The crowd cheered and applauded at the miracle they had all witnessed.
The two stood in the center of the crowd and turned and faced each other. They placed their hands on one another’s arms and locked their grip. Uttarak closed his eyes and they found themselves standing in a white clouded sphere.
“Father,” Uttarak smiled, “I’ve been searching for you for many long years.”
“I do not understand.” Jhahnahkan said. “You just tried to kill me.”
“That was not the ‘me’ who stands before you now.” Uttarak tried to explain, “I have never met you before now.”
Jhahnahkan nodded, “You must be the Uttarak that Helen took from the nursery and carried back in time to grow and be taught by the other family.”
“I was adopted by a family. Yes, deposited to them by Helen. She gave me this crystal to seek you and she trained me when I visited her in the future.”
“So, the Uttarak that tried to kill me was corrupted by the Rune,” Jhahnahkan said. “You are the Uttarak that I sent to my other self to help stop the civil war.”
“You are telling me too much my father; you tell me things that I have not experienced. In doing so, you face changing the outcome.”
“I must send you to that other time or there will be another time paradox.” Jhahnahkan said, “But we must do some building. I do not think that this time and place will have the technology we need.”
“Come with me father,” Uttarak offered, “Come back with me to the time I grew up. We will have the people, resources and all the time we need to build the devices you speak of.”
“You’re offer makes good sense,” Jhahnahkan said with relief, “It will be good to get to know the good Uttarak, but no one from your time must know who I am.”
“I understand father. Now, follow me through the vortex when I terminate this vision,” Uttarak instructed.
“Once we have built your ship and the devices, I must plant the thoughts in your mind that I am quite dead,” Jhahnahkan explained, “This will give me the edge I will need to do what I must do.”
“I agree Father,” Uttarak said as he began to withdraw from the sphere, “My other self must find out in his own time; that is his destiny.”
The sphere dissipated and the crowd came back to their vision. The officers were having trouble holding all the people back that had gathered. Uttarak and Jhahnahkan raised their arms into the air and squeezed their fists causing a burst of white energy to blow out like an explosion shockwave. The crowd all stopped with their yelling and the officers stopped blowing their whistles and a quiet came over the field where they stood.
A vortex opened above the two and they jumped up into the maelstrom at the same time. The bystanders gazed at the phenomenon in shock as they watched the two disappear in the blackness of the mysterious hole in the air.
The vortex closed, the crowed looked on in disbelief, and then looked at one another. They all shrugged and began to move off in their own directions.
The officers looked at the medics as they packed up their supplies. “What do ya make of this?” one officer asked nervously.
“I didn’t see anything,” one of the medics said, “I’m putting it down as a false alarm and forgetting the whole thing.”
The others all nodded in agreement that no one would tell anyone what had occurred here today. It’s not likely that anyone, other than the crowd, would have believed their story.
* * *
Leif Erikson – Zelinite Space
Year: 2984
Jhahnahkan, the Telenian, and the Karillian ship, the Zeroditha, continued to track the massive Rune matter that slowly began tracking its way across the vastness of space to reach Ackturra. The Leif lead the small fleet with caution.
“Keep your distance there Rex,” Jhahnahkan reminded him, “We can get plenty of data from this distance.”
“Sir,” Lanatek reported, “I am reading something unusual.”
“Explain,” Jhahnahkan said as he stood to look over his first officer’s shoulder.
“The speed of this thing is increasing,” Lanatek said. “If this behavior continues, it will reach Ackturra in days, not months.”
“How could our calculations be so off?” Kate asked turning to Jhahnahkan.
“It appears that the life forces they absorbed from the planet has stored up and somehow uses the energy as propulsion.” Lanatek explained as he made adjustments to his instruments.
“It is also gaining energy from the Zelinite solar system,” Jhahnahkan said pointing to some of the readings.
