The Otherlings and the Crystal Amulet

by S V Hurn

  Patsup scowled. “Well you don’t have to get violent!

  “Violent! I’ll show you violence!” Coolie kicked him out the hatch and growled in a whisper, “Now hurry, we need to get in and out before anyone knows we returned and comes looking for us.”

  Coolie ran through the trees with only the starlight to guild them, with Patsup struggling to keep up. Coolie stopped suddenly at the edge of the forest, hearing the approach of one of the swamp lizards. He did a quick assessment of the field behind Jobar’s home making sure the coast was clear. “Come on and be fast on your feet because you don’t want to be a lizard’s dinner!”

  Patsup gulped and ran as fast as his short squat legs could take him, staying close to Coolie’s heels. Patsup heard the snapping of sharp teeth and screamed as he passed Coolie in a flat-out sprint. Once to the back fence he leapt up into the air but only managed to face plant against the hard wooden surface. Coolie with a firm shove from beneath managed to heave him over and taking a few strides back, ran forward and with one coordinated move was up and over the fence with jaws snapping at his legs.

  They were both crouched down in the tall grass as they saw lights approaching. Coolie whispered, “I’m not sure but they might be watching our homes for our return—who knows what our Prime Minister may have done looking for her answers to the puzzle.”

  Patsup stood up and almost yelled what puzzle? Coolie yanked hard on his arm. “Shut up you dim wit!”

  He stood crouched and grabbed Patsup by the elbow. “Come on and be quiet.” They approached the back patio and stopped at the large glass door. Coolie knew his oldest friend’s key code to his home and punched in the number, knowing in doing so they would not have much time before the keypad registered someone was entering the residence. The NWO governed by monitoring everyone’s coming and goings even in their own homes, and if there was an alert attached to the code the authorities would no doubt be there shortly. They made their way through the darkened rooms to Jobar’s office where he kept all their collective information they had gathered over the years. Every little tidbit was there that concerned their traveler friends, the lost city, information concerning the original New Western Ordinance, maps, images, ancient theories, even ancient gadgets they found along the way. All in hopes of someday finding the Otherlings and the Portal to the Other Side.

  Coolie with a small glow stick held between his teeth grabbed Jobar’s antigrav unit from the back of the room and started to load the crates and boxes onto it as he instructed Patsup to take everything out of the safe box, whispering the code to him and throwing him an empty box. “Put it all in there.”

  After what seemed to be an eternity, everything was loaded. Coolie did a mental note, not wanting to leave anything incriminating behind. They strapped everything down and effortlessly pushed it out the back door. Patsup swung his head around. “Oh no they are coming for us!” Lights were blazing and approaching fast. Coolie shook his head in disgust, “Damn the NWO and their constant policing!” He instructed Patsup to climb aboard the antigrav and hold on. He pushed the cart as fast as he could across the yard and as they approached the fence he pushed a button and the cart flew straight up into the air with Coolie hanging on, kicking his feet over the top of the fence as it came down the other side. Coolie then ran as fast as he could with sharp toothed giant lizards trying to get a hold of him. He took control of the accelerator hand grip, lurching himself onto the foot holds as the cart moved across the clearing at lightning speed. As they neared the tree line Coolie jumped off to slow them down to avoid crashing into a tree. He quickly maneuvered through the trees getting them to the ship. Looking back there were men in black surrounding the home in hopes of questioning them.

  Patsup was gripping the straps that held the boxes with his legs straddling either side and with a squeal said, “Oh my we are fugitives now . . . what have you two been up to all these years that would cause such a stir?!”

  Coolie was not amused and not in the mood; he grabbed Patsup by the scruff and dragged him off the cart as he opened the hatch. “Help me push this thing up the ramp and would you please shut up!”

  Once inside Coolie jumped into the pilot seat, his muscles aching, and silently took off without guidance lights, knowing it wouldn’t matter as they were on to them. They swiftly gained altitude and whizzed back to their friends. Coolie muttered to himself and Patsup, “We dare not try for my home . . . no need really as Jobar kept most of all of it anyway.”

