“We have much to talk about,” Rex said. “Perhaps you had better both sit down for a spell and let me tell you my tale.”
“By all means,” Kate said making her way to a sofa along the wall.
Jhahnahkan, not far behind, shook his head as tears welled up in his eyes, “You’re back? How can this be? We saw you submerse into the silver pool. We saw you becoming part of this crystal sphere,” He said holding his sphere in the air. “We were told by Roth’stavous that your mind wasn’t developed enough to manifest.”
“It’s funny what a thousand years will do fer ya when all ya have are ya thoughts.” Rex said with a smile.
“Helen!” Jhahnahkan said with a shout.
“Quite right my friend,” Rex answered. “While it is true that when I first entered the silver pool and merged into the crystal entity by the Ancient One, my mind was not trained. But then a nice old woman came to the Crystal Forge bearing a means for me to return to you.”
Kate and Jhahnahkan looked at each other and then focused back on Rex, “Tell us, what she did?”
“She returned to the forge and spoke with the ancient one,” Rex said, “She didn’t know at first why she was being called back to the forge, but she knew she had to. And she knew she had to bring a crystal fragment. The time fracture had begun to morph the crystals. She wasn’t completely successful in finding just the right fragment. It had to be one small enough to not completely infect the carrier, but strong enough to carry my essence; my future essence, as I was now fully proficient with the needed understanding. She pleaded with the ancient one to extract me from the main pool and isolate me within the fragment. She convinced the ancient one that this was a necessary in order to get a message to you, Jhahnahkan.”
“Why didn’t she just come back to us?” Kate asked.
“She was told she could not return and promised Tamika she would not.”
“She broke her promise,” Jhahnahkan said, “She did return, she was the one to plant the fragment with Rivynon, captain of the Remedy.”
“Yes, but she didn’t come ta ya personally. She gave him the fragment knowing that the captain would need it to keep the timeline moving in the direction it must go. She needed the captain to become infected in order for you to take notice. Once you had possession of the fragment, all that was needed was the Ack’raamon. Merging myself with your crystal sphere gave me the necessary strength to manifest my presences… and that is how I stand before you both today.”
Kate and Jhahnahkan still could hardly believe their eyes and they stood to hug their friend.
“Wait now,” Rex said with a chuckle, “the most important thing is the message. I tried to get you the message during the birth, but I wasn’t very successful.”
“You said something about more vortexes being opened and pulling others to this time,” Jhahnahkan said raising his hand to his chin. “We know only one other, Milanaka’s ship.”
“Yes, he was brought here to this time as well as one other.” Rex said.
“Well, come on. Out with it already,” Kate said in frustration.
“The Karillian named Portov,” Rex said.
“Come with me, we need to get to the bridge,” Jhahnahkan said as he turned to the door. “Lanatek will be interested to know this.”
“The rest of the crew will be more interested in Rex once they see him.” Kate said as they made their way.
News traveled to the bridge very quickly once others saw Rex walking with them. As they entered the bridge deck, everyone stood facing Rex as he exited the door.
Rex stopped in his tracks and smiled back. Glenda, not being able to contain herself at his presence, ran from her station and embraced him, “Oh Rex! Oh how I missed ya.”
She hugged him around the neck and dripped tears of joy on his cheek. She took his face in her hands and planted a kiss on his lips.
“Uh-hmm,” Jhahnahkan coughed.
The rest of the crew began to applaud while others whistled and gave out cat calls, and then the two separated.
Lanatek stood by the helm station and motioned Rex to take his rightful seat. He smiled and quickly obliged. “It’s been over a thousand years to me since I sat at these controls.”
“Do ya remember how? Glenda said with a wink.
“Yes, I know how to fly this baby just fine,” Rex said returning a quick glance. “Now, we need to get down to business. Captain, with your permission, I will take us to Portov.”
“Portov?” Lanatek exclaimed.
“Yes, that is correct,” Jhahnahkan answered, “No time to explain now. Rex, take your liberty.”
Rex adjusted the helm and brought them about while in slipstream and plotted a course directly to sector 5-2-3.
“Glenda, I suggest you monitor the com station,” Rex said with confidence, “At the first sign of anything, let me know. We will need to drop out of slipstream.”
“Rex?” Jhahnahkan asked, “What is it? What are you looking for?”
“I’m pretty sure that in just a few minutes, Glenda will receive a faint distress call.” Rex explained, “I don’t know how I know this, I just do. I think it’s because I have been linked directly with the crystal entity. I have gained all the knowledge of what your crystal sphere has experienced.”
The crew stood by waiting as Glenda monitored the com channels. Fifteen minutes passed and she finally turned to Rex and gave him the signal that she was receiving something.
Rex powered down the slipstream and returned to normal space. They watched the forward glass of the bridge as the green and blue colored light show ended.
The stars returned to normal and in front of the Leif Erikson was another vessel. It was dark and appeared to be adrift.
“This is the origin of the signal…” Glenda began, “…Sir, it’s the Bane.”
“Open a channel,” Jhahnahkan ordered.
Glenda nodded once indicating she had completed her task, “Panru, come in. Do you read us?”
