The Mystic Saga Omnibus (Books 1 - 5)

by Scott McElhaney

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you and please don’t be upset by our presence. We had about two heartbeats to make a decision and we were also a little frightened at the time,” Diana said, reaching out and shaking the commander’s hand, “But be assured, we will do whatever is necessary to save our planet from the likes of Earth.”

  “Please…” the commander said, raising a hand to stop her, “On this side of the galaxy, starting today, we need to stop referring to the opposition as ‘Earth’. I’m talking to everyone here on this point.”

  Commander Shay glanced around the cabin at all the people spread out in the available seating. Since the shuttle was meant to transport twice as many people, the crew had apparently decided to take advantage of the space, littering the seats between them with their open bags. It was evident that some of them had already started making themselves comfortable, digging out notepads or books to consume the time it would take to reach Earth.

  “While we could use these terms on Legacy and everyone understood the meaning, it won’t work here at all. Our current mission is to preemptively disrupt the establishment of the Australian Space Administration. We have everything we need to accomplish this as long as we’ve arrived sometime within the information age.” the commander stated.

  “Do you have any idea how far back we’ve gone?” Combatant First Class Rollins asked.

  Combatant-1 Rollins was the only female aboard besides Diana. Diana almost mistook her for a male when they were first introduced based on her exceptionally short red hair and the fact that she wore a uniform that hid any feminine features she may have had.

  “No, but it seems like we’re further back than we intended.”

  Braxton shifted in his seat so he could see the people who were asking these questions of the commander. He didn’t like the fact that he was so easily confused by all that was going on. As much as he wanted to hide his ignorance, he was going to have to speak up sooner or later.

  “What are you guys talking about when you mention ‘going back’?” Braxton asked.

  “Time dilation,” the commander replied, “We can’t travel at excessive speeds without creating something of a well in the space around us. Any warp of space will create a comparable warp in the flow of time for those inside the well. This shuttle was essentially traveling faster than the speed of light, creating a reverse time flow.”

  Braxton stared at the man, completely confused and not really sure if the commander was joking with him or not.

  “We travelled back in time, Mystic. Today is a day long before you were even born,” a uniformed man called from the back corner of the shuttle.

  “How’s that for super powers, Mystic?” someone else added with a laugh.

  Diana rose from her seat and turned around to the huddle of snickering people near the back corner. This was a group of three combatants who had refused to introduce themselves earlier and spent a lot of their time whispering.

  “Do you have a problem with Braxton, Triggers?” she spat angrily, using a slanderous name given to uneducated warriors.

  “Triggers? And just who the heck are you?”

  Braxton rose from his seat, putting an arm around Diana. He hoped to usher her back into her seat, but she didn’t seem to want to budge. Braxton then turned his attention to the people who had probably spent half their lives just looking for a fight.

  “She’s the woman who destroyed the whole ASA Constellation in orbit over Legacy. You’d better know who you’re dealing with before you pick your fights, Trigger,” Braxton said, “And rumor has it, I destroyed the first whole shuttle that ever set down on Legacy.”

  “I hate to break up this ‘I’m tougher than you’ playground game, but we have a very important job to plan for right now,” the commander said, “And if any of this crew gets injured or killed by another member, I will see to it that the offender gets to do a 20-year indenture on Legacy when we return. And if you think I can’t do this, remember the planet we’ll be returning to when our Jump Drive takes us yet another couple centuries into the past.”

  Silence filled the room while the commander paused. Combatant Third Class McDonald raised his hand in the front row, drawing a nod from the commander.

  “Are you saying we can use the Jump Drive more than once?”

  The commander nodded, “I believe so. We did have a spike of radiation levels after the jump, but it wasn’t high enough to cause any damage. The Drive did require for us to dump forty pounds of spent uranium, but that had been expected in the best-case scenario.”

  “So you’re saying that we truly lost everything? We’re stuck on an ancient Earth or a primitive uninhabited Legacy?” a voice blurted out.

  “I hope you’re kidding, Combatant-3 Edwards. Please tell me you paid attention from the very beginning,” the commander said.

  “I just… It’s sort of like when we agreed to give our lives for Legacy. We didn’t really plan on actually dying, even though we’d be willing should the situation be unavoidable. I… I just sort of thought we had a chance of returning home again, even though… well…”

  “I’m sorry, Edwards, but none of us ever had a chance of returning home to the Legacy or Earth we had left behind. I’m sorry if you had misunderstood.”

  Edwards nodded, then looked down at the hands he had in his lap.