  Patsup cried, “What of our sister and her family?”

  Coolie growled back, “She knows nothing of what we have been up to . . . Jobar made sure of that for her own safety.”

  CHAPTER 44

  Brenda had helped Dorathy onto an examining table in the med lab. She was hyperventilating and was losing consciousness. “Dora . . . girlfriend! Look at me, you’re safe, calm down!” Dorathy was sobbing from fright and shaking uncontrollably. She was stammering, “That creature . . . was horrible . . . he was going to rape me . . . what if I hadn’t gotten away . . . what if they didn’t find me!”

  Brenda took a vial from a cabinet and prepared a sedative. “Here baby, this will make you feel better.” It only took a few seconds and Dorathy felt warm and safe as she fell into a deep sleep. Brenda checked her for other wounds and treated her bloodied feet, when she noticed the tips of her fingers were glowing from within. Then she squinted her eyes looking more closely as the skin on her entire body seemed to be glowing. Brenda didn’t know what to make of it and continued to clean her wounds.

  Henry entered the med lab with a horrible look of concern on his face. “How she doing?”

  Brenda shook her head. “I had to sedate her; she went into shock. Come here.” She instructed Henry to look at her hand as she lifted it in order for him to get a closer look. “What do you make of this?”

  Henry stooped over. “Hmm, I don’t know, but when we found her, she was standing at a dead end against a solid rock wall and was claiming she had stepped through it into a room where she found some kind of a message carved into the wall. When she tried to reenter it she couldn’t . . . shit I don’t know Brenda . . . I don’t know what to make of it . . . any of it . . . get a sample of her DNA to see if anything has changed, maybe Dimitri can make a connection.”

  Brenda sighed, “Okay, well she’s sleeping now . . . hope she’s calmer when she wakes up . . . that really scared the hell out of her.”

  Henry ran his hand through his hair as he did when things were getting rough. “Jobar seemed to know what she was going on about—maybe he can shed some light on it.”

  Brenda asked, “Any word from Coolie?”

  “Yup, Magnus just got word they are on their way, and with no time to spare; the bastards were already hot on their trail.”

  Brenda voiced her concern, “Hope they don’t lead them back here to us.”

  “Nope, no chance of that, Jobar’s got that ship pretty rigged up . . . he’s a stealthy little bastard when he needs to be.”

  Brenda smiled with agreement as she yawned. “Damn I’m tired.”

  Henry knew how she felt, yawning himself. Brenda rummaged through her supplies. “I’ll run some tests on Dora and get a sample of her illuminated DNA.” Henry smiled at the off-color joke.

  Jobar sat at the table crying, “Oh my, I hope Dora is going to be okay, it’s all my fault . . . I forgot it was mating season and her head wrap was the color of availability! I will never forgive myself!”

  Dimitri rolled his eyes as Magnus sighed, “Well that’s one for the books.”

  “Ah!” Dimitri confessed. “She is a strong woman!”

  Magnus disagreed. “She might be that, but she is human; even more so and something we often times seem to forget, one can only take so much before one snaps.”

  The ship shuddered as it did when Jobar’s ship aligned itself for docking. Dimitri stood, being closest to the hatch and opened it as Coolie was wheeling the antigrav cart piled high with boxes and bags. Coolie sl
umped over it as he entered with Patsup bringing up the rear. “We got away in just the nick of time, they were on to us.”

  Jobar put his arm around his best friend while glaring at his pathetic brother. “Thank the heavens you are alright, I trust you were able to retrieve everything,” he said as he looked over the pile of boxes.

  Coolie asked, “Well hopefully you had less trouble than us?”

  Jobar’s eyes lowered. “We had an incident with our supply mission—Dora was captured but we were able to retrieve her before any great harm came to her.”

  Coolie dropped his head and shook it in regret, noticing the dirt-stained scarlet scarf on the floor. Furrowing his brows, he said, “What in heavens . . . did you lose your mind while I was gone . . . it’s their mating season . . . don’t tell me she had that thing wrapped around her!” He pointed down at the frayed fabric.

