The Otherlings and the Crystal Amulet

by S V Hurn

  Dimitri stood as well and looked closely at the data hovering in the room. He punched a few more keys and the image pulled away to show all the data on a smaller scale. A wide smile formed on Dimitri’s face as he slapped Magnus on the back. “My friend you are not as dumb as you look.” Dimitri rapidly punched at the console as the data turned in on itself forming a perfect cube. Dimitri enlarged the image, so it took up most the room in which they were sitting. Inside the cube all the data had connected to form a map.

  Brenda gazed upon the map and knew the significance of this sudden discovery. “Well boys I think it’s time to celebrate!”

  Henry and Dorothy were enjoying a quiet game of chess, sipping their drinks and becoming slower to make each move. They were giggling and throwing chess pieces at each other when they heard the commotion in the other room. Henry came to his senses quickly and jumped up, with Dorathy bringing up the rear. “What . . . what’s going on back here?” Henry stopped short with Dorathy almost knocking him down from behind. They both took in the image floating in the room.

  “Jesus Christ, you’ve done it!” Henry exclaimed, shaking his head to clear the effects of the alcohol. They all stood there gazing up at the stars and twelve planets floating in a dusty cloud.

  Dorathy leaned against the wall. “My God, could it be that simple? There has got to be much more to this?”

  Henry grabbed a chair and flung his leg over it. He leaned his chin on the back rest and said, “Look, this is great but what is the meaning of it? Twelve random points in space; we need to find the starting point.”

  Recalling the water droplets on the ceiling above the pyramid and how the constellation of Orion had shone brightly, Dorathy asked, “What about Orion? Perhaps there is a real significance to those markings on the pyramid.” The group sat and pondered the path of the map and wondered the actual meaning of it.

  Dorathy finally spoke, “The Illuminati had a thirteen-step, unfinished pyramid with the All-Seeing Eye looming over it. It was believed that their work would go unfinished in their lifetime on Earth, and it would continue in the afterlife. This pyramid has twelve steps and has been finished with the Benben stone. This stone vanished during the Great War; it was believed it had been blown to smithereens with the rest of the ancient world artifacts. The carvings on the stone show the symbol of the ancient Illuminati with the figure of the Phoenix etched on its surface. Each step there displays what looks to be a star constellation, all except the top where there is now the Benben. The All-Seeing Eye has been placed over a completed pyramid where before it had been placed over it unfinished.”

  Dorathy continued, struggling to find an answer as she spoke, “To me, this represents the completion of their mission. But I see another message here as well. When I was a kid, my dad took me to one of the first pyramids ever built, the Pyramid of Djoser. If memory serves, there were thirteen false doors with one true door on the southeast side. My point being that these positions in space could be considered false doors. I have no doubt this map was left for us to find our way to wherever they have gone. Look I’m grasping at straws here, but if there are thirteen ‘bloodlines’ and only twelve steps where there should be thirteen steps in the Illuminati Pyramid, my guess, and I’m only stating the obvious here, is that somehow my DNA holds the thirteenth point to this map.”

  The group watched as Dimitri stood and walked over to Dorathy. His hand reached out and he carefully plucked a strand of hair from Dorathy’s head. “Almost every aspect of your DNA at this point has been altered by the donation of our blood when we revived you, but obviously not enough to change the effectiveness of what still remains intact; your hair.”

  Dimitri took her hair and his drink and stopped at the refrigerated storage locker for a snack on his way to the lab. “This might take a while . . . no one bother me!”

  Magnus got up and made himself a new cup of tea and then headed to the cockpit. “I’m going to contact Jobar and tell him what we have discovered, perhaps he can determine the proximity of the points on the map, and maybe ascertain the significance of the carvings.”

  Brenda yawned and rubbed her forehead as she stumbled to her room. “I’m going to sleep off this hangover. What the hell does that little shit put in that bottle?”

  Dorathy stretched her neck, rolling her head from side to side. “I think that sounds like a good idea.”

  Henry could sense the tension building in her. “Come on then, I’ll give you one of my famous back rubs.”

