor. It will be thousands of years before they even begin to learn about technology. And the blue-folk have only recently learned how to manipulate nature—through a primitive form of tribal magic, which will grow and develop as fast as technology. Would you like to take a closer look at both groups before we head back?”

  “Sure.”

  “Okay, Navigator, fly us to an altitude of ten thousand feet up in the air—it shouldn’t take us too long to find a settlement, so you can take a closer look.”

  “Yes, captain,” he said before he did.

  At ten thousand feet up in the air, Baltor leveled out the ship, as it flew northwest through the skies—invisibly and silently. Here and there, he saw very small groups of the green-skin people, tilling and farming the land, but he could barely make them out as they were flying at Mach-7.

  Nearly a half-minute later, Trendon ordered, “Navigator, stop.”

  The ship stopped. Trendon ordered, “Okay, if you look to the right about five hundred miles, there is their largest settlement, about six hundred villagers—fly the ship right over it, please.”

  “Yes, captain,” he said before he did.

  Five seconds later, the navigator stopped the ship—the captain next ordered, “Drop the altitude to one hundred feet, so you can take a closer look.”

  “Yes, captain.”

  Once at one hundred feet, he stopped the ship.

  Trendon next said, “Go ahead and take a look-see. Once you’re done, I’ll show you how the aquatic people live.”

  “Okay.”

  Amongst the tribal wood huts with thatched roofs, Baltor observed as the men had just formed a group outside the village—each armed with a bronze-tipped spear or bow-and-arrows…all armored with bronze tunics. The womenfolk, wearing simple tribal attire, continued meshing some type of flour inside the village, and the kids played and ran all around. On the far side, there dwelt three
or four outdoor/primitive-looking blacksmith shops with smoke rising out the chimneys—none of the other buildings had chimneys. Furthermore, these shops happened to be the only buildings whose walls consisted of four posts holding up a metallic roof.

  For about the next ten minutes or so, he watched as the men had a clan meeting before they left—obviously going on a hunting expedition, probably for food. A few of the older boys followed behind the men…but soon they even returned to the village, as they knew they were not old enough to go.

  Baltor looked over at Trendon, as he had seen enough—unless of course, the captain had something else to show his navigator.

  He did, as he said, “The men are going hunting, but it will be two days before they run into a herd of the cousin-species to the buffalo—we don’t have the time to wait around. Do you know what a buffalo is?”

  Baltor answered, “I saw a picture of it on the Internet—they kind of look like ‘chahusa’ on my home planet, except buffalos are hairy.”

  Trendon replied, “Exactly. So as you can see, life forms from different planets produce different species—yet are essentially the same.”

  With a point of his right index finger, he next ordered, “Navigate to the sea up there to the right—about two hundred miles away. Once there, which won’t take anytime at all in this ship, dive underneath the waters five hundred feet beyond the coastline to a depth of one hundred feet below sea level. I’ll let you know of any navigational adjustments we have to make along the way.”

  “Yes captain,” Baltor said before he did.

  Thirty seconds later, the ship was already diving into the sea. As they passed by the aquatic sea life, Baltor observed that these creatures looked vastly different from those on his planet, or on Earth—coming ahead in view dwelt a major underwater city, chiseled out from dozens of miles of coral reef. Swimming around were thousands of blue humanoid creatures, but with fins instead of legs—in Baltor’s opinion, they semi-resembled the myths of mermaids, though he never seen a single mermaid before, until today.

  Approximately one-half of a mile from the village, Trendon ordered, “Stop. If we get any closer, the natives here will know something isn’t right, due to the vibrations this ship produces. They have a sonar-type of sense.”

  In this culture, Baltor observed that the men and the women worked together—whether working on underwater crops, sewing, or even hunting fish with spears made from coral. In a vast majority of ways, they were just like their land-dwelling cousins, other than the fact this group lived underwater.

  “Well, navigator, whenever you’re done, let me know and I’ll let you know where to take us next.”

  “Yes, captain.”

  Around five minutes later, Baltor nodded his head, and said, “Ready whenever you are, captain.”

  “Okay, swivel your seat around, and back us out of here at the same speed we used to get here.”

  “Yes, captain,” he said before he did.

  About a mile back, Trendon ordered, “Stop. Now launch us straight up into space at Mach-1—we’re clear.”

  “Yes, captain.”

  Once they had reached space, not even ten seconds later, the captain ordered, “Stop. When I give the order, you will next begin to dogfight against other alien ships using this ship, until you’ve become proficient. I have already disengaged the actual firing pin, and activated the holographic-simulator device, which will not only simulate your laser blasters, but will also simulate other alien ships and their laser blasters, of which you will fight against until they are destroyed. Along the way, there will be missions you will have to accomplish. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, sir,” Baltor said with eagerness.

  For the next several hours, he either fought against wave after wave of attacking ships, and/or protected friendly supply spaceships. In fact, this videogame happened to be very detailed, pitting up against “fictional villains” in superior ships to his own. Of course, the navigator had never once died, though there were a couple close calls near the end…like when he had to fight against five hundred enemy ships at once, including the lizard-leader of the faction—General Thrawlk!

