Celeste was speechless and angry beyond comprehension. She wanted to sneak into her father’s room down the hall and kill him. She never could have imagined the evil he had inflicted, not only on the humans, but to her fellow Gnols as well.
Runa wiped the tears away and turned his attention back to his computer. He turned the screen to face Celeste. She looked at the screen and noticed two blinking red lights in one of the rooms of the blueprint.
You see these two lights?” Runa asked.
Kylee and Celeste both nodded.
“These lights are signals from your ankle bracelets. If either of you exceed a distance of one hundred yards from this wrist band that is strapped to the guards in my detail, your bracelets will self destruct.”
Celeste and Kylee glanced at each other with defeat in their eyes. Celeste shook her head. How was she ever going to make it to the top floor to find out her father’s secret, not to mention obtain the antidote for Kylee, and escape?
Runa seemed to know what Celeste was thinking. He looked at Kylee, again with compassion in his eyes. “Miss Palmer, can you walk?”
“Please, call me Kylee. And yes, I can.”
“Okay, Kylee, will you please leave the room and walk down the corridor to the elevator.”
Kylee nodded, knowing what Runa had in mind. She got up, walked out of the room, and walked down the corridor.
Celeste watched the computer screen as she did so. Her eyes widened, as the blinking light representing Kylee did not move. She looked back up at Runa as Kylee returned. Kylee made her way back to the bed and sat down. “Did it work?” she asked.
Runa smiled at Kylee. “Yes.”
Celeste looked first at Kylee and then back to Runa. “Am I missing something here?”
Runa let out a small laugh. “No. The only ones that know the access codes to those bracelets are your father and his chief computer officer. But, unbeknownst to them, I was able to crack the codes and can now virtually place you anywhere in the palace.”
Celeste jumped to her feet and hugged Runa. He nearly dropped his computer. After Celeste pulled away, Runa became extremely serious and said, “Now, Celeste, I suggest you go now to discover your father’s secret.”
**********
An hour later, Celeste had managed to make her way to the elevator that led from her father’s office to the mysterious top floor of the palace, using the access codes Runa had given her. When the elevator stopped, she felt her stomach turn over. A feeling of pure anxiety resonated throughout her entire body. What secret lies beyond these doors? she thought.
The elevator door slid open. Celeste stepped slowly, with nervous anticipation, into the pitch-black room. Suddenly, light illuminated from a giant crystal chandelier, lighting the entire 5,000 square foot room. Celeste looked around. There were no windows. The walls were painted a bright white, brighter than any white Celeste had ever seen, which reflected the light and made the room even more dazzling. Celeste blinked to adjust her eyesight. Once her eyes were focused, she began to walk along the maroon carpet to the only items in the room.
In the center of the room was a black metal square pad that seemed to have a perimeter of about five feet by five feet. She looked at it with curiosity and wondered what its purpose was. She then looked at the other item in the room.
About ten feet from the metal pad was a ten-foot gold statue of the goddess of light. She made her way to the statue and walked around it. She continued to scan the room for any more clues or items, but nothing.
She took a deep breath and in frustration began to walk toward the elevator. As she walked, she stepped onto the metal pad. The moment her foot touched the pad, the lights from the chandelier went out. She stopped and listened for anyone else in the darkness.
Unexpectedly, another light illuminated the room, but this light was different. This light seemed whiter than any light Celeste had ever seen. The light source emanated from behind her. With her guard up, she slowly and cautiously turned around.
She nearly passed out with shock with what she saw. There, floating about ten feet in midair, above the statue, were two bare feet. She slowly moved her eyes upward and saw a free flowing white robe, covering the body of the most beautiful woman she had ever seen.
The woman was real. Only this woman seemed to be thirty feet tall. She had long flowing blond hair that emitted a light of its own. Celeste locked eyes with the woman, and as she peered into the most beautiful blue eyes she ever looked upon, the woman spoke to her.
