Escaping the Cataclysm

by Keith Robinson

  “But you obviously were able to gain some control!” he spat back at Mack. “How? What did you change?”

  Mack glanced over at Akwen, then turned back to face Arngrim. “We…we have a robot that hooked into the computer. Maybe it did something.”

  Arngrim’s brows creased skeptically. “Are you referring to that circular machine with eyes that sits in the control room?”

  “Yes!” Mack said hopefully. “Maybe if you start it up—”

  “My guards already disposed of the machine,” Arngrim said coldly. “You told the machine what to do. You must know what it did.”

  “NO!” Mack shouted back. “The only thing we told Elmer to do was try to get control of the movements of the ship! He didn’t do anything to keep it from travelling through time. We never had any problems… Wait!” he shouted suddenly. “The core that’s in the pyramid now is the new one we got from Nimrod in the Tower of Babel! Maybe there’s something wrong with it! We installed it after we got here!”

  Arngrim shook his head. “Nice try. But if that was so, then why does the pyramid have power at all? The only thing that doesn’t work is the actual time dispersment field. You are hiding something, and I am going to find out what it is.”

  Moving over to stand in front of the others, he stared at Lisa, Akwen, and Rebecca intently. “Perhaps watching these puny female friends of yours scream in pain as I remove their appendages one by one will loosen your tongue. So, I think I will skip your own torture and jump immediately to applying pain to a third party. What do you think?”

  “Please…Oh God, please NO!” Mack cried.

  Grabbing Rebecca’s arm, he shoved her toward the far wall, the gravity control devices held aloft in his hands.

  “NO!” Jeffrey suddenly screamed, guessing as to the evil man’s intentions. Rushing forward, he ducked the swinging spear from the wolf-like Naphil guard and lunged at Arngrim. Sensing the attack, Arngrim turned just as Jeffrey plowed into him. As they crashed to the floor, Arngrim twisted his body like a cat so that he landed on top of Jeffrey, knocking the wind out of him.

  Rebecca screamed and tried to club Arngrim with her bound wrists, but he deflected her blow and struck her, sending her tumbling to the floor, stunned.

  “So, you want to volunteer to be first?” Arngrim snarled at Jeffrey, who continued to writhe on the floor in pain. “Fine. We’ll start with you then. I don’t have time to do this the right way, so we’ll just have to improvise.” Picking Rebecca up from the floor, he tossed her back toward the others, then reached down, grabbed the gravity control devices, which he had dropped in the attack, and mounted both of them into brackets on the wall. Activating the devices, he adjusted the setting of the blue energy beam so that it was nothing more than a thin line. Shutting them off again, he grabbed Jeffrey violently and placed his bound wrists in between the two devices. Turning them on once again, he watched in satisfaction as the blue beam passed between Jeffrey’s wrists and head.

  Hanging off the floor by his wrists, Jeffrey began to kick out at his captor in defiance, but it only served to enrage Arngrim further. A sickening thud reverberated in the chamber as Arngrim’s massive clawed fist backhanded Jeffrey across the face, rendering him temporarily unconscious. Across the room, Lisa screamed out in protest, while Rebecca stared ahead numbly, suddenly realizing that this was what she had seen in the vision while aboard the Ark.

  Grabbing a heavy table that rested against the wall, Arngrim moved it into position in front of Jeffrey. Within moments, Arngrim had used more of the rope to tie each of Jeffrey’s feet to the legs of the table, effectively suspending him in midair at a forty-five-degree angle.

  Reaching into a hidden area of his robe, Arngrim produced a foot-long dagger that seemed to shimmer in the dim light of the room. “Do you know what this does?” Arngrim asked, holding the dagger up before Mack’s eyes. “…besides the obvious, of course. This dagger produces an electrical current on the blade that causes the body to convulse. Would you like to see a demonstration, or will you tell me how to fix the pyramid?”

  Lisa and Rebecca wept openly now, the sound torturing Mack as he stared up at the man with tear-streaked eyes. “Oh God! Please help us!”

