Worlds Without End: Aftermath (Book 2)

by Shaun Messick

  The crew followed Runa, who was staring at his scanner with anticipation, out of the pyramid and around to the outside wall. He then lowered his scanner to the ground where the tubing was obviously buried. They followed it along through thick brush and tress until the rocky wall of the mountain stopped them.

  “The energy signature intensifies behind this wall,” Runa said.

  Sean walked over to their right about another twenty-five yards. “There’s a boulder here. It looks like it’s covering some sort of entrance. Maybe there’s another hollow part of the mount.”

  Jake and the rest of his crew made their way to the boulder. It was four times the size of any one of them and could weigh anywhere between four to six tons. There was no possible way they could move it even with the combined strength of the four Gnols in his crew. Then Jake remembered some of the feats that his bride had performed with her telekinetic powers.

  He turned quickly to Celeste. “Can you, all of you, move this with your telekinetic abilities combined?”

  Celeste nodded. “We can try.”

  She stepped away from the boulder and Nichelle, Nateal, and Sage made their way next to her. Jake, Skip, and Sean moved out of the way behind the foursome. Each one of them extended their arms and closed their eyes. The boulder began to tremble.

  * * * * *

  “No!” Macaria howled as she stood in front of the four Gnols and used her own telekinetic powers to hold the boulder in place. She had thought that the combined abilities of the four Gnols in the garden could move the boulder, revealing a secret she did not want them to see. But she didn’t think they would even discover the second hollow, let alone combine their telekinetic abilities. She smiled as she held the boulder in place. It was easy. After all, she was spirit and understood spirit matter more than these mere mortals did. And being a spirit, she would not tire from holding it in place. She just had to hold it long enough for the mortals to tire out and give up.

  After awhile, it stopped trembling. She let go of her telekinetic hold upon the massive rock and whipped herself around. The Gnols were spent. Celeste still stood, but the other three were on their knees, dripping with sweat. They were out of breath as well.

  Macaria watched what their next move would be as Celeste turned around and talked to Jake. “We can’t move it. I don’t know … It’s like there’s some invisible force holding it in place.”

  Jake looked past his bride, straight through Macaria, toward the boulder. “Well, whatever is behind that rock isn’t going anywhere. We could blast through it, but we might risk bringing this whole mountain down upon us. Let’s go find Mars I.”

  Everyone agreed.

  Macaria continued to watch as they retrieved their helmets, sealed them back over their heads, and began making their way out of the hollow of the mount. She then closed her eyes and transported herself back to Mars I. She needed to connect with shuttle’s computer before they arrived in order for her plan to work.

  * * * * *

  After the team exited the hollow of Mount Resumpsi, they retrieved another boot for Jake from the supply hovercraft that they had brought with them from their ship. Then they successfully crossed a large plateau and were now staring at the deteriorating outer shell of the Mars I space shuttle. The only damage that the famed shuttle seemed to have was from the harsh environment of the planet, which was eating away at the metal. Other than the environmental damage, the shuttle looked to be in pristine condition. Its landing pads were extended, telling them that the computer system had taken control of the ship, landing perfectly upon the planet’s surface.

  Sean slowly made his way to the ship. He stopped and placed his gloved hand upon its surface. “I-I never thought that I would see her again.”

  “I’m getting some very high radiation readings in and around the shuttle,” Runa said.

  “How high?” Jake questioned.

  Runa looked at Jake with grave concern. “32,000 millirems. And . . . the nuclear reactor powering the ship is running.”

  “That’s too high,” Skip said with distress. “We’ll cook ourselves from the inside out if we go in there.”

  “The good thing is our suits are designed to completely stop alpha and beta particles. The lead lining in the suits should hold off the gamma rays for a little while. I’m guessing maybe three to four hours at most.”

  “Well, then, we don’t have much time,” Sean stated as he made his way to the emergency exit hatch at the bottom of the shuttle. They followed him and stopped directly in the middle of the shuttle. The bottom of the craft towered above them thirty feet in the air.

