The mountains at the edge of Atlantis are exploding too.
“Smith!” Fahwad roars. “Cease this at once!” he demands. “Whatever you’re doing stop it now, you are ruining my city!”
Again, no response, but a frown does appear suddenly on Smith’s face, as if he’s just realised something, something he had not considered would happen.
Confused, as he’s never seen this expression before on his face, Fahwad asks him what is wrong, in response Smiths eyes look skywards.
Fahwad follows his gaze and has to shake his head twice at what he sees.
Fire in the sky.
But this time isn’t as before, this was no ship crash landing to Earth. It’s bigger. Much, much bigger than any vessel he’s ever seen. Fahwad knows it is no ship that bears down from above, it’s a comet falling from space.
Smith moves over to Sera, bends down and helps her to stand, steadying her with his eyes.
He looks deep into them and whispers in a voice so low Fahwad cannot hear.
“Time to say goodbye Sera,” he lowers his head.
“What? What is going on?”
“It’s the goddam apocalypse, that’s what’s going on!” Fahwad yells, jumping forward where he stands and lunging at her with the spear.
Although distracted, Sera’s no stranger to violence, she avoids the strike and in the same movement launches an attack of her own, thrusting her spear forward.
The move is lightning quick and Fahwad has not expected it.
He has for a hundred years faced nothing but men of Earth and now facing a woman of his own race he finds himself hopelessly outmatched, both in strength and speed. Although wounded, Sera has had enough of a break to draw on reserves and counter his attack. The spear drives its point through his chest before he’s even seen the move.
She rises with it, coming towards him and forcing the spear deeper in, until it bursts through the other side of his body, crippling him. Satisfied, she tries to yank the spear backwards but finds it stuck.
Fahwad stands stunned.
“Traitor!” Sera screams at him viciously.
“Wait, we can talk, please … just look up, it’s the goddam apocalypse!” he begs, pointing to the sky.
Sera doesn’t relent on him though, she presses further, gathering the spear in her hands again and pushing on it, forcing Fahwad to step backwards. In the background, the giant fire that is raging across the sky plummets, at lighting speed, below the horizon and out of view.
Fahwad’s powerless to stop the momentum of Sera as she drives him towards the edge of the summit, a few screams mutter out of his mouth as he tries to find purchase on the ground, tries to stop what she’s trying to do, but his efforts are helpless.
As they near the edge of the platform, Sera steels herself for the final push, she expects Fahwad to try and resist and push back, to put up a final challenge to prevent himself from falling. But Fahwad does something else entirely, he reaches for her.
And latches powerfully onto her wrist, locking them together.
She can do nothing to stop it, her momentum combined with his last effort causes the two of them to topple over the lip of the summit.
Together they plunge from the summit, falling all the way to the temple floor, hundreds of feet below, locked together.
Smith stands alone atop the pyramid, watching the two topple, end over end, until they come to a stop at the pyramid’s ground level. Neither move where they’ve fallen.
But his interest isn’t in them.
His nightly meditations have afforded him enough time to see what was and what is to come. He never made mention of it to Fahwad, nor to Sera for that matter. He knows his time has come and now he must wait.
He sits on the pyramid alone, dangles his feet over the edge and looks to the horizon.
He waits patiently, absorbing and marvelling at the scenes before him, a veritable apocalypse.
Smaller fire trails can still be seen falling from the sky across the landscape, some landing in the city and others out to sea. But the giant comet that fell has already disappeared from view, a halo lines the horizon as a reminder of its presence.
Smith hears its impact with Earth, far away and into the sea.
The volcano in the foreground now spews forth lava from its mouth, its flow entering the channels of the city, off in the distance other volcanos now come to life, adding to the dilemma. Fires now rage across the city and people are panicking everywhere.
But dominating the scene is a menace far more threatening, soon after the sound of the comet’s impact with Earth another danger shows itself.
A giant wall of water appears on the horizon, rising from the same area the giant comet fell. Smith notices it approaching and see’s that its crest is high above the summit of the giant pyramid, a truly foreboding sight. When the great fire from the sky crashed into the oceans, coupled with the shaking of the earth, it was created.
A massive tsunami.
The ominous, giant wave bears down on the city of Atlantis. The grey, dark menace of a beast, its mass covering the horizon as far as you can see. It has only one thing in its path … Atlantis.
Smith closes his eyes and relaxes. His mind falls on a vision he’s seen in his nightly meditations and he whispers it softly to himself just before the wave hits. “Sousa is the key.”
The giant wave hits and Atlantis is no more.
- -
- -
RECALLING
destiny
- -
Fahwad
The room was completely quiet now and Samuel stood in stunned silence after Fahwad had dropped the two medical staff, who now lay motionless on the floor.
But a click of Fahwad’s fingers snapped him from his daze and he looked over to his master to see him nodding his head towards the door.
