The Crystal's Curse

by Vicky de Leo

  “Then I’ll go. He may listen to me.” She carefully controlled her face trying the hide the fear she felt.

  Lrence reached up and touched her cheek with his finger. “No. We both know you’re the prize he’s after. Once he has you, everyone else is expendable. It has to be me. He thinks I’m dead. We need him off balance.” Before she could formulate a response, Lrence jumped into the portal and was gone. He appeared in the Carson’s hallway. He listened for a moment, but no one was talking, so he walked through the door and into the front room.

  Erik started when he saw Lrence walk in. “Lrence! I thought you were dead.”

  “Sorry to disappoint you.” Lrence stood there for a moment surveying the room. Erik had positioned himself so that no one could surprise him. With his back against the fireplace, he had a perfect view of the entire room. There was also no way to get between him and the Carsons. Joseph and Joshua looked to Lrence for guidance. They sat tensed on the edge of the sofa ready to react. Lrence’s brain sifted through all the possible scenarios in seconds. Every one ended in someone getting hurt. For the moment, there was nothing any of them could do. Lrence’s only option was to stall and hope that Kafra and the others came up with a distraction of some kind.

  Erik tensed, watching Lrence carefully, waiting for him to make a move. He had spent the last ten years studying Lrence, reviewing every detail of his own memories and probing the memories of others. It paid to know your enemies. He could almost read Lrence’s thoughts as he surveyed the present situation. He smiled when he knew Lrence had decided to wait for a better opportunity. Keep waiting, he thought. It will all be over before you know it. Smiling he said, “No, actually I’m delighted. I was disappointed that I didn’t get to watch you die…. slowly.” He wanted to be calm, stay in charge, but the hate was a slow burn in his gut. After all these years, he could almost taste the desire for revenge. His mouth twisted. His eyes burned.

  Lrence moved slowly into the room to perch on the arm of a chair. “You really hate me that much?” He kept his voice casual with a hint of surprise.

  Erik‘s reply was a sneer. “Why shouldn’t I? You turned the only woman I ever loved against me. We were happy until you started preaching and got her involved in your… cause,” making air quotation marks around the word. “Then you took her away from me.” His rage barely controlled.

  Lrence slid down into the chair and crossed his legs. “You’re right Kafra did love you until she began to see how cruel and insensitive you could be. You’re the one that destroyed that relationship. I had nothing to do with it. I actually tried to get her to stay behind. You think I wanted her to have to give up everything and go on the run? As you know, Kafra can be extremely stubborn when she makes up her mind.”

  Erik’s eyes narrowed to slits. Hs nostrils flared. “What I know is that you poisoned her against me. Everything was fine until her big brother showed up. Suddenly I wasn’t good enough for her anymore. If big brother Lrence said we were being mean to the Earthlings, then I was cruel and inhuman for siding with our own kind. She was mine. We were going to be married. She should have trusted my judgment and stayed with me.” He was shaking now. The hand not holding the gun balled into a fist.

  Lrence shook his head. “You never really knew her at all, did you?” Looking up he said, “What now, Erik? You wanted to know who was helping the earthlings. It’s me. Are you going to kill me, take me back to the station, what?”

  Erik took a deep breath. Controlling his emotions, he said, “First, I want the crystals.”

  Lrence raised both hands in surrender. “Of course, I only have two. I lost one of them when you shot me. Let the Carsons go, and I‘ll give them to you.”

  Erik waved the gun. “Fine, you give me the one you have on you and we’ll both go back to your portal.”

  Lrence had expected him to argue about releasing the prisoners. Why did he want to go to Lrence‘s portal? He could easily call the station to beam him back from here. Maybe he just wanted to destroy it or thought he could use it to get to the others. Obviously, Erik had another agenda. Lrence decided he needed to know what it was. “Why? You don’t need the portal to beam back to the station. My portal is useless to me without the crystals. No matter what you do to me, I won‘t tell you where the others are. If you harm either of the Carsons, I won‘t give you the crystals.”

  Erik, arrogant once more now that he had reasserted control, laughed at Lrence‘s confusion. He waved the gun again. “Under the circumstances, I think that you will give me whatever I want. Now hand it over.”