  “How are we going to get to that hatch?” Skip asked.

  The hatch had a computer panel next to it with a keypad. Sean, obviously remembering the code, turned to Celeste. “Celeste, do you mind?”

  Celeste smiled, knowing what Sean had in mind. She stepped back, raised her arm, and levitated him up to the hatch. Sean punched in the code and then signaled for Celeste to lower him back to the ground. The hatch slid open and a ladder slowly lowered to the ground.

  Jake was the first to step on the ladder. Before he began making his way up the ladder, he turned to Commander Runa. “What are the readings now?”

  Runa looked down at his scanner. “The same and holding.”

  Jake looked back up toward the open hatch and sighed. “We don’t have long. Let’s get in there, access the computer system, and then Sean can disable Maggie so that she can’t communicate as the goddess of light anymore.”

  “Do you really think that Koroan and my father truly believe that a computer program is a goddess?” Nichelle asked.

  “Makes sense,” Skip added. “Your people didn’t have technology like this. If I didn’t have any knowledge of computers or artificial intelligence and a computer spoke to me and appeared as a hologram, I would assume that it was a god or goddess.”

  “I understand that, Skip, but our people have had technology before; we just lost it all because of our selfish desires.”

  Skip agreed and then looked up at the hatch. “Whether Koroan believes that Maggie is a goddess or not isn’t the point. The point is we need to permanently disable his only connection to Gnolom and whatever energy source is hidden in that mountain over there,” he said, pointing back to Mount Resumpsi.

  After a few seconds, all seven crewmembers had made their way up into the shuttle. They were now in a small compartment used to re-pressurize astronauts after space walks, which was located underneath the payload bay of the shuttle. They closed the hatch, and the lights on the tops of their space helmets flickered on.

  Sean was about to make his way to the airlock’s door when Celeste reached out and grabbed his arm. The same feelings she experienced inside the mount overcame her again: despair and aguish. “Wait … Something’s not right here.”

  “What do you mean?” Sean asked, looking back at her.

  “I-I don’t know. Something just doesn’t feel right. Can’t the rest of you feel it?”

  Jake shrugged and looked at her compassionately. “Yeah, I think I can feel it too.”

  Nichelle, Commander Runa, and Sage all nodded in agreement. Something was definitely amiss with the old Mars I space shuttle. But Skip and Sean shook their heads in disagreement.

  Celeste continued. “Maybe we should go back to the battle cruiser and use its guns to blow Mars I to pieces.”

  The looks upon Sean’s and Skip’s faces turned from confusion to concern, more so for Sean for apparent reasons.

  “We’ve already been through that, Celeste,” Sean said. “This computer system was the most advanced computer system ever created. Maggie . . . it records everything. We may even be able to access the information when your father and Vlamer first entered this ship. It will tell us what exactly happened here and maybe why Koroan and Vlamer were able to return as two of the most powerful Gnols to ever live on this planet.”

  Celeste’s first instinct was to protest. The bad feeling she had was almost
too overpowering, but Sean’s argument made sense, and there was no question that she wanted to learn the truth about her father as well. She nodded, and Sean turned back to the door. He punched in his code, and the door slid open.

  The payload bay was dark, but the lights on their helmets provided enough light so that they could make out their surroundings. The bay was massive. It had to be because it contained the shuttle’s arm and was once that home of the NightHawk that Adrian had used to escape the shuttle. Supplies and other equipment lined the walls of the bay, untouched for over twenty-five years.

  “Wow, brings back memories,” Sean uttered as he looked around the bay.

  The crew made their way to the other end of the bay to another door. “This door leads out into the main corridor, which leads to the other decks of the ship. It also leads to the computer deck. If everything is still operational, I should be able to access the computer system from there,” Sean said.

  He reached up and began to punch in his code, when Celeste heard something from behind them. “Wait. Did you hear that?” she asked.

