by Stone,Kord
Jerren sighed and said, “The glowing eyes are the result of absorbing too much energy in an attack. We believe they’ll return to normal with time.”
“And this ship?” Terrah had asked.
Jerren smiled, “This ship is one of five that we know of. Two of which are deactivated.”
“So you were down there looking for the battleship when you found me?” Terrah asked.
Shaking his head Jerren said, “Actually, we didn’t know the battleship was down there for sure. This ship is a replica of the pyramid ship in that building behind the battleship,” Jerren looked at Jason who nodded in consent and he continued, “We knew TDS 4 was down there… That’s what these ships are called. TDS stands for Time Dilation Ship. But for the most part, we were down there looking for an extremely dangerous weapon. Did you know there’s a dark matter bomb down there?” Jerren asked.
Terrah looked confused and replied, “dark matter bomb?” she shook her head, “No. I didn’t have clearance for the weapons development level, I only had a SCI 3 clearance. The DARPA weapons development level is restricted to SCI 4 and higher. After an incident a couple of months ago, I was granted modified clearance for the lowest level to supervise the researchers on the spacecraft. Other than that I managed base staffing and surface level security forces. I was transferred to Area 51 six years ago from the Pentagon.”
Eneria came up beside Jerren and said, “She is telling the truth. She did not know about the bomb.”
Terrah peered around the group looking a bit nervous and stated, “SCI 4 requires either prior knowledge of items or events, and or E six or an O seven grade with congressional approval. I was supposed to go before the Senate Intelligence committee for confirmation by years end.”
Jerren could tell Terrah was nervous, and patted her arm and said, “If it’s okay, we need to ask you some personal questions now.”
Terrah looked uneasy, but said, “Okay.”
Jerren looked Terrah straight in the eyes and asked, “What do you know about your parents?” Terrah looked confused and he clarified the question, “I know they died in a plane crash when you were nine years old. They weren’t your biological parents however, correct?”
“How could you know that?” Terrah asked, with obviously shock in her voice.
“It was an educated guess. If you tell us what you know, we’ll fill in what pieces we can,” Jerren said with what he hoped was an endearing smile.
Terrah seemed to mull it over a moment then replied, “No, they were not our biological parents. Our parents never knew who our biological mother was. All we were told was how our mother died. Our father had just become the hospital commander at March Air Force base in southern California at the time.
“He and our mother were returning from the Palomar observatory one night and came across a pregnant woman in distress. The lady had stumbled into the road and our father had almost hit her with his car. He got out and saw she was in labor, and he delivered us with the help of our mother. They said immediately after our youngest sister was born, the lady died then just vanished. They were at a loss at how to explain us and the absence of the mother. Our mother saw it as a sign, and painstakingly talked our father into falsifying our birth records.”
Jerren raised a brow and nodded while listening intently.
Terrah appeared to want to explain, and continued, “Our father was a decent loving man. The day he and our mother died, our guardian picked my sisters and me up and raised us. When we turned eighteen, he gave us the letters from our parents that explained what they had done.”
Jerren patted Terrah on the arm in consolation and felt a chill run down his spine, and then a sense of urgency rose within him, “Where are your sisters? I believe they’re in danger.” Jerren felt Terrah’s panic rise and fall through his touch.
Once calmed Terrah said, “Saleria is a doctor at Johns Hopkins and Vellia is a professor at MIT.”
Jerren looked around and could tell his brothers and the girls seemed momentarily shocked at hearing Saleria’s name and were looking between each other when Jerren snapped his head toward Alise, “They’re on the eastern seaboard. How long will it take to DNA scan for them?”
“A few minutes at most since we have a general location,” Alise closed her eyes a second, then she said, “There the scan is running.”
“Get them up here ASAP. I don’t care if they’re surrounded by people,” Jerren said anxiously.
Jason looked at Jerren and asked, “What’s the matter.”