“Celeste, my child, it is so good to finally speak to you in person.”
**********
Celeste slowly walked down the hallway leading to her room. As she passed her father’s room, she could hear his voice. It sounded like he was speaking with someone on his computer monitor. She knew that her father rarely slept, so it didn’t surprise her that he was still hard at work. She also knew that her father was monitoring her current position, which told her that Runa must have successfully manipulated the computer system. If her father even were to suspect that she was a foot outside of her room, the entire palace would be on alert.
She tiptoed quietly by her father’s room, knowing her father’s senses were acutely sensitive. As she walked toward her room, she saw Runa sitting at his desk outside of her room. Runa looked up from his computer with a look of anticipation. Celeste nodded and walked into her room with Runa following.
Kylee shot up from her lying position on the bed. Celeste noticed she didn’t look well, but the eagerness she had for what Celeste discovered superseded any physical discomfort she may have felt. Celeste sat on the bed next to Kylee with Runa across on the other bed.
“Well?” Runa said with excitement in his voice. “What did you find?”
Celeste, with a look of confusion on her face, replied, “I don’t know. I-I think I had a revelation from my father’s goddess.”
Kylee gasped, “That can’t be.”
“I know,” Celeste said. “Everything your father and Jake have told me about your God tells me that what I experienced couldn’t be. She didn’t have a physical body. It was like … like she was a spirit.”
“Or a hologram,” Runa interjected.
Celeste looked at Runa with bewilderment. “A hologram?”
Runa continued, “I’ve been monitoring the energy levels within the palace. I was curious to see what readings I would get when you entered the top floor. While you were there, the energy levels spiked. The readings matched the energy signature from hologram technology.”
“But this wasn’t a recording, Nateal,” Celeste said. “I communicated and interacted with her.”
“What did she tell you?” Kylee asked.
“Nothing that I didn’t already know. She basically told me that she was the goddess sent to reveal new technology to the people of Gnolom and that my father was the chosen one. And that I needed to repent and follow him.”
Celeste stopped and looked at Runa. “If it wasn’t a recording, then I had to be interacting in person with her. She has to be somewhere in the palace or within Chast.”
Runa looked down and thought for a moment. “Gnolom. … She has to be on Gnolom.”
Celeste nodded. “That makes sense. Wherever my father went on Gnolom and learned about new technology, she has to be the source.”
Kylee cut in. “But I thought Gnolom was a dead planet. How can someone survive on Gnolom?”
“Unless she is not alive,” Runa stated.
It hit Celeste like a hammer. She remembered the story of how Adrian and his crew had to abandon Mars I in outer space. “A computer program!” Celeste looked at Kylee. “Kylee, you might remember more about your father’s past. I know that Mars I had an artificially intelligent computer system. What was it they called her?”
Kylee thought for a moment and then looked up with a smile on her face. “Maggie. They called her Maggie. My dad’s bother, Kevin, invented artificial intelligence.” Kylee stopped, and emotions flooded to the surfac
e. “My dad always said that he somehow felt responsible for the Gnols coming to Terrest. … And he’s right. It was Maggie and Mars I that gave Koroan the knowledge for new technology and a way to escape Gnolom.”
Celeste put her hand on Kylee’s. “There is no way Adrian could have known that by abandoning Mars I, he would cause the enslavement of the Terrestrian people.” Celeste then looked at Runa. “Nateal, we need to escape and get to Gnolom.”
“I’ve already planned an escape. But we can’t go for at least a week. Your father is scheduled to leave Terrest in a week to visit Earth. There is no way we can attempt an escape while your father is on the planet.” Runa looked at Kylee, “Also, Kylee, you may not survive past a week. This will give me enough time to crack the security codes to the facility where they are keeping the antidote.”
Celeste sighed. “Okay, we sit tight … but I have another concern. If my father communicates with the goddess of light or Maggie, he is going to know that I was out of my room and found the hologram.”