  Lrence hesitated. What was it that Erik was after? He decided to stall. “Not without some guarantee that you won’t harm these people.”

  Erik laughed. “Don’t be stupid, Lrence. I could easily shoot all of you, and then take the crystal and use it to return to your portal. I don’t really need you. With enough time, I’m sure I could find the other crystal, but I’m in a hurry. I’ve waited long enough for this moment. Here’s the deal. You hand over the crystal you have on you, and we both go back to your portal where you’ll hand over the other crystal. Once I have both crystals, I promise to leave these two alone. Tell you what, I‘ll even promise to stop searching for the other insurgents.” He held out his hand.

  It was obvious to Lrence that once they returned to the portal and Erik had both crystals, he would kill him. His hate demanded that, but it couldn’t be that simple. There was no reason why he should give up searching for the others. Lrence studied Erik. He could see that Erik was telling the truth. It made no sense. The only option was to keep him talking. “Why? Why after all these years of searching would you be willing to call off the hunt? It can’t just be your hatred for me. You thought I was dead, yet you kept searching.”

  “Hand over the crystal and I’ll tell you.” Erik wanted to tell him. He wanted Lrence to know he had failed, to see it in his eyes before he killed him. Once he had the crystal, there would be no way for Lrence to stop him.

  When Lrence handed over the crystal, Erik threw back his head and laughed, knowing he had won. Gloating he said, “I don’t care about the other insurgents, and I don’t intend to harm your precious earthlings, because when I get through they won’t matter anymore. I might as well tell you. I’m going to go back in time to stop you from stealing the crystals and leaving the station. Kafra and I will be married and you’ll be in jail.”

  Lrence jumped up. “You can’t. You don’t know what the consequences will be. You‘d be undoing over 40 years of history. If you go back in time, you will change everything that has happened on the Station as well as earth for the last forty years. If you don’t care about earth, what about your own people on the Station? Think what you may be doing to their lives. The Station would be out of sync with Qashur. Everything that’s happened in the last forty years will change. The results could be devastating.”

  Erik’s eyes hardened. “I don’t care. I have been waiting over forty years. I want her back. Don’t you understand; nothing else matters?”

  Kafra walked into the living room.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  She stood in the doorway and looked directly into Erik’s eyes. With a smile on her face, she said, “You don’t need to change time. I’m here.”

  Lrence held his breath, hoping that this was the distraction that he needed, but even if Kafra could get between Erik and the Carsons, Lrence could only protect one of them. Without the crystal, he couldn’t transport even one of them. If only he had brought the other crystal and taught them how to use it, he could just throw it to them and they could both get away, leaving Kafra and him to deal with Erik. As it was, he had no choice but to sit still and wait to see what Kafra’s plan was. He cautioned Joseph and Joshua to be patient with his eyes.

  “Kafra,” Erik whispered her name. His eyes softened. For him time stood still. He remembered the silkiness of her skin and the way her hair always smelled like lilacs. He could almost taste her kisses. He took a step toward her. “You look ev
en more beautiful than I remembered.”

  She walked between Lrence and Joseph, staring directly into his eyes commanding his attention. She stopped directly in front of him. Reaching out to touch his face, she whispered, “I missed you.”

  Both Joshua and Lrence started to rise. Before they could try anything, Erik reached out to her and quickly drew her to his side, keeping the gun leveled at the others.

  She leaned into him and put her arm around his waist. “Let the others go. You and I can be together wherever you want, just the two of us.”

  Lrence couldn’t believe his ears. Surely, she didn’t mean to sacrifice herself to save them. Where were Remnr and Demitri? Did she even call them? Lrence blamed himself. He should have stayed, made sure there was a workable plan before coming.

  Erik looked at her, keeping the others in his peripheral vision. “Oh, how I wish I could believe that you still loved me. That this wasn’t just a ploy to save your brother and the earthlings.” He caressed her face with his finger, watching her reaction.

  Kafra cuddled in closer and looked deep into his eyes. “I do love you. I’ve had a long time to think about it. I couldn’t go back to tell you because I’m a fugitive and they would just lock me up. But now that you’re here, and I know that you still care for me, we can be together here.” She sounded so sincere that Lrence almost believed it.