  Dorathy smiled. “That sounds really nice,” and she grabbed his hand and led the way.

  Dorathy was carefully going over each image of the markings on the pyramid. “These have to be star constellations. Look how the size of each varies in size to represent brightness or magnitude. The biggest question is, from where would each configuration be visible?”

  Henry was slowly spreading a fragrant oil over her tense shoulders. “You really need to learn how to relax.”

  She ignored his request. “Perhaps each constellation represents the sky above each planet.” Henry was only half listening to her ramble on about stars and configurations—he was thinking of something much more intimate.

  Dorathy swung around to face Henry and asked, “Are you even listening to me?”

  “Dora, of course I’m listening to you and it’s all very interesting but I’m tired of searching for something we may never find.”

  Dorathy looked at him, wide eyed in shock by his declaration. “Don’t you want to find the place we were meant to find?”

  Henry shot back, “And where may that be . . . heaven, hell, Earth, some other God forsaken place . . . who the hell knows where and how long it will take.” Henry leaned against the wall at the head of her bunk. “We’ve been out here for years and I was pretty much over it when we picked you up. Then here you are, and now, finally, we are getting somewhere, but I’m just plain goddamned tired.”

  Dorathy tried to put herself in his position and became sympathetic to everything he and the others had been through to get them to this place and time. “I know, trust me, I really do, but we are finally getting somewhere and everything you have been through would all be in vain if we just gave up now.”

  Henry sighed, while rubbing his eyes, knowing the effect of the alcohol was clouding his vision and sapping his energy. “I know you’re right Dora, but sometimes I just feel like I need a break . . . a vacation from all this bullshit.”

  Dorathy squeezed in behind him, pushing him forward away from the wall. She grabbed the oil and commanded him to remove his shirt. “I think you need this more than me.” She gently rubbed oil on his back and shoulders, noticing his muscular frame and his skin, perfect except for rapidly healing scars from the wounds received during the last poppy mission. “Isn’t this where you got mauled by that ape creature only recently?” she asked as she massaged oil into the wound.

  “Yeah,” he said, distress in his voice, “the advantages of being synthetic.”

  Dorathy craned her neck to see the progress of her own wound, received on the same day. “I see what you mean.”

  Henry laughed, amused by the irony. “If we do happen to stumble across Earth in all our searching for the other side, we will die in a very short time, thus getting us to our destination all the timelier.” Dorathy also had to laugh at the irony.

  Dimitri was finally getting somewhere with Dorathy’s DNA when Brenda quietly entered the lab after an unproductive nap. Dimitri looked up at her over his equipment and said, “She holds the answers to what we have been seeking.”

  Brenda sat down opposite him. “So, what are we searching for?”

  Dimitri shook his head. “Who the hell knows anymore? We were used as test subjects for an impossible mission based on pure speculation . . .”

  Brenda cut him off. “Pure faith.”

  Dimitri glared up at her and took a swig from his bottle. “Yes faith, faith that there is another side of existence somewhere out here? So, which is it?” He conti
nued, “A supreme being, a higher dimension, another planet, a Multiverse? And don’t even get me started on that one!”

  Brenda reached over and grabbed his hand. He lifted hers to his mouth and kissed it. Brenda looked into his sad eyes. “Look baby, we are alive, we have each other . . . and this mission . . . well, it’s not really a mission anymore . . . it’s a discovery and it’s what our lives have become . . . we’re just along for the ride.”

  Dimitri dropped her hand. “I just want some kind of normal.”

  Brenda sneered back, “This is the new normal so get over it.”

  Dimitri felt beaten but knew she was right. “Hey maybe we can just find a nice place to settle down somewhere out here.”

  “You’re more screwed up than I thought!” Brenda shot back. “And do what Dim? Sit around on our asses? Besides we’re wanted by the so-called government around here and here is where we are finding answers.” Brenda continued, “The bastards knew there was something here and sent us. We didn’t just happen along . . . remember Dora appeared in the same space and approximate time . . . they rigged the whole goddamned thing.” Brenda kicked away from the table. “Pull your head outta your ass and figure this shit out!”