Samuel responded by promptly locking it and flicking the latch to give them extra security. He stood with his back to the door and looked over the mess that’d been created inside the small room and found himself shaking uncontrollably with fear.
Blood totally covered the head, neck and shoulders of the Viper’s body where he lay on the bed and bloody splotches dotted the neat white sheets around him. The blood pooled to one side of the mattress and dripped down onto the floor, creating another puddle of blood which snaked toward him.
What had Fahwad done to the Viper? It looked to Samuel like he’d just crushed his face inwards.
The doctor and nurse still hadn’t moved from where Fahwad had dropped them to the floor, they lay still with eyes staring blankly into the air. Samuel knew Fahwad had power, but he marvelled at how he could drop someone with just a wave of the hand.
He had of course seen lives be taken, but that was at the Destiny facility where everything on the thread was managed by high tech computers he’d spent years developing. This was something different, Fahwad was a god and Samuel sat awe struck, both intrigued and fearful at the same time.
Fahwad, after performing his ritual on the Viper, had cleaned his hands and taken a seat on a small lounge chair in the corner of the room. “Now Samuel, you know what comes next in our little story?”
“We need to find the threads, the ones you said fell from the sky.”
“Yes, once I find and absorb them they will make me more powerful. All our research is in place now, we just need the facility back … and the coffin.”
“Yes Fahwad. After here I will turn myself in and the next phase of our plan will take effect.”
“Good, now leave me be for the moment … I need rest.” He dabbed at the sweat covering his forehead.
His eyes closed and he went quiet, almost as if he was asleep. His efforts had clearly caused exertion, sweat pools showed on his clothing, as if he’d been suffering in some sort of a sub-tropical environment.
<
br /> Samuel had wondered what he was up to, forcing his fingers into the face of the Viper after ripping off the steel plate. It seemed like madness, but so had everything else since the two of them had left Destiny. He figured if he could drop the other two in the room then surely he could bring back the Viper, but how long would that take?
“Fahwad, we cannot stay here any longer,” he whispered. “People will notice something’s wrong.” He indicated the two bodies on the floor.
“Be quiet,” Fahwad commanded, eyes still shut.
“But someone will come looking for them, the doctor and …”
“Quiet, we are waiting.”
“Waiting for what …”
“Silence!” he cautioned back, this time opening his eyes and giving Samuel a frightful stare.
More than a little perturbed at the stare, Samuel acquiesced and rested back on the door, his back sliding down it until his bottom hit the floor, he rested there between his knees. Samuel had always cowered to Fahwad, he’d always been too fearful of him and his power. Thirty years inside his head had left him a completely dominated man.
As he sat there contemplating the next move in their plan, he started to hear a strange sucking sound. Oblivious to all else now but his own thoughts, he covered his ears, closed his eyes and tried to concentrate his mind on something else, the sound irritating his thoughts.
But the suckling sound started again, this time more consistent. Frustrated, he opened his eyes and glimpsed the room to see what was making the noise. Realising it was coming from the hospital bed, Samuel stood up and went over to investigate.
To his surprise, he saw the Viper’s lips puckering back and forth. He was trying to breathe, but his lips must’ve been too dry and they’d stuck together, creating the sucking sound. Samuel turned and scanned the room for water, finding a bottle nearby and retrieving it.
Dripping the water slowly at first, Samuel took care to try and wash away the blood congealed on the Viper’s face, taking care around his mouth and nose. Satisfied he’d gotten most of the blood off, he took a step back and observed the Viper.
His airways now unabated, he started to breathe normally.
Moments later, the Viper’s eyes opened, blinked slowly at first and then more steadily as his vision cleared. He sat up, raising his head, and saw he was on a hospital bed in a small room.
He noticed the blood, almost completely engulfing him, he looked to his arms and saw that they too were covered in crimson. Then his memory kicked in and his hands instinctively went to his head, feeling through his hair for any irregularities.
Touching his head, he found it odd he could find no damage and so proceeded to check the rest of his body, confused because of the large pools of blood surrounding him. Again, he was surprised to find he had no wounds and no pain.
Feeling strange, but satisfied he was in good health, the Viper took in the room and frowned as he noticed two people, who appeared to be doctors, lying on the floor. Two other people were in the room with him, one man seated with eyes closed and the other standing close by his bed.
He’d only met Samuel a few times, but he recognised the man who oversaw the Destiny facility right away.
“Samuel, what the hell man?”
“Viper, you’re alive … wow!”
“What the bloody hell happened man?” He scratched his head. “And what the hell are those fools doing on the floor hey?”
He looked to his left as he noticed something in the corner of his eye flicker and nearly jumped out of the bed when he saw the man sitting there, now awake and looking him dead in the eye. He noticed the man covered in sweat and thought it odd, for it was cool inside the room.
