Worlds Without End: The Prophecy (Book 3)

by Shaun Messick

  Reluctantly, she crossed the threshold between the elevator entrance and the check-in station. In her hand was a silver metal briefcase. Her sharp green eyes met his. From her look, Lieutenant Laefwair knew there wasn’t a chance on Gnolom or any other planet in the galaxy to be with her. But he wasn’t one to give up so easily. “Welcome to the brig,” he said, spreading his arms. “Lieutenant…?”

  Through a thick scowl, she replied, “Lieutenant is as much as you need to know.”

  “Very well,” Lieutenant Laefwair said, conceding to her. He then turned his attention to the briefcase as she laid it on his desk. “How much is there?”

  The female lieutenant opened the briefcase. It contained twenty-five syringes, each one nestled snugly in a Styrofoam casing. “The serum needs to stay cool. Do you have a refrigerator?”

  Lieutenant Laefwair nodded. “We have a small one under the desk for snacks and drinks.”

  “Good. Keep them cool.” The woman then looked at her watch. “Their last injection was about four hours ago. They are due for another one. Injections need to be given roughly every four hours. That’s when their abilities begin to come back.” She paused and looked intently at Lieutenant Laefwair. “And trust me, you don’t want Celeste and her husband to regain their abilities. We are working on a new serum that will last longer, but until then, these will have to do.”

  The female lieutenant then closed the briefcase and made her way to the elevator. Lieutenant Laefwair watched her lustfully. Once the elevator door closed, he took three syringes from the case, turned to Sergeant Hanjuan, and said, “It’s time.”

  *****

  Jake lay on his bed, staring at the sleek metal ceiling of his prison cell. The last four hours had been uneventful. He was unable to communicate with Celeste or Nichelle, who resided in the cell directly across from his. The only way he could communicate with them was by hand signals. Despite the boredom, there was a bright spot. His strength was beginning to return.

  Turning his gaze away from the ceiling, he looked to his left. The cell’s bathroom door was open and he could see the faucet. Testing himself, he sat up, stretched out his hand, and closed his eyes. Using every ounce of mental energy he could, he strained to turn the faucet on. After a few more seconds of tense concentration, water burst from the faucet. Smiling, he lowered his hand. His abilities were coming back slowly. But they were nowhere near the kind of powers he was able to demonstrate since his rise from the dead.

  He turned and looked at the cell across from him to see if Celeste and Nichelle had noticed. Both his wife and Nichelle were resting on the bed. His smile turned downward as he walked toward the plasma shield of his cell. He stood within a few inches of it, hearing its gentle hum. He then waved his hands, trying to get the women’s attention. They had their eyes closed and appeared to be sleeping.

  Frustrated, he turned his attention to the wall where the virtual terminal was located to their cell. Backing up, he raised his hand toward the wall. After closing his eyes, he did his best to picture the virtual terminal in his mind, but the invisible force between himself and the wall wasn’t locking on to anything. He continued to try again for a few more minutes. After nothing, he opened his eyes and quickly lowered his arm after seeing Lieutenant Laefwair and Sergeant Hanjuan out of the periphery of his right eye. They failed to notice him.

  He rushed to his bed and lay down, pretending to sleep, keeping one eye slightly open so he could see what was going on. Lieutenant Laefwair opened the plasma shield to Celeste’s and Nichelle’s cell. Without any sound coming into his own cell, Jake couldn’t hear what was being said. As soon as the lieutenant and sergeant stepped into his wife’s cell, Nichelle and Celeste jumped to their feet. Both women thrust their arms outward toward Sergeant Hanjuan, who was the first to walk in. The sergeant flew backwards through the air past Lieutenant Laefwair and across the corridor, finally slamming into the plasma shield of Jake’s cell. A surge of energy rippled through the shield, stunning the sergeant before he fell to the floor, dazed. The energy surge caused something to malfunction within his own cell, because Jake could now hear everything that was going on.

