The Prophet: Resurrection: A Sci-Fi Thriller

by David Beers

Rhett sighed, it turning into a shudder midway out. A tear leaked from the corner of both eyes, dripping hot down his face.

  “Now, I need you all to hold it together, because time is short, and you have to know what to expect.”

  Rhett wiped at his eyes and grit his teeth, anger rising in him. Anger at Rebecca for creating this damned dichotomy. Anger at the position they were now in, so close to their goal but losing the one who had led them the whole way. He sat up and looked at David.

  “There has to be something we can do. Some way to reverse this or hold it off until the Union. We can’t just sit here and accept it, David.”

  Christine was still at his feet, and she turned to David hopefully, as if Rhett’s rage could somehow stem the inevitability of his words.

  David shook his head. “If there was, I would do it, Rhett. But there simply isn’t. Right now, there are thousands of people climbing up the One Path’s Globe, killing everything they see, and their eyes are burning gray, just like yours did. They’re pulling that power from me, and the well is running dry. There’s enough to finish this, but no more.” He leaned forward and grabbed the back of Rhett’s head, pulling him close so that their foreheads touched. “Come with me this last little bit, Rhett. That’s what I need from you, okay?”

  And Rhett nodded, his head against his Prophet’s.

  “No,” Rebecca said. “They don’t know what they’re talking about.”

  She was standing and nearly shaking. These people, all of them, were little more than ants crawling around a hill of dirt—and yet they were trying to challenge a god. They didn’t have a clue as to what they were doing, and their decisions now were about to kill everyone.

  “No,” Rebecca said again, truly unable to find many more words. That was the only one that mattered. No. They weren’t going back to the One Path. They were heading to the Nile and they were stopping David.

  The gray eyed girl was standing too. Nicki Sesam. David’s opposite. The thing the Unformed had feared so badly, and yet she seemed intent on ensuring Its continued existence—at the expense of her entire universe.

  “They need me.”

  “They need you?” Rebecca said. “An hour ago you couldn’t walk without me leading you, and an hour before that, you were sobbing about wanting to be away from all of this. Now, they need you, and you’re ready to run to them. They don’t know what is happening and neither do you.”

  The static inside Nicki’s eyes was growing heavier, though not quite sparking out yet. Rebecca knew the signs, though, even if the girl didn’t. Rebecca could push, but only so far, because eventually, the power inside this woman would come forth and that would be the end of everything.

  An idea occurred, one that perhaps should have come to her long before.

  “Let me talk to them,” Rebecca said.

  She didn’t know exactly how they were communicating with Nicki, only that it was happening—but such communication only went through Nicki, blocking everyone else out. And they didn’t have to do it that way; they could just as easily call this ship they were flying on.

  “What?” Nicki asked.

  “Let me talk to them. Let me explain to them what’s going to happen. Because right now they only see David’s minions coming for them; they have no idea what’s happening elsewhere. Do they even know David’s alive?”

  “I ….”

  And that was the difference between this person and David, though both their eyes carried a static that spoke of untold power. David wouldn’t have stumbled, not even for a moment. He was in control of all, master of everything, and this person here was barely a woman. Sheltered and without a clue as to what was happening around her.

  “They don’t. They don’t know anything that’s happening outside of that globe, and if they use you right now to save themselves, the rest of the world dies. So let me speak to them.”

  Nicki appeared lost, looking at the floor, maybe not even keeping up with all the words Rebecca spewed. “I don’t know—”

  “Give them the ship’s protocol number. They can connect within seconds.”

  Nicki shook her head, looking up. “No. You’re going to talk them out of it, and there isn’t time.”

  She kept venturing back and forth from lost to anger, and the anger truly frightened Rebecca. It seemed more raw than David’s, if that was even possible. It seemed like something was pulling the girl, telling her that such anger was the path she wanted to be on. David would find his anger, but he could always find his way out of it again. Rebecca wasn’t sure this woman could.

  Raylyn stepped forward then, as if appearing out of nowhere. Rebecca had nearly forgotten she was here, Raylyn almost becoming another piece of the ship.

  Yet, she stepped forward and touched Nicki’s arm. Nicki’s head snapped over, her eyes actually sparking then—gray static jumping out of them and dying in the air before her.

  Raylyn pulled away, but only for a second. She seemed to steady herself and then reached forward again, lightly taking Nicki’s elbow.

  “Let them call. It won’t take long. A few minutes, and then I’ll vote whichever way you want to, Nicki. If she talks to them, and you want to go back, I’ll side with you. We’ll go back. Two against one.”