It was an unusual sight to see the Viper tremble but he involuntarily found himself doing so as he looked upon Fahwad for the first time, it was rare that someone would have this kind of effect on him. Normally he was the intimidator, the one that made others shudder. But now, for the first time, he felt what it was like to be on the other end.
The man breathed fear and his heart thumped in response.
Neither man spoke as they looked each other over, the Viper taking note of the man’s strong crooked nose, thick long beard and cold dead stare. He was wearing a shawl but he could tell the man had an elongated head, it just didn’t look right.
“And who are you then hey?” The Viper challenged him.
“I am your new master,” came the reply, the man standing up from his chair, stroking his long beard as he rose.
“I answer to no man, not even him.”
“I will accept that.”
“Ja? What does that mean hey?”
“Just as you say, you answer to no man.”
“That’s right.”
“Let me ask you a question?”
“Right, and why the bloody hell should I answer it?”
“Just listen goddam it!” he spat, irritation flaring.
“Whoa ... temper there buddy.”
“What do you get when you mix an ape with an alien?” Fahwad continued.
“How the bloody hell would I know?”
“Would you like to know the answer?”
“Fine, whatever.”
“A human.”
“Ha-ha, good one,” the Viper chuckled. “I thought you were going to say something about some Kaffir there for a second hey!”
Fahwad remained silent, only taking the time to wipe the sweat from his forehead.
“Who are you then hey?” The Viper asked, shifting so he could sit up properly in bed.
“As I said, I am your new master.”
“And as I said,” he replied, fidgeting in the bed. “I answer to no man.”
“Oh, I am no man, though I may appear as one.” Fahwad moved to grab a towel that hung to the side of the Viper’s bed. He took it and began to dry his face, both men looked at him strangely but said nothing of it to him.
The Viper frowned. “What?”
“I said I am no man!” Fahwad responded, his impatience showing through. “Samuel, he is a man. You, you are a man. But I am not, I am a god!”
“Pwwwt” the Viper spat.
“I once ruled these lands and now I am back, to do the same.”
“Are we in the mental hospital man?” the Viper chuckled. “You a crazy one.”
“Shut up!” Fahwad stammered.
“Whoa, you really do have a short temper hey!”
“You have been revived for a purpose Sousa de Boro and it was not to test my patience.”
The Viper flinched, nobody had used his actual name since he’d left his Special Forces Brigade in his home country of South Africa. Even then, whilst he was a member, he’d always been called by his codename, the Viper.
“What do you mean revived?”
“I brought you back, now your life is mine.”
The Viper rubbed the spot where his head had previously been caved in. He had a brief image flash in his mind of being back in the apartment, about to shoot that black fella when all of a sudden …
“Samuel, did you and that bitch revive me hey?”
“No Viper.”
“What?”
“The Destiny facility is no more; the thread is no longer a thread.”
“What you mean no more, you mean that bitch is dead and I am free! Bloody great man, she only kept me there because of that thread thing you know hey.”
The Viper made to move off the bed but found he was frozen. Unsure he looked straight at Fahwad, sensing he had something to do with it.
“Who are you strange man?” he asked.
“I said, I am no man.”
“Whatever hey.”
“My name is Fahwad Achmenabad,” he replied, throwing the now drenched towel to the corner of the room.
“Fahwad Ach-stink-a-bad don�
�t you mean.”
“Shut up you fool! This is no planet of mine, I cannot help it.”
The Viper rolled his eyes as the man spoke, as he seemed to be so enamoured with himself. Instead of listening to him speak the Viper decided he needed to move, so he rolled the sheets back and twisted out of the bed.
This time nothing stopped him.
But when his feet hit the floor he looked up strangely, feeling something different about himself. He stood and pounced on both feet, jumping on the spot like a soldier would, up and down for a few seconds. Then he balled his fists together and flexed his body, with a strange look on his face.
“What the hell man?” he said bewildered. “Something feels different.”
“Yes.” Fahwad looked at him intensely.
“What drugs did you give me?”
“It is no drug Sousa.”
The Viper, feeling unusual, moved over to the hospital wall where he began cracking his knuckles. Without warning he balled his hand into a fist and launched it into the rendered hospital wall, full strength.
The rendered brick wall crumpled under the punch, and left a visible hole where his fist had struck it. The Viper looked to his fist, opening and closing it as if it were a separate object. Then his gaze fell on the hole in the wall and the mess he’d created.
He turned and looked to Fahwad, who returned his look of amazement with a look of amusement.
“Yes Mr de Boro ... you feel different now, do you not?”
“Yeeeesss,” he said with ecstasy in his voice, now touching himself all over. “What did you do to me man?”
“I have given you the strength of ten men.”
“I feel so ... strong!”
“Strong so that you may serve me better.”
“I feel, so …” he shook his head, ecstatic with this new sensation pulsating through him. “Powerful!”
Forgetting himself for a moment he turned back to Fahwad. “Hey what did you say before man?”
Recalling Destiny Page 45