Worlds Without End: Aftermath (Book 2)

by Shaun Messick

  Skip Hendricks grimaced in pain as he sat up in his bed in his small quarters within the underground rebel base. His dislocated shoulder had been in a sling for several days now, but he felt a tremendous amount of pain from his other injuries whenever he moved. Standing up, he then made his way over to his small sink and turned on the water. Lukewarm water trickled from the faucet. He placed his hand under the stream, cupped a small amount into his hand, and drank. He then looked up in the mirror. His eyes were tired and his face still scraped up from his fight with Vlamer Kreuk.

  He sighed, turned around, and made his way to the door. Today was the first day that he actually felt well enough to speak to the prisoner that they had brought back with them from the pyramid – the Gnol that Vlamer had held hostage.

  Skip had been curious as to why the Gnol was a prisoner in the first place. There had to be a reason why Vlamer Kreuk held the man hostage and then tried to kill him when he flung him into the wall of the temple. From what Jake had told him, the Gnol refused to speak. He didn’t even reveal his name. Celeste was unable to interrogate him because she had been unconscious since their return from the temple.

  Despite his refusal to speak, the Gnol had been compliant with Jake and General Hauler. Nonetheless, General Hauler still had him confined to solitary confinement behind a plasma force field in the brig of the base. General Hauler was worried that the Gnol was just waiting for the right time to strike, with his telekinetic and telepathic abilities. But Skip felt differently. There was something different about this Gnol, and something told Skip that he could trust him.

  He made his way down to the brig of the base, which happened to be on the lowest level. He cleared security and walked past the other cells lining each side of the brig. Some had prisoners; others were empty. He walked down to the end of the hallway to a large metal door. He entered his security clearance code, and the door slid open.

  Once inside the small room, the guard in charge stood at attention from his small desk in the corner and saluted. “At ease,” Skip said, nodding toward the guard.

  The guard relaxed a little, placing his hands behind his back.

  Skip then turned to his right. He could hear the hum of the energy field protecting him and the guard from the Gnol on the other side. He saw the Gnol lying on his back on the metal slab used as a bed behind the force field, eyes closed, and his fingers interlocked across his chest. It almost looked as if he was in a trance.

  Skip turned and looked back at the guard who was still standing. “I want to speak with him.”

  The young guard, a short, pudgy man with a baby face, hesitated and looked at Skip with uncertainty. “There have been no authorized visits granted by General Hauler today, Colonel.”

  “I understand that, Private. But I need to speak to the prisoner. It is imperative.”

  The guard shook his head. “I-I am sorry, sir. I need to get authorization.”

  “Well then, call General Hauler and get authorization,” Skip said as he made his way next to the guard’s desk.

  The guard pressed an application on his computer screen, and General Hauler’s face appeared on the other end of the link. “What do you need, Private?” General Hauler said, looking annoyed.

  The young private shuffled nervously on his feet. “I am sorry to bother you, sir … but Colonel Hendricks has just arrived and wishes to speak with the prisoner.”

  General Hauler looked at Skip with a look of distrust on his face. “Colonel, I told you before that the prisoner won’t speak to anyone. So what makes you think he will talk to you?”

  Skip stepped in front of the private, nudging him out of the way. “There’s got to be a reason Vlamer was holding him hostage at the temple.”

  General Hauler furrowed his eyebrows, annoyed and on the verge of becoming angry. “Listen, Colonel,” the general said, “Vlamer Kreuk was a monster. He would have sacrificed his own daughter if he knew it would save his skin.”

  Skip shook his head. “I don’t buy that, sir.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  Skip looked back at the Gnol, lying on his metal bed with his eyes still closed. Turning back to the screen, he said, “I don’t know, General. There’s something about him. Something in my gut tells me that we should trust him.”

  Scott Hauler let out a small laugh of displeasure. “Your gut, huh? Colonel, if we went by our gut feelings on every decision we made, we’d all be dead. No, I won’t authorize it.”

  Skip tried to protest. “But Gen—”

  “My decision is final, Colonel! Is that understood?”