  She left, Dimitri holding his head in his hands calling after her, “And then what?”

  Magnus sat in his seat in the cockpit, looking out at the stars while he established a communication link. He thought . . . so far away, yet so very close. Over to the right he could just make out Jobar and Collie’s home planet. Somewhere below, far off he knew from his position amongst the stars, was the dim spec of light that was the sun of the planet of poppies. He wondered how Earth’s sun might appear from this tiny ship in the vastness of space . . . would it even be visible here; would it be part of some kind of folklore or mythology of some long-forgotten civilization? Murmuring to himself, Magnus said, “Guess it would depend on your vantage point in space . . . that could be anywhere . . . eh . . . and nowhere.”

  A crackle of static jolted Magnus from his train of thought as Jobar answered, excited to get the call, “Hello my friends how are things going?”

  “Yes Jobar, I think we are on to something. I’m going to send you images of the stone carvings of the pyramid and what we found buried in the occupants’ DNA. Seems that we have a map of sorts.”

  “A map! Oh yes, send it right away!” Jobar was at home in his study, his hand firmly clutching his deep space communicator. “What do you think the relevance is to the map?”

  Magnus walked Jobar through his thought processes. “I’m not sure but the markings on the pyramid appear to be star constellations . . . hmm . . . an arrangement of stars seen from a certain point in space.”

  Jobar pondered a moment. “Are they the same stars appearing different from different perspectives or different all together?”

  Magnus’s eyes grew wide. “What did you say?”

  Jobar repeated himself, but Magnus cut him off. “Do you have the images and the map?”

  “Yes, I have them now; I will go over them and . . .” “Yes, yes . . . contact us in your morning . . . got to go old chap.” Magnus switched off and sat, contemplating what he knew of celestial navigation, but it was not his area of expertise. He calmly walked down the hall to Dorathy’s room.

  Jobar stared at the images, still gripping his communicator and looked in awe at what seemed very familiar to him. “My heavens, I think they found it!”

  CHAPTER 40

  Kore was sitting at her desk with her beloved pet sitting at her feet wearing a harness and his favorite red cap propped on top of his head. She had decided to take a leave of absence from her mundane daily grind and was clearing her desk and her schedule. She had Silas taken out of his typical work rotation in order to be at her beck and call, his penance for allowing her prize to escape.

  She looked down and cooed, “Nikko my love we are going on a dreaded trip to track down this Patsup fellow.” Nikko cocked his head to the side as he tried to process her intent. Her gaze shifted as her assistant entered her office. “I have moved your appointments and have your ship ready for departure.”

  “Good.” Kore glared at her pretty young assistant, “Now get out of my sight.” Her assistant knew better than to think she was going to get any praise for having done her task in such short notice. She turned on her heels and thought how nice the next few days were going to be with Prime Minister Athanatos’s absence.

  Kore boarded her ship with Nikko in tow. He started to pant and whine, pulling against his harness. She gave him a firm tug, and he squealed and cowered in fear that she might punish him. She growled under her breath as she handed him off to Silas. “Take him, I don’t have the patience for this nonsense.”

  Silas did as he was told and felt repulsed by this strange creature. He bent down and Nikko put his arms around his neck and smiled his gnarled toothed grin. Silas turned his head as Nikko’s breath was nearly as offensive as his owner’s. Together they boarded with the creature in his arms.

  Kore screamed, “Put him down and get me to the planet Alger, we are going back to the deep mining docking station. I need to have a conversation with that flight controller.”

  Silas propped Nikko on a jump seat in the back of the cockpit and lowered his tall athletic frame into the pilot seat and with nimble figures he punched in the coordinates. He glanced to his side to see Kore watching his every move and wondered why she had chosen to keep him after he allowed the travelers ship to escape. For a moment Kore wished for younger years and shrugged off the pain of loneliness as she turned the other way.

  Silas took the controls and effortlessly guided the ship to a high orbit as they lurched into the blackness of night. “Arrival time will get us to our destination at shift change.”

