Return to Earth

by Brad Stucki

At first Nemesis had been shocked at sensing Javin. Javin was dead! He’d killed him the last time he’d seen him. But on further delving, Nemesis finally realized he must have travelled back in time without knowing when he had moved to the Aquarian world to take control of these people.

  It was odd, he had Javin’s memories, but this encounter, this run to destroy the invaders, was not in those memories. Then Nemesis realized this was part of Javin’s blocked memories.

  Nemesis had quickly reached out with his senses using the surging power of the two Articles of Power he held, and found Javin and the guards now confronting him, and realized Javin was about to touch the detonation switch and blow up not only himself, but hopefully the whole compound.

  Nemesis laughed as he quickly surrounded Javin in a powerful shielding bubble just prior to the blast going off. It would be powerful enough to contain the blast and leave he and the compound untouched. The yield of the suitcase nuke wasn’t powerful enough to cause any further damage other than within the confines of the shielding he had erected. Then he could push that bubble of thermal energy out into space and release it harmlessly.

  It would kill Javin, yet again. But how had he survived? He obviously had survived, because he had met him later on numerous occasions, foiling his and his former masters’ plans at every turn.

  That all had happened a day ago. Nemesis was still trying to sort out how Javin had escaped. The only conclusion he could reach was the Guardians, those foolish weaklings who opposed his former masters, had pulled him out prior to the explosion. Obviously, it had happened, so there was nothing he could do about it now.

  Nemesis’ thoughts were interrupted by sensing the approach of messengers he had sent out to gather the scientists whom he needed to consult. The way of communication between the Aquarians was amazing. If he left himself open he would never be surprised. He would always sense anyone coming before they got there, which was good because he hated surprises.

  Nemesis constantly kept himself shielded and holding the power of the two Articles in his possession to guard against the enemies he had accumulated. There were the remaining group of Promised Ones, there were his former masters, and then there were the supposed Guardians, or Light Guardians, as Javin’s friends referred to them. They had pledged not to interfere, which they clearly had violated if they were the ones who had pulled Javin out of the explosion. No matter. Javin was surely dead. He had killed him. Again. This made Nemesis pause. Twice he thought he’d killed Javin. No three times . . .

  Into the audience chamber came an Aquarian guard followed by three men and one woman, all in a disheveled state, clothing rumpled, and faces drawn with the shock of not only the invasion but, of their capture and being brought here. These were the scientists Nemesis had used the second Article of Power, the power of emotion and feeling, to locate and send for. These were all top cosmologists, at least those who had survived the invasion.

  The Aquarian guard had them line up in front of Nemesis then stood ready with lances to protect Nemesis if any should make threatening gestures. The Aquarian guard would feel through their heightened empathic senses if any meant Nemesis harm prior to them even acting. Again, Nemesis was awed at their form of communication. It certainly had made battle instructions more effective. Nothing would be lost in translation as the orders were direct mind to mind contact, either to one person in particular, or the whole army if desired.

  The king of the Aquarians was absent. He was out directing his armies, maintaining the peace and order they had created. Nemesis stared at the four scientists in front of him. At this point he could use the power of the Articles and his Gestalt Stone to simply invade their minds and strip them of their knowledge and memories. Yet doing four of them in succession would take time and effort to assimilate and organize all that information into coherent bits he could readily use. Instead he would have to use the primitive method and ask them.

  “You have been brought here because of information you possess,” Nemesis said. The scientists looked at him wonder in their faces yet none of them spoke.

  Just as well, Nemesis thought.

  “I am seeking information regarding any observations you or your colleagues have made regarding a great dark spot in space.”

  The scientists stared at him, then at one another. They appeared confused. Nemesis grew impatient needing to prod them, he didn’t have all day.

  “You will answer when I speak to you. If you do not have this knowledge you are of no use to me.” He let an ominous silence ensue hoping it would prod them to realize he may do something dire to them if they didn’t cooperate. Finally, one of the middle scientists stepped forward, “Are you referring to the super void?”

  “Describe it to me.” Nemesis said.

  “Well, it’s a hole in space where there aren’t any stars. There have been various theories propounded as to why it exists.” The scientist took on a lecturing tone as if teaching in front of a classroom. “It was discovered in the early ‘80s. Since that time further studies have indicated that it may just be a field in space where not enough star matter existed in order to form stars and their resultant planets, Nebula et cetera.”

  “Is it close?” Nemesis asked.

  “Close?” A question came up, this time from the woman on the end. “Oh no it’s millions of light years away, right at the edge of our galaxy.” Nemesis nodded to himself.

  “Though it does appear to be growing.” Another scientist said, apparently not wanting to be considered uncooperative.

  “Growing?” Nemesis asked, then he held up his hand for silence, so he could think a minute.

  Finally, the thought clicked, “Instead of growing, could it mean that the super void is getting closer, that it is moving into our galaxy and swallowing everything in its path?”

  The scientists were stunned, one stammered, “That’s just not possible. A hole in space can’t move.”

  “Yet it’s growing.” Nemesis prodded, “Should it be able to do that?”

  “Well.” One of the other scientists said, “We’ve postulated several theories about that . . .”