  Jobar suddenly burst into tears again. “I am a brainless slug!”

  Henry was happy to see Coolie and Patsup had made it back unscathed and assured Jobar, “Look it was an innocent oversight.” He patted him on the back. Henry grabbed a chair and swung it around in front of Coolie, straddling it. “Look Dora got away, but just before we got to her, she found something.”

  “Yes!” Jobar perked up, wiping his nose on his baggy shirt sleeve. “I think she found one of the hidden encryptions left by the Otherlings!”

  Coolie sat down, mouth open. “Oh my, that is astonishing—what did it say?”

  Henry shook his head. “She said something about the thirteen planets, but we had to get the hell out of there . . . she’s sedated now and resting.”

  Coolie and Patsup sat at the table as Magnus got them something to drink. Pointing to the pile of boxes Jobar said, “Over the years we have collected data such as old scrolls, and documents and in almost everything that we have been able to decipher there are references made to puzzle segments, but we have never been able to account for their significance.”

  Coolie added, “We have in many cases been made aware of messages hidden away, but only the righteous may gain access . . . and only if you were so lucky in finding them in the first place. These messages, legend says, hold the answers, but they have been hidden in the most obscure of places.”

  Magnus asked, “What do you mean only the righteous may enter?”

  “Yes!” Dimitri recalled what Dorathy had said. “Dora was saying she had walked through a rock wall into a small cavern.”

  Henry sat with his chin firmly planted on his forearms over the back of the chair. “Look while Brenda was tending to Dora, she noticed she had an internal . . . glow . . . for lack of a better word . . . it seemed to be emanating from her whole body.”

  Jobar and Coolie exchanged knowing glances and said in unison, “She is glowing an internal light?” The group of them quickly exchanged looks of acknowledgment.

  Dimitri spoke. “The Illuminati have always maintained they were the purest form of the alien DNA that seeded our planet . . . perhaps including all of the planets.

  Magnus piped in, “Her DNA has granted us access where no other had been able to obtain, and therefore simple deduction tells us she carries the purest form.”

  Jobar and Coolie eyes were wide. Jobar softly spoke as he suddenly realized, “Dorathy is transcending, she is becoming . . . an . . . Otherling.”

  Patsup chocked at the implication.

  Kore and Hoffman slowly shifted their gaze upwards at the most incredible vessel they had ever seen, its glassy darkened hull looming over their heads like a giant predator, wings spread in an elegant curve towards the back where twin shafts protruded in elongated funnels. And with a tubular ring affixed to its middle section, making it appear as it was flying through it. They stared at the craft, mystified. Kore said softly, “In all my years I never fully accepted the ancient tales but here it is in all its glory . . . unbelievable! Tell me Simms, how long has this been hidden here? When was it found?”

  Simms shook his head. “It was found right here exactly as you see it, immobile and completely inaccessible. Carbon dating of the outer hull puts it as old as the universe itself.”

  “I knew it!” Hoffman shouted confirmation. “I knew this ship existed!”

  Simms said as he was announcing something no one ever could imagine but always knew it to be true, “This ship brought our kind here roughly fifteen thousand years ago from a planet on the other side of our known universe, our dark space; might I add not far from our mysterious thirteen planets.”

  After many moments of silence, in awe of the implications, Kore asked a barrage of questions, “Why have you not been able to gain access to the interior? How are you familiar with its approximate origin?”

  Simms held his hand up in protest. “Its origin has been carefully mapped in their documentation, but we cannot confirm its existence as it seems it resides in our dark space—gravitational forces suggest its existence, but that is all.”

  Hoffman said, nudging forward, “Which means have you exhausted your attempts to gain access?”

  Simms smiled broadly. “It seems to be quite . . . aware.” As he continued, he strode closer to the out-stretched forward section, its long arching neck with its aerodynamic-nosed cockpit at the front of the vessel. “At every attempt we have been denied and whatever the means being used had failed miserably. What secrets she holds within are hers alone; she will only share when the time comes.”