  Not understanding Mack’s words, which had been spoken in English, Arngrim assumed that Mack was ignoring him. Walking over to Jeffrey, he touched the tip of the blade into his prisoner’s back just far enough to break the skin, then squeezed the hilt, causing the energy current to pass through Jeffrey’s body. Screaming in pain, Jeffrey twisted and contorted, trying to move away from the dagger.

  “Time is running out!” Arngrim yelled, his agitation building. “Tell me!”

  “I DON’T KNOW!” Mack screamed as he collapsed onto the stone floor, sobbing. “How can I tell you something I don’t know?”

  “You do know!” Arngrim yelled back, grabbing Mack’s face in his claw. “I’m done wasting time. Tell me what I want to know now, or I’ll finish with this one, and move on to another of your friends!” To emphasize his point, he let go of Mack, crossed back over to stand by Jeffrey, and then shocked him again with the dagger.

  Filled with grief, Mack looked over at Jeffrey, whose bloody face was beginning to swell from the blow Arngrim had delivered. “I’m so sorry, Jeffrey.”

  Staring back at him, Jeffrey nodded painfully. “Don’t worry, Mack. You did your best.”

  Enraged by the pitiful exchange, Arngrim grabbed Jeffrey and spun him around so that he faced downward toward the floor, crossing the ropes that bound his feet. “This is your last chance! TELL ME NOW!”

  Bowing his head, Mack prayed quietly. “God, have mercy on us.”

  Letting out a howl of fury, Arngrim brought his arm up above Jeffrey’s back. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the man summoned all of the strength of his genetically enhanced muscles and brought his arm down on his victim’s back. The sickening sound of breaking bone was drowned out only by the excruciating scream of pain that emanated from Jeffrey’s lips.

  25

  The Beginning of the End

  “JEFFREY!” Rebecca screamed in anguish as his broken body went limp. Sinking to her knees, she leaned forward and began rocking back and forth. Placing her bound hands on the back of her neck so that her arms covered her head, she fought to block out the world, her mind replaying the last few terrible moments over and over. Oh God, where are You! she prayed, her soul in agony.

  Another earthquake suddenly passed through the floor beneath their feet, causing everyone to cry out in surprise. When it was over, Arngrim stood, his fear beginning to grip him. Fighting against it, he let out a roar that served to inflame his anger, effectively extinguishing his momentary weakness. Taking up his dagger, he slashed the ropes tying Jeffrey’s ankles to the table legs, causing his body to swing forward and crash into the stone wall where it hung limply.

  Turning around, Arngrim strode over to Mack and lifted him to his feet while the wolf-like Naphil guard continued to stand watch over the other bound prisoners. “You truly are stubborn! You pretend to care for your friends, yet you would rather watch them suffer instead of giving me the information I seek! You are all going to die in the Flood if you remain silent. Wouldn’t it be better to just tell me? If you do, I promise I will take all of you with me.”

  Outraged at what the ape-like man had done to Jeffrey, Mack stood firm and glared back at him. “Then it looks like we’ll all die together! I know the condition of my soul, and I’m ready to meet my Maker. How about you?”

  Arngrim brought his hand back to strike Mack, but then restrained himself. “But…you don’t have to die. I will…I will make you a king instead of a slave. I will give you your own country to reign over. You will have riches, women, power!”

  Seeing the other’s growing desperation, Mack laughed in derision despite his inward distress. “You know what, I actually do know how to fix it,” he lied, “but I would rather die than allow you to pervert the human race! So you can just go to Hades, along with
the rest of the vile people of this world!”

  Infuriated, Arngrim struck Mack with his fist and threw him to the floor. Drawing his dagger, he lifted it, preparing to thrust it deep into the stunned man’s heart. Still reeling from the blow, Mack bowed his head, expecting to feel the bite of the blade at any moment.

  “Halt!” came a command from the doorway. Jerking his head toward the voice in surprise, Arngrim slowly lowered the dagger and backed away from Mack.

  “My…my lord Odin!” he stammered at the sight of the thirteen-foot giant that stood in the entryway. “How…how may I be of service, O Great One?”

  Striding over to stand beside the ape-like man, Odin surveyed the room. Utterly confused by the sudden appearance of the false god, Rebecca and the others stared up at him in shock while Mack remained unmoving on the floor, hoping to escape the notice of the massive being. “You can begin by telling me what’s going on here,” Odin commanded, a frown creasing his face.