The signal was transferred to audio for all to listen as static turned to a faint voice, “This is captain Panru of the Bane. Please help. All power systems have failed, environmental systems down, we only have a few minutes of air left.”
“Bane, stand by. Gather all your crew!” Jhahnahkan ordered.
“Yes sir,” the radio returned an even fainter signal. “We are ready here.”
Jhahnahkan took his crystal sphere and opened a vortex on the bridge of the Bane. One by one, each of the remaining crew were transferred to the Leif Erikson and then he closed the vortex and collapsed with exhaustion.
Kate came to his side and braced him under his shoulder keeping him partially standing as he regained his composure.
Panru came over to Jhahnahkan and helped Kate hold him up, “You got to us just in time,” He said. “How did you find us?”
“You can thank Rex here.” Jhahnahkan said pointing at the helm.
“Rex?” Panru asked, “How…”
Jhahnahkan stood on his own and held his crystal out with both hands before him and concentrated on the entire crew of the Bane. He closed his eyes and transferred the needed memory on Rex so they wouldn’t have to repeat the news again.
“What happened out here?” Jhahnahkan asked.
“We were attacked by a very large and very fast ship!” Panru answered.
“What happened to the Telenian?”
“They were being pursued. We lost them when our systems crashed.” Panru said. “They left us for dead once their weapons hit us. It was something too, looked like a plasma weapon, but it took out almost every system on the ship. We only had one radio working and a couple of sensors. Other than that, we were dead. Completely lifeless.”
“Rex,” Jhahnahkan ordered, “Resume course to sector 5-2-3. I feel that Captain Sagrit and his crew would lead them to where the last remaining nuke would be waiting to take out their pursuers.”
“No, Rex said. “You must call out to Portov. You must not let them arrive at the sec
tor without those coordinates.”
Jhahnahkan nodded at Glenda as she turned to attempt to send the message. Rex pushed the ship back into slipstream and headed directly to sector 5-2-3. “We will arrive at those coordinates in three hours.”
* * *
The Crystal Cavern – Rune Location
Year: 2983.9
Jhovahkan, Tamika and her team finally reached the Rune site after hours of exploration of the Crystal Caverns. They traveled the corridor down and to a position right below the burrowing Rune container as it slowly continued to make its way to the Forge.
The team erected an elaborate force field that would prevent the Rune from descending the remaining feet and exposing the silver pool below. Even with the Cerebellum Quasiinducer pellet lodged at the base of each of their necks, they still felt an uneasy pull from the Rune itself. With the pellets securely in place, they could be assured that they would not succumb to the Rune effect; at least they hoped that would be the case.
Hours after their arrival, they had the power shield in place and activated the beams. A blue colored laser fired and traveled in succession across the other beam enhancers creating a visible grid. They installed ionic levers and positioned them around the perimeter that would be used to lift the beams which, in turn, would raise the Rune. It would be a painstaking process for the first few hours until the Rune was lifted to a point where they could attach the rigging and the surface team could take over with the extraction. They would monitor the beam grid in case of any problems with the Rune. They wanted to ensure the beam grid would hold if it came crashing back down.
Tamika suspended herself in a hanging seat and came as close as she could to the Rune container to inspect any damage that the fall and burrowing may have caused.
“What do you see up there?” Jhovahkan shouted up to his sister.
“So far, everything looks good!” She shouted from above, “I am going to swing around and get to the left and get a look at the control console. I will try and begin a shield diagnostic so we can see the field strength.”
“Let me know as soon as you get the readout!” He shouted back, “We need to make the necessary adjustments to the grid down here before it comes in contact with the Rune container’s power shield, if the power is unbalanced, it could short both systems!”
“Right!” Tamika acknowledged as loud as she could. Then she pulled herself into position.
“Let me see now,” she said under her breath, “The panel is already unlocked.”
She reached over and slid the door to expose the buttons and panel readout, “The control panel is damaged, my brother!” She shouted down to Jhovahkan.
“Can you activate the diagnostics at all?” he yelled up.
“I do not know. I will attempt, stand by!” She said as she pressed a few buttons on the panel.
The box lit up and the display came on, but she couldn’t read the panel very well. Not only was the display giggling and flickering, it was in a foreign language.
“I have activated the panel,” she shouted, “but I cannot read the panel, does anyone know how to read Zelinite?”
“Wait!” Jhovahkan shouted back up to his sister, “You are telling me that you cannot read this panel because of a language barrier? You spent all that time with the Rune and you seemed to be able to understand them!”
“Yes my brother!” she snipped back, “I could understand then, but only because of the Rune entity. It revealed to me what the Runic wanted me to know!”
“Well, why do you not just think real hard and remember?” Jhovahkan jabbed.
“Very funny my brother!” She shouted.
“Well, you had better figure it out my sister; we need those settings to align the grid!”
“Very well!” Tamika shouted back.
She closed her eyes and concentrated on remembering the words. She lifted her hand and pressed a sequence that she thought she had remembered. The lights continued to flicker on the display along with some text. She read the numbers to her brother.
“I think that is the setting!” She yelled down.