  Skip leaned on the desk, getting his face closer to the screen. Anger began to rise in his voice. “No, sir! That is not understood. General Palmer put me in charge of discovering the secrets of that temple, and this Gnol knows some—”

  “General Palmer is dead, Colonel Hendricks!” Scott declared as he stood from his desk. This time it was he who leaned closer to his screen. “You will do as you’re ordered, Colonel! Or I’ll have you arrested for failing to obey orders! Do I make myself clear?”

  Skip slammed his fists down onto the desk, nearly knocking the screen off of its perch. The private tried to intervene, but Skip slammed him against the wall with his good arm. “Don’t test me, Private. I’ve been imprisoned in a Gnol slave camp for way too long.”

  “Colonel Hendricks! Let him go!” General Hauler shouted. He then pushed a button and ordered the other guards just outside of the brig to go in and arrest Skip.

  Skip let go of the private and watched as he scurried to the door, opened it, and yelled out for backup. Skip then turned toward the screen. He spoke with anger and frustration. “General, just let me talk to him. He might know something about the prophecy.”

  In an instant, General Hauler’s face changed from anger to confusion. “Prophecy? What prophecy?”

  Two other guards arrived with their weapons pointed at Skip.

  “Wait,” General Hauler said, raising his hand to hold off the guards. “Belay that order, Private.”

  The young private held up his hand for the other guards to holster their weapons.

  Skip looked back at the screen and General Hauler continued. “What prophecy, Skip?”

  Skip had been trying to recover from his injuries and exhaustion from his escape and the fight with Vlamer that he never mentioned to anyone the prophecy he read just before he was captured. He was about to speak, but the prisoner spoke before he could.

  “The prophecy that says, And Jehovah said, blessed is he who shall unite two worlds and two peoples.”

  Everyone within the room turned and stared at the Gnol prisoner in stunned silence. The Gnol was now standing on the other side of the plasma force field. Skip then looked back at the screen. “See, General. I told you he knew something.”

  General Hauler nodded, and then turned his attention toward the prisoner. “Tell us what you know.”

  The Gnol shook his head. “I’ll only speak with Colonel Hendricks. I want your guards out, and you disconnected from even listening to this conversation.”

  Scott hesitated before he spoke. “Very well.” He then ordered the guards to leave the room. After they left, he looked at Skip. “Colonel, I want a full report.”

  Skip nodded, and the image of General Hauler disappeared. Once the guards left, Skip walked slowly to the force field. The Gnol towered over Skip by about five inches. His bulging muscles rippled through the sweat stained black t-shirt he still had on. And even though Skip had been around several Gnols that were much larger and stronger than he was, he still felt intimidated in Sage’s presence. Skip was just glad there was a force field protecting him just in case this Gnol had any ideas of escaping.

  Skip cleared his throat before he spoke. “Wh-what was it you just said?”

  A small smirk creased along the Gnol’s lips. “Before I tell you, I want you to explain to me who this Jehovah is.”

  “Jehovah?” Skip questioned.

  The Gnol nodded. �
��That was the name under the painting that hung just above the statue of the man and young boy.”

  The memories from Skip’s capture flashed through his mind. He remembered being painfully blown through the large oak doors, and when he looked up, seeing the gold statue of Jesus Christ blessing a small boy. But he couldn’t recall seeing any writing under the painting. That was probably due to the fact that he was knocked out before he could read it. “You mean … Jesus Christ?”

  The Gnol cocked his head in confusion. “You know who this Jehovah is then?”

  Skip nodded. “He is the God and Savior of my world.”

  “Terrest?”

  “No, I come from another planet twenty-two light years from here.”

  “Earth.”

  “Yes, Jehovah was the name Jesus Christ went by in an ancient book from Earth.” Skip then went on to explain who Jesus Christ was, his birth to a virgin mother, the miracles that he performed among mortal men, and his atonement.

  The Gnol seemed intrigued and stepped a little closer to the force field. “Okay. So this Jehovah must be the God of Terrest as well.”

  “I believe so,” Skip said.

