“Why?” Adrian responded, perplexed. “Have the cartels attacked?”
“No, they have been neutralized. A bigger threat has arrived. The Gnols are in orbit.”
Adrian didn’t respond. The sickening feeling he always got when he was about to go into battle against the Gnols caused his stomach to churn. He felt like he was about to vomit.
“Adrian, do you copy?”
Adrian cleared his throat. “I copy. How many ships?”
This time, John paused on the other end of the transmission.
“How many, John!” Adrian said, raising his voice.
“We can’t get an exact count because they are using some sort of new cloaking technology, but our thermal scan indicates thousands, enough to more than conquer the planet.”
An audible gasp could be heard between Adrian and Sage. Adrian continued, “How is that possible? When I left Terrest, my intel told me that the Gnol leadership was in disarray, and they didn’t have anywhere near that number of ships.” Adrian paused again, realizing the reason for the rapid military growth of the Gnols as he listened to his words. “. . . Unless. . .”
Without a word, he yanked on the plane’s controls, reversing its course direction. The Nighthawk lurched upward and looped around. Both men felt the g-forces press upon their chests.
“What are you doing, Adrian?” Sage asked.
John replied before he could respond. “Don’t go back, Adrian. You need to continue to Mexico. Skip and Eli need Gnolom’s gold plate to open those doors. Trust in Jake and Celeste. They are powerful enough to take on Koroan if he is indeed back from the dead.”
Adrian clenched his hands tightly around the plane’s controls. He knew John was right. But his entire family was on the island, unsuspecting that Koroan Chast could be there any moment to take Calum from them. “I can’t let Koroan take Calum.”
“I understand, Adrian,” John said calmly, “but you must trust Jake and Celeste. We also need to get to Earth’s gold plate before the Gnols do.”
Adrian grunted his frustration, yanking on the controls again and looping the plane back to its previous course. “Understood,” Adrian said, frustrated.
“Good,” John said. “We are on high alert, preparing for an invasion. I am confident that they won’t invade until they have accomplished their two objectives.”
“That’s not their intention this time. They’ve only come for two things. Once they have them, they will destroy Earth.”
There was a long pause on the other end of the transmission. “I believe you are right. Continue to Teotihuacan.”
“Copy that,” Adrian said. Then he heard the transmission cut out. He quickly changed his transmission channel. “Reagan Test Site, do you copy? This is Adrian Palmer. Come in.”
Static filled the ears of both men as Adrian continued to try to contact the small base within the Marshall Islands. It was odd that there was no response. The small army at the base always had staff on hand to man the communications coming in and out of the base.
“Maybe the Gnols are jamming the communication,” Sage said.
“Maybe, but we just heard from John.” He quickly changed channels and tried to call John this time.
Again, static echoed through their headsets.
Adrian cursed and threw a fist into his control console. He turned to Sage. “If they are jamming our transmissions, then they are likely listening to everything we are saying.”
Sage nodded his agreement without a word and turned to gaze out of the cockpit window. The storm was beginning to dissipate below them and the crown of the morning sun was beginning to show in the Eastern horizon.
Adrian tried one more time to contact the base in the Marshal Islands but to no avail, causing, once again, his stomach to churn, nauseating him. His family was about to be attacked by one of the most powerful beings he had ever encountered and there was nothing he could do to help them.
*****
Aztec Ruins, Teotihuacan, Mexico . . .
The sounds of the native birds grew louder with the rising of the morning sun as Dorange peered through his binoculars, observing the activities at the Teotihuacan ruins.
“What are your orders, my Lord?” Major Washantu asked as he stood next to Dorange, their battle suits camouflaging with the colors of the background as the sun rose.
Dorange shook his head. He knew his orders were to wait for Adrian and Sage to arrive. But he knew his enemy better than any other Gnol, including Koroan and Macaria. “Adrian will know that we are here.”
Major Washantu couldn’t hide the puzzled look on his face. “But how, my Lord? The humans do not know of our presence.”
Dorange waited to respond, lost in thought. “You are right. But there are humans on this planet with abilities you and I possess and who are intelligent. As long as we have been in orbit, one of them has surely detected us.” Dorange turned his attention back to the soldiers protecting the archeological team within the ruins. “And as well as I know Adrian Palmer, I know that he is not stupid enough to land in the middle of an ambush.”