  Jake jumped to his feet and rushed toward the shield, which was still activated. He watched with worry for the safety of his wife and Nichelle. Celeste and Nichelle flung their arms toward Lieutenant Laefwair. But before they could take him out, he managed to lock them into an invisible hold with his own outstretched left arm. “It is definitely time for these,” he said, using his free hand to pull two syringes out of a pocket on his uniform shirt. He then glanced quickly at his rattled sergeant, who stumbled to his feet and made his way toward him. He handed Sergeant Hanjuan the two syringes and then nodded toward Celeste and Nichelle. “Inject Celeste first. She is stronger.”

  Jake made eye contact with his wife. She struggled to set herself free from Lieutenant Laefwair’s powerful grasp. His eyes then followed Sergeant Hanjuan. Shaking the cobwebs from his head and rubbing his shoulder, the sergeant walked cautiously toward Celeste. He placed one of the syringes in his pocket and prepared the one in his hand to inject Celeste. Celeste scowled at him, her eyes wild like a caged animal ready to pounce. Her right arm moved slightly, causing Sergeant Hanjuan to pause.

  “Go!” Lieutenant Laefwair shouted. “She is resisting!”

  Sergeant Hanjuan leapt into action. He approached Celeste from behind, wrapping his free arm around her to hold her in place. She continued to struggle and managed to move her body from the invisible force holding her in place. Nichelle also began to move slightly.

  “Hurry!” Laefwair ordered.

  Sergeant Hanjuan hurriedly lifted the syringe to Celeste’s neck. His hand shook tremendously, most likely a result of the shock from the plasma shield. He tried desperately to inject Celeste with the serum. But as he tried to gain control over his hand, Celeste broke free from Lieutenant Laefwair’s invisible grasp. “No!” he shrieked.

  Nichelle sprang into action as well. With Celeste free, Laefwair locked his concentration on to Nichelle, freezing her for the time being. Just as Sergeant Hanjuan was about inject Celeste, she spun around and clutched the wrist of his hand holding the syringe. With a violent twist, she jerked Sergeant Hanjuan’s arm back, causing him to lean forward. The syringe fell helplessly to the floor but did not break.

  With rage pouring through her, she looked at Lieutenant Laefwair. “Release her!”

  Lieutenant Laefwair sneered at her with a pompous look. “No.”

  “I’ll break his arm.”

  “Do it.”

  Sergeant Hanjuan looked at his superior officer with pleading eyes.

  Celeste jerked a hand up, holding Hanjuan’s wrist, and then flung her free arm’s elbow down into his. A thunderous crack echoed through the brig, and Sergeant Hanjuan dropped to the ground writhing in absolute pain; the jagged edge of his upper arm bone protruded out of the skin of his arm just above the elbow. Celeste then turned her mother-bear rage toward Lieutenant Laefwair, flinging her arms toward him.

  Lieutenant Laefwair hurled Nichelle into the plasma shield of Jake’s cell with one hand and telekinetically projected the syringe into Celeste’s neck and injected it before she could use her own abilities against him.

  “No!” Jake yelled as his wife fell like a sack of potatoes to the floor. She looked weakly back at him.

  “I have to do everything myself,” Lieutenant Laefwair said as he made his way to Sergeant Hanjuan. He pulled the other syringe from Hanjuan’s pocket and then walked cautiously toward Nichelle. Nichelle tried to stand but stumbled and fell back down, shocked from her contact with the energy shield. Lieutenant Laefwair stood over her, breathing heavily. He wiped the perspiration from his brow with his sleeve, grabbed her by the hair, and jabbed the syringe forcefully into her neck, injecting the serum.

  Jake screamed, slamming his fist into the energy shield. The shock knocked him back a few feet but didn’t knock him down. A sensation of electricity pulsated all over his body.
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  After Nichelle slumped over, weak but still conscious, Lieutenant Laefwair activated the virtual keypad to Jake’s cell. Jake readied himself for the impending confrontation. Lieutenant Laefwair stared at him cautiously as he pulled another syringe from his pocket and deactivated the plasma shield. As soon as the shield disengaged, Jake attacked, confident that he was strong enough to take the larger Gnol.

  To his dismay however, he wasn’t. Lieutenant Laefwair swatted him away like a fly, backhanding him across his jaw. Jake spun around backwards, falling to his hands and knees, a mix of blood and the glowing substance pulsating through his veins dripping from his mouth. Before he could turn around, Laefwair grabbed him by the head with one arm, holding him in place, and began to draw the syringe to his neck. Just as the needle was about penetrate the skin, the ship shuddered and electricity surged through the brig. Suddenly, both men found themselves floating just as it went pitch black.

