by David Byrd
“Elia…Elia…Elia wake up,” the voice said. “We’re going to be late for the morning meeting.
“Huh? Meeting…morning…I’m confused what time is it?” Elia mumbled.
“It’s 6am and we are late, so I’ll see you there.”
Elia was having trouble focusing but she knew that voice. Blinking to clear her eyes and concentrating she saw the profile of her roommate leaving and realized it was Althea.
“Oh heavens shoot me now,” she said while dragging herself up off the bed. She must have had too much wine because she felt really muddled. Like her thought processes were swimming through water.
She hurriedly dressed and made her way to the central area where most of the others were already seated.
“Now that most of us are here,” Micah said looking in Elia’s direction. “Let’s begin shall we. The first order of business is to assign workers to the hydro farm plot and building the water pumping station. I’ve posted all the duties for today on link channel theta that you can access at your leisure. But we must get going as we have a long day ahead.”
“What do you mean assignments?” A male voice Elia didn’t immediately recognize asked from one side of the assemblage.
“Well we must all pull our weight to get Ascension off the ground. Only then can we truly connect with our inner selves and discover the power within.” Micah said smiling.
“But who said you were in charge of anything?” The voice asked.
“Well for the time being, I’m appointing myself to help get things on track. I’ll be happy to discuss the matter with you as soon as we dismiss for the morning.” Micah said to the man.
“Well then…Let’s be off and have a wonderful day.”
The group disbursed as each person reviewed the list in link for the day. Elia had been tagged to the hydro farm. As she started leaving, two men she always saw around Micah approached the man asking questions. Micah also approached and they all headed out towards the edge of the forest. Elia turned up the mental intuition and felt…nothing coming from Micah. It was as if there were no emotions whatsoever.
Elia and several other young women were tasked with planting crops for the day. The hydro plots were all ready and the calculations made as to which crops and rotations would be needed to feed the number of people in Ascension. The work was not hard by any means but it did take all day to complete and by evening they were all quite tired and ready to stop.
After a communal meal everyone retired to sleeping quarters to get some rest. Elia was very tired after the meal and really just wanted to sleep but Althea was waiting for her when she came into the hab.
“Elia I just wanted you to know how happy I am to be your roommate…at least until Kai gets here,” Althea said. “I know I was kind of flirty before, but I’ve grown up in these last few years. Besides, I have a wonderful new boyfriend…Corin. He just adores me and I think one day we will probably perform the joining like you two did.”
“Uh huh,” replied Elia. “Well Althea I’m really happy for you. I know Kai has known Corin for a very long time and he is a good guy. But right now all I can think of is sleep. I don’t know why but I’m barely able to stay up.”
“I know what you mean; I think there’s too many carbs in the meal mix…makes you groggy.” Althea said. “Goodnight then and don’t oversleep this time.”
Chapter 4
Kai arrived at the Canyon lab and entered the main room. “Hollis…Hollis are you here?” The lab was as silent as a tomb so Kai searched every room and corridor and then went back out and searched both portable hab units. Perplexed at this sudden disappearance, he searched for clues in the data consoles and reviewed the last information Hollis had been working on. Kai activated the main display console and searched for Hollis’ implant. They had learned how to use more and more of the technology available. No sign of Hollis. He adjusted the planetary display for life signs and found the eastern group of firstborn. It looked like all of them were clustered in and around a small area of clearing near the edge of a forest.
“What’s this?” Kai said to himself. Just inside the forest was a label he had seen before. It was one of the Plakorii labs. This is the one T’Kreil said experienced an accident or explosion and the station was of his faction.
Dejected, Kai grabbed a water container from the supply room and walked down the hallway near the stasis room. He noticed something dark at the bottom of the doorframe. The lab was spotless…the place was like a hermetically sealed clean room and there was no dust or debris so this spot seemed out of place. He bent to take a closer look and realized it was a bit of dried blood. This was not unusual in itself but combined with Hollis’ disappearance it seemed more than a coincidence. Searching intently in the corridor he found another speck on the floor at the bottom of the locked door.
“Perfect…a door we can’t open and Hollis went through it.”
Ascension Camp - Day 7
The day started like the previous with a morning meeting and assignments. Elia was slowly starting to feel better and less muddled in the mornings. It was odd since no one on Trellis II had ever been sick with any form of illness. The Adaptogen treatments the original colonists had and which were handed down to all the children prevented any pathogen from attacking.
“Good morning everyone,” Micah said smiling at the group. “We’ve made great progress on the pumping station and we will soon start work on the housing dormitories. Just a small reminder that this is a bonding experience for all of us and while I’m sure some of you might be a bit homesick, we want to…at least for now restrict any communication back to Ancora. I’m sure you all understand.”
Elia was taking this in and she felt…oddly ok about this news. She had an itch of sorts in her mind as if it was something she should scratch, but the feeling fell away quickly and she didn’t worry about it.