  Sean finished typing in his code and the door slid open, and began walking out into the corridor. But Celeste heard the sound again. It almost sounded like a voice. She turned and walked slowly back into the payload bay.

  “What? I didn’t hear anything,” Jake said, making his way next her.

  “Celeste!”

  “There! I heard it again,” Celeste said, pointing into the darkness of the payload bay. “Someone’s calling my name.”

  “I d—”

  Just then, the door leading out into the main corridor slid shut, locking Jake and Celeste in the payload bay and the rest of the crew out in the corridor. Jake rushed to the door and looked through the small window. Sean had the visor of his helmet pressed against the other side. Thankfully, they could still speak to one another through their comlinks. “Can you open it from the other side?” Jake asked with a hint of panic in his voice.

  * * * * *

  Sean tried again to open the door with his security code, but it was useless. Jake and Celeste were now locked in the payload bay of the shuttle.

  “Try it again!” Nichelle shouted, panic beginning to creep into her voice as well.

  “I’m trying. It’s not working. It’s almost as if ...” Sean stopped, realizing what may have just happened. He looked up toward the ceiling of Mars I. “Maggie, please disable all locks on the payload bay doors.”

  A familiar voice, one that he had designed, spoke through the loudspeakers of the shuttle. “Negative, Lieutenant Gibson. There has been a security breach.”

  By this time, Sage, Nichelle, and Runa were trying to use their telekinetic abilities to pry the door open. Celeste was trying as well from the other side of the door, but to no avail.

  “Maggie, I order you to unlock the payload bay doors under authorization code alpha, six, two, Charlie, zebra,” Sean said frantically.

  “Negative, Lieutenant. The authorization code is no longer valid.”

  Sean clenched his teeth and was about to order Maggie to open the doors again, when the computer system interjected. But this time, the voice was different, almost sinister and evil. “I am in command of this shuttle now!”

  Sean pounded his fists on the door in frustration. He looked back up through the window just as the lights within the payload bay flickered on, causing momentary blindness. As soon as his vision cleared, he shrieked, “Jake! Look out!”

  * * * * *

  Celeste blinked, trying to adjust her eyes to the brightness within the payload bay. As soon as she regained her vision, she saw the space arm move out of the corner of her eye. She ducked under the gigantic arm just before it hit her, but Jake wasn’t as lucky. He was so focused on the door that he failed to see the arm. The claw of the arm caught Jake square in the chest, trapping him in its clutches. With ferocity, it pushed itself forward, violently pinning Jake against the wall. Blood spattered on the wall, and Jake screamed in agony.

  “No!” Celeste shrieked, rushing toward him.

  The only thing Jake could move was his head. His arms were pinned against the wall, just above his head. And his legs were pinned as well, slightly spread apart.

  Celeste grabbed the arm, trying to pull it away from the man she loved. It didn’t budge. She quickly turned back to the window and could see Sean and Skip looking through with expressions of horror. “Sean! . . .Get to the computer deck and install that virus!”

  She watched as Sean, Nateal Runa, and Skip disappeared from the window, only to be replaced by Nichelle’s face.

  She turned back to her husband. Jake looked at her, grimacing in pain. “I-I think my ribs are broken.”

  Celeste moved in to get a closer look where the blood had splattered on the wall to the left of Jake’s body. One of his ribs had snapped. It protruded out from his rib cage just above one of the claws of the arm. Blood seeped from the wound. Frantically, she reached into one of the pockets of her spacesuit. She pulled out her emergency first aid kit and began bandaging the wound to stop the bleeding.

  “Is he okay?” Nichelle asked through the comlink.

  Celeste turned back to look at Nichelle. “As of now. His ribs are broken, but one of them is sticking out from his flesh. Hopefully, I can stop the bleeding. But if we don’t get him back to the battle cruiser, he won’t last long.”