“Then what do you propose, my Lord?”
Dorange lowered the binoculars and looked at his major. “We attack now.”
*****
Skip yawned and rubbed his eyes with his free hand as he scrambled the eggs on the camp stove. He hadn’t gotten much sleep. Today was going to be an exciting day. A day that could be remembered in the annals of history as one of the most significant events in human history. Soon, Adrian would arrive with the key that he believed would unlock the mysteries of the universe. “How much do you want, Eli?” he asked, grabbing a plate and scooping up a spoonful of eggs.
Eli, seated in a camping chair, along with Jennifer and Tim Knight, rubbed the sleep from his eyes as well. “Not much. I’m not that hungry.”
Skip wasn’t hungry either. His stomach was still churning with excitement. Whistling, he dumped half the spoonful of scrambled eggs onto the plate. “Bacon?”
Eli, now thumbing through the pages of one of his hundreds of work journals, held his hand up. “No, just eggs.”
Skip took a couple of steps to hand Eli the plate. Eli looked up from his journal, set it back down on the pile near his feet, smiled, and took the plate. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” Skip replied, glancing at the journal. “Did you find anything relating to the Olmecs and their fascination with Orion’s Belt?”
“I was just reviewing notes I’ve made from other archeological digs of the Aztecs, Mayans, and Olmecs. There is no doubt that each civilization understood they were part of a bigger universe. Their understanding of astronomy, even before all of the modern technology we have today, amazes me. But this I do know: these civilizations worshipped gods and goddesses and named stars after their deities. The ancient Egyptians even worshipped the stars in Orion’s Belt. They believed their gods and goddess descended from the stars in the belt and built the Giza Pyramids, which are in perfect alignment with the three stars.”
Skip nodded, intrigued, as he pulled up a camping chair across from Eli. Jennifer and Tim, having heard it all before, went to retrieve their breakfast. And even though Skip knew of the relationship between Orion’s Belt, the ancient Egyptians, and the ancient Meso-American civilizations, he ate this kind of stuff up. “That has always amazed me, Eli,” he said, holding his right hand out to one side. “Here we have an advanced civilization on one side of the world - the Egyptians - building three pyramids representing the three stars in the belt. Then,” he continued, holding out his left hand, “here we have the Aztecs, another civilization clear on the other side of the world and not even aware the Egyptians even existed - not to mention thousands of years between the two civilizations. . . . Here they are building pyramids and lining them up with the stars in Orion’s Belt as well. I mean . . . what are the odds?”
Eli was about to respond, but Jennifer interrupted him, sitting in her chair with a plate full of eggs and just as much bacon. As she spok
e, Tim sat back down and began gorging himself with eggs. “The Orion Correlation Theory is all well and good, and discussing it all day still doesn’t answer the questions we’re searching for, does it, Skip?” she asked.
Skip opened and shut his mouth, not sure of what to say. Jennifer’s brash retort silenced him for a few seconds. Glancing at Eli, he noticed him smiling as he chewed on his breakfast, conceding the floor to his beautiful, yet bold, assistant. Skip was about to reply but was cut off again.
“I mean,” Jennifer continued through a mouthful of food, “we can already speculate that those doors and the chamber beyond it were built by the Olmecs. Fast forward a couple of thousand years later, and the Aztecs, carrying on some of the Olmec traditions, built their pyramids right over the site. Now, if Earth’s gold plate is truly behind those gold doors down there, then what is its relationship with the pyramids here and in Egypt and what do they have to do with Orion’s Belt?”
Skip shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not sure. But there’s a lot we don’t know about the Milky Way Galaxy.”
“Who knows?” Eli said after swallowing his food.
Without an answer, everyone sat in silence, thinking about the possibilities. Tim finished his breakfast, placed his empty plate on the table, and walked to his tent without a word. Skip watched, wondering what was wrong, as were Eli and Jennifer.
“That’s weird,” Eli said. “Tim usually has an opinion about these kinds of things. He even has his own theories about it.”
