Ascendant Saga Collection: Sci-Fi Fantasy Techno Thriller

by Brandon Ellis

  She looked around. She was on a cot inside Cole’s dropship.

  And there he was, his back to her, her attempted murderer. Jaxx.

  “Get off the controls, now. I’m piloting the rest of the way.”

  48

  June 10th

  Charlotte, North Carolina

  Drew had never met his darknet buddies in person. They weren’t what you’d call people-people. But he’d convinced “starwanderer3,” “jabberwockmyass,” and “bitemymegabite” to meet him. They, like Drew, were of the “what are shoelaces and why should I tie them?” class of nerdery. But they’d been at their computers, studying the world, watching patterns, talking bollocks about aliens, black holes, worm-theory, black-ops, cover-ups and conspiracies their whole lives. Not that it mattered to Drew, but they were also the world’s leading experts on the scientific failings of Doctor Who, Star Trek, and Star Wars so they were 1000% prepped for a clandestine meeting in a dingy basement, under cover of night.

  Trouble was, Drew couldn’t wait for nightfall and he didn’t have access to a basement. They would have to come to him. A mission this dangerous could not be relayed over the web. Not even over a secure channel. De nada. They were going to have to put their pants on, leave their houses, board planes, and meet him by the triple tree—three trees growing out of one seemingly dead white pine stump—in Mountain State Park near Chestnut Knob loop at 0900 hours, on June 10th—today. He sent them a detailed map through encryption he didn’t think anyone but his buddies could break. And, break it, they did.

  Drew stood under one of the chestnut trees that lined the loop. Upside to meeting in a public space, there were plenty of hikers about, which gave you cover. Downside, he had no idea what starwanderer3, jabberwockmyass, or bitemymegabite looked like. He could rule out the suits, dashing from their cars to their boxy offices, but it was Charlotte, so there weren’t too many of them.

  He checked his watch. Either they were all late, or he hadn’t been able to pick them out of the hikers. Score one for the nerd patrol or he’d picked a bad spot

  Scratch that.

  It was the shuffle and the paranoia that gave him away. Jeebus on a cracker. Could he look any more suspicious? The coat, the Converse, the glasses, the phone glued to his hand all screamed: “I am on a clandestine operation and the Government is out to get me, look away, look away, look away.”

  Actually, that wasn’t a bad cover. Drew thought about the shape of his life-to-come. Perhaps that’s what it would look like, him shuffling along, babbling nonsense while lacing it with truth, pushing a shopping cart of all his worldly goods.

  “Greetings of peace, Earthling.” They’d decided on a standard greeting, so they could identify one another. He smiled at the Converse-wearing human who stood beside the tree.

  “Who says I’m from Earth?”

  They both cracked up.

  As soon as they’d made the first introductions, two more hackmeisters emerged from the bushes. One was tall and skinny with long hair and an astigmatism that made it impossible to know which eye to look at. The other was a goth-girl, with panda-black eyes and purple lips. They both flashed Drew Spock “live long and prosper” signs, which meant they were all assembled.

  “No names, no addresses, no contacts, other than the contacts we already have.”

  Everyone in the circle nodded. They knew the drill. Thrilling as it was to meet, the operation was founded on absolute and unbreakable secrecy. The minute they knew anything about one another, they would be compromised.

  Drew fished three thumb drives from his inner pocket. “What I am about to give you blows the roof off what we know about space travel, our government, and life in the Universe. There are ancient civilizations out there in the stars. They know about us and have left us to evolve. Apparently, we’re too war-like to invite to the intergalactic party just yet.”

  He was preaching to the choir, confirming things they had long suspected.

  “Slade—you’ve seen him, that asshole who tried to discredit me—is planning to take high-ranking officials and ‘essential’ personnel on his expedition to colonize Callisto. He plans to leave the rest of us behind, to face the rising waters and inevitable inundation.”

  Goth girl frowned.

  “You heard me. There’s going to be another great flood. One that blankets the Earth. There are a million theories out there about why, but none of them matter, because we have to let people know we’re facing extinction and that bastard is evacuating the very people who could help us get off-world. Every scientist who knows anything about building space-worthy craft is going to be taken from us. Slade and the GSA are signing our death warrant.”