“And that is the problem. It took all the energy from the planet; all the life. Then converted it and used that massive power to blast itself from the surface and to punch through the planet’s atmosphere,” Lanatek explained.
“Causing the planet to vent its atmosphere into space as it exited,” Jhahnahkan surmised.
“Now it’s pulling all the energy it can by getting as close to the solar body before it launches on its final destination,” Lanatek said.
“…and if this thing is allowed to arrive at Ackturra…” Jhahnahkan began.
“…it will have the same effect as it did on Zelinite,” Lanatek finished for his captain.
“Why didn’t it destroy the planet when it first came to Zelinite?” Glenda asked.
“That madam,” Milanaka said as he arrived back on the bridge, “and my answer to your question, is that the Rune was much much smaller those many thousands of years ago. But over the course of all this time, it consumed energy from the planet and grew just like any other organism would.”
“Energy,” Glenda hesitantly asked, “As in…”
“…Us,” Milanaka answered.
“Gross!” Glenda gagged.
“Even though most Zelinites were powerless to the Runic,” Milanaka said, “They had no choice to become part of it. Its mass is made up of power, or energy, and it needed a massive power surge in order to complete its destiny. The Rune absorbed them; there was no pain. They freely did this so they could…”
“…Join with the Crystal entity on Ackturra,” Rex said from out of nowhere.
“Jhovahkan and Tamika’s plans were to launch the Rune into the sun to be burned up,” Jhahnahkan said.
“We must not let them do that or that Rune fragment could grow in its mass.” Lanatek added, “Which will have devastating effects if this Rune mass reaches Ackturra and rejoins.”
“Glenda, send a message to Ackturra to stop with their plans,” Jhahnahkan ordered.
Glenda pressed some buttons and recorded the message and attempted to send it. She looked frustrated as she repeated her commands into the console.
Turning to her captain she said with dismay, “I’m sorry Jhahnahkan, this thing is somehow interfering with our communications. It’s puttin’ out some kind of frequency jamming pattern.”
“Kate, isolate the jamming frequency and override our signal,” Jhahnahkan said turning to his lover.
Kate pressed more buttons on her console and shook her head in disgust, “Nope, that’s not working either. We can only communicate with our other ships here in close proximity.”
“How far does this interference stretch?” Jhahnahkan asked.
“Scanning now sir,” Lanatek said as he ran the procedure, paused for a moment and ran the scan again to verify his findings.
“This thing is sending out a carrier wave and spans the entire route to Ackturra.” Lanatek reported. “I’ve never seen anything quite like this before.”
“Lanatek, see if you can tap into this carrier wave somehow and piggy back Glenda’s message on it,” Jhahnahkan suggested.
“I will work on that and let you know if it is even feasible,” Lanatek said raising his eyebrows with doubt.
“Very well,” Jhahnahkan said, “Glenda, open a channel to the Telenian.”
Glenda promptly pushed the sequence on the console, “Channel open sir.”
“Captain Sagrit. This is Jhahnahk
an.”
“Sagrit here, go ahead.”
“I am placing Panru back in command of the Telenian. You shall be his first officer until we can retrieve the Bane.”
“Understood,” Sagrit acknowledged, “I realize there is more at stake than our faction’s differences. You have my full cooperation Jhahnahkan.”
“Your mission will be to take her back to Ackturra as quickly as possible and stop them from launching the Rune to the Sun. The Zeroditha and Leif will continue to track the Runic’s course to our home.”
Jhahnahkan sent Panru back to the Telenian with his selected key officers and crew through a vortex to begin to plot their slipstream heading back to Ackturrian space.
Once the vortex closed, Rex’s face winced with pain causing him to groan and crouch down in his navigation station. He held out his arm out and watched it turn to ripples of silver colored water and then solidified again. He winced once more with the rippling effect traveling from his shoulder down his arm and into his hand. Pieces of silver liquid splashed off his fingers and landed on his control panel. The beads of silver liquid pooled up like little balls of liquid metal which rolled all about. He held his hand down to the liquid and absorbed the droplets back into his hand. He then turned to his captain and said with a concerned look, “You better give me a jolt of power from your crystal. I’m losing cohesion.”
