The Relics- The Keystone Trilogy - Part 1

by Michael K. Damron

  “It’ll all be good, regardless. Anyway, here’s your duds. Sleep tight.”

  Butch thrust the uniform into Jack’s chest, knocking a small amount of wind out of his lungs.

  “Goodnight,” said Jack, coughing.

  He hung his new uniform over the back of his desk chair and collapsed in bed once more. His mind continued to shift between states of elation and distress. While he was enlivened with the thoughts of his evolving relationship with Alexie, he also felt deep torment in regards to his mother’s disappearance.

  As the Searchers piled into the common room in the early morning, John took the opportunity to pull Jack aside.

  “You may not like me right now, but I plan on doing the right thing, which is to keep you informed.”

  “About my mom?”

  “Yes,” said John “The agents on the case seem to believe that she knew she would be going away somewhere.”

  “How do they figure that?” said Jack.

  “It appears as though there are certain pictures and other personal effects, as well as some clothes that are now missing from the house. It’s as though they were hastily grabbed and taken with her to wherever she is now.”

  “And you’re certain of this? It’s strange that she left for somewhere and didn’t take a single one of her screens or other devices with her.”

  “We’re as certain as we can be at this point. But I promise the investigation will not cease until we find out where she is and what happened.”

  “Thank you,” said Jack. “I’m sorry I lost my temper yesterday.”

  “Let’s put it behind us. It’s a reaction anyone could’ve had under the circumstances. Now, can I still count on you to keep your wits about you during today’s mission?”

  “Yes, without a doubt,” said Jack.

  “Great. Be sure to grab morphacite for the mission. And you’ll only need to take basic excavation tools with you.”

  As John moved on to talked with other Searchers, Jack walked to the tables filled with various weapons and equipment for the taking. Alexie was there, shuffling through the collection, deciding which ones she wanted for herself.

  “Thanks again for coming to see me yesterday,” Jack said in a hushed voice.

  “Not a problem,” she said, smiling. “But just remember that we need to keep things quiet for right now.”

  “Of course. Although . . .”

  “Although what?” said Alexie.

  “You could start practicing your new cognitive linking ability right now, if we were to speak to each other telepathically.”

  “Hm, I didn’t think about that,” she said, placing a hand to her chin while contemplating the idea. “Okay, let’s give it a go. But if either of us want our mind left alone, we both stop.”

  Sounds good to me, said Jack, communicating with Alexie through cognitive link.

  Clever, she responded. Now get what you’ll need for the mission. I have a feeling that we’ll all go together as one group today and head that way in a short while. And by the way, you look cute in your new outfit.

  Jack tried his best to hold back from blushing at her comment, acting suave by brushing his sleeves off and pretending to adjust various parts of his tactical-looking jacket. Alexie couldn’t help but exhale a puff of laughter at his antics.

  One of the research scientists from the second floor soon entered the room carrying the morphacite container Alexie’s group excavated the previous day. She placed it on a table near John and quickly exited the room.

  “All right, everyone, please gather round.”

  The Searchers congregated around John to hear the plan of action.

  “Yesterday’s morning events and bad news led to a delay with opening the morphacite container found by Alexie’s team. That means I need a volunteer to open it and see what’s inside before we disembark this morning on our next mission.”

  Everyone paused for a moment to look at each other, wondering who would be the one with enough grit to place their hand over the three holes and get stabbed by the spikes within. Because being impaled in the palm wasn’t something anyone wanted to participate in, no one’s extremities were readily offered.

  “I think Jack should do it,” said Marcel.

  “Why are you suggesting he do it instead of you?” said Garnet.

  “You all saw how his exo healed his wound during training—”

  “A wound you inflicted,” said Bridgett.

  “Even so, the ability for his body to rapidly repair itself means that he would experience pain for a way shorter time than the rest of us. We’re about to go on a mission, which means if anyone else, besides Jack, injures themselves, they’ll have a bum hand for the duration of the mission and a week or more beyond that.”

  “Maybe you should place your ass over the holes instead, Marcel,” said Alexie.

  Jack, who had been remaining silent and glaring at Marcel with his arms crossed, chuckled at Alexie’s suggestion. Other Searchers joined in laughing as Marcel’s complexion turned a bright red hue.

  “All right, everyone’s had their fun,” said John, “but this thing still needs opened. I don’t care who does it.”

  “Yeah, I’ll do it,” said Jack.

  “Don’t feel pressured by—” began Alexie.

  “No, there’s no pressure. I should be the one to volunteer. Marcel may be a bit of an ignoramus, but he has a point. I’ll heal much faster than anyone else. I’m more than willing to step up and take one for the team, even if some pain is involved.”

  Jack walked over to the container and placed his hand over the three holes in the top right corner.

  “GAH!” he screamed, feeling a triplicate of spikes tearing through his skin and muscle. A familiar pain shot up his arm and distributed itself throughout his body as a tingling sensation.

  Everyone watched as the droplets of Jack’s spilled blood balled up into spheres that rolled into the corner holes. As the morphacite absorbed the blood, a bright blue light shined through the newly formed lid, which levitated away from its base. John let out a sigh of frustration when he saw nothing more than a few new warp crystals within.