  Nicki stared at her for a second as if not actually understanding the words being said.

  Raylyn looked at Rebecca. “Tell her. If we both say we go to the Globe, then that’s where we go. Democratic vote.”

  Rebecca almost laughed, but stifled it. Democracy, a notion that the Ministries themselves had thrown away thousands and thousands of years ago. What else was Rebecca going to say, though? No? She wouldn’t agree to anything these two fools said? She couldn’t do that, because the anger resting underneath Nicki’s frail exterior was real—and an explosion here would be nearly the same as executing the Unformed’s welcoming party.

  Rebecca nodded.

  “See. So let them call.”

  Nicki said nothing, only turned away from the two of them and walked across the transport. Seconds passed in silence, with Rebecca only staring at her back. She didn’t know what was happening, but she wasn’t concerned with what Raylyn might think or do. The woman was only here because Rebecca hadn’t given her up to David.

  “What’s the protocol number?” Nicki asked.

  Rebecca’s eyes lit green, her nanotech finding the appropriate code. “5-9-6-N-T-Z-4-6.”

  More seconds passed and then a voice vibrated out of the walls. “This is Pope Pius XX. Who am I speaking with?”

  Rebecca’s eyes narrowed, not fully understanding everything that was happening. Had the girl been talking to the Old World’s Minister? Rebecca kept hearing about Nicki’s father, but …

  Never mind, she thought. It’s not important who all she’s talking to. What’s important is getting this ship to the Nile River.

  “I’m Rebecca Hollowborne. I’m the Prophet’s sister. Are you with Nicki Sesam’s father?”

  “I am,” the Pope said. “He’s here now, listening.”

  “Who else is there?” Rebecca asked, wanting to get an understanding of her audience.

  “Trinant One of the One Path and Benten Connor of the Constant.” The Pope paused for a second, and then more tentatively said, “and a Catholic Church acolyte.”

  “Time is running out,” Rebecca said, doing her absolute best to keep from adding on any sarcastic titles. “Are you aware that my brother lives?”

  Silence on the other end.

  “Hello?” Rebecca asked.

  “No. We’re not aware of that. We know there have been revolutions within our Ministries that resemble the Black, but no one has seen the weapon.”

  “He’s alive,” Rebecca said. “And everything that is happening right now is happening because he orchestrated it. There are people in that globe, right? People coming to kill you?”

  “Yes.”

  “And what do they look like? Is there any semblance to my brother?”

  “Yes,” the
Pope said more quietly.

  “It’s because he’s alive, and now your world is burning, and you all are about to die. There’s only one person on this planet that can save us, and it’s the woman in this ship with me. The one you contacted, asking her to save you. Pope Pius XX, I promise you, and anyone else with you, that if Nicki Sesam returns to that globe, everything you know will die. The only chance of survival, for you and this planet, is if she stops my brother.”

  The transport was silent as Rebecca finished speaking.

  The other two women stared at her, and in that moment, she wished she had her brother’s powers. Throughout her life, she had never wanted such a thing. She’d always been content to watch him rule, knowing the responsibility that came with such gifts. Now, though, unable to make these people listen, she wished her eyes could spark gray and they would all burn—as long as it meant she reached the Nile.

  “Nicki?” it was another man’s voice, someone Rebecca didn’t know.

  “Dad?”

  Rebecca looked at Nicki now for the first time in minutes, having only been concentrating on her own words. Nicki’s eyes were extinguished, returning to their normal color. Emotionally masked for the past hour, tears now swam across them.

  “Are you okay, honey?”

  “Yes. Yes, I’m okay. Are you? Did I hurt you?”

  “No, honey,” the man said. “No, you didn’t hurt me at all. I ….” A sad chuckle sprang from the ship’s walls. “I didn’t want them to contact you, not after the first time. I just wanted you to know that I was safe, and to make sure you were too. I didn’t ever want you to come back here.”

  Rebecca was quiet, not completely sure what sort of conversation was taking place, but also not against what she heard at the moment. Emotional, yes, but the father wasn’t begging for his daughter’s return—and their transport was still heading toward the Nile.

  “Dad—”

  “No, just wait a second, Nicki. Let me finish. The Pope, he sort of convinced me to allow them to reach out, because a lot of people here are going to die. Not just me, but a lot of other people. I still don’t know if it was the right thing to do. A large part of me says it wasn’t, that it isn’t. You’re my daughter and I don’t care what happens to the rest of this world, I just want you to be safe.”

  Rebecca heard tears in the man’s voice, matching his daughter’s eyes.

  “Is this woman telling the truth? Is the weapon still alive?”