  *****

  Macaria paced back and forth in her office impatiently. It had been several hours since Celeste and Jake had surrendered themselves. She and Koroan attended to other duties since that time. Surrendered, she wondered. The capture of Jake and Celeste was easy. In fact, it was too easy, which troubled her.

  Finally, the door opened. There was Koroan, holding his despicable grandson in his arms. The baby was sound asleep, bundled in the blue blanket he was taken in. She stared at the child for a few seconds, allowing the spite she had for the child to rage through her like an enraged bull. She knew all too well the soul who inhabited the small baby’s body. Yet the hate raging inside her was like a drug. She had no ounce of pity or compassion for the boy. The reality was that she wanted to reach out and crush him. That was all he was to her, a possession, and she needed him, perhaps for the rest of his life, to do the bidding of her master. He was the key to their victory.

  “My Queen,” Koroan uttered disrespectfully.

  Startled out of her thoughts, she glared at Koroan. “Sit with the child,” she demanded, pointing to her leather office chair, which was bolted into the floor in front of the large view-screen within her office. The image of Earth and its moon was on the screen, making it look as if they could walk right into space behind the chair. She telekinetically rotated the chair on its axis one hundred eighty degrees so that the seat faced them.

  Koroan made his way toward the seat. As he walked by the crystal desk, the gold plate resting upon it began to glow again. He sat down and adjusted Calum so that he sat up with his back resting against his chest.

  “Wake him,” Macaria ordered.

  Koroan jostled the child awake. Calum’s large blue eyes fluttered open and shut. The first person his eyes landed upon was Macaria. As soon as he saw her, he let out a deafening scream and began to wail uncontrollably.

  Macaria scowled at the baby as she levitated the glowing plate toward the child. The plate began to glow brighter and brighter as it got closer to Calum. It also began to emit an audible humming sound. Calum changed his focus from Macaria to the mysterious glow, hovering just a few feet in front of him. He stopped crying as the plate seemed to call to him, and he reached out to it with his tiny hands.

  Macaria glanced at Koroan, who sat, astonished at what was unfolding in front of him. “It’s calling to him,” she said.

  Koroan, stunned, just nodded his head and had to avert his eyes because of the light the gold plate was radiating. Macaria had to look away as well, although she did her best to observe the situation out of her peripheral vision. The light, however, seemed to have no effect on Calum. It appeared to transfix him, captivating him in its glow.

  Macaria moved the plate slowly and cautiously toward the baby, his tiny hands reaching out, begging to touch it. As soon as it was within reach, his little fingers touched the plate’s gold surface and traced along some of the symbols. It was as if the boy was in a trance and reading the symbols simply by touch alone. Instantly, the bright glow of the plate dimmed and a 3D hologram radiated from its center into the void above.

  Still holding the plate in place, so that Calum could keep his touch on it, Macaria walked around the hologram, examining it. “It’s a star map.”

  Koroan spoke for the first time since being hypnotized in astonishment. “A map to where?”

  Macaria ignored him and leaned in closer to the image, her face almost penetrating the light. Her eyes widened in astonishment with the realization of what she saw. “It can’t be,” she whispered.

  “Can’t be what?” Koroan asked.

  “It-it’s Orion’s Belt.”

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Koroan was about to speak when a gust of wind whirled around the image. The image was instantly replaced with a circular distortion, with a large enough diameter to fit Koroan and the child.

  Macaria still had a strong invisible grip upon the plate, but the force of the small wormhole was beginning to tear it from her grasp. “Koroan!” she yelled as she witnessed the wormhole pull Koroan, Calum, and the plate from the fabric of space and time. As soon as they disappeared through the wormhole, it closed. There was a bright flash of light and Macaria was flung across her quarters to the far wall. Her body slammed into it, denting the smooth metal surface. Before she fell to the floor, she began floating. A power surge erupted through her quarters and the lights flickered off, even the emergency lights, leaving her alone in darkness.

  CHAPTER 16: ESCAPE

  Pyramid of the Sun, Teotihuacan, Mexico . . .

