“Now what?” he asked himself aloud. The sound of his voice seemed muffle, as if he were underwater.
And then as suddenly as he had stopped, Max began falling again. He began to pick up speed, and he closed his eyes again. He felt as if he were traveling at a much faster speed than before. He felt his body begin to vibrate, as if he were a spaceship whose hull had been breached and in any moment he was going to tear apart. He raced further and further into space, and his stomach grew more and more uneasy with each passing second.
After a couple of minutes into his second free fall, Max could feel himself slowing down. Max opened his eyes and could see ground below him. He was still moving more quickly than he would have liked as the black and white checkered tile floor came into focus, growing closer and closer.
Max landed on his feet and then promptly collapsed to the floor below. He felt nauseous. The cool tile below him comforted him, and he pressed his forehead onto it.
“Sorry,” he heard Donovan say from behind him. “I should have warned you not to lock your knees when you landed.”
“Ouch,” Max said.
“I suggest that you move out of the way, Max.” Donovan’s accent seemed even thicker as it bounced off the tile. “Your friends should be right behind you.” He grabbed Max by his arms and slid him from under the giant black hole in the ceiling over to the corner of the room.
Max attempted to stand, but felt the urge to vomit as soon as he did. He resigned to sit back down on the tile. He placed his head between his knees and waited for the room to quit spinning.
“The first time can be a bit rough,” Donovan said from above him.
“You think?” Max asked sarcastically, the black and white tiles whirling between his legs.
“Here drink this.”
Max looked up to see Donovan had extended a vial of liquid to him. It looked exactly like the one he had handed to Mikael, only the liquid was red inside.
Max uncorked the vial and took a whiff of the contents. It smelled like garbage water. Max quickly covered his mouth to keep from retching all over the floor.
“It will make you feel better,” Donovan said.
“No way, man,” Max said.
“You humans are such babies,” Donovan replied, walking away from him.
Max looked down at the red liquid swirling around in the tube. He couldn’t fathom how something that smelled so awful could make him feel any better, but he couldn’t stand to feel as sick as he did. With his free hand, he pinched his nostrils closed and emptied the contents of the vial into his mouth.
It tasted worse than it had smelled.
“Gross,” Max coughed, but almost instantaneously he felt relieved of the nausea. Peering out over his knees the room stopped dancing.
This rectangular room was a much nicer room than the one they had left – with the exception of the big gaping hole in the ceiling. The black and white tile looked as if it had been waxed and buffed recently, and he could see his reflection staring back at him. Three of the walls were completely bare, and they were painted the same boring taupe color of the room they had just left. The fourth wall possessed a large steel door with an esphynalor painted in the center of it. Beside the door was a stainless steel intercom, and beside that a large mirror. It looked like the mirrors they used in interrogation rooms where the cops would watch a detective drill a suspect for a confession.
“Where are we?” Max asked.
“We are in the intake room of Sidus Refugium,” Donovan said, kneeling down to examine Max. “Does this hurt?” he asked, pressing down on Max’s knee.
“No,” Max said. “I think I’m fine.”
From the giant hole in the ceiling Max heard a girl screaming, first faintly and then growing louder and louder. Kennedy emerged feet first from the hole. She floated down slowly, landing gracefully on to the tile.
“Oh my God,” Kennedy said. Her face was flushed. “What just happened?”
“We crossed through space and time using the gateway,” Donovan said to her. “Please move over toward us before you get kicked in the face.” Donovan pointed to the hole as Noah’s feet emerged from the darkness. Kennedy moved over to join Max and Donovan, and the three of them watched Noah float down and land nimbly on the ground.
“Why didn’t I do that?” Max asked Donovan furiously.
“The key is to resist opening your eyes,” Donovan said.
“And not to lock your knees,” Noah added. “Mikael told us before we jumped.”
Max shot Donovan a look of resentment.
“What happened to you?” Noah asked Max, who was still sitting on the floor.
