Aarik racked his brain for a logical explanation for what they were seeing, obviously missing a vital piece of information. It wasn’t until Rais mentioned something about his brother that Aarik pieced the puzzle together and said, “Wait, you’re Ah’naki?”
“Flesh and blood, as the saying goes. Now I know what you’re thinking, he looks just like the gorgeous yet maniacal madman we just fought, and you would be right. Th’ael is my twin brother,” Commander Rais admitted, and then held up his hands in a neutral fashion and quickly added, “Let me explain.”
“Twin? Don’t you think you’re a little old to be his twin?” Aarik asked in confusion.
Rh’ael chuckled and said, “Oh right. Sometimes I forget I’m in disguise.” Bringing his hands up to his temples, he picked at his skin until he pulled off the crows’ feet prosthesis attached to the corner of his eyes and said, “It’s cumbersome, but it allows me to stay in my current position much longer without having to fake my death.”
“Holy shit, Dad! You’ve got to be freaking kidding me! Does mom know?” exclaimed Anna, as she practically danced in place with her excitement and then added apologetically, “Sorry for the language.”
“Annalee, why doesn’t it surprise me to find you in the middle of the action? Yes, she knows,” teased Commander Rais with a wink.
“That’s your dad? I’m so confused; I thought you indicated you were a prisoner at Area T. What is going on?” exclaimed Taylor, scratching his head in confusion.
“I’m her adopted father, and you are?” questioned Rh’ael, as he eyed Anna and Taylor’s close proximity to each other.
“Dad! Really? It’s not the time or place to drill my new boyfriend. I never said I was a prisoner per se, but dad here is a little over protective and doesn’t trust that I can take care of myself,” explained Anna, before she turned back to Rh’ael with her hands on her hips and said, “ I believe you were about to explain yourself.”
“Boyfriend?” questioned Taylor, at the same time as Rh’ael asked, “Prisoner?”
Anna ignored her dad and turned to Taylor with a grin and said, “Aren’t we?” Taylor swooped her up into his arms and swung her in a circle until she squealed. Coming to a stop, he carefully placed her on her feet, kissed her forehead said, “You’re the smartest and most beautiful woman I have ever met; I’d be honored to call you my girlfriend.”
Anna hugged Taylor tight and, from beneath his arms, said, “I love that you mentioned beautiful last. See, Dad, I picked a good one. Go ahead, start explaining, you can grill Taylor after I’m done grilling you.”
Clearing his throat, Rh’ael straightened his tie and said, “Right. Well, I have to give you the short version because otherwise we could be here for a while.”
Anna gave her father the evil eye, when she thought he was trying to skip out on important details, to which he replied, “What? A lot has happened in the last twelve thousand years!”
“Fine, but don’t leave out any of the crucial stuff!” relented Anna, stepping out of Taylor’s arms to give her dad more of her undivided attention.
“Th’ael and I are what you might consider royalty on our planet. Our parents were a part of a team of scientists who discovered the medical procedure that granted immortality to our people. As it is with all things, not everyone agreed on how it should be used. One side of the team believed it should be shared with everyone while the other was more inclined to take the elitist approach. I’m not proud to admit it, but my parents were of the latter group and, to make a long story short, they won that argument.”
“Wait, does that mean I’m a princess?” Anna inquired, with a look of wonder on her face.
“Anna! So not the appropriate time! Let him finish,” Kiya chastised with her pointy finger.
“To answer your question; no, Anna, it does not. I gave up my claim on the throne the moment I changed sides, although technically they don’t know that, but that’s beside the point. Where was I? Oh yeah, fast forward a few hundred thousand years and even with all of our technological advances we were running low on precious resources. My brother and I were just one of many fleets sent around the universe to gather the things we took for granted on our world. Ah’naki are naturally lazy, so each time we visited somewhere new we enslaved the local inhabitants or made our own,” admitted Rh’ael, looking at Kiya inquisitively as he finished the last sentence before continuing on, “Of course, those actions created many god-like complexes among my people, which meant they had no problem nurturing those qualities among those that worshipped them. Over time, uprisings occurred when our real identities were discovered and, using our technology, we wiped them out, forcing them back to the dark ages. This planet has been reset six times by my people since our initial colonization. The rebels crippled us twelve thousand years ago and turned the tides of the war when they shut down the origin, keeping my people from easy access to quick reinforcements.”