  “Excellent, we should easily be able to track Mr. Patsup down for questioning.”

  Nikko was pawing at the back of Kore’s seat and she reluctantly gave in to his request for comfort. “Okay, come sit on my lap you silly creature.” Nikko climbed up and leaned into her as she stroked the hair out of his eyes. “See it’s not so bad.”

  Kore was in a pleasant mood and felt somewhat at ease with her strapping young pilot. “Tell me Silas do you have a family of your own?”

  He was caught off-guard as in all the time he had served her she never asked about him on a personal level. He lied, “No ma’am.”

  Kore smiled, “No women in your life?”

  Silas was getting uncomfortable at this line of questioning and asserted a quick and simple, “No.”

  She felt pleased and sad all at the same time. Slipping into her own thoughts of a family she had lost at a young age and her descendants she knew she had, proof in the images she had kept with her over the decades. The images had been passed down to her by the parents she never knew. Discovering her past was something she needed and had spent most of her life trying to find the answers to. Always wondering who the people were in her album, he said under her breath, “Today I will get my answers come hell or high water.”

  Patsup rose early after a sleepless night and decided going to work was better than tossing around in bed. His brother Jobar was once again planning to be off-planet which was no doubt going to be yet another wild “portal” fiasco. He wondered how Jobar and Coolie for all these years managed to make such a good living that afforded them to live the way they did, having such expensive ships, nice homes, and always off on some adventure. This was something he had always wanted for himself but was never able to provide, which left skepticism on how honestly they made their living.

  Patsup with his morning brew in hand sat at his desk when the flight manager burst into his office. “Prime Minister Athanatos’s ship is due to arrive anytime, and she has requested a private meeting with you!”

  “With me?” Patsup almost choked on his hot concoction, “Wy me?” Suddenly he grew pale as he feared he had done something incredibly stupid in a moment of weakness and out of pure spite. He buried his face in his hands.
“You need to cover for me, tell her I’ve left unexpectedly on a family emergency, no tell her I have left the planet, I have no family!”

  His flight manager said in shock, “You want me to lie to her?”

  “Damn it all to hell, tell her whatever you want but I’m leaving!” Patsup got up and grabbed his jacket, nearly knocking over his flight manager in the process. “You never saw me!”

  Patsup ran to the hangar where his little ship was being stored, boarded and took off without logging out, not having a clue on where to go.

  Kore’s ship dropped into orbit and came in hot for landing as Patsup hurtled into space without any direction. When the coast was clear he contacted Jobar and told him to do the same and why.

  “You did what! What the hell is wrong with you, have you lost your damn mind? Why in God’s creation would you jeopardize my future, our livelihood, are you insane?”

  Patsup was nearly sobbing, “I can’t stand how everything comes to you so easily and always going on adventures with Coolie, you never once invited me on any of your trips.”

  “Oh, for holy sakes, you are always preaching to us how stupid we are for seeking the portal, so why would I ever invite you along? Regardless, now we could be fugitives thanks to you!”

  Patsup cried, “I’m sorry . . . what am I going to do?”

  Jobar had to think fast. “I’m going to send you coordinates, I will be leaving here shortly. Thank the maker Mares is off-planet and hopefully we still have a home to go to after all this. Do you know how annoying you are?”

  Jobar contacted Coolie and brought him up to speed. “Oh my goodness, tell me he didn’t!”

  “For heavens’ sake just get over to my ship, meet me there as soon as possible! We need to figure this out and the sooner the better! The last thing we need is the Prime Minister crawling up our asses!”

  CHAPTER 41

  Magnus walked up to Dorathy’s door, hesitated momentarily and knocked. It was no secret to the crew that there was an attraction between Dorathy and Henry, but for whatever reason they were both trying to hide it. Magnus thought it made no difference at this point of the mission, as it really was all about survival up until now. He did wish he could have someone to lean on, loneliness creeping into him like a cold fog obscuring his view of what was important, forgetting what it was to be human.