Koroan, his own anger about to erupt, held his ground silently as Macaria dropped the young soldier to the hard floor. He stared at Macaria coldly as two Gnols dragged the dead body off of the bridge.
Macaria then turned back to Dorange’s image. “What of Earth’s gold plate?”
Dorange explained how the center obelisk in the underground pyramid might be a safe for the plate. “My guess is that the plate of Gnolom is the key to unlocking the safe.”
Macaria paused for a long moment in thought before responding. “I want you to set the hologram communicator up in the underground pyramid. Then wait until I give you the order to insert the plate. That should give you a better signal with which to communicate than your holo-com.”
“Yes, my Queen,” said Dorange as he gave the standard Gnol salute.
After the hologram flickered off, Macaria turned to Koroan. “Bring the plate of Terrest and the child to my quarters.”
*****
Macaria was furious. She wanted to lash out and destroy every piece of furniture in her private office and quarters. The urge was simply too much to bear. Instead, she let out a bellowing scream that she was sure everyone on the Raqel II could hear. After finishing, with a wave of her hand, the crystal desk sitting in front of the view-screen slid to the side.
She stood in front of the gigantic view-screen. The screen was blank and blended with the other walls in her quarters. Its blackness shined, reflecting the other lights in the room. With another wave of her hand, the screen flickered on. The breathtaking image of Earth appeared, and she stared intently. “Soon, my master, soon you will be free,” she whispered.
There was a buzz on her door, indicating someone wanted to enter. “Come,” she said.
The door slid open and Koroan stepped in with Calum. Calum was awake, his blue eyes taking in everything. The mere presence of the child infuriated Macaria. She wished that she could just kill it, but she knew that without him, her master would never be free. Koroan’s presence also annoyed her. There was a time when she respected Koroan for his power and might, but not anymore. Despite his best efforts to block his thoughts and hide his feelings from her, she could still perceive them. Granted, they were jumbled and hard to understand. Nevertheless, he was different after she raised him from the dead. Where his soul once was dark, there was now a tiny seed of light. And what incensed her even more was that the child he held in his arms magnified that light, even causing it to sprout. Even so, she needed Calum Palmer alive.
“My Queen,” Koroan said, mustering the best amount of fake humility he could gather.
“Did you bring the plate of Terrest with you?” Macaria asked sharply, still staring at the image of Earth.
“Yes, my Queen, but—”
“But what!” Macaria seethed, spinning around on her heel to face him. She was astonished at what she witnessed.
Koroan held the plate out to her. As he did so, it glowed brightly - a golden hue from the plate filled every dark crevice of her quarters.
Astonished, Macaria walked cautiously toward Koroan. She took the plate from him and held it in front of her eyes as she examined it. “Why is it glowing?”
Koroan glanced down at his grandson. “After I retrieved the plate from the safe in my quarters, it began to glow. It seems to glow brighter the closer it is to the child.”
A knowing smile spread across Macaria’s lips as she moved the plate away from Calum. The baby stared at it in awe as if it called to him. Sure enough, the further away she moved the plate from Calum, the dimmer the glow became. She slowly moved the plate back toward Calum. The baby reached out his tiny hands toward it.
Just as he was about to touch it, the communications system within her private quarters came alive. It was the voice of Commander Ezekial Soren, the commander of the Raqel II when Koroan and Macaria were not present. “My Queen, we are being hailed.”
Macaria jerked the plate away before Calum could touch it. “By whom?”
“It is Celeste, my Queen.”
“On screen,” Koroan ordered before Macaria could respond, resulting in a glare from Macaria.
Celeste, along with her husband, replaced the image of Earth on the view-screen of her quarters.
*****
Tears streamed down Celeste’s eyes. She first looked at Macaria, who appeared on the view-screen of the Nighthawk, but then shifted her pleading gaze to her father. Calum was in his arms. Feelings of relief poured over her, seeing her son alive. “F-father,” she begged, “please do not hurt him.”