  Kore snorted, “Spare me the romantics, and please tell me you have tried more aggressive techniques.”

  Simms looked back over his shoulder. “Of course we have . . . whatever we try on her she returns the courtesy a hundred-fold! Many men have died trying to finesse the secrets from her.”

  Hoffman interrupted, “I have read countless articles alluding to this ship’s existence. What our Prime Minister has in her possession shows a team of scientists in an unknown location with a smaller, yet still impressive, near replica of this ship you have here. I know you have more artifacts than the ship before us . . . remember I cataloged those items years ago!”

  “Yes, yes Hoffman,” Simms said reluctantly, “follow me.”

  Captain Simms marched them to a small vaulted room and entered his key code. The door opened with a heavy clank that echoed through the massive chamber. Inside were countless books of images and artifacts kept in this airtight, temperature-controlled space. Simms pulled out one of the massive slide-out drawers and said, “I think this is what you are looking for.”

  As he activated the book, he scrolled through images of unknown people from so many thousands of years ago, stopping at one in particular. It was a female wearing a blue uniform with auburn locks standing next to a contraption of sorts, with what looked to be a partially intact human specimen in a liquid-filled container. Kore’s eyes widened as she could never mistake who the person was in the image . . . it was her . . . evolutionary differences, but unmistakably her.

  Both Simms and Hoffman tried to read her expression, but shock seemed to sum it up accurately. She drew closer to the image. “Uncanny,” was all she could say. She whispered back, “What else have you found?”

  Simms shrugged. “It’s all here . . . a smaller vessel and assuming, its occupants, the origins of their . . . our . . . species.”

  Hoffman demanded, “What is the nature of our species?”

  Simms casually informed them, “We are a product of them but that goes without saying . . . we—and I am generalizing—are the product of a far older species, an interdimensional species that no doubt traveled the universe seeding life as they saw fit. Our separate evolution guiding our slight differences in appearance of course. But what is very curious here is their documents from the time showed an extraordinary concentration of the uncoded DNA to carry a sequence of sorts.”

  “Yes, Doctor Hoffman concurred, “One of the artifacts I was fortunate enough to examine showed twelve different blood lines, all of which had a remarkable quality to them; some of the same qualities that make up
the hull of this ship.”

  “Precisely,” Simms said, “Twelve bloodlines of the purest form of the original creatures that seeded the planets over billions of years in the making. These beings are thought to have transcended to a much higher dimension . . . some like to call them the Otherlings.”

  Kore, never wanting to buy into the fable, was hard-pressed to deny the implications. She pulled over her head her crystal capstone and found it to be changing in color and could hear a harmonic sound vibrating from within. “That’s odd,” she said as she handed it to Doctor Hoffman. “What do you make of this?”

  Hoffman shook his head, “I don’t have a clue.”

  Simms took a closer look. “Yes, this brings us to the talisman.” He snatched it from Hoffman. “This particular artifact has a larger implication attached to it. How you were able to obtain it is even a larger mystery.”

  Kore grabbed it back and stuffed it in her bag, slinging it over her shoulder. “How I obtained it is none of your business, but you must know what it is used for.”

  Simms glared back at her. “Let’s just say it has something to do with our thirteen planets. Our ancestors knew something we don’t and demanded no one was to ever approach those planets . . . not that it would make a damn bit of difference considering their distance. So that little crystal pyramid of yours has about as much functionality as a paper weight!”

  Kore gritted her teeth as she knew Simms was holding back valuable information.

  Hoffman looked from one to the other and knew when to keep silent. Finally, Captain Simms said, “Are we done here?” He looked down at his timepiece. Kore reluctantly agreed, “Yes, get me the hell out of here.”

  Patsup could barely comprehend what he was hearing. “You cannot tell me you believe this nonsense!”

  Jobar shot back, his eyes blazing, “What do you know of any of this . . . I will tell you . . . NOTHING! You have spent your entire life willing to live with your head in the clouds or buried in the dirt, while Coolie and I, and many more like us, have been searching for the truth! My dear brother you need to see the New Western Ordinance for exactly who they are!”