  The dark prince paced anxiously around the hidden underground pyramid far beneath the ancient Aztec Pyramid of the Sun. His evil gaze wouldn’t leave Adrian Palmer, who sat helplessly with his back against the silver obelisk in the center of the pyramid. He wanted to lash out at the human, but he couldn’t. In fact, there wasn’t anything he could do and he knew it. After all, he was spirit matter.

  The only way he would be able to have any sort of power over Adrian Palmer was if Adrian tainted his own soul. But he hadn’t. No, Adrian Palmer was steadfast and strong, something that infuriated the dark prince to near rage. There was another way he could get to Adrian, however, but that required the gold plate of Earth and Koroan Chast.

  He quickly focused his attention on the silver obelisk. He levitated himself up to the top and looked at the slot. He examined the slot as he traced his fingers along its surface. As he did so, the rage fuming around him like a white, hot flame began to abate, replaced by satisfaction – the satisfaction of victory. “Soon,” he whispered. “Soon, all three plates will be in my possession and I will regain my birthright.”

  *****

  Bantyr peered through the binoculars, searching for any indication that his father was alive. However, it was becoming increasingly more difficult as dusk settled in.

  “How long until they arrive?” asked a terrified female voice from behind him.

  Bantyr turned and met the scared green eyes of Jennifer. His concern for his own wellbeing and for his father’s life was replaced instantly with sympathy for the attractive young woman. Not that she was younger than Bantyr by any means. He and Jennifer were roughly the same age, and besides her rough appearance from not showering for days and having just survived a small battle, he found himself attracted to her.

  During their short stay together at Scott Air Force Base, each would smile politely toward one another, even sharing flirtatious looks, but they never spoke to one another. But this was neither the time nor the place to act on those fluttering emotions that he was beginning to feel toward her.

  She sat behind him on a pile of rubble just a few feet from him. Her back rested against a partially destroyed wall. Skip lay on the hard floor nearby, asleep. Already battle hardened from his time on Terrest, he knew how precious sleep was in times like this.

  Bantyr gave Jennifer a sympathetic look and then looked at his watch. “It’s been over eight hours since we spoke with Kevin and Chris. Depending on their speed and if they haven’t had any encounters with the Gnols, they should be he
re soon. They’re going to land a couple of miles away just in case Dorange is monitoring any incoming aircraft. I gave them our latitudinal and longitudinal location.”

  Jennifer nodded and smiled shyly, her body shaking. She was still in shock from having just witnessed the brutal murders of her mentor and colleague. Bantyr turned and grabbed his duffle bag of supplies and began rummaging through it. He pulled out a blanket and made his way to Jennifer, sitting beside her. He wrapped the blanket around her and rubbed her back for comfort, making sure he wasn’t too forward. Without a word, she smiled at him appreciatively and then leaned her head on his shoulder. Bantyr smiled as the fluttering feelings returned. He looked out of the partially destroyed building and into the darkness.

  He was surprised with how fast darkness fell. As a result, the fluttering emotions of a kindling love disappeared, replaced with concern for their safety. While it was true that he, Skip, and Sage successfully took out a squadron of Gnols, he had no idea if Dorange and the other Gnol that went with him into the Pyramid of the Sun were the only ones left. He was also concerned for his father and for Sage. He hoped his father was still alive, but his hope for Sage’s safety had dwindled into fear that he was now dead.

  After successfully killing Dorange’s squadron, Bantyr had watched as Sage entered the Pyramid of the Sun. He then continued to watch for what seemed like an hour only to see Dorange emerge, thus diminishing the hope that Sage was actually alive.

  As Bantyr continued to watch out into the darkness, he saw a light flicker off a building across the street. His body stiffened, startling Jennifer. Jennifer pulled her head from his shoulder and sat up straight. Her breathing became erratic as he looked at her and signaled for her to remain calm and quiet.

  Pulling his sidearm from its holster secured on his thigh, he kicked Skip’s boot. Skip’s eyes popped open, and he instinctively raised the plasma rifle still clutched in his arms at Bantyr. Bantyr held his hands up and pointed outside. The light was becoming more prominent now, reflecting off of the ground, rubble, buildings, and trees.