  Nemesis held up a hand again to stop them from speaking, “How long would you say it would take to reach our galaxy and start enveloping it?” Again, he was met with stunned silence.

  “That’s not,” The scientists who had remained silent throughout the conversation blurted out. “It’s not possible to determine. No one has ever even considered that.”

  “Hazard a guess.” Nemesis said.

  “Here? Now?” One of the scientist sputtered. “I have to do calculations. There needs to be measurements.”

  “I said guess.” Nemesis said emphatically. The scientists looked at one another. One shrugged his shoulders.

  “That’s not my expertise.”

  Finally, the one who hadn’t spoken much said, “At a guess, emphasis on the word ‘guess,’ it could be anywhere from 2 years to 500 years. We just don’t know how large the Super Void actually is. It’s estimated to be about 300 light years across and growing, which we still don’t realize how or why. We just don’t know.”

  Nemesis sensed the truth of the scientist’s words, and he was genuinely curious now, not worried about collaborating with the invaders, but in the back of his mind he could detect the lone scientist wanting to gather intelligence, something which would help his people fight back.

  Nemesis smiled, “You are dismissed. You’ll be returned unharmed.” He said aloud while mentally giving and order to the Aquarian guard to detain the one scientist. He would root out any opposition from this one’s mind for amusement’s sake.

  Chapter 38

  Nemesis sat on his throne thinking. It appeared the Great Dark truly was coming. It was equally clear the scientists had no idea how soon it would arrive. It would be best not to wait, however. So, Nemesis contemplated his options.

  He drew on the memories of the Grand Plan he’d taken from Javin and the others. He could find is own way to leave this galaxy but
he didn’t know how. Could he use the Portal system? Could he Move as the Dark Guardians had taught him?

  Before he could Move anywhere he first needed to know where he was going. To his knowledge no one had been beyond this galaxy that he knew of.

  The next option would be to retrieve the Third Article of Power and take control of the Ancient’s plan. If he did this, he would be heralded as the savior of the galaxy and would rule. That didn’t seem so bad. There was only that little bit about Javin needing to sacrifice himself in order to activate the Matrix. Javin was dead, and Nemesis certainly wasn’t going to stand in for him. Besides, they didn’t have enough of the Gestalt Stones with living Promised Ones to make it all work now. There still had to be a way . . .

  With two Articles of Power Nemesis had been able to subdue any people he came in contact with - until Javin and his friends had interceded. His mind sorted through what he knew of the Grand Plan. Perhaps he shouldn’t have killed Javin . . . thrice, he chuckled.

  Javin was an integral part of the plan. He’d have to find a way to work around that. Perhaps now was the time to attack Javin’s friends directly. They’d only defeated him before because they’d come at him from odd directions. Maybe it was time he subdued them now, once and for all.

  He turned his mind on how to go about this, for he couldn’t simply kill them. He needed them all to enact to the Grand Plan, to activate the Grand Matrix and save the galaxy. What he needed was to compel them, and with all three Articles of Power he could surely do that. The key would be to somehow obtain the third Article of Power. It was hidden. Though once he could compel Kokos and the others, its location would be revealed easily enough.

  There was still the problem of Javin’s death, and that of the Chameleon man he’d also killed - Chahzuu was his name. He would just have to find others to fill in, and retrieve the Gestalt Stones from those who were dead. Besides, from Sauros’ memories there was the possibility his former masters had taken Chahzuu along with his betrothed into their realm, and they really weren’t dead after all. So, there was one he could locate. Javin’s stone was another matter. He would just have to take it from his dead body and place it in another.

  Nemesis’ plan was starting to come together. There was a way. It hinged first on him obtaining the Third Article of Power.

  Then he started to sense something, a feeling of disquiet, like what was happening now was tremulous, about to change? He realized the feeling was coming from his Gestalt Stone, and he had only felt this prior in a small way, when he had unconsciously travelled in time. What did this mean? This feeling he was having now? A feeling that things were about to change.

  Nemesis solidified his shielding and tightly held the power of the two Articles. He would need to be ready for anything. It seemed he needed to enact his plan sooner rather than later.

  ***

  Thoth had awakened again deep within the largest pyramid on earth. He sent his senses out, questing to see why. Was it time? He quickly found the Prime, or what seemed like the Prime. Again, he was… lacking, and Thoth was shocked to discover the Prime was accompanied by a race the Ancients had set to guard the Great Portal world. They were attacking this world and killing its people! The Prime was doing this! Attacking his own people, whom he had been set to save. What reason would cause him to do this?

  Thoth reached out and again touched the soul of the Prime, this time delving deeper.

  What's this? There was something else, other memories from other races. This was something unanticipated. The Ancients had not foreseen this. And here, there was a darkness in the Prime's soul which caused Thoth to recoil.

  What had caused such anguish and anger? Then Thoth recognized another odd thing. The Gestalt Stone embedded within the Prime was not the one intended. Could it be this causing such variance from the Plan they had envisioned? And further, he could sense from the resonance that at least two Articles of Power were in use by this one! This was not at all expected. Didn't they know the danger?