Calum turned his head toward the screen after hearing his mother’s voice. Her father opened his mouth but then quickly closed it after receiving a leer from Macaria. Celeste maintained a steady gaze upon her father. Something was different about him. “Please, Father. Do not let her manipulate you again. Please return Calum to us.”
Macaria threw her angry gaze from Koroan to Celeste. Her glowing blue eyes flashed red, full of rage, as she spoke. “You dare mock me? . . . Commander,” she continued, referring to the commander of the Raqel II, “obliterate that ship.”
“No! Wait!” Koroan pled as he stepped forward and grabbed Macaria by the arm.
Enraged, Macaria spun around and telekinetically grasped Koroan by the throat, levitating him in the air a few inches from the floor. “You dare defy me?”
“F-forgive m-me,” Koroan stammered through the invisible grasp. “M-make them sl-slaves. Let them . . . let th-them live to suffer.”
Immediately, Macaria released her death grip. Koroan landed on his feet and rubbed his throat. Macaria then turned and glared at Celeste. “Belay that order, Commander. Capture that ship.”
As soon as the words left Macaria’s lips, Celeste and Jake felt the gravitational force of the ship’s tractor beam take hold of the Nighthawk. Just as they had planned.
*****
The tractor beam guided the Nighthawk into the belly of the Raqel II. As soon as the landing gear touched down, the ship was surrounded by armed Gnol troops followed by Koroan and Macaria. Calum was not with them.
Jake squeezed his wife’s hand. She was shaking. The two met eyes. “This is the only way to get him back,” he reassured her, referring to his plan to be captured.
Celeste nodded and looked back at her father and Macaria, who had made their way through the circle of armed soldiers. They stopped and stared up and back at her through the cockpit of the Nighthawk.
With a sigh, Jake pressed the controls, releasing the back ramp of the shuttle. Jake could tell from Celeste’s grip on his hand that panic was beginning to surge through her like electricity as the sound of the ramp lowered and stopped after making contact with the floor of hangar. The two stood up and began to make their way through the cargo hold toward the ramp. Jake wrapped his arm around his wife in a comforting grip.
Four Gnols waited for their arrival at the bottom of the ramp with plasma rifles pointed at them. As Jake and Celeste walked cautiously down the ramp, Macaria and Koroan stepped in front of the troops. Macaria stretched out her right arm, catching hold of Jake and Celeste. They both froze on the ramp. The invisible grip was powerful. The force and power was more powerful than Jake had ever encountered before from another Gnol.
As Macaria held them in place, another Gnol walked toward them carrying two syringes. He injected them with both what was clearly the serum that would take away their abilities. As soon as it was injected, Jake felt weak. He could see from Celeste’s expression that she had become weak as well.
Satisfied that the serum had taken effect, Macaria released them. “Stand down,” she ordered the guards surrounding them.
All of the guards lowered their plasma rifles.
“Take them to the brig,” she demanded.
“Where’s Calum? Please, just let me hold him,” Celeste begged as the guards dragged them past her father and Macaria.
Jake watched as Koroan avoided making contact with his daughter. Instead, he made eye contact with Jake. As he did, his eyes g
lowed red. Yes, Koroan did seem different. But his demeanor toward Jake told him that he would rather see Jake die than lend any sort of compassion or help for their current situation.
“Stop,” Macaria ordered.
The guard holding on to Celeste stopped. Macaria walked to her, leaned forward, and whispered into Celeste’s ear loudly enough for Jake to hear. “Know this, Celeste; you will never feel the warmth of your child again in your arms. You are now a slave of the Gnol Empire. You will serve out the rest of your miserable existence in servitude to me. You will watch as your child grows into a man. You will hear with your own ears as he calls me Mother, willing to do my bidding.”
Despair washed over Celeste as tears rolled from her eyes.
Macaria stood back up straight with a pretentious expression on her face. And with a wave of her other hand, she ordered the guards to take them to the brig.
*****
Celeste resisted fighting the death grip the Gnol guard had on her arm as he guided her down to the brig of her father’s new mother ship. If she hadn’t been injected with the serum, she knew that she could have easily taken care of the guard. But now he practically dragged her, as her legs were too weak to even walk. They entered an elevator, which then descended rapidly downward.