Runa lowered his head and thought for a moment. “I might know a way around that. If it truly is a hologram, I can temporarily down the power to the top floor. I’ve already gained access to the power grid that powers the palace. I needed access to it to plan our escape.”
Celeste smiled, amazed at Nateal Runa’s ability to crack into the most secure computer system on the planet of Terrest. She had full confidence that they would be able to escape the palace, be reunited with Jake, and return to Gnolom to destroy the source of her father’s power.
CHAPTER 19: WELCOME HOME
One week later. Slave Camp of Zikf …
Skip stood next to Captain Belzar, waiting for the hover-truck of new prisoners to enter the front gate of the slave camp. The breeze blew through Skip’s dark hair, which was now significantly longer, touching the top of his shoulders. He scratched at the thick beard on his face and breathed in the air. The air was hot and thick with humidity; the smells of the jungle penetrating his senses.
Skip looked up at Captain Noran Belzar. Small beads of sweat dripped down over the brow of his ebony forehead. It had been over a week since Captain Belzar had discovered Skip with his artificial leg open. Strangely, he didn’t say a word about it; he had only confiscated the items that Skip found in his artificial leg, including the key that would free all of the slaves from the slave camp of Zikf. He also wondered why Commander Schaal didn’t torture or kill him for what he had discovered in his leg. Skip got the impression that Belzar didn’t even report it.
He turned his attention back to the hover-truck as it stopped in front of them. The two Gnol guards escorting the prisoners exited the vehicle and opened the bay door at the rear of the craft. The prisoners, locked in shackles, filed out one by one. As the prisoners passed by Skip and Belzar, Skip scanned the tattooed bar codes on the top of the prisoner’s right hands. Skip was shocked when he looked at the last two prisoners – directly in front of him stood Bantyr and Sean. Skip tried to make eye contact with them as he scanned their hands. But Bantyr and Sean kept their eyes down. Skip knew that they were already in the control of the Gnol Enforcer.
After scanning the prisoners, Skip turned around and began walking toward the camp administration building with Captain Belzar at his side. Skip put his head down and let out a sigh. Feeling hopeless, he knew there was no way he could escape with Skyler, Sean, and Bantyr under the twenty-four hour control of Gnol Enforcers. In addition, without the item that Belzar took from him, there was no way he could wake his friends up from the mental prison they were in.
As Skip began to make his way back to the administration building of the camp, Belzar gently grabbed Skip’s right shoulder to stop him. Skip stopped and looked up at Belzar. Belzar reached into the pockets of his fatigues and pulled out the item that Skip desperately needed. “Is this what you need to free your friends?”
Skip, astonished, reached out for the item. Belzar handed it to him, and Skip responded, “Wh … I don’t understand, Captain? What are you doing?”
For the first time that Skip could recall, Captain Noran Belzar turned the corner of his lips into a small smile. “I had been up all night the night I found you with these items. I monitored everything the hologram said to you. When I entered your room, I wasn’t angry. My eyes were red because I had been crying.”
Skip looked at Belzar with confusion. “Crying?”
Belzar continued. “Earlier that day, a female prisoner gave birth to a baby girl. Commander Schaal ordered that the baby be killed immediately and that every male and female prisoner be sterilized.”
Skip nodded, knowing about the sterilization program, but he was unaware that a female prisoner had actually given birth. He continued to stare at Captain Belzar as tears began rolling down Belzar’s face.
Belzar gritted his teeth. “What kind of person does that? This was an innocent, new life. What kind of god enslaves and kills innocent people?”
Skip didn’t know what to say.
Belzar continued. “The night that I confiscated those items from you, I was in turmoil about my own allegiances. I decided not to give the items to Commander Schaal. Instead, I had that last item analyzed. The disk is a computer virus. When inserted into the mainframe of our computer system, it will kill all power to the camp, including the signal that the Enforcers use to keep the mind control of the prisoners. The virus is powerful enough to completely destroy the camp computer and power systems. There will be no way for our experts here to recover.”