  Erik held his breath. Was it possible? He yearned to believe her, but the years apart had made him cynical. Torn but still unconvinced, he said, “Even if I believed that you love me, I don’t want to stay here. I hate this planet and the years it took from me. I want to go back. Start over. I want to have all those years back.”

  Softly so as not to anger him, she said, “I regret the years we lost too. That’s my fault, but I can’t do that to our people. Think of the devastation that could happen. How can we be happy knowing the chaos that we caused?” she pleaded.

  Erik’s jaw clinched and he pushed her away. “You still care what happens to these people. That’s all that really matters to you, isn’t it?” His gun wavered for a moment, but before they could react, he was once more in control.

  She closed the gap between them, only daring to put her hand on his arm. “No, I was talking about our kind, the people on the Station.”

  He raised one eyebrow. “You really don’t care about these earthlings anymore?” He asked with a sneer.

  Desperate for him to believe her, she bowed her head so he wouldn’t see her eyes. “No, I don’t.”

  Lrence watched Erik’s face. He could see Erik struggling with the decision. Would he be willing to go on the run with her? Was getting Kafra back his only agenda? Lrence was afraid, if this was the only plan Kafra had, it wouldn’t work. Erik would not be content to leave him alive. He had spent too many years hating Lrence. Yet he had to know that Kafra wouldn’t stand by and let him kill her brother. Which would be stronger, love or hate? Lrence knew the moment Erik reached a decision, when hate won out. He braced himself.

  Erik leveled the gun at Lrence and, without a word of warning, he swung it over and shot Joshua in the chest. The loud gunshot startled everyone except Lrence, who had expected it.

  Joshua gasped. His eyes closed and he slipped to the floor. Joseph lunged toward Joshua trying to prevent him from falling.

  Kafra screamed, “No!” She twisted away from Erik and ran to kneel down beside Joshua. Both Lrence and Joseph dropped to their knees next to Joshua on the floor. Lrence pressed his hands down hard over the wound, trying to staunch the flow of blood. Joseph moaned and cradled Joshua’s head in his lap. Underneath Joshua, the pool of blood grew.

  Kafra could see blood pumping out between Lrence’s fingers. Even when she knew that they were too late to save him, she was ripping her shirt to use as a pad.

  Erik grabbed her by the arm jerking her up. “See I knew it was a lie. Now take me to the nearest portal before I shoot your precious brother.”

  She struggled for a moment, but it was obvious that she had no choice. Joshua was going to die, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Erik wouldn’t hesitate to shoot Lrence if she continued to resist. She shot an agonized look at both Joseph and Lrence before pulling the crystal from her pocket and rotating it in her hands. Both Erik and Kafra disappeared.

  Joshua’s eyes closed. He took a couple of ragged breaths, followed by a gurgling, and then he was still. Lrence tried CPR for several minutes until it was clear Joshua was gone. The silence was claustrophobic. The coppery smell of Joshua’s blood filled the room.

  Lrence, finally giving up, sat back on his heels. His pants and shoes were soaked in blood. His face mirrored the anguish in Joseph’s eyes. Neither could believe what had happened. Why Joshua? Lrence had been sure that Erik meant to kill him. He’d been prepared for that. It should have been him, not Joshua! Instead, he had failed again.

  Joseph looked up through his tears. “You have to stop him.”

  Lrence stood up. Looking down on the lifeless body of Joshua, grief and guilt washed over him in endless waves. Taking a deep breath, he tried to pull himself together. He knew that Joseph was right. He needed to focus on stopping Erik. He needed to try to save Kafra, but how? He could never get there in time. He looked at Joseph and said, “I’m sorry. It’s too late. I can’t follow him. I don’t have a crystal.”

  Gently laying Joshua’s body to the side, Joseph quickly rose and headed for his den, returning seconds later with a black box. “Here is the crystal that Joshua gave me. I brought it home so I could give it back to you. Now hurry.”