“Grow up,” Max scowled at him.
Noah pulled Max to his feet as Donovan headed to the intercom in between the mirror and the door.
“Now that was an awesome ride, huh?” Noah asked Kennedy, throwing his arm over her shoulder.
“Please, let’s just get this over with,” Kennedy said, pushing away from Noah.
Donovan hit the call button on the intercom.
“Please identify yourselves,” a woman’s voice on the other end commanded. The female’s voice was heavily accented as well, but the accent was completely different than Donovan’s. The woman’s voice was nasally and almost robotic. She sounded alien.
“My name is Donovan Reese, Protector of the Guardian,” he spoke loudly and clearly into the intercom. He removed his finger off the button and looked back toward the group. “Sometimes it’s hard to see through the mirror.”
“So now you’re the Protector?” Max asked. “Let me give you a hint, if you want to protect someone, you tell them not to lock their knees before they jump through an intergalactic wormhole.”
“Who is accompanying you?” the voice asked.
“I bring Max Baker, age 16, and potential Guardian of the Ninth Sector. Also accompanying is one Kennedy Coleman, age 16, and one Noah Allman, also age 16. All three residing in the city of Forest Valley, in the state of Georgia, in the country of the United States of America, of the planet Earth.”
“Dude, where you were born?” Noah asked Donovan. He began to mimic him, speaking in an over-the-top nerdy voice. “My name is Donovan Reese, residing from the city of Nerdville, in the state Nerdopolis, in the country of the United States of Nerdonia, on the planet Nerdtune.”
“Actually I was born in Futora Armeddia,” Donovan said to him.
“Whatever nerd,” Noah said.
There was silence for a moment as the group looked at one another.
“What now?” Max asked as they stood at the closed door.
Finally, the door buzzed and unlocked.
“Max, it is time to meet your destiny,” Donovan said and pushed open the door.
The four of them walked down a long windowless corridor. Paintings of creatures and places that Max had never seen before hung along the wall. Max paused to look at one them; it was of some futuristic looking city that was being engulfed by a mushroom cloud.
“What is this one of?” Max asked.
“That is of the Great War,” Donovan said, pausing behind Max. “It was the worst war that anyone had ever seen. It caused the end of our civilization on Amed…Earth.”
“What happened?” Max asked.
“It is something that I will explain to you later,” Donovan answered, putting his hands on Max’s shoulders. “For now, we must keep moving. The Council of Twelve will be gathering.”
“Later better be coming pretty soon,” Max said as Donovan nudged him to continue walking.
“The lobby is just ahead,” Donovan said, ignoring Max’s comment.
The group entered through the door at the end of the hallway and walked into the reception area. It looked like the waiting area of some high end business office. There was a bronze fountain that stood in the center of the room, the water bubbled from the top and cascaded down. It was surrounded by a couple of semicircular leather couches. The receptionist’s desk sat empty in the front of the room. Be
hind it a large door sat ajar.
It was a standard reception area with the exception of the floor to ceiling windows that looked out into space. Planets and stars filled Max’s field of vision; a black sky filled with wonder and mystery. The view of outer space was magnificent.
“Wow!” Max exclaimed.
“It is quite something, is it not?” Donovan asked him. “All of this, Max, will potentially be under your watch. It is highly probable that you are the guardian of all you see in front of you.
“You sure like to throw that word ‘potentially’ around,” Max said.
“The Council will have questions for you, and then there will be a series of tests. If you are the Guardian, like I believe you to be, then you will be charged with defending this great expanse. Max, this is the Ninth Sector.”
“The Council is prepared to see you now, Mr. Reese,” a woman’s voice interrupted from behind them.
Max turned to find the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her skin was a silvery white and sparkled like it was covered in diamonds. Her eyes were deep lavender, and she had long blue hair that hung down between her shoulder blades. She offered a polite smile in Max’s direction and then turned back through the door behind the receptionist’s desk. Max attempted to return the smile, but she was already out of view.