  “I…I…these puny humans sabotaged one of my…special projects that I was working on,” he muttered.

  “Don’t waste your time trying to hide the truth,” Odin said forcefully. “Did you actually think I wouldn’t find out about your little secret workshop? These creatures are somehow connected to that pyramid. Are you really so foolish as to think that you could sneak it into my fortress without my knowledge? Now, before I lose my temper, tell me: what does it do?”

  Like a thief caught stealing a precious gemstone, Arngrim’s foul heart began to beat rapidly in fear. “My lord, it was…it was going to be a surprise for you! I was going to show it to you when it was finished.”

  Grabbing the much smaller man by his robes, Odin lifted Arngrim over six feet off the ground and brought him up to eye level. “I don’t have time to waste with your foolishness! Do you think me ignorant? I know that the falling star is almost here and I know what it portends. I’ve seen your pyramid, and I know that it can somehow save you from the coming destruction. Tell me, does it work? If it does, then I may forgive the fact that you stole the information from your gods!”

  “For…forgive me, merciful lord Odin. I wanted to make sure I could get it working before I informed you of its existence.” Arngrim begged. “I…I did make the pyramid with the capability to traverse time, but although the energy core is functional, the time dispersant is not working! These…humans…did something to it.”

  Throwing him unceremoniously to the floor, Odin stared at the prisoners menacingly. “Perhaps you were too kind in your methods, Arngrim. I will make them talk!”

  All at once, an earthquake that seemed to shake the very foundations of the earth sent everyone, including the false god to the floor. Unsecured items on the shelves and tables crashed to the floor, sending shards of broken glass and pottery scattering around the room. Although the worst of the shaking had subsided, the ground continued to tremble beneath them, making it difficult to stand. Then, before anyone could fully recover, a blinding light lit up the room from where Odin had stood the moment prior. As the light dimmed, the prisoners saw the outline of what appeared to be a man clad in gleaming silver armor begin to take shape, a five-foot broadsword with a jewel-encrusted hilt hanging at his side. His strength and size matched that of the false god that still remained on the floor at his feet. Brownish-gold hair flowed to his shoulders, and as he turned to look at Rebecca, she gasped as she stared into his luminous eyes.

  Their color was a deep violet.

  “SIKARIS!” she sobbed in recognition, her soul leaping within her. Although it had been four years since she had last seen the angel that had been her companion and teacher during her time on the planet of Ka’esch, she could never forget the fathomless depths of his eyes.

  Sikaris cast her a warm smile, then his expression hardened as he reached down and wrapped his muscular arms around Odin’s neck, yanking him to his feet. Dragging the demonic god toward the entrance, Sikaris called out to Rebecca, his voice calm yet firm. “It has begun. Rebecca, you must get to the—”

  His words were cut short as Odin came to his senses and jabbed his elbow into Sikaris’ side, forcing him to release his hold on the false god. Taking advantage of his opponent’s momentary distraction, Odin spun around, lowered his head and rammed into the angel’s torso. His legs pumping, Odin lifted Sikaris off the floor and drove him through the door and up the stairs.

  “Sikaris!” Rebecca yelled in concern as he disappeared from sight. She started toward the door but the massive body of the Naphil guard blocked her path. The wolf-like giant raised his spear at Rebecca and the others menacingly, when his body suddenly jolted as if a heavy weight had landed on his back. Unsure if their eyes were playing tricks on them, Rebecca and the others watched in confusion as light seemed to bend oddly around the giant’s head. For a brief instant, shock and surprise registered on the creature’s face. Then, his head twisted grotesquely to the side, the sound of cracking bones causing the onlookers to start at the sickening sight. Neck broken, the body of the Naphil slumped to the floor.

  Having watched the strange events of the last minute, Arngrim rose to his feet and began running toward the door, unadulterated fear written on his face. However, as he was about to pass the fallen body of the guard, light began to shift in the same peculiar fashion as before. Suddenly, Arngrim flew backward as if struck by something heavy. As his body hit the floor, his head cracked against the ground with a dull thud and he ceased moving.