  Lrence opened the box and took out the crystal. “This is set to return to Guatemala, but if you’ll lend me your car, I may still be able to stop him.”

  Joseph reached into his pocket and threw him a set of keys.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Lrence sprinted for the garage. Burning rubber down the driveway, he drove as fast as possible. He couldn’t help thinking that if Erik succeeded, he could disappear any minute and Joseph‘s car would be hurtling down the highway at eighty miles per hour without a driver. Would he go back forty years to standing outside the secured vault containing the power crystals, or just disappear into nothingness? At this point, he wasn’t sure he cared one way or the other. He hadn’t been able to save Harry or keep his promise to him. He had completely misread Erik and his intentions. Despair and an overwhelming sense of failure threatened to engulf him.

  It had been his decision to steal the power stones to protect the earthlings. Cnoc, Kubal, Harry, and Joshua were all dead. Remnr, Demitri, and Kafra were fugitives. He blamed himself for each of those failures. How many more lives had he destroyed that he didn’t even know about? How many more lives would yet be destroyed because of him? Not for the first time, Lrence wondered if he had made the wrong decision. Looking back, he could see that he had made mistakes. Only now, he finally realized that his biggest mistake was not in trying to do the right thing, but in allowing fear to prevent him from following through. He could still make a difference.

  Focus he told himself, there might still be time. Time had been his enemy from the beginning, always too much time. Now maybe there wasn’t enough. He swerved in and out of traffic, driving up on the sidewalk to barrel through a gas station, and then a parking lot to avoid stopping. Thankfully, his alien brain allowed him to maneuver, while still concentrating on the problem at hand.

  There weren’t any portals on the space station. In order to access the past of the space station, Erik would have to transport back in earth’s time to before they stole the crystals and then beam back to the station. Once Erik stopped the theft, Lrence figured he and the others in this time line along with the crystals would disappear. It was going to be close. Erik would want to leave himself enough time to be able to arrange a trap. However, he wouldn’t want to take the risk of going too far back in case Lrence was lying about having only two crystals.

  Startled by the ringing of the communicator in his ear, Lrence almost missed the turnoff
to his house. It was Remnr.

  “Lrence, we slowed Erik down but we weren’t able to stop him. He took our crystals as well. He’s gone back in time.”

  “Kafra?”

  “She was hysterical so he left her here.”

  Lrence sighed with relief. Kafra was safe and there was still a chance to stop Erik. “I’m coming up the drive. I’ll be with you in a minute. I have a crystal.” The minute the car stopped, he threw open the door. Running as fast as his super strength would allow he was in the basement within seconds.

  Demitri, a bear of a man, lie on the floor, his face pale. One leg of his pants had been sliced apart to the upper thigh. Sweat ran down his face and he clinched his teeth. Kafra knelt beside him beaming a thin stream of light into the large hole in his leg.

  Lrence asked, “How bad is it?”

  Demitri winced. “Just a flesh wound. If this woman would stop poking at me and making it worse, I’d be fine. Ow. Aren’t you finished yet?”

  “Just hold still. It wouldn’t hurt if you’d let me give you a shot.”

  Remnr, smaller than Demitri, but still powerfully built, was doing his best to hold him down. Demitri closed his eyes and balled his hands into fists as the wound closed up. Through gritted teeth he said, “You just want to put me out so you can have your way with me.”

  Kafra rolled her eyes. “As if. The bullet made a huge mess of his leg, but it’s nothing I can’t fix. However, he’s lost a lot of blood and if he tries to get up now, he’ll just pass out.” She looked up hopefully at Lrence. “Joshua?” When he shook his head, she rocked back on her heels. Tears rolled down her face.

  Remnr slid a pillow under Demitri’s head. He knelt beside Kafra and put his arms around her. Looking up, Remnr explained. “The plan was for Kafra to lure Erik back here. When Demitri and I saw the portal light up, we stood on each side. We figured whoever was closest could grab the gun before Erik knew what was happening. It might have worked. I grabbed for Erik, but he shoved Kafra between us. Demitri managed to grab the gun just as Erik pulled the trigger. When Kafra tried to help Demitri, Erik threatened to shoot her unless we all handed over our crystals.”