Jerren shook his head, “I don’t know, when I just touched Terrah’s arm I felt they were in danger, I can’t explain it.”
“I have Saleria,” Alise stated a moment later. “But the lock on Vellia is intermittent. She is in a vehicle and something is interfering with the signal, kind of like when Justin was on the A’shari Votum. I am going to take us back a few hours before we arrived and pull her out. Then I will put us in a Quantum bubble until we resolve everything here.”
The ship blurred with the temporal shimmer and a moment later Alise sighed, “We have her. Saleria and Vellia are both in Decon.”
Jerren looked Terrah in the eyes, “They’re most likely frightened. You may have to calm them down a bit,” Jerren looked over at Jason, “Is your meeting room still set up?”
“Yes, but not for this many people. One second…” Jason closed his eyes a moment, and then opening them he said. “There, the room is ready.”
Jerren nodded and helped Terrah to her feet, “We will explain what’s happening on the other level. It may take a while.”
Terrah seemed to be thinking it over a second, and then she nodded.
Jerren peered around and he thought it might be a little overwhelming if they all moved in on Saleria and Vellia at once, “I think it’ll be for the best if only two of us accompany Terrah. Who wants to join me?” Eneria stepped forward and took his hand. Chuckling Jerren said, “Well that’s settled.”
Jason said, “We’ll be on level two when they’re ready.”
Jerren nodded and turned to escort Terrah to the Decontamination room.
Chapter Twenty
Jerren and Eneria approached the decontamination room with Terrah right beside them, and Jerren could hear faint sounds of frantic speech. Jerren spoke to Eneria in mind, If they’re too agitated, place your hand on one of them and I will on the other, and try to push the feeling of calm over them. We may not need it but be ready just in case it’s needed.
Okay, after you. Eneria said with a smile.
Jerren looked at Terrah, “Here we are. Are you ready?” Terrah nodded and he summoned and opened the archway. He allowed Terrah to enter first then He and Eneria followed her in.
“Terrah!” One of the sisters shouted and ran to embrace her, and she was swiftly followed by the other sister.
“What’s happening? I was in my office one second, the next I was stuck in this room. Then a minute later Vellia showed up.”
“Saleria, Vellia, I would like you to meet Jerren and,” Terrah looked at Eneria saying, “I’m sorry I didn’t catch your name.”
Eneria smiled at the trio saying, “My name is Eneria, and it is a pleasure to meet all of you.” Then she shook all three girls’ hands.
“Terrah, what’s happening?” Vellia asked again with an imploring tone.
Terrah looked unsure as to where to start and just said, “There was an incident at my job and these people rescued me. They have something to tell us, and from what I can figure out so far, it has something to do with our mother…” Saleria and Vellia looked at Terrah in apparent confusion and Terrah said, “Our birth mother.”
Saleria and Vellia seemed to calm down and appeared to be very interested to find out what they had to say.
Jerren shook each of their hands with a smile and said, “We have a meeting room set up on the next level. With any luck, we will sort everything out. This last hour has been quite the whirlwind for us, and I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.�
�
The sisters nodded and Jerren led them through medical and into the inner corridor. Jerren looked between them, he didn’t want to startle them, because he could only imagine they were flustered enough as it was, so he explained that they were going to use a gravity lift and they would feel a fluttery weightless sensation kind of like when you drive too fast over a drop-off. They nodded in acceptance and he said, “Ascend level two.”
“Whoa, that’s different,” Vellia said with a bit of a giggle.
Jerren chuckled and told her, “That happens a lot around here,” he landed on the second level with a hop, and once Jerren saw they were all securely standing he led them to the table in the middle of the room.
Jason had changed the tables configuration slightly from the last time Jerren had seen it. Now it was shaped like a Pyramid with the top lopped off, and it had two chairs on each of the short sides and three on the longest side.