  “We are on a mission that will save a lot of heartache in our own era on Earth as well as save many lives on Legacy. This is bigger than us all,” the commander stated, addressing the whole room, “It’s important to know that during this mission, we will have to respect the UN Laws of Causality. Although these laws may not have ever truly applied to anything, once we started experimenting with Jump Drive technology and Tachyon Communications, we were forced to take a refresher course on the UN laws that were in place. Here are the layman’s versions: Number one, we will share no technologies with these people. This means that they cannot so much as look at any equipment inside the shuttle and they definitely cannot see our Jump Drive even if it means we have to scuttle the ship and strand ourselves or kill ourselves in the process. Number two, no names. We give out no names of our organization, ourselves, our ship, our shuttle, or the planet Legacy. We can lie and as a matter of fact, it’s even recommended. We can however share the names of our targets if you find an opportunity for assistance from the citizens,

  “And number three, we kill no one ever except for the intended targets. Whatever the reason and whatever the excuse – even if your own life is on the line – we kill no one except the intended targets. We are already violating causality laws by what we are doing, but we must keep our violations to a minimum. What we are attempting will never be known to the UN and we stand no chance of ever answering for our crimes, but this is a matter of honor and justice. We will serve with honor just the way we’ve been trained.”

  Braxton raised his hand, but the commander seemed intent on ignoring him. Finally after a moment of silence, he nodded to Braxton.

  “What exactly are we doing?” Braxton asked.

  “You’re doing nothing but waiting on the shuttle ‘til the big boys get done working,” one of the corner combatants blurted.

  Braxton turned quickly and pointed to the man with webs of electricity dancing along the length of his finger.

  “If I’m waiting on the shuttle, you’re waiting with me, ‘big boy’,” Braxton said, “just try to leave this shuttle and see what happens.”

  “Braxton!” the commander growled, “You are drawing a weapon on a member of my crew and this will not be tolerated now or in the future. If you wish to be a member of my crew, I will never see such a thing again. Do you wish to remain a member of my crew?”

  Braxton snapped his fingers, making a show of the electricity disappearing in a bright spark, then he turned back toward the commander.

  “Yes, sir. I’m sorry. As you’ve been able to witness, a crew with no kills under their belts may have a lot of trouble accepting the presence of two surprise addit
ions who have killed more than they could count,” Braxton said, “We’ll all just have to hope they can learn to accept us.”

  The commander just stared at Braxton while the angry whispers rose from the back.

  “To answer your previous question, Braxton, we will be going to Earth at an undisclosed moment in the past with a hefty list of human targets. These targets are the ancestors of those who started the ASA or those who played a major role in the ASA. We are all assassins for the USSC, the Foothold, and for Legacy. Once we realized the terrorist intentions of the ASA, the only way to stop them would be to prevent their existence altogether.”

  “Wow,” Diana whispered.

  “Indeed,” Commander Shay turned to her, deadpan.

  Underworld

  I slipped out of my home and locked the door, satisfied now that Elix was tucked safely in bed. I closed my eyes and rested my forehead against the door hoping I’d have the strength to make it through the evening. I wondered in that moment how Reqora was doing with her spouse being away for so long.

  I turned away from my home and headed down the busy promenade tunnel. It seemed like everyone was out tonight. The evening bell sounded in the distance as I shuffled around a cool ventilation panel and headed toward the brighter lights of the shopping district. I passed a group of boys huddled around a promenade lamp, their hushed laughter telling me they were probably up to no good.

  I could feel the familiar vibrations beneath my feet, reminding me yet again of the trouble coming from above. Why the uplanders were suddenly fascinated with the poison black rock above us was beyond all understanding. It was that very vein of poison we’d counted on to always keep the interest away.

  “Purlinscz!”

  I turned to discover Reqora running toward me, waving excitedly.

  “I was just thinking about you, Reqora,” I said, welcoming her in a hug, “How have you been?”

  “Lonely and ready to find myself a new spouse. How about you?” she asked with a laugh.

  “What? It’s only been eleven bells since he left. I haven’t…” I started, then shook my head, “Let’s just say that I’ve heard a lot of evening bells since the last time I’ve seen any sparks.”

  Reqora laughed, then put an arm around me, leading us both toward the shopping district where I had originally been headed.

  “So, where were you going just a moment ago, Purlinscz?” she asked, still seeming much too happy for a woman whose spouse was working down in the lava streams.

  The lava streams were located inside a large natural cavern our people discovered a generation ago beneath the lower tunnels. The cavern was enormous beyond anything we had ever created ourselves. This cavern offered us plenty of heated springs as well as an abundant supply of heat to create steam for our power plants. Reqora’s spouse was one of the many that were now offering their services to build bridges, homes, and power plants throughout the cavern.

  “I was going to the store to get some fungal root, peppernuts, and water weed. I was thinking of making Elix’s favorite stew tomorrow,” I said, shaking my head, “I’m still struggling to keep him from going above all the time. Maybe a good dinner will do the trick.”

  “That boy of yours is going to get himself hurt or killed. Doesn’t he know what kind of creatures live up there?” she asked, “Those were the ones who attacked us a hundred generations past.”

  I didn’t need to hear my own thoughts from someone else and to be honest, it made me a little angry that she thought I was stupid enough not to realize this.

  “I know, but how do I explain to a little boy the way these creatures attacked? His innocence is too important to me and I want him to keep it as long as possible.” I replied, nodding toward one of the stone stairways leading up to the second-level stores, “Boli’s has the freshest peppernuts and his store is up there.”