After they arrived, Celeste did her best to gain her bearings. The brig was a long corridor with prison cells on each side. Two guards manned a check-in station from a desk at the front within a room just before the corridor began. A plasma shield separated the corridor from the check-in station. It acted as another barrier just in case the plasma shields malfunctioned on the prison cells.
After the two guards arrived with Jake and Celeste, one of the Gnols sitting at the desk, clearly the one in charge, stood up and walked to Celeste. “Ah, Celeste Chast, or should I say Palmer?” he asked, giving Jake a quick glance. He returned his smug gaze back to Celeste. “I heard you went below your standards and married this . . . this human. How despicable.”
Celeste, with weak legs, did her best to stand her ground. She remained silent. She had no desire for clever banter between this guard and herself.
“I’m Lieutenant Sebastian Laefwair and this,” the guard said, pointing to other guard behind the desk who was now standing, “is Sergeant Adonis Hanjuan.” Turning back to face Celeste, he continued, “Welcome to the brig. This will be your temporary home until we return home to Terrest. There is only one rule. Do as I say and all of your needs will be met.” He paused for a moment as he stepped closer to her. “But if you don’t, regular meals will be replaced by beatings.”
Celeste stared at Lieutenant Laefwair blankly. She had nothing to say. Lieutenant Laefwair stared at her for a few more seconds, awaiting a response. When nothing came, he continued as he turned to his sergeant. “Sergeant, take Celeste and this human to their cells.”
Sergeant Hanjuan nodded and motioned for the other two guards, holding Jake and Celeste to follow. They walked the short distance to the first plasma shield, separating them from the corridor of prison cells. “There are only two available cells at the moment,” he said as he placed his hand on a scanner on the wall next to the shield. A green light scanned his hand and the plasma shield disengaged.
As they began walking down the corridor, Celeste noticed one lone cell emanating light halfway down the corridor. To her left and to her right were other darkened cells.
The sergeant continued to speak as if he was giving Jake and Celeste a tour. “The brig was the last part of this ship to be constructed. Since it was rushed off of production so fast, these were the only two ready for prisoners or deserters,” he said, looking at Celeste.
He stopped just before they arrived at the lit-up cell. He waved his hand on the wall across from the lit-up cell. As soon as his hand passed by, a virtual keypad appeared with numbers and symbols. He punched in a numerical code mixed with symbols. As soon as he finished, the darkened cell lit up and the plasma shield disengaged. “Put the human in that one,” he ordered the guard holding Jake.
The guard pushed Jake into the cell. As soon as Jake crossed the threshold between the corridor and the cell, the cell’s plasma shield re-engaged. Jake looked at Celeste with sad eyes. He looked exhausted.
Sergeant Hanjuan turned his attention back to Celeste and gave her a knowing smile. “And since we only have one more cell left, you get a special gift.” He took a few steps ahead, and the guard holding her pushed her forward. She looked into the cell, which was about to become her new home, at least for the time being. Nichelle was sound asleep upon the bed.
The hopelessness oozing through Celeste’s body was instantly replaced with vengeance. Celeste felt her face flush red. She noticed Sergeant Hanjuan observing her to see her reaction. He clearly got the one he was looking for. He waved his hand over the wall and the virtual terminal appeared for her new cell. He punched in the code and the shield disengaged. Nichelle stirred on her bed.
The guard threw Celeste into the cell with such force that she barreled into the far wall and fell to the floor. The plasma shield re-engaged, and Nichelle alertly sat up.
Celeste, fighting through the weakness in her legs and ignoring the pain protruding through her body from the effects of the serum and having just collided with a hard, metal wall, stood up straight, glaring into Nichelle’s eyes. “How could you?” she asked sharply with rage pulsating through her veins.
“I-It was—”
Before Nichelle, could respond, Celeste leapt onto her former best friend like a cougar on its prey, adrenaline giving her the energy she needed. Nichelle held her hands up in an effort to protect herself. But it was no use.