Skip was speechless. All he could do was put his left hand on Belzar’s shoulder.
Captain Noran Belzar managed another small smile and said, “Oh, and Skip … you can call me ‘Tiny.’”
**********
Adrian didn't know how much time had passed. Ever since he was dragged out of Dorange’s office after their battle, he had been locked up in solitary confinement in the same room on the Gnol ship that he had been in before. Kept in almost utter darkness and near death, he was given one cup of water a day and a small ration of food. For some reason, the Gnols were keeping him alive. They even mended his leg.
He knew that the Gnol ship was on Earth now. He gathered that information from the rumblings of the ship as it landed. Where it landed, he could only guess. Adrian felt in the darkness for the cup of water. He could tell that he only had about a sip left. Hoping that he had spread his water out throughout the day, he took the final sip. As he let the water wet the dryness of his throat, he wondered about his old copilot, Donald Garrett, or Dorange Gar, as he was now known. He wondered if Dorange was dead. There was no way anyone could have survived the wound that Adrian had inflicted upon him.
Adrian also wondered how he had become so powerful during his battle with Dorange. He had tried to use his newfound telekinetic powers when he was brought back to solitary confinement. However, they didn’t work. He was surprised how he had so much power during the fight with Dorange, and yet before, he could barely use the techniques Celeste had taught him. And now here he sat, again unable to access the powers.
Suddenly, the door to the room slid open. As always, the brightness of the hall lights caused temporary blindness. That was soon alleviated, however, as two Gnols blindfolded and gagged him. They also tied his hands behind his back. The two Gnols grabbed him under his arms. They dragged him down the corridor of the ship to the hangar bay. The two Gnols then dragged him into a transport shuttle and buckled him into one of the passenger seats. Then the two Gnols exited the transport. As far as Adrian could tell, he was the only prisoner on the ship and the only one besides the pilot and copilot.
The shuttle took off. After what seemed like an hour or two of flight, the shuttle landed. He heard the shuttle doors open and heard the voices of about four Gnols. “There he is. Take him to the holding cell.”
Adrian again felt two Gnols grab him under his arms. They dragged him along the ground. Once outside the shuttle, Adrian could tell the day was hot. He also knew that he was being dragged al
ong a lawn. Where he was, he had no idea.
The two Gnols dragged Adrian into a building. They then entered an elevator. Adrian felt the elevator move down to the basement of the building. After a few seconds, the elevator reached its destination. The doors opened, and the two Gnols dragged Adrian forward. After about fifty feet, they stopped. Adrian heard the buzz of the lock to a jail cell and heard the cell open. The two Gnols tossed Adrian into the cell.
With his eyes blindfolded and his hands tied behind his back, Adrian had no way to prevent his forehead from slamming into the concrete floor below. The blow nearly caused him to black out.
He heard voices within the cell. He heard a young man’s voice. “Who is it, Dad?”
There was a long pause as Adrian managed to make it to a sitting position with his back against the wall. He also felt blood drip from his forehead. Then, he heard a familiar voice.
“It can’t be.”
Adrian heard another voice of a young woman. “Dad, is that Uncle—”
Adrian felt someone kneel down beside him.
Again, he heard the familiar voice. “Yes, Ashley … he … he is your Uncle Adrian.”
The man kneeling next to Adrian pulled the blindfold off Adrian’s eyes. After a few seconds, his eyes adjusted to the light. He looked at the man’s face and then at the young woman and boy standing behind. He focused his attention back to the man kneeling in front of him. “Kev … Kevin … is that you?”
Kevin smiled and grabbed Adrian into a tight hug. “It’s me, Adrian. It’s me, your big brother. Welcome home.”
**********
Worlds Without End: The Mission (Book 1) Page 38