Everyone stood and Jerren initiated the introductions, “At the head of this table, is my eldest brother Jason and this is Alise, they’re the commanders of this ship, and its designation is TDS 1. Next we have my younger brother Justin and Calia, they’re the commanders of TDS 3. As you know my name is Jerren and this is Eneria, we’re the commanders of TDS 5. Everyone this is Terrah, whom you have met. This is Vellia, and this is Saleria.” Jerren gestured to the chairs “If you could have a seat, we can get you up to speed on what we know.”
Everyone took their seats and Vellia wasted no time in raising her hand in question.
“Yes?” Jason had asked.
“Jerren said you’re the ships commanders, what does TDS stand for?”
Jason nodded and said, “As good a place to start as any I guess. TDS stands for Time Dilation Ship.”
Jerren noticed that Vellia looked giddy as a school girl upon hearing that, and he almost laughed out loud.
Jason closed his eyes a moment then Alise nodded and began speaking, “These ships were built as far as we can tell over three million years ago by a race called the Imortum. Almost four hundred thousand years ago the operation of these vessels was handed over to a race called the Lantins and they lived in a massive city-ship called Lantis.
Due to mispronunciation and language barriers, their name had changed over time. You would know them by the name Atlanteans, and the city by the name Atlantis… the derivation of that name came from people saying things like, ‘they died at Lantis’, in confusion after the cities destruction. Over time, at Lantis became Atlantis. And their language was Lantin which is the ancient root language of Latin.”
Alise looked between Terrah, Saleria and Vellia and said, “This history is going to be detailed. I feel it best to build up to where we are so there is no confusion. If any of you needs to stand you can do so. If you need to eat, let us know and we can take a break.” They nodded in understanding and Alise continued with her recitation about the job of the ships and commanders. Every once in a while someone would stand and stretch. The sisters remained focused through the telling though and when Alise got to the part about the dark matter bombs, she brought up a display and showed them the destructive power of the weapon.
“Damn… and we have one of those on Earth?” Terrah asked with a bit of alarm to her voice.
“What!?” both Saleria and Vellia asked in unison.
“Yes. Jerren, would you like to continue from this point?” Alise asked.
Jerren nodded and when he began speaking the girls focused on him, “Like Alise said before, there was a power surge in the master control room. I was in there at the time and I saw the displays for TDS 2 and TDS 4 activate briefly, I called for the other commanders to help and we got a location on the deactivated ships. TDS 2 was in orbit of a planet called Serqalin and TDS 4 was here on Earth. TDS 4 is currently located at a place called Area 51.”
That statement drew a snort from Vellia, “That place is an urban legend.” She said with obvious amusement.
Jerren turned to Terrah with a raised brow, and a moment later she nodded resignedly.
“Actually,” Terrah’s voice drew her sister’s attention, “Area 51 does exist.”
Jerren smirked as he saw the same conflict he and his brothers managed to overcome crossing Terrah’s face. Terrah seemed resigned and continued.
“I’ve worked there for over six years now.”
“But I met you in Las Vegas almost a year ago, and you took me to your house at Nellis Air Force base?” Saleria stated questioningly.
Terrah nodded and continued, “My house is on base, but the workplace I took you through was a cover. I fly into Area 51 for my real job. I am… Was in charge of surface level security,” Terrah explained what her job was and the events that led to them all being there, she left out the part about her being tortured, and Jerren could see why. Both Saleria and Vellia had already looked aghast at how Terrah had been accused and imprisoned, and he could tell Terrah didn’t want to burden them with the painful details.
Terrah gestured for Jerren to continue, and he explained about going to the lowest level and finding the ship. Then what he heard General Green and Smith talking about. He paused a second then he mentioned the voice telling them to ‘save her.’ And he pointed to Terrah.
“Who said it?” Vellia was the one who asked.
In the Ancient Imortum language Jerren said, “She called herself Inola, she’s an Imortum and is still amongst us somewhere. We…” Jerren motioned to his brothers, “thought she was only an imaginary friend from when we were younger. Now we know better.”