“Why didn’t you just leave with your spaceships and catch a wormhole back or something?” Aarik asked in fascination.
“We didn’t have one here or trust me we would have used it. Interspatial travel is fast, but not as fast as the Origin Passage. Once we establish one on a planet we rarely stop by on ships,” Rh’ael replied, as he nodded to the room they were in with reverence.
“Twelve thousand years is an awful long time to be out of contact, you’d think your parents would have sent someone to check up on you. Especially when they realized the Portal was down,” Kiya pointed out, moving to Aarik’s side to help him up.
“When you can live forever, twelve thousand years is barely a blip in the grand scheme of things. I’m sure they would have gotten around to it eventually,” explained Rh’ael with a shrug, and then said, “May I continue?”
“Sorry. Yes of course,” Kiya stammered out in embarrassment, as she helped Aarik to his feet, lending her support as he wobbled uneasily on his feet.
Rh’ael walked over to the back wall and plucked the origin crystal from its chamber, which caused the room to power down slowly. Holding the crystal up in the air he inspected it briefly and said, “For such a little thing it sure does have a big impact. It’s best to control who comes and goes around here until the war is over. We wouldn’t want them sneaking in just anywhere. Until we have guards at every Portal, I think I’ll hold onto this.” Rh’ael wrapped the crystal in a monogrammed handkerchief and pocketed it carefully before he continued, “After the origin closed, it became apparent some of our men were sympathetic to the local inhabitants’ plight and had assisted them during the uprising. So receptive, in fact, they claimed their half breeds as Kh’izmets, tying their souls for eternity and giving them superior power over the rest of us. It took everything we had to take back the city and, when we were done, I hid At’lantis underwater and went in search of the origin crystal. Needless to say I didn’t find it, but in the process I became a very powerful and influential man.”
“How did you go from bad guy to good guy? You are the good guy, right?” Anna interjected with a hopeful tone.
“What’s a Kh’izmet?” questioned Aarik at the same time Kiya asked, “By half-breed do you mean Thrall?”
“Do you want me to tell the story or not?” teased Rh’ael and when he heard a resounding yes from the group he continued, “That’s what I thought. To answer your questions, a Kh’izmet is akin to a soul mate and yes, I am referring to Thralls. I’ll get to your question next, Anna, but first some history. I was the original founder of the Freemasons and when that group ceased to function the way I intended it, I created the Illuminati as a spin off. I needed complete secrecy and since I am immortal, the mysteriousness the society afforded me worked to my advantage. I thought I was merely biding my time while I waited for my people to come to our rescue. That is until the day I met your mother and she captured my heart. She was so beautiful inside and out and when I remembered Victoria would be a blink in my existence, I redoubled my efforts to find the origin, shortly after you came i
nto our lives. Using my influence and wealth, I created Project WEST as a ruse to search for it.”
“How do you turn someone immortal?” Aarik inquired breathlessly.
“With the Ah’naki Regenerating Chamber, commonly referred to as the ARC. I believe Kiya encountered one when she first woke Th’ael. Speaking of which, it appears like you could benefit from the use of one. Follow me,” answered Rh’ael, as he headed towards the door.
Aarik was thankful for Kiya’s support while they followed behind Rh’ael, but when his brain finally caught up to him he said, “Sorry for asking what I feel is a stupid question, but if all you needed was these ARC pod chambers, why were you worried about the origin crystal? Couldn’t you have just used one of those to make your wife immortal?”