Jhahnahkan and the rest just looked at their friend who was turning more liquid than flesh. He held his crystal sphere toward his friend and concentrated. Rex’s entire body was quickly turning into the metal looking liquid that had the appearance of the silver pool within the Forge. A power beam exited the crystal from within and shot out, enveloping their friend.
Rex’s form stabilized once more and he smiled and thanked Jhahnahkan, “I don’t know how much longer I can project this from before reverting back to the crystalline liquid form.”
“This does appear to present another problem,” Jhahnahkan said, “You experienced the drain of energy when I opened a vortex. We must be aware that this could happen again.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Rex said as he took his seat at the controls.
“Sir, the Telenian is underway.” Glenda reported.
They looked out the bridge viewing windows at the majestic ship turn and fly around the Rune. They sped away to a safe distance before quickly accelerating to slipstream and out of sight.
“Milanaka,” Jhahnahkan said turning to the ambassador, “I take it you came back to the bridge to report Xucaleechee’s progress.”
“Well… sort of,” Milanaka said quietly.
“I can tell there is distress in your voice, spill it,” he demanded.
“Well,” Milanaka said crossing his arms, “I have good news… and I have some not so good news...”
“Golly Mr. Milanaka,” Glenda said as she tried not to roll her eyes, “Don’t hold back now.”
Milanaka looked at Glenda and then back at Jhahnahkan and gulped, “I think you had better come and have a look for yourself.”
“Why?” Jhahnahkan asked.
“Well… it’s just better you get it from Xucaleechee himself,” Milanaka shrugged, “I don’t want to get anything wrong now.”
Jhahnahkan sighed and relented knowing full well that his ambassador friend would never give up his position. He’s seen this before and knew that he wouldn’t like what he saw.
“Lanatek, keep trying to break that code. Portov, command your vessel to track its course on the far side. Have them monitor its mass and speed. Rex, position the Leif directly opposite the Zeroditha. Glenda, stay in constant communication with them at all times. I want to know if this thing does anything different, right down to a hiccup,” Jhahnahkan ordered as he left the bridge.
He followed Milanaka down the corridor to the ship’s cargo hold where Xucaleechee was busy finding scrap parts to build another kill switch for the device that was planted within the center of the Rune’s mass.
“Xucaleechee,” Jhahnahkan said placing his hands on his hips. “What is your progress?”
Milanaka stared nervously at the two as the room fell silent with Jhahnahkan’s question.
“It’s not just as easy as finding all the necessary parts,” Xucaleechee said rummaging through the equipment in the bin. “…and I haven’t found everything yet, but there are other problems that will make this especially difficult.”
Milanaka made more nodding jesters as he folded his arms and glanced between the two, not feeling too sure of how this Ackturrian leader would take the news that follows.
“Well,” Xucaleechee finally admitted as he stood and faced Jhahnahkan. He wanted to ensure he could see his reaction, “It’s like this… my shuttle was completely equipped with our special shielding and now it’s destroyed.”
“I fail to see the problem,” Jhahnahkan said.
“It’s fairly easy to make the throw switch to detonate the device, but…”
“Stop with the riddles man!” Jhahnahkan shouted in frustration.
“…and you call yourself a leader?” Xucaleechee mused.
“Why can you not equip one of our shuttles?” Jhahnahkan said raising his arms in the air.
“Do I really need to spell it out for you?” Xucaleechee smiled. He was confident that his usefulness was increasing with his captors.
“Please do,” Jhahnahkan said as calmly as possible folding his arms, “I am all ears.”
“Very well” Xucaleechee again smiled with satisfaction, “The shielding was supposed to stay intact and allow me to ride the thing back out as the weapon was ignited.”