  “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to seem stressed,” he began. “Rakiten’s been hammering me on the importance of finding different kinds of artifacts as we excavate new sites. It’s nice to find this relic, but like I said, ancient scrolls and tablets is what’s most important to the founder right now.”

  “What do they expect us to do, make them appear out of thin air? They’re either there or they’re not,” said Bridgett.

  “It’s not just that adding to my anxiety. Like I mentioned yesterday, we received intel that two of the new excavation sites expected to yield new relics and artifacts were ransacked by Mark and his rogues. We know he’s the one behind the looting because there are drones monitoring every potential relic site Richard’s algorithm discovered. Somehow the rogues have intelligence on what we already know, or else similar methods of predicting the same sites.”

  “You’re positive it was them?” said Garnet.

  “Yes. Before one of the reconnaissance drones was destroyed, the video feed shows masked figures entering the location. Everyone, please direct your attention to the large screen and see for yourselves.”

  John sent the video from his personal screen to the biggest one in the room and played the feed. One masked person entered the frame, followed close by three others. The final scene before the feed cut out was that of a black obsidian-like mass being hurled through the air and obliterating the drone.

  “Morphacite!” said Richard.

  “Exactly,” John replied.

  “There’s a fourth rogue,” said Ferra, still watching the video as it replayed itself.

  “Yes, that’s the next issue we need to discuss. It appears that Mark has recruited someone to join his resistance. At this point, we can no longer be sure how many rogues there really are.”

  “What are we supposed to do?” said Garnet.

 
“Everyone needs to stay on their toes and keep their wits about them,” said John “Use your training, and if possible, always choose to engage in defense over offense. Mark has likely gotten stronger since he was last encountered and we’re not sure of the power level Sebastian, Freya, and any new recruit may possess. Act as a team and stick together. That will give you the greatest chance for surviving an encounter with these villains.”

  “The masks they’re wearing are creepy,” said Bridgett.

  “Our intelligence system says the masks are derived from the Kabuki and Noh Japanese theater traditions.”

  “Why would they be wearing something like that? Is it supposed to represent or symbolize something?” said Richard.

  “At this time, we have no clue,” said John. “Now, regarding today’s mission, I want to send everyone out in a single group to one of the looted sites and see if anything is salvageable. To reiterate, gather up the weapons you need and take only basic excavation tools. Don’t worry about documenting anything with notes, this isn’t going to be your typical site visit. Be wary, take pictures, and try to find anything the rogues may have left behind.”

  “Are you seriously sending Jack out there with us?” said Marcel.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” said Alexie. “What is your malfunction today?”

  “Yes, Marcel,” said John, closing his eyes and pinching the top of his nose in annoyance.

  “He’s part of the team, so of course he’ll be joining you in the field.”

  “But the guy’s got the biggest target on his back out of all of us!”

  “The guy you’re talking about is literally standing right here,” said Jack.

  “First his father is assassinated, then his mother goes missing. He’s going to be a magnet for trouble if he tags along!”

  “Look, Marcel,” said Jack, “John already told us the rogues came and went from the sites we’re traveling to. And, in case you haven’t been paying attention, I’m one of the best morphacite users we have. Running into the rogues without me could be even worse for the group. I’ll be a far greater benefit than a detriment.”

  Marcel didn’t want to acknowledge what Jack said and was about to continue with his pointless arguing until John spoke up.

  “Tell you what, Marcel, we’ll make it a democratic decision. Whoever wants Jack to join them on today’s mission, please raise your hand.”

  All Searchers, aside from Marcel, raised their hands.

  “There you have it. Jack is on the mission and Marcel will concede to the group’s decision. I’ll be here watching the live feed and communicating through your in-ear telecoms. Now let’s get moving and not delay any longer.”

  The Searchers collected what they needed to bring along as Richard grabbed the site’s warp crystal. As they waited to depart, Alexie took Jack’s hand to inspect the three lacerations left by the morphacite container.

  “Besides the dried blood, your wound looks good. It’s crazy how fast it healed.”

  “Yeah, it’s still hard to wrap my head around,” said Jack.

  “Hm, is this other set of three scars from the first time you opened one of the containers?”

  “Yeah, it hurt that time too. And I definitely didn’t have the ability to quickly heal when it first happened. I wish everyone else’s exos also gave them the ability to recover fast from any wound they might receive.”

  “That’s a nice sentiment,” said Alexie, smiling.

  “All right, are we all ready to go?” said Richard, finding the necessary warp crystal.

  Everyone gathered together as he handed it to Alexie. She raised the crystal, shooting out a stream of blue light from it that traveled a few meters before bursting into a portal composed of shifting, translucent fractals.

  “I’m getting an all-clear from the surveillance drones,” said John, checking his screen. “Proceed onward to the site.”

  The Searchers filed through, one by one, until Alexie was the last person to enter the portal and close it behind her.

  The sun was beaming down and a heavy wind rushed through the air as the team assessed their surroundings.

