by Kip Hartzell
“Thank you,” she stoically said, “the latest in anti-skid.”
“The decorations are pretty, also.” He thought he saw a slight smile from the usually unemotional woman.
“As you can see,” she said without breaking stride, and pointing to the large simulation overhead, “we have deciphered the field around the asteroid. As it turns out, we have encountered a form of this spacial field before. The Sphere Atlantis encountered. The Great Gift, you call it, had a similar signature to its existence.”
“So, there’s a connection between the Sphere and the Destroyers?”
“Possible, but it requires more study. The difference is, this field is generated by using agoam crystals to magnify the dark matter in this galaxy into a spacial rift. Fortunately, our weapon system is based on agoam crystals. We merely have to find the correct resonance in order to bypass the field.”
“Do we know the resonance?”
“No, we’ll have to be very close, and then a modulator will have to be incorporated in order to compensate immediately should the resonance change.”
“How soon until we have a working model? We are running out of time.”
“Two days.”
“The asteroid will be here in three. You’re not giving us much time for error.”
“We’ll do our best.”
“I know, you always do,” John said, and then walked away to leave them to their project.
Drof was putting the final touches on his shuttle, while Nate was guiding the crew responsible for the modifications on the other shuttle. John strolled over to Nate and watched the old man for a minute. Until he noticed John studying him.
“She’ll be ready on time,” Nate said before John could ask.
John smiled. “Say, why do you stay out of the TSD so much? You’re physically almost as old as you were when we first met.”
“That damn thing makes my skin crawl, and my brain feels like it’s full of bees. Just hate it.”
“Oh, do you think there’s a malfunction? Should we have Rhe-A take a look at you?”
“No use, I’m told it’s all in my head. Besides, I like living, really living.”
“Believe it or not, I do know how you feel.” John put a hand on his shoulder. “We launch within the hour.”
“We’ll be ready.”
The shuttles cloaked before leaving the atmosphere. They didn’t know if it would help or not, but it made them feel better. They sped quickly toward the oncoming rock. In less than an hour, they were scanning it to determine its resonance. No activity from the Destroyers, or resistance.
Subriasa worked the controls as John readied the weapon system. “Icarus is in position.”
“We are in position,” Drof answered.
“The asteroid in rotating too fast. The frequency modulating is near light speed. If we can slow the tumble, I should be able to get an accurate reading.”
“Nate, did you read that?”
“Affirmative, John. We can demodulate the weapon to act as an opposing force. Sending over the modification now.”
“Understood.”
The computers worked overtime to make the adjustments, and after a few minutes were registering ready.
“Time is a concern,” Subriasa said, with all the emotion of a computer.
John acknowledged the concern. “Nate, initiate synchronization, now.”
“Understood.”
The cloaks dissolved, and an amber beam from both ships from each side of the rock lit up the spacial field around it. The large object didn’t slow.”
“Increase power output.”
“Increasing.”
“It’s working, continue,” Subriasa informed.
It took precious minutes for the asteroid to slow. John looked at the chronometer, even though he already knew they were running out of time. Earth was growing larger in the view screens.
“Subriasa, we need that frequency.”
“Almost there,” slight excitement rising in her voice.
John kept a close eye on the commandeered shuttle sitting quietly on the asteroid. No movement, no sign of life, and no resistance. What could they be up to, John thought.
“I have it. Sending data to the weapons computer.”
“Nate, reconfigure weapons system and advise when ready.”
“Understood.”
John moved his hands, and mind, around the console, quickly reinstating the original program. “Ready, Nate?”
“Affirmative.”
“Initiate in three, two, one.”
The shuttles maintained a twenty-five-mile distance on opposite sides. The amber beams slipped through the field and disappeared into the heart of the stone. The asteroids slow tumble make it like an oblong ball twisting on a straight line of string.
“It’s working,” Nate said over the comm, “We’re reaching critical mass.”
“Good, Earth is coming up fast.”
“Disintegration in thirty seconds,” Subriasa recited.
John was starting to relax, when his beam shut down. “Nate, what happened?”
“I don’t know,” he said, as his comm feed showed him frantically working over his computer. “Get me power back,” he yelled at no one in particular, “I’m receiving some kind of interference from the asteroid. It has destabilized my beam.”
“Subriasa, can we use our repulser beam to move it?”
“Affirmative.”
“Nate, reconfigure for repulser beam. Let’s move it out of Earth’s path and blow it up later.”
“Understood, ready.”
“Initiate.”
Nate’s shuttle was now adjacent to John’s. The invisible force strained both shuttles as the asteroid began to move in the desired direction. “Sir, receiving some kind of feedback,” Subriasa stated.
“I see it, Nate, disengage, now!”
The console blew up, and sent Nate backward.
“Increase power output to compensate,” John said, worrying about his old friend.
“All available power has been rerouted. Anymore and we’ll overload,” Drof explained.
“Nate, can you hear me?”
“Yes,” his pained voice could be heard over the static, “I’m fine,” John could feel-he wasn’t.
“Get out of there, we’ll take over.”