  Converse-wearing dude held up his hand. “Permission to speak?”

  “Granted,” said Drew.

  “If we get this data out there…”

  “And we will,” said Goth-girl.

  “If we get this data out there, will it make any difference?”

  “Sure it will,” said Drew. “Do you think they can launch an exodus if half the world shows up to protest? We’ll broadcast their plans, which incidentally, include a launch date, and force them to re-think the mission. We’re in it together. All for one, and one for all.” He regretted the last bit, as soon as he’d said it. He’d been doing well, feeling inspirational, but had gone all Three Musketeers on himself.

  No one seemed to care.

  “That it?” said astigmatic.

  “That’s it,” said Drew.

  He wanted to hug someone, shake hands, something to show how grateful he was. Knowing, however, that starwanderer3, jabberwockmyass, or bitemymegabite were all probably too geeked out for human emotion and had problems with processing sense-data, just as he did, meant hugs were not on the menu.

  He did his best imitation of a salute and sent his three-person army off to save mankind.

  49

  June 10th

  West Glacier, Montana

  Rivkah hovered the Oospor Class-9 Dropship above a forest in a remote area in Montana. It was late morning and the sun gave off a white-yellow glare across a meadow to the east.

  She jabbed a finger at the view screen. “I’ll take it down in that meadow.” Her voice was hard.

  She had talked little during the flight. When she did talk, every word had an edge. She didn’t hide her anger or her misery.

  “How far are we from civilization?” Jaxx asked.

  “Not far enough.” She brought up a map on the view screen. “Ten miles from Polebridge, Montana. Population, 132.”

  She lowered the dropship in the meadow. The descent was quiet, even the landing. She pressed a button and the dropship’s ramp hissed open. “Let’s go.”

  Jaxx shot her a look. “Couldn’t we park any closer to Polebridge? We’re ten miles away.”

  “I want as little attention as possible. You can come or stay, I don’t care.” The ramp shook as it hit the ground, resting on a patch of wildflowers. She walked down the ramp and around the dropship, disappearing from view.

  “I need the exercise,” said Jaxx. “I wonder if I was a jock when I was in the SSP? Was this hiking through the forests shit easy for me?” He grabbed the laptop and hurried toward Rivkah. The wildflowers and grasses were so tall, they reached his waist. Trees circled the meadow. The smell of Douglas Firs swept past him, borne on a chilly breeze.

  Rivkah hacked a path through the undergrowth—flowers and all—as she ploughed through the meadow, only glancing back once to see if Jaxx was following.

  He caught up. “Are we heading to a road?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then what?”

  They reached the tree line and stepped into the forest. The ambient temperature dropped ten degrees in the shade.

  “Then we walk until we reach Polebridge.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t have to tell you squat. Like I said, you can come or not. I don’t give a damn. I have people who can help me disappear. You want to come, that’s
up to you.” She turned and continued her vigorous hike.

  Jaxx halted next to a wide tree. “Stop. You and Fox treat me like I am the scum of the Universe. Why?”

  She walked back to Jaxx, her face a dangerous shade of “screw you, asshole” and sank her hand onto his throat. She pushed him against the tree. And squeezed. “Do not couple me in the same sentence as Fox. Ever.”

  A zap went through her and she let go with a yelp, then shook her hand.

  Jaxx rubbed his neck. “I’m sorry, but what the hell did I do to you? I pissed Richard off so damn much, he shot me twice. And you clearly want to do the same.”

  “If I wanted you dead, you’d be dead.” She stepped over a downed tree. “You left me for dead.”

  Jaxx blanched. That would be a good reason to be pissed. “I have a hard time believing I left you to die.”

  She ducked under a large branch. “How convenient.”

  Up ahead, a road bordered the edge of the forest. He was happy it was a short walk to civilization, although in this case, civilization was just a road. “Slade had me undergoing hypnosis. I’ve gotten to the point where I saved your life.”