  “Makes sense, but who is the young boy that Jehovah is blessing? It’s obvious that the statement under the painting is referring to the statue of the boy.”

  Skip agreed and was pretty confident whom the statue represented. But he did not want to divulge that information to the Gnol standing before him. “I’m not sure. That’s why I’d like to go back to the pyramid. There’s got to be something else inside that temple.”

  This time, the Gnol seemed a little nervous, averting his eyes from Skip. “Maybe there was.”

  “Was?” Skip questioned, stepping a little closer to the force field before it shocked him. “What else was in that temple?”

  The Gnol then locked eyes with Skip. “My men found something in the basement when they were placing charges.”

  “Basement?” Skip questioned.

  The Gnol nodded and began pacing behind the force field. “They told me to come down, so I did. The basement is some sort of depository for ancient knowledge from this planet. The walls were covered with shelves containing several thousand scrolls.”

  “Are the scrolls still there?”

  “Yes, but I don’t think that is what you would be interested in. There was something else much more valuable resting on an oak table in the center of the room,” he said as he stopped pacing and looked directly at Skip.

  “What?”

  The Gnol leaned a little closer to the force field, his nose nearly touching the energy field. “A replica of the pyramid made entirely of gold. We figured out that it was some sort of box. We opened it and inside we found a solid gold tablet.”

  “Gold tablet? What did it say?”

  The Gnol shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. The symbols on the plate were not from any language I recognized. They didn’t even match the symbols written on the walls of the pyramid.”

  Skip grew concerned. He knew that this gold tablet was important. This relic might even be the secret to the temple that he had been searching for. “Where’s the tablet now?”

  “After the discovery, I took the plate to Vlamer Kreuk in Chast. And when I entered his office, I recognized a painting of him holding three gold tablets. He told me that the goddess of light prophesied that he would be the keeper and protector of them. He even read a portion of the symbols to me.”

  “He could read the symbols?”

  The Gnol nodded. “He claimed that he could only decipher one symbol on the plate. He said that only the chosen one, Koroan Chast, could decipher the entire gold tablet.”

  “What did he read?”

  The Gnol turned slightly and looked down at the floor. It was almost as if his faith in Koroan Chast and Vlamer Kreuk had been shaken. He looked back up at Skip, “Vlamer told me that the symbol on the plate represented the name of our savior, Koroan Chast. He also read some other symbols stating: ‘Blessed is our Lord and Savior, known as Chast, he who will unite two worlds and two peoples.’”

  Skip could tell from the Gnol’s body language that he had doubts about who his real savior was. “Do you believe what Vlamer read to you was true?”

  The Gnol shook his head and seemed to grow emotional as he looked down to the floor again. “I-I’m not sure what to believe anymore. I grew up worshiping Koroan Chast and his oracle, Vlamer Kreuk. There was no doubt in my mind that he was a god sent to us by the goddess of light. But … but why would two different names be attached to the same prophecy found in one location? I mean, the writing under the temple specifically stated: ‘blessed is he’ … Is Koroan Chast the ‘he’ that this Jehovah refers to?”

  “No, it’s not Koroan Chast,” Skip replied, shaking his head. “But I believe that I have figured out who this prophecy is in reference to.”

  The Gnol’s head snapped back up, meeting Skip’s eyes. “Who does it refer to, then?”

  Skip leaned in a little closer and looked up at the prisoner. The two men’s faces were within inches of each other, separated only by the plasma energy of the force field. “That is not information I can divulge to you at this time. But I will tell you this: I need to get my hands on that gold tablet.”

  * * * * *

  City of Chast. Koroan’s Palace . . .

  Koroan stormed past the four guards and into Vlamer Kreuk’s office, his chest heaving from anger and frustration. It had been weeks since he had heard from Vlamer Kreuk. The search party he sent to the ancient Terrestrian temple had failed in their mission to find him. Where is he? he thought.

  He then turned to the painting of Vlamer Kreuk holding the golden tablets. He stepped toward the painting and ripped it off the wall. With a scream full of rage, he flung the painting to the far wall of the office. The frame splintered into pieces, with the canvas tearing in half and falling to the floor.