“You can close your mouth now,” Kennedy snapped at Max.
“That was Melotta,” Donovan said to Max. “She is a native of the planet Ormard, and she is approximately 120 years old. So don’t get any ideas.”
“She looked no older than me,” Max said.
“Let us go and meet the Council,” Donovan said. “I trust that you two can make yourself busy for a little while. We will call for you if we need you.”
“Whoa,” Noah said. “We didn’t come all this way to wait outside.”
“Trust me, Mr. Allman,” Donovan said, “if Max is the Guardian, there will be much more to do than sit outside.”
“Let’s hope so,” Noah responded and took a seat next to Kennedy on the couch. She immediately got up and moved to the other sofa.
“You wish, loser,” she sneered at him.
“We better make this quick,” Max said to Donovan.
Chapter 15
The Council of Twelve
Max followed Donovan into a giant chamber. Along the far wall were two tiers of desks that sat escalated over the floor below; the back row of desks sat slightly higher than the one in front. It reminded Max of flipping through the television channels late at night and accidently landing on C-Span.
Men, women, and creatures sat behind the desks, and a deafening silence fell over them as Max and Donovan entered. They were all wearing the same black robes and odd hats. In the back row, a lizard-like creature whose long neck swayed back and forth sat next to a creature that looked very similar to Gorthon, only marginally smaller. In the front row, an overgrown cat in clothes leaned over to the human-looking woman beside it and whispered something in her ear. At the end of the two rows sat a giant in a much larger desk. It had to have been at least 20 feet tall and dwarfed everyone else in the room. It stared down at them and then offered an awkward little wave.
Max returned the giant’s gesture. “This is a dream, isn’t it?” he asked Donovan.
“No,” Donovan whispered back. “Why would you think that?”
To the left of the two rows was a single desk that was elevated high above the others. A small, old man with a lengthy beard sat behind it; he looked down at them apathetically. The shiny golden placard in front of him read:
Head Elder Myrth
Angroth
“What’s Angroth?” Max asked Donovan.
“It is an Elven planet located in a neighboring galaxy called Mystwood,” Donovan whispered.
Melotta closed the door behind them and then walked to her desk, which was to the right of the giant. Her desk was much different than everyone else’s; it came equipped with a computer. As she sat down, she put on a headset, pushing her blue locks to one side. She smiled at Max, and he could feel his face turn a bright shade of crimson.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the Council,” Elder Myrth began, picking up a small sheet of paper from the desk and reading from it. His voice was loud and commanding despite the small frame he possessed. “We have been gathered here today by request of Donovan Reese, Protector of the Guardian. Mr. Reese has requested a full examination of one Maximus Ethan Baker, a 16 year old human male, hailing from the planet Earth.” Elder Myrth never took his eyes off of the papers in front of him.
“Max Baker,” Myrth continued, “was born of mother, Evelyn Alice Baker, female from the planet Earth, and father, Colin Alexander Baker, male from the planet Futora Armeddia, and then later relocating to Earth…”
“Did he just say my dad was an alien?” Max asked Donovan. His heart began to race inside of his chest.
“Your questions will have to wait, Max,” Donovan said.
“Mr. Baker,” Elder Myrth looked toward Max, “is all of the information I just provided for the Council accurate?”
“I was unaware that my father was from Future, Fut-”
“Futora Armeddia,” Myrth said. “Do you and your father have a strained relationship, Mr. Baker?”
“My father and I share no relationship, sir,” Max answered. “I’ve never met him. He left shortly after I was born.”
There was a small outburst from the rest of the Elders as they all began whispering amongst one another. The commotion was extinguished quickly by Elder Myrth banging a small wooden gavel on his desk. The old man’s placard shook violently each time the hammer made contact.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he said, “please try to refrain from making any comments to one another. Direct them to Mr. Baker, Mr. Reese or to myself.