Later in the day, Elia and 6 other women were working at the hydro farm and took a break at lunch time. They sat around talking about various subjects and Elia noticed that several of the girls were wearing a different clothing style that really didn’t fit in with farming. Never having been one of the “girly girls”, Elia was quite at home in ordinary pants and shirts of the day.
“Althea, why are you wearing those clothes today?” Elia asked.
“Oh this little thing,” Althea replied. “It’s just part of the uniform silly…you know.”
“What uniform? What are you talking about Althea? I know you never brought those clothes from Ancora.” Elia said.
“Oh I don’t really remember,” Althea said. “But this morning it just seemed…right.”
Several of the other girls were nodding enthusiastically and then turned back to their individual conversations. One other young woman at the far end of the table was still wearing practical clothes of the day and she was staring at Elia with a perplexed look on her face. She had been listening to the conversation with interest and then turned away with a confused look.
Something was strange here but Elia could not seem to make a connection. It was as if she felt the wrongness but really couldn’t make herself care about it.
She finished her lunch and overheard Althea and some of the girls talking about a man.
“Yes he’s soooo handsome,” one of the girls said.
“Althea, who are you talking about?” Elia asked.
“Why Micah of course,” Althea said. “You know how all the women just adore him.”
“But, you and Corin are together,” Elia said. “You just told me last week how you two were going to be joined.”
“Corin…um…yes…I guess he’s nice and all but nothing like Micah.” Althea said.
Elia was stunned by this behavior. It was out of character and she needed to find out what was going on around here but she couldn’t quite think of the steps to take. It was as if she had forgotten how to make decisions.
Later in the evening after the usual meal they had the nightly bonfire and sharing of the wine.
It had become a ritual that everyone took part in. As Elia sat waiting for the wine to be passed out, she absently noticed that many of the men were wearing a type of overall. But they all seemed to be the same. Same color, same cut. Why did that bother her she kept asking herself? Her eyes fixed on one particular man. He was the person who asked all the questions last week about the assignments and questioned authority. He was sitting with rapt attention on Micah. His face had a kind of fixed look, almost devotion. She noticed many others in the group with the same behavior except…there was a man in the crowd looking directly at…her. He was staring intently and she could feel the slight touch of firstborn contact with her mind. It was too weak but two words were coming through…NO WINE…NO WINE. The man quickly turned toward Micah and stopped trying to communicate with her.
Elia took the glass of wine when it was offered to her but the two words were reverberating in her brain over and over…Not sure of anything or why this was important, she pretended to sip the wine and slowly poured it out without anyone noticing.
Something very strange happened after that. All of the firstborn were sitting at attention staring directly at Micah and he was doing something mentally to everyone…but her. She felt an overwhelming urge to listen to what he was saying as if it was vitally important. But this time she was able to resist. The session lasted only a few minutes and then everyone left for bed. As she left, the man who sent her the message caught her eye and nodded slightly.
Chapter 5
Kai tried forcing the door at the end of the hallway to no effect. He then looked all around the door frame for any hidden buttons or indentions to press but found nothing. He sat down on the floor cross legged and reflected on what he knew. First, this station had been used as a lab and workplace for several Plakorii. All of the other doorways opened by proximity when near enough to the door save this one. That means that something beyond the door is more secure than the other sections.
“So if I am T’Kreil and I walk down this hallway to enter this door what would I do?” Kai asked himself. “I wouldn’t touch the door since none of the others work on that principle. I shouldn’t need any kind of physical device to open the door since that would be inefficient to carry around with me. Besides, there are no portable instruments around.”
Kai sighed heavily and closed his eyes relaxing for a moment. He missed Elia and wondered how it was going with the firstborn. They are probably having a great time and I’m missing it he thought. He thought back to all that had transpired in this lab…finding Hollis, discovering they were not alone in the universe and some of the discoveries they made. He smiled thinking back to the moment when they released T’Kriel. Hollis waving his arms like a scarecrow and…
“Could that be it? He said aloud. Most of the consoles worked with hand movements or tones.
Kai stood up in front of the door and then recalled the movements Hollis made over the crystal in the stasis room. “Here goes.” He extended his arms and made the same series of gestures but nothing happened. “Open Sesame Dammit,” he said while waving his arms wildly.
Ding…
A single tone sounded but the door remained closed. “OK door, I’ve got your number now and you will open or I’ll slag the whole hallway with that pulse rifle over there.”
Kai had internal access to the link so he setup a recording session and started slowly and carefully executing arm movements adding another motion each time. He was rewarded with a single tone several times that he took to mean…close but not perfect. Slowly he zeroed in on the combination which was actually just a few short chopping motions with both hands.
Ding...Ding…
The door slid upwards into the ceiling silently as all of the Plakorii doors were made to do. Beyond the boundary of the doorway, a stairway made of the same smooth material as the outer cave descended below.