  So, Thoth, contrary to his nature, continued to delve and subtly pull from the Prime all his memories, knowledge and experience. He needed to learn what had happened. What had pulled these younger races from the course they, the Ancients, had set? This planet was in ruin, the people dying, and the Prime, the one set to save them, was the cause of it all.

  Thoth thought he should intervene, but with his questing senses realized time was very short. If the races were intent upon destroying each other, they had their free will. Though Thoth realized the Prime had deceived the Protector race into causing this destruction. If the time had not been so close, Thoth would have intervened, taken the veil from the race set to guard the Grand Matrix and sent them home.

  The Great Dark was nearly here and would consume this galaxy anyway. There was nothing he could do to change that. There was no sense in acting now. The Plan of the Ancients, actually his plan when it came down to it, had failed. Only his curiosity as to what had caused it to go wrong kept him from simply stepping through a Portal to rejoin his brethren outside space and time and leave these younger races to their own end.

  Thoth sat still, assimilating the memories of the Prime, and realized this was not the Prime after all. One of the other races, the most advanced race when the Plan was initiated, had acted too soon. They had created this false Prime and interrupted all they had set up. And now this one, a clone of the Prime, had shrugged off the yoke of his masters and formed his own plan.

  This caused Thoth to cast out into the cosmos again, searching for the real Prime. It took time, and from a vast distance the resonance surfaced. He found the real Prime, along with the proper Gestalt Stone, which contained the balance of the Grand Plan locked inside. It was Thoth's role to watch, to see when appropriate, to unlock this information to the Prime. Too much knowledge too swiftly caused more destruction than any other thing. This was evident by the disruption of all their planning he now witnessed.

  Thoth, from this great distance chanced to probe deeper. He realized the real Prime was blocked somehow. Only a portion of his memories were available. This was interesting. Thoth pondered whether he should unblock those memories, so he could sift through the blocked portions as well. This was a thing normally distasteful when done without one's knowledge, or against one's will.

  Thoth decided he would wait and watch. He needed to think this through. Observe more before acting. Perhaps with more knowledge a path would become clear. He doubted it would make a difference. Yet watching could cause no harm. Thoth knew with his tie to his brethren, the Ancients, he could step through a Portal and rejoin them even at the last minute.

  He was saddened by what had happened. He had cared so much about the infant races at the time they had discovered the Great Dark. Thoth, in particular had studied them, helped them, and was their greatest advocate among all his brethren.

  With all the Ancient's vaunted power they could not stop the Great Dark, could not push it back, only plan a way to save the younger races as they had been able to save themselves.

  Yet the Ancients had realized they could not rescue those races without their being sufficiently advanced to live together in harmony. Now, their adolescence was still a problem. They were at the cusp, true, but disruption of the Plan had ruined progression of where these races should be.

  Thoth expanded his awareness. A brief skimming of the Prime and those around him made him pause. They had another of the Articles and were using it as well. And he felt their desire and resolve. He realized there was yet hope. A minuscule hope. But hope nonetheless. Could they actually succeed?

  Then Thoth sensed something else, like a coming ripple he could see from a distance. A wave in the Timeline was approaching. It hadn't occurred yet, but its effects were mounting. This indeed, was very interesting. And he set himself to observe, to remain outside the Timeline, so he could see the effects and determine results.

  Time was short, but events, it seemed, were speeding up to match.

  Chapter 39<
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  Javin felt himself re-form in the Archive room. He was still holding on to the energy of the Third Article of Power. It filled him, rejuvenated him. That energy was having the same effect on Sauros, Rolla, and Kokos. Their bond was also strengthened and heightened through the Third Article. It was almost as if they were one person.

  Immediately upon solidifying, Javin turned to Sauros, who knew what he was going to say.

  “We need to get to Darzeen. He must unlock my memories.”

  “We are coming too.” Kokos said. Rolla nodded emphatically. Javin felt their resolve and only then saw the Third Article of Power glowing in Kokos’ outstretched palm. She was giving it to Javin.

  “You must take this.” She said. “You must carry it with you always now.”

  “It was always meant for you anyway.” Sauros said.

  A brief flash of the memory, the prophecy they had discussed, flashed through Javin’s mind. The image of Sauros sliding him into the chamber within a great pyramid holding the Three Articles of Power, preparatory to joining them in a blinding flash of annihilation that flooded the Grand Matrix with power.

  Javin shook his head, “We can’t worry about that now,” he said to Sauros mentally. All heard. “One step at a time and we’ll figure things out,” Javin continued. Then he turned and moved toward the Portal room followed by the others. Already forming in his mind was the desire to be taken to Darzeen in his realm. They walked down the short hallway, entering the Portal room where the Portal was already activated, shimmering and ready.

  Without hesitation Javin stepped through, followed by the others. All of them still held the energy of the Third Article of Power. The transfer through the Portal was swift. Javin sensed Sauros’ familiarity with this trip as he had done it just recently.

  They exited out into a realm of pure white, no definition anywhere. Javin stepped forward, concentrating on Darzeen and how to find him. The others came through the Portal just behind him. Javin didn’t bother to turn and look as he knew the Portal would fade just as it had done with Sauros. It didn’t exist in this alternate realm.