“Excellent question. On Earth the ARCs receive their energy from the origin passage. When I removed the crystal just now all the energy stored in the obelisks and wall was redirected to the crystal chamber room, allowing the minimal functions to continue, like healing or stasis. Unfortunately the process to make a human immortal takes more power then what is in reserves. Now that I have the crystal, I’ll time her change to correspond with one of the times I power it up for your return,” answered Rh’ael, assisting Aarik up into the ARC.
“What was that you just said? I don’t think I heard you correctly,” Aarik queried as he settled himself inside the crystal chamber with the first of his nerves showing their head as he waited for the ARC to do whatever it was supposed to do to revitalize him.
“You heard me correctly. I need you two to venture to the planet Nae’dere, orbiting the star Mintaka, located in Orion’s belt. I’ll have Anna stock you up with the best gadgetry we have to offer. It is imperative of you to find the rebels on my home planet, known as the Watchers and convince them to join with us. It is the only way we stand a chance at winning this war.” answered Rh’ael in a solemn tone, closing the lid on Aarik, giving him an eerie sense of finality. A soft yellow glow emanated from the ARC, surrounding him, sending chills of rejuvenation throughout his body in the process. By the time Rh’ael opened the capsule, less than a minute later, he felt refreshed and alive with energy.
Kiya helped Aarik out of the ARC and, with hope in her eyes, said, “Maybe that’s why my Grams went, to make contact with the rebels….I mean she had to have had a reason. I refuse to believe she betrayed us like that. I’m all for saddling up and saving the world and her in the process.”
“I’m sorry to say this, but your grandmother is a lost cause and can no longer be trusted. She performed the Ah’naki binding ceremony with my brother. The vow cannot be broken until the promise has been satisfied or one of them dies...No matter how much she might want to help, the bond is irreversible,” responded Rh’ael with pity in his eyes, before he added, “You’ll have her back once we win this war. Although probably not as the same person she once was. Power has a way of changing people and not for the better, in my opinion.”
“And you’re okay with killing your own brother?” questioned Aarik, when he saw the concern in Kiya’s eyes.
“There is always hope. I mean we are twins and, if I can have a change of heart, anything is possible,” replied Rh’ael with a small smile, before he sobered and said, “If push comes to shove, I will side by my human wife and protect her until my dying breath. If that means killing my brother, I’m prepared to handle the consequences regardless if it is by my hand or my command.”
“Brutal,” Anna commented in sympathy.
“How are we supposed to find them? These watchers you mentioned. Actually back up….how are we supposed to get past the security guarding each entrance to your world? Th’ael said he would make sure they were protected!” asked Kiya with concern.
“I believe that is where I come in,” offered Anna as she rubbed her hands together and said, “Back at Area T we have top of the line gadgets that will come in handy when trying to sneak in. A Wavelength Eliminating Disc, otherwise known as a WED, will get you past most checkpoints, but works best against natural lighting. Are there any Portals outside? What type of situations do you think they might encounter? Do I need to worry about metal detectors? How are they going to blend in?” Anna fired off question after question only pausing for a breath before she said, “Well?”
“There are only two outside Portals on my world. One is in the palace gardens and the other resides in the southern hemisphere. When I left home, the latter was encased in a glacier from the last ice age we experienced, caused by a super volcano, much like what happens to Earth when Yellowstone explodes. A lot can happen in twelve thousand years, especially considering the fact that my people evacuated the planet prior to the explosion and were able to establish a fully working world quicker than if they had started over from scratch; which means greenhouse gasses play a large role in warming the place back up. What I am trying to say is we can try the back door, per se, but it could be useless, or we could go with my crazy plan to strike at the heart. The southern Portal is farther from the last known location of the rebels and could require heavy snow gear, but if you sneak into the castle quietly no one will suspect a thing. The outfit Kiya is wearing under that jacket will work and if Aarik dons one of my old ceremonial robes, he could practically pass as me. The gardens are used only by mother, with her handmaidens standing sentry while she works. She prefers to think outside and likes her privacy. No one will be watching the Origin Passageway, nor will they be expecting you to use it. Only the royal family has the access code to use it and, with Th’ael home and me being dead and all, it’s a foolproof plan. If you sneak in tonight using the WED, you’ll be able to rendezvous with the rebels by morning and be back home by nightfall, if all goes as planned. I would send them in with something to handle any possible situation. The mission will require diplomacy, ingenuity, and unity,” explained Rh’ael, as he led the way back to the Vos’rok’s Terra Locke.