“You are saying your shielding failed.”
“Yes,” Xucaleechee finally admitted, “You see, I wasn’t planning a one way trip.”
“I saved your life then,” Jhahnahkan said returning his smile.
“So we’re even then. Ok?”
“How does that make us even?”
“Because I just saved one of your pilot’s lives by telling you my shield doesn’t work.”
“If your shielding failed, then how is it that your weapon is intact?” Jhahnahkan asked.
“Smaller payload; less mass,” Xucaleechee responded, “I didn’t take into account the mass of my vessel and my calculations on the energy needed to maintain the shielding.”
“So that means we have to program a ship to penetrate the Runes body, fly within the range to detonate and fire the trigger,” Jhahnahkan said nodding his head.
“Well, in theory that would be true.”
“Go on…”
“There is too much interference to remote a shuttle in and there are too many variables to simply program a course. Once the shuttle is launched, if this thing changes course, the shuttle would miss the target…”
“I see,” Jhahnahkan said grimacing.
“…We’ll need to send a pilot on a one way mission.”
“How long would the pilot have before the ship disintegrates?”
“Hopefully enough time to fly in range to detonate,” Xucaleechee answered.
“You really do not know, do you?”
“He’s doing the best he can!” Milanaka exclaimed trying to take the Zelinites side.
“I understand Mr. Ambassador,” Jhahnahkan snarled back. “But I will not sacrifice a single pilot before we know how long he has. I will go myself before anyone else.”
“That may not be necessary captain,” Rex said as he partially flowed into the room. His upper body was suspended by a fountain of flowing metal liquid. His legs were indistinguishable as they rippled with waves as he moved. You could hear the sound of water sloshing as he walked but no droplets were left behind. In fact no liquid residue was anywhere behind his path.
“Rex!”
“It’s ok captain,” Rex said. His voice was now being affected and almost sounded garbled. “I have given the helm back to Lanatek for the time being. I will return to the crystal sphere and recharge for a time.”
“You said I w
ouldn’t have to sacrifice anyone, what is your idea Rex?” Jhahnahkan said taking his crystal out and displaying it before him.
“You can create a vortex and transport yourself with the switch, pull the trigger, and be back in a flash. If you don’t have me sucking up all your energy trying to manifest in the flesh, you will be able to construct a crystal shielding that would protect you while you are in the Rune.”
“Very good Rex,” Jhahnahkan said with a smile, “I knew there was a reason we needed you back.”
Rex relaxed his wincing face and turned completely into a liquid metallic looking state and began to flow into the crystal sphere and quickly vanished with no trace.
Jhahnahkan looked over at Xucaleechee who was staring at the sight in disbelief. “Can you rig up the throw switch for me to carry with me?”
“Sure thing,” Xucaleechee said quickly, “I’m just glad you’re not going to make me go in there again.”
“You are our guest Xucaleechee. You must understand, we are really a peaceful people.”
“That, sir, remains to be seen,” Xucaleechee said shaking his head.
“You never told us what this weapon will do to this Rune mass,” Jhahnahkan asked, “How far must we be from the thing before we detonate the device?”
“Oh sir,” Xucaleechee started, “You misunderstand what the weapon will do. There will be no glorious exposition… no brilliant display of victory with lights and banging or booming of any such kind.”
“Well then what can we expect?”
“Yeah,” Milanaka said out of his own curiosity, “What will happen?”
“We tested this device on smaller samples we extracted. The Rune wasn’t even aware that we understood its chemical makeup,” Xucaleechee slyly smiled, “With every sample that we extracted to be placed in a Rune chamber. We would take a slight amount from that and took it back to our lab. We discovered that once any of the mass is removed from the main body, it loses contact with its other parts. They were put in the status chamber and exposed to the virus and in all cases it destroyed every sample at the molecular level.”
Secret of the Crystal - Omnibus Edition Books 1-3 (Time Travel Adventure) Page 72