Saleria and Vellia looked to be struck speechless a moment then Saleria said, “We had an imaginary friend by that name as well. When I first saw you in that outfit, I thought I was hallucinating. Your body looks just like hers did, only we couldn’t see her face clearly.”
Jerren smiled, stood and extended his arms then he activated his armor.
The three sisters gasped.
“Did she look anything like this?” Jerren said with a chuckle. He turned around so they could get a better look, then he lowered the armor and sat down and continued with the telling. When Jerren informed Saleria and Vellia of the condition they found Terrah in, both Saleria and Vellia seemed to well up a bit, but continued listening as Jerren wrapped it up at the point where they were on the ship after rescuing Saleria and Vellia and why, then he yielded back to Alise.
Alise nodded, “Saleria. What kind of medicine do you practice at Johns Hopkins?” Alise had asked with a knowing smile.
“I work in the Immunogenetics research lab. Why?”
Alise activated a holographic display in the middle of the table and brought up two sets of three DNA scans and said, “What do you see here?”
Saleria seemed to examine the scans for a few minutes then said, “Damn, these are extremely detailed, the upper three are from monozygotic triplets, the same goes for the lower three.”
“And?” Alise prodded
Saleria looked at the scans more intently then said, “This is extremely rare. They’re also fraternal twins to each other, with almost identical DNA. According to the scan data, the first set of triplets are male and the second are female.”
Saleria’s mind was apparently chomping on the information when Terrah and Vellia gasped out, “Really?” in unison.
Their statement drew Saleria’s attention, “Really what?” Saleria asked.
Terrah pointed from Jerren and Jason to Justin questioningly. And they each nodded. Terrah nudged Saleria and said, “They’re our brothers.”
“Those scans were performed just after you all came aboard this ship,” Alise stated. Then Alise brought up an image of each of their brains and magnified the area of the pituitary gland and said, “Right there is the most intriguing part. Each of you has or had that upon boarding this ship.”
Saleria sat staring in apparent awe, “Is that a triple helix DNA strand??
Alise nodded and smiled, “Yes,” She stated assuredly. “We,” Alise gestured to their group, “had
our DNA altered. For the men, they went from only having one strand of triple Helix to all of them being triple helix. As for us women, we had ship generated bodies that were similar to humans and our artificial intelligence program was projected into them. The bodies use to be temporary, but we ate some special food and after that, we were transformed and our consciousness was bound to the bodies. We are now as alive as any of you.” Alise sat back with a smile.
Terrah, Saleria, and Vellia were quietly chatting back and forth apparently trying to come to terms with what they had been told, and a few minutes later Jerren saw Jason nod, apparently in silent conversation with Alise, because a moment later Alise said, “We believe you are supposed to be changed as well. We will not force you, it will be your decisions,” Alise informed them.
They sat chatting back and forth for another hour. The girls decided for one reason or another that it would be in their best interests to take them up on the offer to at least stay on the ships with them, but they were still undecided about doing anything to alter their bodies. The topic turned briefly to what they knew about their mother, but Jerren, Jason, and Justin had very little information about her, other than the fact that she died on the day they were born also. And to Jerren’s surprise, his sisters never even asked about their father.
Growing up, for some reason any time Jason and his brothers would ask about their mother, their father would just be vague and never really tell them anything. At one point Jerren had remembered joking that their father probably created them in a test tube, and their mother didn’t really exist, but Jason and Justin didn’t think that was amusing, and after saying it, Jerren had felt guilt at even saying it.
Jerren, Jason, and Justin had discussed it while the girls had been mulling over staying on the TDS ships, and decided it would be best to wait on informing their sisters that their father as well as other family members were still alive and in the stasis chamber. Mainly because they feared that their sisters would want to bring him out of stasis to speak to him, and they knew their father would insist on them bringing the others out of stasis as well, and Jason, Jerren, and Justin thought it might be best to allow their sisters to settle in before having to deal with that angry horde.