“Now, Mr. Baker,” he said, turning to Max again, “you said that you have never met your father? And you were unaware that he was not from Earth?”
“That is correct,” Max said.
“Mr. Baker,” a woman from the center of the front row said, “are you aware of the current location of your father?” She was not nearly as old as Myrth; she looked to be somewhere around 60. Her placard read:
Elder Maria Constantine
Futora Armeddia
“I don’t know the exact whereabouts,” Max responded. “My mother told me that he had told her about some job he had to do in Vancouver, Canada, but she never spoke of it again.”
The Council erupted again.
“What just happened?” Max asked Donovan.
“The gateway to Triferria is in Vancouver,” he answered. “Your father, a Futora Armeddian, entering into Triferria would violate a long standing treaty between the Armeddians and the Triferrians.”
“Silence!” Elder Myrth’s voice bellowed over the noise of the crowd.
“This is outrageous!” a robust man with a black goatee said, rising to his feet. “I demand that a full investigation be conducted at once! I demand answers!” The man’s belly shook with every word that he spoke, and his face was the color of a ripened tomato. The man’s placard read:
Elder Addison Baxter
Triferria
“Please, Addison, sit down,” Elder Myrth pleaded, his voice had gone soft. “This meeting is not to determine whether a treaty has been broken. This hearing is to determine whether Mr. Baker is the prophesized Guardian of the Ninth Sector.”
The group of Elders quieted down, but Max could see discord on the face of Elder Baxter.
“I have a question for Mr. Baker,” the lizard hissed from the back row. Its placard read:
Elder Sirishia Karis
Taezrak-Ild
Its voice was higher pitched than Max had expected, and he wondered if it was a boy lizard or a girl lizard. “Are you aware that you were born of a twin birth?”
“Yes,” Max answered, and his face grew hot. “My brother Aiden was born two minutes before me. He died shortly after he was born.”
“Mr. B
aker, are you aware of any special powers or abilities that you may have?” Elder Myrth asked.
“No,” Max said.
The whispers began again. Elder Myrth banged his gavel on the wood in front of him.
“Elder Myrth,” Donovan said, silencing the room, “if I may.” He stepped in front of Max and addressed the group. “I have witnessed with my own eyes Max unknowingly tap into his lifeforce.” The room became eerily silent as all of the Elders seemed to lean forward. Max felt very uncomfortable. He knew what Donovan was about to say. Max still wasn’t sure what had happened that night, but he wasn’t about to chalk it up to having special powers.
Max looked over toward Melotta, who typed on her keyboard at a frantic pace. She looked up from the monitor and their eyes locked. She winked at him.
“Go ahead, Mr. Reese,” Myrth said.
“Upon my initial sighting of Mr. Baker,” Donovan said, “I began surveillance on him to verify his identity. Shortly after, Mr. Baker grew keen to my observation tactics and attempted to evade me.”
“Did evade you,” Max corrected him.
“During a chase that occurred between Mr. Baker and myself three nights ago,” Donovan said, “I struck Mr. Baker with the vehicle that I was traveling in at the time.”
“Was this attack intentional?” the overgrown feline asked. Its voice sounded feminine. Its placard read:
Elder Cailey Acantha
Delta 11
“I assure you, Elder Acantha, it was not,” Donovan continued.
“I beg to differ,” Max said under his breath.
“As Mr. Baker leapt to avoid the aforementioned collision, he placed his hands on the engine. I saw bolts of energy disperse from his palms, rendering the car inoperable. Max Baker shorted out the electrical system of the car with no more than a touch.”
“Is this the only time you have witnessed Mr. Baker’s abilities?” Elder Myrth asked.
“Yes,” said Donovan, “but he did recount a dream to me on our journey here. In the dream, he had awoken on a dark planet and confronted General Gorthon and used a similar energy blast on him.”
Max Baker: Guardian of the Ninth Sector Page 11