As soon as the words passed Eli’s lips, Tim darted out of his tent and jogged back toward them with his laptop in one hand and a book in the other. He looked excited as he sat down and tossed the book to Skip. “The Kolob Theorem.”
Skip caught the book in surprise just before it hit his face. “The Kolob what?” he questioned, looking at Jennifer and Eli, confused. They both rolled their eyes.
“The Kolob Theorem,” Tim continued in dramatic fashion. “It’s—”
“An unproven scientific theory from a former Brigham Young University professor back in the early two thousands,” Eli interrupted. “Personally, I don’t give his theory much credence.”
“Of course a theory is scientifically unproven or else it wouldn’t be a theory, now would it, Professor?” Tim said, peering at Eli with his dull-green eyes.
Jennifer burst out laughing, chewed egg and bacon exploding from her mouth. She quickly grabbed a napkin and cleaned herself up, giggling.
Eli let out what was more of a grunt than a laugh. “Touché, my young assistant. Touché.”
Seeming pleased with himself, Tim opened his laptop, punched in a few commands, then turned the screen around to face them. “You see our galaxy here,” he said, looking over the top of his monitor and pointing with his finger.
They all nodded.
He moved his finger to the outer edge of one of the spiral arms of the galaxy. “Okay, our solar system lies here on the outer edge of the Orion Arm.” He then moved his finger out a little further to another arm. “Within the last twenty-five years, we’ve learned that the solar system, containing Terrest and Gnolom, lie in the Perseus Arm of the Galaxy, twenty-two light years from Earth.”
“Common knowledge,” Eli stated, annoyed. “That still doesn’t explain the theorem.”
Tim held his hand up. “I’m getting there.” He then looked at Skip with an intense but excited look. “Dr. Hilton, the author of The Kolob Theorem, observed that all of the galaxies we have been able to see have an organized structure; some are elliptical, some are lenticular, and some, like ours, are spiral in shape. Despite these differences, he observed that each galaxy is composed of three parts. A bright central region in the center, which emits brilliant white light,” he said, pointing to the center of the image. He continued, moving his finger out from the center just before touching the spiral arms in the middle. “He also observed that there is a thick layer of space dust, or veil, separating the center of the galaxy from this zone, called the Terrestrial sphere of the Galaxy, which contains the Sagittarius and Scutum-Crux Arms.”
Skip’s eyes grew large, recognizing the references.
Tim moved his finger out further past the Sagittarius Arm. “Then, here, he observed another thick layer of dust. In fact, these layers are so thick that we can’t see through them with even our most powerful telescope. These dust layers are composed of thick clouds of matter. He calls them veils.”
Skip held his hand up. “Wait; so these dust layers, he refers to them as veils?”
Tim’s smile spread larger across his face. “Yeah, kind of like the idea that we will pass through a veil to enter the Father’s presence.”
Intrigued even further, Skip leaned back in his chair.
Tim continued as he pointed at the screen again. “Based upon Hilton’s theorem, I believe that the two outer arms of the galaxy, the Perseus Arm and our Orion Arm, reside in the Telestial sphere of the galaxy, or the mortal realm, as I like to call it. According to the Bible, God created the Earth. He placed Adam and Eve upon this planet. Then, when they partook of the fruit, they fell into mortality.”
Tim moved his finger back to the middle of the galaxy and began moving it out toward the edge as he spoke excitedly. “In other words, this planet, Earth, the very one we are seated upon, was created near the throne of God, Kolob, then fell to its present place in the galaxy after Adam and Eve fell.”
“Hogwash,” Eli said, only this time, seriously annoyed. “You’ve been with me for what, seven years now, Tim? After all that time, haven’t you learned anything? First of all, there is no scientific evidence to support your hypothesis. It’s all pure speculation and interpretation from scripture, mingled with science. And secondly, how can a planet travel through space without ripping apart? It would be utterly destroyed, killing all life.”
Tim’s eyes narrowed. It was obvious that he and his professor had had many arguments about the subject. But the more Skip listened, the more it made sense. After all, he was the only one of them that might have witnessed for himself just how a planet could travel through interstellar space. “Wormholes,” he whispered profoundly.