“We need to know that this is correct!”
“You do not need to keep reminding me, stand by! I will confirm!” She shouted.
She pressed the control panel sequence again and returned the same data. “Yes, these are correct!”
Jhovahkan entered the code into the grid and aligned with her settings. “I sure hope you are right my sister!” He yelled up to her shaking his head.
The power grid snapped and became a solid force that could now be raised or lowered by the ionic levers.
Tamika’s crew slowly manipulated the levers and raised the floor of the power grid a few feet at a time. Then Jhovahkan and Tamika would re-position the grid inducers and set up for the next movement. The first one was most critical as Tamika fully understood that if her numbers were wrong, the Rune could break loose and plunge down to the silver pool. The only thing between the Forge and them was the domed layer of brick that formed the cathedral where the ancient one resided, which only spanned five feet in thickness.
The crew stood on the cathedral ceiling as the bricks began to crumble because of its age and the weight of their equipment.
Jhovahkan gave the order for the remaining team to lift up to the next level to prevent any further cracking as dust settled down from the ceiling and dissolved down to the forge room below.
They continued raising the Rune up to the first solid layer in the cavern. It took four painful hours of maneuvering up the rocks and crevasse before they could secure the Rune container to the lifting apparatus that was nearly in reach. Everyone’s arms, legs, and faces were scratched and they were red with pain in their limbs, but they pressed on knowing they must not fail.
Tamika was in charge of the readings and would report any change during the initial lifting phase of their project.
“We have only a few feet before we reach the first ledge out of this fissure.” Tamika reported.
“Check the beam strength settings again and we will recalibrate as needed,” Jhovahkan ordered her sister.
Tamika punched the code on the panel one more time, only the last digit never released as it depressed.
“We have a stuck button my brother!” Tamika shouted down to her brother.
“Did you get a last reading?”
“Yes, we have deviated .65 percent from the last setting.”
“That’s no good!” Jhovahkan shouted, “When we reach 1 percent deviation, the field will short out!”
“I am afraid this will be our last reading, I cannot complete the sequence with this last button failure!” She yelled down with an uneasy feeling.
“I have made the necessary adjustments to our power grid,” Jhovahkan said coldly, “We will be ok for now, but there is no margin of error on this equipment!”
“In other words,” Tamika noted, “There is really no safety net if this thing decides to fall.”
“I think you are right my sister,” Jhovahkan said. “We need to have some of the crew stay behind and erect an alternate safety net!”
Tamika acknowledged and radioed her team lead that was farthest below and provided instructions for a backup plan.
The last beam movement raised the Rune to a level place with the first ledge out of the crevasse. The surface team had made it to these designated coordinates and began attaching the lifting apparatus to the top of the Rune and began taking the weight off of the beam grid.
Tamika maneuvered herself between the rocks and the power grid and lifted up out of the hole and stood on her feet for the first time in hours.
“Wow, that feels good,” she said to herself.
The others looked on in amazement at Tamika and her brother, who was now crawling out of the hole, for what they had accomplished.
Tamika embraced her brother and rejoiced at their success and new working cooperation.
“Do not get too excited my sister,” Jhovahkan said pushing her away, �
�We have a long way to go.”
“Yes, but we are so close now. That was a very hard thing we did,” She smiled.
“Agreed! It was a hard thing and we all worked together,” he acknowledged, “But now is not the time to celebrate.”
Tamika showed her brother the banged up and useless console. The two examined the lettering to figure out if there was any other sequence that they could use to pull the readings.
“What about this one?” Jhovahkan said as he reached up to press a pattern.
“No wait!” Tamika shouted reaching out to stop his hand.
Jhovahkan pressed a series of buttons and the Rune chamber shuddered and shook. The console readout showed many different numbers and they struggled to interpret what had just occurred.
One of the team monitoring the activity indicated that there was a power build up within the Rune.
“What did you just do!” Tamika barked at her ignorant brother.
He stared back at her with a furrowed brow, “I am merely trying to help!”
The Rune began to shake and rock as Tamika and Jhovahkan, along with the others, held onto the Rune Container to prevent it from shaking loose from the tether now attached at its top.
An ear piercing noise began to emanate from the container, which was now glowing yellowish red. “The container is losing its shielding!” Tamika shouted in panic.
“Don’t look at me!” Jhovahkan exclaimed, “You bloody communed with them, reestablish your link and get this thing stabilized.”
“It does not work that way my brother!” she yelled back.
The power surge traveled up the cable all the way to the surface machines causing a massive power drain. The crane no longer could keep the Rune in position, dropping it down and causing the Rune to make full contact with the power grid.
A shower of sparks ensued as both containment field on the Rune and the power grid connected.
“We must have crossed that 1 percent deviance when the power drained!” Jhovahkan shouted as he watched the Rune begin to fall back down in the hole they worked so long and hard to raise.
With the cable attached as it plunged down, Jhovahkan grabbed a quick draw clasp and clipped his harness and then slapped the other end of it on the falling cable.
Secret of the Crystal - Omnibus Edition Books 1-3 (Time Travel Adventure) Page 67