Sergeant Hanjuan and the other two guards stood outside of the cell, enjoying the show. Jake yelled, “Celeste, no!” But his voice was quickly muted by the sergeant.
Celeste wrapped her hands around Nichelle’s neck and began to squeeze. Nichelle did everything she could to breathe. She managed to slide her arms in between Celeste’s and grabbed Celeste’s head. Pulling hard, she head-butted her. Instantly, Celeste released her grip, allowing Nichelle to kick her off of the bed.
Like a wild animal, though, Celeste jumped back to her feet and charged again. Nichelle jumped to her feet and held out her hands. “Celeste, stop! It wasn’t me! It was Ariauna! I tried to stop her!”
Celeste froze just before she tackled her best friend again. “Ariauna?” she questioned, confused.
Nichelle, with tears welling up in her eyes, nodded frantically, doing everything in her power to stop the fight. “Yes. She was the spy. It was her the entire time. Why else would I be in here and not her?”
Anger flushed over Celeste’s face again. “You’ve tried to blame her before. Don’t! She hates the Gnols; why would she betray the Terrestrians?”
“She believes she is helping them.”
Celeste froze in her tracks. “What did you say?”
“Dorange Gar somehow made contact with her and convinced her that his end goal was to destroy the Gnols as well. And the only way to do that was by raising Calum as the chosen one so that one day he would be able to destroy the Gnols.”
Celeste shook her head. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “I-it doesn’t make sense.”
Nichelle nodded her agreement as she relaxed her defensive stance and approached Celeste slowly. “In exchange for her help, Dorange gave her the god-gene serum. When I confronted her on Kwajalein, she was able to defeat me.”
Celeste eyes were now full of tears. “The only problem is she didn’t give Calum to Dorange. She gave him to my father and that . . . that monster,” she said.
“I know. She had no idea that your father was alive.”
“Do you think that makes it better?” Celeste asked, anger boiling again.
“No, but after I confronted her, I truly think she believed that Dorange Gar was going to use Calum for that intended purpose - to destroy the Gnols. It’s just another example of how masterful of a manipulator he is.”
The adrenaline surging through Celeste’s veins, which had given her the energy she needed to attack Nichelle, quickly evaporated. Her knees buckled and she fell to the floor. Nichelle reached out and caught her before her head hit the hard metal. She then helped her onto the bed and laid her down.
Immediately, Celeste began to sob. Nichelle knelt before her, stroking her hair. Celeste looked at her with glistening eyes and tried to speak to her through her sobs. “W-why? Wh-why can’t we defeat them? Now . . . now my baby is gone, and . . . and all is lost.”
Nichelle shook her head defiantly. “No. Don’t believe that. All is not lost. If Calum is truly who we believe he is, then as long as he is alive, all is not lost.”
Guilt replaced the rage that had been burning in Celeste’s bosom. As she looked into her dear friend’s eyes, she could tell that Nichelle truly had good intentions. Through misty eyes, she looked compassionately upon her friend.
Nichelle seemed to notice Celeste’s sudden change of heart, allowing a small smile to crease along her lips. As the two embraced one another in a forgiving hug, Celeste said, “I’m sorry, Nichelle.”
*****
Four hours later . . .
An attractive and toned female Gnol stood within the elevator that led to the brig of the Raqel II, the belly of the ship. From the insignias on her black uniform, Lieutenant Sebastian Laefwair knew that she was the person who he was expecting. He stared at her with a lustful gaze. She was a lieutenant and a new piece of eye candy to satisfy his urges. Like so many Gnol females, she was stunningly beautiful, with green eyes and auburn hair.
Lieutenant Laefwair had consorted with many of the female crewmembers of the ship. Chasing the female Gnols on the ship was like a hobby to him. The hobby kept him from getting bored, much like wine tasting. Many of the women he encountered on the ship were like cheap bottles, but not this one. He could tell she was aged and untouched, which made the game even more intriguing for him. He stood up and waited for her to approach the desk.
Worlds Without End: The Prophecy (Book 3) Page 30