  Bewildered, Rebecca and the others remained rooted to the shaking floor. Holding his right hand up to staunch the blood from the cut Arngrim’s blow had dealt him, Mack climbed to his feet. “What the…? What just happened?”

  Suddenly, another form began to materialize in the center of the room. Taken aback, the group watched in astonishment as an eight-foot-tall man dressed from head to foot in reflective silver armor appeared. Four wicked-looking horns protruded from the top of the helmet just above a V-shaped visor.

  The helmeted head turned toward the former captives as a deep, gravelly voice spoke. “What are you waiting for? Let’s get moving!”

  “Goliath?” Dr. Eisenberg suddenly said in awe. “Where…where did you come from?”

  “No time!” he said harshly as he sliced through their bonds with a small knife. “That warrior that materialized out of the light told Rebecca to get going. But, where to?”

  Shrugging off her shock at the quick turn of events, Rebecca ran over toward the wall where Jeffrey still hung. Reaching his side, she began to stroke his hair as she examined him. At her touch, his eyes fluttered open weakly. “Becky…” he murmured. “I…I can’t feel my legs…”

  She blinked rapidly, fighting back a new wave of tears. “Shhh. Don’t talk. We’re gonna get you out of here.” Turning toward the others, she called out to them. “We’ve gotta get Jeffrey down. Jerome, grab that other set of gravity control devices. If we can adjust the settings of the ones holding him, maybe we can make a kind of gurney like when we carried the core out of the Tower of Babel. Goliath, help me get him down. I can’t reach the devices on the wall.”

  Scowling beneath his helmet at the delay, Goliath reached up and deactivated the devices while Rebecca and the others supported Jeffrey’s body. He groaned in pain as they moved him over and laid him down on the table to which his ankles had previously been tied. Withdrawing a small syringe from a compartment on his belt, Goliath stuck it into Jeffrey’s arm.

  “What are you doing?!” Rebecca cried in fear as Jeffrey’s head rolled to the side and ceased moving.

  “I sedated him,” he replied coldly. “I took it from the med kit aboard the pyramid after our encounter with Nimrod. We have no time for any further questions, let’s get going.”

  “But where?” Lisa said as she glanced nervously at the entrance to the workshop as if expecting Odin to return at any moment. “Should we go to the pyramid?”

  Akwen shook her head. “It doesn’t work! What good will dat do us?”

  “No,” Rebecca repl
ied. “To the Ark! It’s our only hope!”

  “But then we’ll be trapped in this time period for the rest of our lives!” Jerome cried.

  “Maybe not,” Dr. Eisenberg said. “We now know where this chamber is buried. After the Flood, we could dig it up and perhaps build a new core. Remember, the original broken pyramid that we found in the future lies just behind that wall,” he finished, pointing toward the false wall that sat opposite the entrance.

  “The journals are on the pyramid upstairs,” Mack said, his body still shaking from the recent emotional exertion. “How will we know how to build a new core?”

  “We don’t need those,” Dr. Eisenberg said rapidly. “Ham has a copy of the blueprints on the Ark with him. It would take years, but we could eventually return to our time!

  “It seems we have no other choice,” Rebecca said. “But the Flood has begun. How do we get to the Ark?”

  “While I had my cloaking device activated, I scouted out this area,” Goliath reported. “There’s a room not far from here that has a couple of those floating platforms. We could fly one of those.”

  “Great! Then let’s get these devices calibrated so we can lift Jeffrey and get out of here,” Rebecca said, a small glimmer of hope beginning to rise within her.

  Within moments, they had the makeshift gurney set. Jerome and Mack each grabbed a set of the devices and steadied themselves as Lisa, Rebecca, and the doctor transferred Jeffrey’s limp body over to it. Once they were ready, Goliath reached down and picked up the spear from the dead Naphil, then led the others toward the exit. He and Akwen led the way up the stairs but stopped suddenly as Dr. Eisenberg called out to them from below.

  “Wait! There’s one more thing we have to do,” he said. Standing in the antechamber, he shut the door leading to the workshop, and then moved over to the hidden side panel.

  “We don’t have time for dat!” Akwen cried out.