  She stopped and spun, almost putting a finger on Jaxx’s chest but thought better of it. “Yes. The blood. Thank you for your blood. The gift that keeps on giving. I can move things with my mind, hear what you’re thinking, and conduct electricity when I touch you. It’s a barrel of laughs.” She strode ahead, determined to shake him off. “Whatever screwed-up anomaly is inside you, I got it now. I heard mention of an enlarged and open pineal gland? Thanks for giving me part of your birth mark. Glad you’re not alone anymore?”

  Jaxx heard mention of it too. Perhaps when he was under hypnosis with Donny or in passing. “I’m probably not the only one in the world with a larger than normal pineal gland.”

  “Good, then find them and make some friends.” She walked onward, hands in a fist by her side.

  Jaxx followed. “Rivkah, please tell me. Tell me the whole story. I cannot imagine any circumstance where I would leave you to die.”

  “You want to know?” She kicked a rock out of the way. “I went after you, Jaxx.”

  “You went after me?”

  “After you defected to the Taiyonians. I convinced the SSP high command that I was going to get back our so-called star pilot. But, I wasn’t going to retrieve you. I was going to join you. I gave you my call-sign when I approached and you shot me down. My ejection booster didn’t work and when I survived the crash, albeit nearly burned to a crisp, you circled my location over and over, like a predator mocking its prey. You left me for dead.”

  Jaxx didn’t know how to react, what to say. He didn’t remember shooting her down. “My guess is I didn’t know it was you. Or, I couldn’t find you down there when I circled. I wouldn’t leave a friend to die.”

  She nodded, eyes wide. “You know what? That’s what I thought. Even though I could have sworn I heard you telling me to ‘pull up’ seconds after you shot me.”

  Jaxx brightened. “So I warned you? I shot you by accident?”

  “Nick Cole came to my rescue. We went over my flight on the holovids while I was practically dying in med quarters. I insisted on watching everything I could. And Captain Richard Fox found something peculiar. You know what he found?”

  Jaxx pushed out his lower lip, knowing this wasn’t going to be good. “Nope.”

  “A communique, from you to the Taiyonians, confirming your kill. Your exact words were, ‘Captain Rivkah Ravenwood, expunged.’ Expunged, for Christ sake. Who even says that?”

  “You believed him?”

  She shook her head. “I didn’t want to. The guy’s a prick. He’d stop at nothing to get his own way. But once I heard the audio, I knew you were an even bigger prick than him.”

  “How do you know it was me?”

  “I know your voice, Jaxx. I heard it. It was you.” She spun around and walked again.

  For several minutes they walked in silence until they came upon a path that steered off the road and back into the woods. A sign marked, Boyd’s Bed ’n Breakfast, pointed them east. The path was short, dog legging to the left to a small lodge with several log cabins dotting the forest behind it.

  Without as much of a wave, she walked down the path.

  Jaxx followed, once again feeling like a beaten dog after his owner.

  She stomped up the wooden steps to a deck that surrounded the lodge. She wiped her feet on the welcome mat and walked in, letting the door shut on Jaxx’s face.

  He sighed and followed her. No prizes for guessing who was boss.

  The reception was homey, rustic, welcoming. Lines of fliers on the wall ranged from helicopter tours to the grizzly zoo. A hunting-fishing-trapping-outdoorsy paradise.

  A man behind the desk looked up from a newspaper, brightened to see a potential guest. He stood, placing his hands on the counter. “How can I help you folks?”

  Rivkah leaned on the counter with a warm smile, practically batting her eyes at the guy. “I need a ride into Whitefish.”

  “I can’t leave the Lodge. There’s no one else here to welcome guests. There are no taxis or...what do they call those things? No Ubers out here. I can probably convince one of the park rangers at National Glacier Park to pick you up, but that wouldn’t be until tomorrow.” He became serious. “Are you two okay? Where is your car?”

  Rivkah didn’t answer. “How much for a room?”

  He folded his hands. “$180 a night. We have one cabin available.”

  Jaxx unzipped the laptop case and searched for the secret compartment. He felt a clump. He pulled back Velcro, revealing a pouch. A pouch full of the twenties that Rivkah showed him earlier.