  “Honey,” she said, stopping at the base of the stairs and twisting me toward her, “I’m your best friend and I know what you’re telling me, but I disagree with protecting innocence in favor of protecting life. Let’s forget the peppernuts for a moment and go get a drink at The Violet Legs.”

  The Violet Legs was a hangout that I typically avoided. It was a place where the “hungry” gathered in search of a temporary fix. But ultimately, I understood what Reqora was trying to do, so I took her up on her offer.

  . . .

  Sitting at the bar in a noisy room filled with probably a hundred others, I felt more than just a little out-of-place. I could see Reqora’s image in the reflector-glass behind the bar. I could see my own image next to her and for the life of me, I couldn’t find much of a difference in the two of us. Her violet glow was the same as my own – radiant and smooth throughout all the curves of the face. The ridges on the top of her head rose slightly higher than my own, but we both had the same full length of black hair parting down on both sides. Her pink lips were only slightly fuller than my own and her body was no more slender than mine. Her cheekbones rose slightly higher than mine, definitely giving her a sexier look. But both of us were pretty in the most natural ways without the benefits of floral paints. Why was it that she attracted everyone while the whole world just passed me by?

  “You never smile anymore, Purlinscz. If I was a single guy looking for someone special, I’d avoid you too,” she said, answering my unspoken question, “I’m not trying to be harsh, but your happiness isn’t sincere even when you do smile.”

  “I’m scared all the time, Reqora,” I replied, “I’ve read all the Histories and I feel the vibrations of their machines tearing through the rock above us. I’m scared all the time.”

  She lifted her drink from the bar and examined the sparkling red fluid in her glass. Then she drank it down quickly and turned to me.

  “In the Histories, I don’t recall anyone truly ever putting up a fight. That won’t happen the second time around, I guarantee it,” she said with a smirk, “Now drink your schlimmerin and let’s find someone to dance with.”

  Three

  The planet, a mere fifteen hundred miles beneath the shuttle, bore an uncanny resemblance to the planet they had just departed from only several hours earlier. Nearly all the crew had managed to crowd themselves into the limited space on the bridge and in the doorway leading to the passageway. Everyone had been anxious to hear the result of the many scans performed on the planet below. The commander was already piping in the canned voice of a woman singing sweetly about a blue moon watching over her. The fact that her voice was travelling through the airwaves at least confirmed they were in a technological era of some sort.

  “Well, I can do better than just telling you the year that we arrived. I can even narrow it down to an exact date. That’s a post-WW2 Earth down there, and unfortunately for us, it’s the beginning of that paranoid nuclear age we liked to call The Cold War. Today is June 2nd, 1949,” the commander said, “I couldn’t have picked a more unwelcoming date to arrive if I tried. What’s your opinion on this, Brown?”

  The tall bearded man who had been standing next to the commander nodded, then looked out at the planet on the main view panel.

  “Those people down there are watching the skies for atomic bombs, Russians, and aliens,” Chief Strategist Brown added, “No matter what story we decide to give them should we be discovered, we’d be a group of spies for Russia or aliens bent on human annihilation.”

  “So what’s the plan?” Combatant ‘Chunk’ asked.

  The commander rose from his seat and turned to the crew who were still loitering near the doorway.

  “Well, we’re definitely going down under the cover of darkness. But, where we’re going to hide a three hundred and twenty foot shuttle – I don’t know,” the commander said, turning to Brown, “Our chief strategist will probably be taking over the operation from here.”

  Brown nodded, then placed a black briefcase on one of the nearby chairs and opened it. Everyone waited in silence while their new leader shuffled through dozens of folders, each one jammed fu
ll of papers. A moment later, he drew out a thick folder and held it up.

  “Not to worry – we came prepared,” he said, opening the folder and drawing out several papers, “Since we had no idea when we’d actually arrive back on Earth, we printed out a list of targets spanning many different eras. This particular list will show about seventy targets with expiration dates next to each name. You’ll notice that some of the names on the list are already expired.”

  He passed out a list to each person, then resumed his position near the main view panel.

  “What’s the expiration date?” Diana asked, “Does that mean the person is already dead?”

  “No, it means that killing that person will no longer serve our goal. Let me see something here,” he replied, examining his copy for a moment, “If you look at the third name on the list which is Eleanor Jennings in Florence, South Carolina, you’ll see that her expiration date is February 4, 1947. Killing her will achieve nothing anymore, but there’s a reason for this. Now, look about ten names lower on the list. There’s a Richard Jennings in Florence, South Carolina and his expiration date isn’t until June 12, 1969. I’d be willing to bet that Richard Jennings was born on February 4, 1947 and our primary goal was to prevent his birth. After this date, there’s no need to go after his mother – only Richard.”

  “But Richard would only be about two years old now,” Braxton said, staring down at the sheet of paper, “He’s just a child.”

  “This is a very unconventional form of warfare that we are a part of here, Braxton,” the commander inserted, “I understand that you and Diana weren’t volunteers from the start. It would stand to reason that you may have some reservations about the job we’re here to accomplish, but we have to do this job with or without you if we’re going to save Legacy and our Foothold families.”