  Seething, he turned back to the wall where the painting hung. There, on the wall, was a scanner. He placed the palm of his hand on the scanner and the lights scanned his print. The small metal vault next to the scanner slid up into the wall and there, resting in the vault, sat the gold tablet. He reached in and pulled it out.

  Turning toward the large bay window that overlooked his magnificent city, he examined the symbols as he made his way toward the window. The gold tablet was the exact weight and dimension of the gold tablet he found on Gnolom when he first discovered the goddess of light. The symbols were even the same. He couldn’t read the writings, but he knew that the goddess could. Unfortunately, she wouldn’t be able to read the writings through a hologram. He looked up from the tablet and out to his majestic city. He was calmer now, and he knew what he needed to do. He needed to return home to Gnolom.

  “My Lord?”

  Rage rushed through Koroan again as he turned toward the doorway. “I told you, Lieutenant, no one was to disturb me!”

  The middle-aged lieutenant averted his eyes and bowed his head. “I-I do apologize, your Majesty, bu-but I have news of his Eminence’s whereabouts.”

  Koroan placed the tablet on Vlamer’s desk and made his way toward the Lieutenant, standing within a few inches of him. “Good,” he said. “Tell him that he needs to report to me immediately.”

  The lieutenant glanced up at his lord and quickly looked down again. Koroan sensed his trepidation. “What is it, Lieutenant?”

  The lieutenant backed up a few steps. “Pl-please forgive me, my Lord, b-but Vlamer Kreuk is dead.”

  Koroan let the words sink in for a few seconds. He continued to stare at the lieutenant. The lieutenant backed up all the way to the doorway, giving himself some distance between him and his god. Koroan then took a step forward, sensing the lieutenant’s fear like a predator ready to attack its prey. Strangely, Koroan did not feel any remorse over the news of his best friend’s death. Rather, inherent animosity and rage seemed to boil within from the deepest recesses of his soul.

  Lunging forward, he grabb
ed the terrified lieutenant by the collar and lifted him into the air. The lieutenant’s eyes were wild with fear.

  “What!” Koroan shrieked as he flung the lieutenant toward the large bay window.

  The lieutenant braced himself for the impact with the glass and his imminent death to the ground thirty-four stories below. To his surprise, however, his body stopped just before he shattered the glass, his arm pressing against its smooth surface. With tear-filled eyes, he turned to look back at Koroan.

  Koroan stood motionless, with his hands behind his back, staring back at the lieutenant. “Where is the body?”

  Still suspended in midair and trembling, the lieutenant replied, “My Lord, our contact within the rebel ranks has confirmed that he is dead, and the rebels have his body.”

  Koroan clenched his teeth so tightly that he almost cracked them. There was no doubt in his mind that the rebels were probably using Vlamer’s body like a lab rat, dissecting it to pieces to discover how he controlled his telepathic and telekinetic powers. With his hands still behind his back, he walked slowly toward the lieutenant, who was eye level with him in midair. He stopped within inches of the lieutenant’s face. “Lieutenant, I will see to it, personally, that that temple is obliterated off the face of this planet.”

  The lieutenant tried to nod, but Koroan’s invisible grip on him was too strong. All he could do was speak. “Y-yes, my Lord. W-what would you have me do?”

  Koroan leaned in closer to the lieutenant’s ear and whispered, “I have no further use for you.” And with that, he spun on his heels, picked up the gold tablet from the desk and walked toward the exit. The door slid open, but just before he left, he heard the bay window shatter. A smile graced along his face as the lieutenant plummeted to his death.

  * * * * *

  Underground Rebel Base . . .

  Tears streamed down Jake’s face. It had been a couple of weeks since their return from the temple site and the battle with Vlamer Kreuk. He sat at the edge of Celeste’s hospital bed. She lay there unconscious, connected to a life support machine and a breathing tube. After the fight with Vlamer, she had fallen to the temple floor, unconscious. When Jake, Skip, and Nichelle got to her, she wasn’t breathing. Luckily, they had managed to keep her alive until they reached the rebel base.