  Rivkah pushed his hand away from the cash. “Hell no. There’s no way I’m sleeping in the same bed or room as you. It’s hard enough not to kill you where you stand.”

  The desk clerk looked left and right. No doubt he’d seen his fair share of lovers’ disputes.

  Jaxx stepped forward. “Here’s $180. If you can get a park ranger to drive us to Whitefish tomorrow, I’d appreciate it.” He plopped down nine twenty-dollar bills.

  The man handed him a key, happy to rid the lobby of the drama. “Cabin 7b.”

  Jaxx grabbed the key and shot Rivkah a look.

  She snagged the key out of his hand. “Thank you very much.” Out the door, she hurried down the steps, speaking over her shoulder. “You’re on the floor.”

  “It’s not even nighttime yet. Are you just going to ignore me all day?”

  She gave him a curt nod as she headed down a path marked b-Cabins. She wiped her shoes, walked in, and slammed the door behind her. And in Jaxx’s face. He drooped his shoulders and opened the door.

  The place was quaint. Blue curtains, blue bed spread, and light blue walls. No phone. No TV. Two lamps and a bathroom.

  No way to see or talk with the outside world.

  The room, though, cheery. At least it had that much.

  Rivkah sat on the bed, studiously ignoring him.

  He pulled the laptop out of its case, placed it on the desk, and opened it. The operating system came alive, showing two dozen folder icons labeled with dates starting in May, the last folder labeled June 7th. He hovered his icon over the June 7th folder, then saw a folder labeled May 22nd with the words EPICA just under it. He knew all about the European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA), but why was Underfoot Black interested? Why would Slade care about ice-core samples?

  He clicked on the folder, expecting to see the EPICA graphs of nearly a million years of ice ages and interglacial ages on Earth and their temperature swings.

  That’s not what he saw.

  Three subfolders popped up, marked; Pyramid 1, Pyramid 2, and Pyramid 3.

  He opened Pyramid 1.

  Three image icons dotted the screen. He tapped the first image. A close up of Callisto’s largest pyramid, the one he and Shaughnessy had been studying, before he’d been shunted off to hypno-memory-lan
d. He couldn’t quite see exactly what was etched on a highlighted portion of the pyramid. He hit the arrow and moved on to the next image. Similar picture, though at a different angle and closer in perspective.

  He clicked the third picture, bringing up an image he could actually see—etched lines on the base of the pyramid that went up and down like a heart monitor, though it wasn’t a heart monitor it was mimicking. Superimposed over the most famous EPICA ice-core sample graph. He’d studied it many, many times and recognized it on sight.

  “E-P-I-C-A.” He pointed at the screen, talking to himself, “This hieroglyph is depicting exactly what EPICA depicts but the hieroglyphs’ data stops with the end of our last ice age.” Jaxx wanted to fist pump the sky. “It’s an exact replica of the EPICA ice-core sample. The Atlanteans are telling us they left Earth at the end of the last ice age, when Atlantis sank. When the waters rose four-hundred to five-hundred feet.”

  Rivkah stirred. “What are you talking about?”

  “Sorry. Just thinking out loud.”

  “Don’t think out loud.”

  “No problem.”

  “What are you looking at, anyway?”

  Jaxx couldn’t keep his excitement down. “The global warming craze is true. But it’s not mainly caused by humans like the media would like us to believe. It’s a cyclical event that has happened many times in Earth’s history. As the glyphs on this pyramid explain and what our own EPICA ice-core sample explains—along with a dozen more ice core samples—is that our world has an ice age, an interglacial age, and a global warming cycle. They’re cyclical.”

  Rivkah stared at him like he was nuts.

  “Look, Earth has had more than one ice age. They tend to last about one-hundred-thousand years. At the end of each ice age, the heat rises into an interglacial age and the waters rise hundreds of feet across the Earth, changing us from fifty percent water and fifty percent land to seventy percent water and thirty percent land.”

  Rivkah buried her head under her pillow. “Major geek alert. Take cover.”