Kai brought a survival backpack with him on this trip and he grabbed that and the pulse rifle and began his descent. As he made his way down about 20 meters he encountered one other small blood spatter on the stairway so he knew he was on the right track. As he reached the bottom the room opened up into a cavernous area fully twice as large as the area above.
Ascension Camp – Day 10
For the past few nights, Elia had successfully avoided drinking the nightly wine round at the campfire and she was feeling more herself. She intended to find out what was happening but for that she needed allies. The man who warned her was probably one ally and she had an idea about another, but she would have to be careful.
Elia sat down at lunch with the woman who was still wearing clothing of the day like herself. “Hi we never really met,” Elia said. “I’m Elia.”
The woman stared at Elia for a moment and then looked over to where the other 4 women were all huddled talking at the other end of the table.
“I’m Julie,” she said. “I know who you are and I know you have been watching me too. You’re not brainwashed like the others. We can’t talk here but meet me by the dorm site tonight after everyone has gone to bed.”
Trellis I was shining with reflected sunlight high in the sky after midnight as Elia slipped out of the hab and made her way to the dorm construction site. She had waited until Althea went to sleep but that was almost as soon as she lay down. Elia reached out with her senses and found two minds around back corner of the partial building.
“Julie is that you?” Elia whispered.
“Shhh…yes it’s me and I have another friend with me,” she said. “This is Parker.”
As Elia saw Parker in the full light of Trellis I she realized he was the man who warned her of the wine.
“Look we don’t have a lot of time here but you know something is terribly wrong,” he said. “People are following Micah like robots and those who refuse are disappearing. You see the hold he has on everyone, dressing men in overalls and women in those outfits.”
“Yes and thank you for warning me about the wine,” Elia said. “I’m guessing something in the wine is making everyone more susceptible to his influence.”
“He’s adding some type of drug to the wine,” Julie said. “It changes every couple of days because our bodies adapt and reject foreign substances. I’ve seen his two buddies adding that every night.”
“And he’s definitely using his abilities to control minds,” Parker said. “He’s incredibly powerful and nearly impossible to resist with the help of the drugs. He is separating the men and women. This dorm we are standing next to when completed will be for all the men. He doesn’t have a use for the men except for muscle.”
“We’ve got to get a message back to Ancora,” Elia said. “We need some help.”
“No you still don’t understand,” Julie said agitated. “We are over a hundred kilometers from the colony and we have no communications equipment. Micah is controlling most of the firstborn now so imagine what he would do to our parents and the others without any mental control. He could kill them!”
“I didn’t think of that and you’re right,” Elia said. “We need a plan to break his hold on more people. If he’s as strong as you say, then we need more firstborn to break out of his control. Why do you think he has no use for the men?”
“Because Hannah and I…we are…Hannah and I are…or were together and now she’s all giggly and fawning over Micah. She wasn’t attracted to men when we arrived.” Julie said.
“I’m sorry Julie,” Elia said. “We will get out of this with everyone’s help. First we have to be able to withstand that mental compulsion he has for a while longer.”
“I can help with that,” Parker said. “We all have our abilities and mine is stronger in blocking or building a wall of sorts to protect from mental intrusions. Chalk it up to being an introvert but I can teach you how to do it. It won’t hold for long though if he gets you alone.”
“Alright let’s practice every night and start scouting for others who may not be totally in his control yet. We can bring them in one at a time. We’ll meet at th
e hydro farm plot since it’s the farthest from any of the habs.” Elia said.
Chapter 6
Kai explored the basement of the complex. On one side of the large room there stood a row of semi-transparent square rooms about 20 in all that were around 3 meters square. The door, hatch or entryway was fully transparent. There was a built in long shelf and some other device at the back. Kai equated this with a holding cell of some sort. Outside each cell there stood a standard control pedestal like the main consoles in the upper lab but these were smaller and contained only a single crystal at the center of the console. If he had to guess, this would be where the real experiments took place and from the looks of the cells the occupants may not have been willing participants.
The other side of the space contained several rooms with a variety of alien equipment none of which Kai was eager to touch at the moment. The far end of the room held a circular alcove large enough for 10 people. Another pedestal stood at the entry to the alcove with a single crystal like the others but this one was glowing softly with a pale blue light. Kai walked around inside the circular room and could see that the walls and floor were of the same semi-transparent material as the cells but the walls, ceiling and floor were all emitting the same soft blue light as the crystal by the entrance. Near the control pedestal was another splotch of blood.
“So one way in and no way out,” he said aloud. “The answer has to be here but what the hell is this thing?”
Plakorii Complex – Northern Woods
Hollis came fully awake and stared upwards seeing the opaque ceiling. He knew he was laying on a flat very uncomfortable surface. By degrees, he scanned the small room peripherally so as not to make any head movements that might alert his captor. The last thing he remembered after the shock of seeing another Plakorii was every nerve impulse in his body firing at once and then nothing.