“Negative, most of the controls are inoperative.”
“Captain,” Drof interrupted, “the asteroid has reached the outer atmosphere. We’ve weakened it to the point it could break apart. We should move to a safer distance.”
“Nate, we are going to pull you out, prepare-” A smaller piece of the asteroid broke away and almost collided with John’s shuttle, if it hadn’t been for Drof’s experience and reaction time, they would be space dust. The shuttle careened dramatically to the side and tumbled momentarily out of control. Drof regained control quickly.
“Nate, are you there?”
“Yes, we were well clear of the asteroid debris. I’ve got partial control back.”
“Good, fall back to our rendezvous point.”
“Negative, Captain. What will happen if this thing impacts Earth?”
“You know all surface life bigger than a mouse will die.”
“Right, then it must be stopped. My crew has already abandoned ship. Do not forget about them. The largest piece that broke off has left many fissures in the main rock. If I can get deep enough, and overload the main engine, well, you know.”
“Nate, get out of there, we can remote pilot the shuttle in.”
“Unable, the shuttle is hard to handle, as is. Go after the other piece.”
“Nate, I’m ordering you to evacuate.”
“Sorry, Captain, this is one order I’m going to have to disobey.” The shuttle dipped into a debris field, rocking left and right, while in a dive. “Captain Athain, I’ve had a long and well lived life. I should’ve been dead thousands of years ago, but I got many life times, thank you-” The communication stopped, as the shuttle
disappeared into the blazing rock.
John’s eyes glazed over for a moment. “Drof, pursue the smaller piece.”
“Understood.”
The shuttle peeled away, and was soon on top of the fiery ball of iron and nickel. John watched out of his window as a light flash erupted near the northern pole, spreading fire and shockwaves in all directions.
They had no time to morn. John ordered the trajectory repulser beam to full power. They followed the molten projectile trying to change its course.
“John,” Drof said through the vibration, “the Destroyer shuttle...it’s still there, and the asteroid piece has change its course back to the original setting. We are having no effect on it.”
“They are guiding it? Too where? Chrysalis?”
“No, my projection is-near power point eighteen.”
“How much damage to the planet will it do?”
Subriasa spoke up, “In that area, and small size-minimal, over time. We must do something within the next minute, or do nothing, but I would advise against staying in the blast zone.”
“Thirty seconds to impact,” Drof recited.
“Can we fire on it, to break it up more? Anything?”
“This shuttle doesn’t have the power, we would only be able chip away at it, but there is no time.”
John hit the console in frustration. “break away to a safe distance and monitor, may the Destroyers rot in hell.”
“Understood,” Drof said, while pulling away.
Quickly gaining altitude and splitting away, they watched as the fireball came closer to the water from a North-Easterly angle. Just before impact, an artificial hole opened up in the ocean, similar to when John first encountered the Destroyers in this area. The rock slipped into the hole and briefly disappeared, the resulting explosion erupted in fiery rock and steaming water. The tsunami spread quickly in all directions. It reminded John of when Atlantis took off.
“Drof, how many people on the coastlines:”
“Since it is a migratory season, the loss of life will be-less.”
John sat back in his chair and put his head in one hand. “I failed miserably.”
“This was a concerted effort among your peers, we all failed. You cannot just blame yourself,” Subriasa told him with the most sincerity he had ever heard from her.
“But, I should-” The console beeped. “I’m reading a ship.”
The water raced back into the hole, as the storm and debris began to dissipate. John zoomed in on the visual, and there it was, the stolen shuttle flew circles around the impact area. Then without warning, it dove in the water, disappearing from sight and sensor.
“How the hell did that thing survive?”
“Unknown, we’ll have to study this event.”
Jay startled himself awake. He was groggy, but his head didn’t hurt this time. He sat up as Rhe-A came to him with an injector. He waved her off. She gave him a strange look, then went back to her studies.
“It seems the Destroyers are indestructible. How is the key even going to make a difference?”
John looked at Jay sadly. “Why is this thing making me relive some of my nightmares,” he said more to himself, than anyone else.
“Maybe the machine needs Jay to understand who you are in order to unravel the puzzle of what you’ve hidden so deeply,” Rhe-A explained.
“Still trying to wrap my head around werewolves, vampires, minotaur’s, and dozens of other creatures that lurk in our nightmares.”
“Most of that was intentional,” John explained, “to make human Cousins fear them enough to leave them alone. To make them seem scary enough to avoid them.”
“Sorry about Nate. He seemed like a really good person.”
“He was a great and selfless man. He saved everyone.”