  “Where are we, exactly?” said Jack, testing the sandy ground with a staff he formed out of the morphacite he brought along.

  “We’re on the Euphrates River, close to a place in Iraq called Al ‘Ammari,” said Richard.

  “I think I see remnants of a previous dig about twenty meters that way near those old stone structures,” said Bridgett, pointing westward.

  They all made the trek to where she indicated. As they came upon the site, fresh holes could be observed ornamenting the ground at the base of each stone wall and pillar.

  “These holes weren’t excavated like a normal plot. None of them are square,” said Richard. “Either they were just digging aimlessly or they had something that pinpointed where they needed to look.”

  “Don’t get too worried,” John said through the telecoms. “We don’t know yet if they found anything. Keep looking for clues.”

  “Jack, come here,” said Alexie, motioning for him to join her. “Does this hole look more like a deep divot to you? Some of the others in the area were obviously dug by using a shovel or something because of the piles of dirt beside them. But this one and a few others look as if someone reshaped the ground to see what was below the surface.”

  “Yeah, it looks like they reshaped the earth, kind of like how we manipulate morphacite,” said Jack.

  “And look at how the ground ripples outward from the center of the hole, like if you threw a rock into water,” said Alexie.

  “Hey guys, over here!” yelled Garnet. “I think Ferra found something!”

  “Everyone head to where the twins are,” said John. “It looks like the rogues left something behind.”

  As the team approached, Ferra picked up a small block of morphacite that was wrapped around what appeared to be a note. Marcel levitated the find into his hand and unfurled the paper after separating it from the morphacite. Not able to see exactly what it said, John asked Marcel to read aloud.

  Hello again, John. I wonder, did you join your Searchers on this mission or just send them to do Division 1042’s bidding without you? I’m guessing the latter. After all, you’re just another rung in the hierarchy that acts as a barrier between the Searchers and the Archon, aren’t you? On to the situation at hand . . .

  We’ve already taken all the artifacts this site had to offer. What remains is the small piece of morphacite I used to weigh down this note. We will continue our descent on all relic sites until there’s nothing left for you to unearth. I welcome any member of the Searcher team to defect from the tyrants they currently serve and join me on my crusade against the Archon.

  Cordially yours, Mark

  “DAMMIT!” yelled John, followed by a barrage of incomprehensible expletives. “I need everyone to come back to the facility so we can quickly get a move on to the other looted site.”

  Alexie grabbed the warp crystal anchored to the Searcher facility and summoned a portal for them to return. As everyone reentered the building, they observed many items strewn about the floor near John, as if thrown in rage.

  “Sorry about the mess,” said John. “I’ll have it cleaned up later. For now, hold tight and grab food if you want. I’m just waiting for the reconnaissance drones around site two to make sure there’s no suspicious activity or heat signatures and give us the all-clear. There’s already evidence of the same kind of digging and whatnot, so be ready to assess the damage when you arrive.”

  “Mark mentioned something about someone called ‘the Archon’ in the note he left us,” said Marcel. “Who is that? It that what the founder calls himself?”

  “Forget about it, Marcel.”

  “Sir, there shouldn’t be any secrets Mark knows about that we don’t. Trust is paramount in times like this.”

  “It was supposed to be something kept private,” said John. “But to be fully transparent with everyone, it’s true that
the founder also holds the title of ‘Archon’ in certain political circles. That being said, nothing more should be asked or revealed about the founder. It would also be wise to never mention anything about what I’ve told you. Now, please, make yourselves scarce while I get everything ready for the next site.”

  Nearly all of the Searchers ran into the kitchen with an uneasy feeling in their stomachs. Regardless, they pillaged the fridge, pantry, and cupboards for food. Many of them talked about the note the rogues left behind and the mysterious man known as ‘the Archon,’ but Jack wanted to distract himself from those thoughts, for the time being. He sat beside Alexie and used telepathy to talk with her while she inspected and organized the warp crystals being carried in her sprawled-out leather case.

  Any crystals in there that go to places you haven’t been yet?

  Quite a bit, actually, said Alexie. I really shouldn’t keep this thing full of so many, but I like the idea of having a lot of locations around the world at my disposal. It’s crazy that the Archon we read about in your dad’s notebooks was revealed to everyone by Mark in a note, don’t you think?

  Yeah, it is. You know, you should point out some of the warp crystals that’ll take you to places you’ve always wanted to go so I can get a good idea of where to take you on a date, said Jack, winking.

  She smiled at the thought.

  It’s like a crazy menagerie in here, but let’s see . . . these two will take you to different sites in south Japan, we have coastal Greece with this one, that one goes to Tangiers, and these top three all go to various sites in France.

  Which place would you like to go to the most?

  Hm, tough choice . . . I think enjoying some Mediterranean food while watching a Grecian sunset would be the best, in my opinion.

  Consider it a date! said Jack.

  Ha! That would be nice. Tell you what, we’ll go when things calm down around here, she said.

  In that case, I hope it all calms down soon, said Jack.

  That’s sweet of you to say, she said with a grin.