Immediately, Tim and Eli stopped arguing. Jennifer dropped her fork onto the ground, and all three stared at Skip with astonished looks. “What did you say?” Eli asked.
Skip, stood up quickly with excitement from his sudden inspiration. “Wormholes, Eli. I’ve been through one on several occasions. I’ve seen how they work first hand.”
Eli nodded. “Yes, but a wormhole big enough for planets to travel through? That’s ridiculous. The gravity from a wormhole that size would tear a planet apart.”
“God works in mysterious ways,” Skip countered, stepping toward Tim’s laptop and pointing. “Where’s Orion’s Belt on this image?”
Tim traced his finger toward the inner edge of the Orion Arm, stopping just before the black space, where he claimed a dust veil existed between the Orion Arm and the Sagittarius Arm.
Skip picked up the laptop and faced it outward, now using his finger to point. “If, according to this Dr. Hilton, the middle sphere of our galaxy is the Terrestrial sphere, then how does Earth go from a Telestial state of existence to a Terrestrial state of existence, as is the case during the millennium?” he questioned and then paused.
Tim and Eli did respond, but Jennifer quickly uttered, “A gateway. Orion’s Belt is a gateway.”
Skip nearly dropped the laptop back into Tim’s lap and pointed at Jennifer. “Bingo!”
This time, Eli stood to his feet. “Okay, I’ll buy this theory you two have concocted, but until we have actual proof, I’m—”
Before Eli could finish, a plasma blast echoed through the temple complex, tearing through Eli’s midsection, and exploding the laptop in Tim’s hands.
*****
“Professor!” Jennifer shrieked as Skip dove at her, knocking her back in her chair, and landing on top of her. Eggs and bacon flew everywhere.
Tim screamed in agonizing pain.
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“Get inside the temple!” Skip ordered as he jumped to his feet, pulling out his sidearm.
Jennifer lay on her back, frozen. The deafening sound of machine and plasma gunfire rippled across the temple complex.
“Go!” Skip yelled as he turned to Tim, who fell back and was lying on his back as well, his hands and face burnt black.
Still frozen in fear, Jennifer turned her gaze at her mentor. “No!” she wailed. Eli lay on his stomach, his eyes wide open and staring at her, empty of life.
“C’mon!” Skip said as he pulled her up and pushed her ahead. Skip held the injured Tim, still writhing in pain, over his shoulders.
She ran toward the Pyramid of the Sun with Skip following close behind. Behind her, she could hear the shouts and screaming of men amongst explosions and gunfire. Finally, she reached the entrance to the temple and tucked herself behind the stone wall to her right. Skip soon followed, dropping Tim down gently beside her and handing her a med kit. “Help him,” he ordered as he checked his plasma sidearm.
Jennifer sat still, petrified. “Wh-what’s going on?” she asked behind chattering teeth.
Skip knelt down, his face a few inches from her own. The moment the attack started, Skip had transformed from a mild-mannered archeologist to a highly trained soldier. From what she knew about him, she knew that he had experienced war first hand, so this wasn’t new to him. “Listen, Jennifer. Tim needs help. Stay here. I’ll be back.”
Just as he began to stand up, she reached out and grabbed his arm. “No! No! Don’t leave me!”
“I’m just going to check outside.”
“Did the cartels attack?”
Skip sighed, lowering his eyes to the ground. “No. . . . The Gnols are back.”
Horrific memories flashed through Jennifer’s mind from the last time the Gnols attacked Earth. The memories of her family being brutally murdered caused her to tremble in untold fear. She tried to gather the courage she needed to help Tim as she watched Skip walk out of the doorway. Leaning forward, she poked her head out of the entrance and watched.
Skip had only made it out a few feet when a figure came running through the thick black smoke of the battle toward them. As the figure approached, she recognized him. It was Sergeant Scoefield. As he ran toward Skip, Jennifer was able to see him better and nearly vomited from his condition. His face was red and swollen, his hands were burnt badly, and his right ear was missing. But that wasn’t the image that caused her stomach let go of the breakfast she had eaten just a few minutes before the attack. His left arm was missing; all that remained was shredded muscle from his bicep. It was apparent that someone or something had ripped his arm from its socket.
Worlds Without End: The Prophecy (Book 3) Page 22