“What happened after the impacts? I couldn’t help but notice the chronometer, this happened near the time of the extinction some twelve thousand years ago,”
“Probably closer to thirteen thousand.” John got up and strolled around. “Nate managed to destroy the larger asteroid near the Northern pole just before impact, damage was unavoidable. The sudden release of so much energy caused flash fires, volcanic eruptions that drastically changed weather patterns. You call it the Younger Dryas period.” John walked around trying to shake off the effects of the traumatic memories. “Between the tsunami and weather changes, the Clovis people were wiped out as far inland as central North America. The ones we transplanted from the power point eighteen site a few thousand years before. Animal extinction levels were unprecedented. The incident was felt for thousands of years. The disruption of the North American ice shelf cooled the ocean and slowed the jet stream. The sudden introduction of ice melt began to slow the Atlantic water heating circulation causing the weather to dramatically change. We watched, helplessly, but we learned. We tried to help where we could, while, bringing back samples, sometimes genetic material, sometimes the whole animal. We have a large collection of plants and animals in storage from your prehistoric time. Atlantis has a lot of samples from other worlds we have visited.”
“Something similar to an ark?”
“If you wish to use that analogy.”
“So, how did the Destroyers survive?”
“The area where Atlantis lifted off, and the spot where the asteroid impacted has made the Earth’s crust weaker. At least we learned something from this disaster-not to underestimate them, it was their plan all along. In their trans phasic state between universes, they cannot easily affect things physically. They planned the asteroid diversion, knowing we would interfere. In order to manipulate our universe physically, they need agoam crystals, such as the ones the shuttle contains. They calculated we would attempt to destroy the rock, they could have cared less about what affect it would have on the planet. Not needing so much fire power, we accommodated them by breaking it apart, and while we were busy with the larger piece, they were carefully aiming the smaller piece at power point eighteen. All this time we thought they had control of the power point, but they still hadn’t gotten past the force field. So, they let kinetic energy of the meteor do the work for them. The direct impact took down the force field and gave them access to the crystals. The area has been their base ever since.”
“So, that is why that area has been dangerous ever since humans crossed the ocean. Crazy magnetic fluctuations, unexplained disappearances of people, ships, and weird sightings.”
“Yes, you call it the Bermuda triangle.”
“Wow, still, how did they survive?”
“All this time we thought they were a direct physical threat. The phasic state they exist in, either in this universe, or another, is flexible. Their mother ship keeps them grounded to this universe, perhaps through agoam crystals. The ability to stay physical in this universe requires the crystals, or a capable host, like an Atlantean, someone who has been exposed to agoam crystals, human or animal. All their ships exist in this phasic state, much like looking at an object through water, slightly distorted, or where reality is bent. When in the past, they were not directly where we were shooting, it was as if we were missing the target. This is why we could never overwhelm them with fire power.”
“You’re saying, they could phase into another universe for a short period of time and then phase back?”
“Yes, avoiding disaster.”
Jay sat contemplating this new information. “Now, I have a headache.”
“Let’s take a break. I want to show you more of Chrysalis. We’ve done well for being stranded.”
Jay got up and said, “Lead the way.”
They strolled through the complex. Jay carried a drink, listening to John explain some of the inner workings of Chrysalis. He was more amazed at the underground complex that could easily be a home than just a cave hideout. He recognized the ancient Greek pattern of architecture. Columns, arches, and artistic nuances from many time periods. His recollection from the Atlantis story resembled the same structure and outline of the great
ship, just a fraction of the size.
Jay learned the inner workings of the compound quickly. He met new types of people that he thought were myths, and others he never even knew existed. It took hours, but they finally made it back to the laboratory, where Rhe-A, Athene-A, and Pandor-A sat impatiently waiting.
“Enjoy boy’s day out,” Athene-A commented.
“Sorry Grandma, got lost in all the excitement,” Jay made an excuse.
“It’s alright, I was just having some fun with you.”
John looked at Jay. “I need to keep you around more.” They snickered.
Athene-A didn’t look amused. “Can we get this thing started.” It was more of a command than a question.
Chapter Fourteen: Personal Qualities
Jay gazed across a marvelous landscape, one so pure and untouched by man’s arrogance. At least not yet. He absorbed the beauty, as he surveyed his surroundings through another’s eyes. He panned the area of hills and mountains that were green with new spring growth.
“I’ve always loved this planet, Zeusticus. I never knew the fertile green and blue of old Terrah. All I remember is death and destruction on a barren backdrop,” Jay said in a feminine voice.
“I, too, have always admired this world, Athene-A. Its vibrant colors, enough life to fill hundreds of planets, but mostly, the people, our Cousins, have become my favorites. they remind me of children I never had. A way of filling an empty void.”
“Yes, they have, and they do,” she said a little sadly, remembering the children she had already out lived. “Come, we must take more readings of that spacial anomaly the satellite picked up.”
Jay thought he recognized the area as they made their way back to the shuttle. Its geological patterns reminded him of area around the Mediterranean. He watched his Grandmother’s face in the reflection of the shuttle’s instruments, as she performed a preflight inspection. He didn’t recognize the man she had been talking to. He was tall, muscular, even for an Atlantean, light complexion on a back drop of short black hair with a week-old darkening beard.
“Ready for lift off, Zeusticus,” Athene-A confidently said.
Hesti-A shook her blond streaked hair as she worked behind the two at a console situated against the bulkhead. “The anomaly is sending out echoes,” she said, not even turning to acknowledge them, “This area was a false signal. New triangulation calculations puts it further north of here, close to the volcanic fault line. Coordinates are set.”