  “Skip and Nateal went with Sean to help him disable the computer system. They should have it disabled soon. Sage is staying here with me. We’ve tried to pull the door away telekinetically, but something more powerful is holding it into place.”

  Celeste nodded as she looked around the payload bay. “I think there is something more here than just a computer system with artificial intelligence.”

  She then turned back to Jake. She could see he was in a tremendous amount of pain as she stepped up onto the arm so that she could be eye level with him. She placed her gloved hand on the visor of his helmet. “Hold on, Jake. We’re going to get you out of here.”

  Jake nodded and then looked past her. “Wh-what’s that?”

  Celeste turned. Across the bay was a shelf containing supplies and other equipment. The lights from the bay reflected off an object tucked underneath the stack of blankets. She jumped off the arm and made her way across the bay. As she got closer, she saw that the object was made of pure gold. She pulled it out. “The tablet,” she whispered. “It’s the golden tablet of Gnolom!” she shouted, turning back to look at Jake.

  Suddenly, an invisible force, like nothing she had ever felt before, lifted her off her feet and pulled the tablet from her grasp. It fell, clanking on the floor. Then, she felt herself flying through the payload bay. Her body slammed hard against the back wall of the bay, knocking the wind out of her. Once she regained her breath, she tried to move but couldn’t. She was frozen, pinned against the wall.

  Looking up toward the top of the bay, she saw three bright lights emit out of three projectors in a perfect triangle. Each projector was secured at the top of the bay about twenty feet apart from the other. An image began to form.

  Fear began to flow through her body as she recognized the image that coalesced in front of her. The goddess of light hovered in the air, towering about fifteen feet in height. Her face and flowing blonde hair were as beautiful as ever. But her eyes were menacing, glowing fiery red. “Welcome to my home, Celeste,” the goddess said.

  Fear now turned to anger as Celeste tried to free herself, using her abilities. The goddess lowered herself to Celeste’s level and rushed toward her. Her brightly glowing face was within inches of hers. “Your powers are useless here, and that relic does not belong to you.”

  “What do you want with it?”

  The goddess laughed. It was a laugh that sent spine-tingling chills down Celeste’s back.

  “This relic,” the goddess said as she levitated the tablet toward them, and then held it in place in midair just to the side of her head, “is my salvation. It, along with two other anc
ient relics, will give me what I was destined to become.”

  “How?” Celeste said in defiance. “You only have the one. You said that you need two others.”

  “Yes, but your father is on his way now, as we speak, with the tablet of Terrest.”

  “My father?” asked Celeste, with dread in her voice. “My father is coming to Gnolom?”

  “Yes. That is why you are now my prisoner. For the key to unlocking the mysteries of these three relics and for my salvation is the child that you and Jake Palmer have just conceived.”

  * * * * *

  Sean, Skip, and Runa found their way to the computer deck of the shuttle. It was a small room, only twenty square feet, containing five large computer monitors and five computer servers, each one standing next to the other six feet in height. Sean rushed to the first computer monitor attached to the upper portion of the first server and pulled out the keyboard. He began typing frantically, recalling all of his passwords, which were deeply embedded in his memory. Once he finished, he waited a few more seconds with nervous anticipation. Maggie, undeniably, had control of the computer system. But he, knowing the system better than anyone else, with the exception of Kevin Palmer, knew some back doors in order to gain access.

  After a few more seconds, surprisingly, the hack worked. He was in. Quickly, he unzipped the front pocket of his spacesuit and pulled two small square disks the size of his thumb from the pocket. He placed one disk on the keyboard and inserted one of the disks into a small slot on the server.

  “Is that the virus?” Skip asked.

  “No, this disk will download every record that Maggie has kept since we abandoned her twenty-five years ago.”

  “How long will that take?”

  “An hour, maybe two hours tops,” Sean said as he turned back to the monitor to observe the download progress bar.

  “We don’t have that kind of time! By the time that information is downloaded, we will have reached our maximum radiation exposure and Jake could be dead!”