  The computer revealed, “Game over—congratulations!”

  “Excellent job, navigator,” Trendon also commended.

  “Thank you captain.”

  “Now, using the nav-computer, plot us a course back for Earth using the universal-rift to the date of June 21st, 2012. Once this course and time is given, I give you the go-ahead to make it so.”

  “Yes, sir,” said before he did. Only thirty seconds later, the universe once again folded in on itself, seeing Earth on the other side a billion miles away—he next flew the ship forward beyond the rift, which rift closed seconds after they had passed.

  “Excellent job, Navigator.”

  “Thank you captain—your next orders?”

  While pointing with his finger, Trendon answered, “See Venus over there? I want you to fly halfway between Venus and Earth and then stop.”

  Once Baltor had reached the halfway point, he stopped.

  Trendon next ordered, “Turn on the anti-gravity to two hundred percent, which will not hurt our power supply. Then we wait for Venus to pass by the sun.”

  Following the planetary eclipse that happened only thirty seconds later, and which eclipse lasted another thirty seconds, Trendon ordered, “Now, Navigator. Alter our time to 12:01 a.m., Dec 21st, 2012.”

  Baltor did as ordered.

  “Now,” Trendon said, “we make our way for Apocalypse Island.”

  CHAPTER XVI

  Two minutes later, the invisible ship landed in the middle of a large grassy field near the middle of Apocalypse Island—comprised of prairies amidst the jagged mountains and volcanic rock formations, the beaches, and of course, the ocean. Near the top-center of the island, there existed a small town—on the western side of the island, a small landing strip for airplanes.

  One second after the ship had landed, Trendon looked over and ordered, “Stand up, carefully take off your helmet, and then set both it and the joystick gently in that compartment. Very sensitive equipment, I must inform you.”

  Having done as ordered, Baltor answered with a strange look on his face, “Yes, captain…but I’ve got to ask. Is this really Apocalypse Island? I saw not only a landing strip yet a town…yet according to the show I recently watched, it took the explorer months to reach this island by boat a couple years back, and they only had a few days to explore the statues and the area before the next tropical storm passed through.”

  Trendon couldn’t help but chuckle as answered, “The explorer was a fake in a few of his claims, including the name of this island, which name is really Robinson Caruso Island. Even more-so when he professed that he had sailed months on a boat to get here, and that the statues-in-question were chiseled by the ancient Mayans. They are merely natural rock formations.

  “What he was right about was that the Mayans did travel here to this island by boat, nearly two millenniums ago. They also saw the statues, and believed them to be a sign from their gods.

  “If modern-day archeologists had determined they were real, there would be tons more of them exploring the area out, which we do not want or need. What I’m about to show you should satisfactorily prove that this is indeed, Apocalypse Island.”

  “I see, captain.”

  “Excellent…please follow me,” he replied before turning around and walking out of the cockpit.

  Perhaps a half-minute later, they had already exited the ship via the main entrance and were standing on solid ground—indeed the winds were blowing semi-strong at thirty miles per hour, but only enough to cause their clothing to flutter.

  Other than the still-open ramp and a small part of the interior, the remainder of the ship continued to remain invisible—the moment they stood on ground, the ramp shut, causing the ship to become one hundred percent invisible once more.

  Trendon pointed his index finger before stating, “If you look t
o where my finger is pointing, ten miles away, you will see the statue. Teleport there only when I wave you over.”

  Baltor used his binocular-vision to see where he pointed, and once he had, he nodded his head.

  Trendon teleported next to the jaguar—only then did he wave. In that same moment, Baltor stood next to his captain.

  Using telekinesis, Trendon pushed the secret button on the jaguar’s belly—the ground slowly began to slide away, which inevitably revealed a four-foot wide by six-foot tall stone staircase that led deep down.

  Instead of descending the stairs, he turned around, closed his eyes for a moment, and a portal opened up. He informed, “As there are five thousand steps to descend to get to the bottom, we are not going to walk down…we will teleport to the bottom. Go ahead first.”

  “Yes, captain,” Baltor replied before entering the portal.

  On the other side of the portal, he discovered that the stairs leveled out behind him, and in front of him, there dwelt a tunnel that zigzagged. Of course, the area was pitch-black, but neither he nor his captain needed light so see.

  After Trendon closed the portal, he took the lead.

  At the far end of this tunnel, a little more than a half-mile away, it opened up into an underground Mayan city, mostly comprised of thousands of thatched huts. In the middle of it all, there stood a Mayan pyramid, equal in size to the one in Chichenitza, but this structure looked Egyptian in that the walls were smooth. The only unusual thing about this place that Baltor discovered, so far…shadowy/tribal-looking people moved about from here to there in the blink of an eye…men, women and children!

  While walking forward into the city, fearlessly, Trendon said over his right shoulder, “Do not worry about them—they are ghostly undead and will not bother us. In fact, they would serve us if we needed them, but we don’t.”