“What do you mean by unity? Do we need to strike up some kind of accord with the Watchers?” queried Aarik, as they headed down the ramp into the Terra Locke. Aarik looked around in appreciation when he found each docking station occupied with a terracraft, courtesy of the exodus of Th’ael and his men.
“Not with the rebels. More like a vinculum, a bond of unity between yourselves,” Rh’ael relayed with hesitation.
Aarik bumped into Kiya when she stopped abruptly and said, “Bond? Like a marriage?”
“Not exactly. I’ll explain more at your debriefing tonight after you have a chance to clean up, change and get geared for your departure. We need to strike while they think you are recovering from your exertion today. Think you’re up for the challenge?” questioned Rh’ael, with one brow raised, as he passed by Kiya and headed toward one of the podiums. Palming in the coordinates he added, “The more time we waste here, the less we’ll have to prep for your trip. Let’s head out. Anna, you’ll ride with me so we can discuss more of the details you’ll need to pick the best suited contraptions.”
Aarik sent Taylor back, using the craft Kiya had stolen, after Rh’ael and Anna jumped to Area T. Kiya looked dazed from the shock of the day as she waited for him in the terracraft. He programmed the podium quickly and after seating himself in the terracraft, he cleared his throat to get her attention. When she looked over with unshed tears threatening to spill, he pulled her close and said, “I’m so sorry. Everything of late has happened so fast and the stuff with your Grams and what not has to be a lot to take in. Are you ok? Do you want to talk about it?”
Kiya pulled back and looked him in the eye before she shook her head slowly and said in a broken voice, “Not much to talk about except that it’s not your fault. My Grams is a very persuasive woman. Just like I can be very stubborn. Hence, I refuse to believe all hope is lost, as Rh’ael suggested, and pray we’ll be able to bring her home.”
Aarik pulled Kiya onto his lap, when she broke down sobbing, and held her close. When her tears dried out, Aarik used his medallion to take them back to Area T. As th
e electrical plasma surrounded their craft, he wiped the last of her tears and said, “We’ll get her back. I promise.”
“How do you know?” Kiya asked, sniffing up at him.
“I don’t, but I won’t stop trying until she’s home,” vowed Aarik.
EPILOGUE
RH’AEL
Rh’ael dropped the washcloth into the bathroom sink and stared into the mirror at his youthful appearance. With a large sigh, he rested his head against the glass and contemplated his next steps. He lied to Anna when he said her mother knew about him, she was the main reason he wore the uncomfortable old man disguise in the first place. Victoria only knew he was from another world, but they never discussed his immortality. He didn’t have the heart to bring it up when he had no way of offering the same to her in return. With a heavy heart he pulled his cell out of his pocket and dialed home.
Victoria picked up on the first ring and said, “Please tell me you’re alright.”
“Of course I am, darling. I need you to get ready though, I have a car on its way to pick you up,” replied Rh’ael in a soothing tone.
“Thank God! Does this have something to do with what is on the news?” asked Victoria with relief in her voice.
“I was hoping we would be able to keep the press from releasing that bit of information until I was back in DC. But I suppose it’s hard to cover up something as big as the outer facade of the Washington Monument exploding to reveal a crystal obelisk shell underneath, in this day and age. Especially when said monument produced enough energy to power the world ten times over; when beams of energy crossed the globe striking ancient obelisks along the way before turning itself off just as mysteriously. Yes, it has something to do with that, and the fact that I need you close. I’ll explain more when you get here. It’s not something we should talk about over the phone,” explained Rh’ael, chastising himself internally for selfishly keeping his secret for a while longer.
Cities of the Forgotten Page 19