  “Yes,” Nicki said.

  “You’re sure?”

  Nicki nodded, though her father couldn’t see it. “Yes.”

  “What about the rest?” he asked. “What about what he’s planning to do?”

  “I don’t know, Dad.”

  “Can she hear me?”

  “Yes,” Nicki said.

  “I can hear you,” Rebecca confirmed.

  “What happens if she doesn’t go down there with you? Don’t try to lie. I’ll know.”

  Rebecca heard the man, almost not believing him. Yet, something in his tone said he wasn’t lying, and that if she didn’t tell the truth, he would be able to tell.

  Which was interesting, if unimportant. Rebecca had nothing to say but the truth.

  “If she doesn’t go, we all die.”

  “Including her?” the father asked.

  “Yes. Everyone, including her.”

  Daniel touched the small, digital button on the Minister’s desk. He felt no awkwardness at doing it, completely forgetting the titles of those around him. He was speaking to his daughter, finally, and that was all he cared about. The rest of these people were only tools to enable their conversation.

  The digital button muted the call.

  Daniel looked to the psychopath.

  “Is she telling the truth?”

  The psychopath’s eyes widened, not expecting the question. If Daniel had completely forgotten his societal status amongst these people, the psychopath had remembered his even more fully. He wanted to be unseen and unheard.

  “I … I can’t reach out to her,” he stammered. “You know that. It’s only your daughter. She’s the one with the power.”

  “Shhh,” Daniel whispered and stepped forward, making the Ministers move backward, creating room for him as he went to the psychopath. “Just try. That’s all I’m asking. Do you think she’s telling the truth? Does Nicki have to go there?”

  Carriage looked to his right, to where the Pope stood.

  “No,” Daniel said, his voice still soft. “Don’t look at him. There’s no authority here but you. There’s no one that can tell you no. There’s no one that can say you shouldn’t. For this moment, Jackson, you’re in complete control, and I’m asking you to use what you were born with. I’d do it myself, but I can’t anymore. Just try to see if this woman is telling the truth about my daughter.”

  He saw that the man wanted to look to the Pope again, but he didn’t let his face turn. He kept his eyes only on Daniel.

  “Go on,” he urged. “Just try. If you can’t, you can’t.”

  The psychopath sighed and then closed his eyes. He held them that way for a long time, and the woman on the other side of the conversation chimed in with a “Hello?” at some point, but no one responded. They all waited, looking at Jackson Carriage—a murderer, a psychopath, and the person Daniel had to trust above all others in this moment.

  He opened his eyes. “I can’t say for sure. She doesn’t have the sight, so it makes this little more than a guess, but I think she’s telling the truth. At least, I think she believes she’s telling the truth.”

  “Thank you,” Daniel said, and then stepped back to the button on the table. He didn’t touch it, but looked to Spyden. “How much time until they reach the floor below ours?”

  “Two hours max.”

  No one else said anything, and Daniel thought that’s because they knew they had no power here. They could rant, rave, or throw him out the damned window, and in the end, only he and his daughter mattered. So they were quiet, and he pressed the button on the table.

  “Honey, Nicki, you there?”

  “Yes, Dad.”

  “Hollowborne, you there, too?”

  “Yes,” the answer came.

  “How long until you reach that river?”

  “Three hours.”

  “How far away are you from us?” Daniel asked.

  “Two hours.”

  Daniel was quiet for a second, and then asked his last question. “How far away is the weapon from the river?”

  “I don’t know. He might already be there.”

  Daniel nodded, not looking at anyone around him. “Nicki, darling, I need to think for a few minutes. Ten or so. I’ll be right back, okay? I promise.”

  “Okay,” his daughter said, and Daniel could almost see her nodding with tears in her eyes. Looking for some guidance from her father, despite him having none to give.

  “I’ll call you right back,” Daniel said. “I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  He listened as the connection ended, then finally looked to the others. He found Yule’s eyes. “I need a few minutes.”

  Daniel walked to the other side of the room, taking a chair and sitting so that he faced the now transparent glass. The sun was almost down, the moon ready for its turn.

  Yule watched him and said nothing as he went.

  “I think we might want to recap what’s happening right now,” Trinant said. “For everyone’s sake.”

  Yule didn’t pull his eyes away from Daniel Sesam as he spoke. “What do you mean?”

  “We originally contacted her to bring her here, and now we’re … what? We’re putting our trust in the weapon’s sister, that his daughter is needed somewhere else, some place away from here? That’s what we’re doing, correct?”

  Yule was quiet for a moment, gathering his own thoughts. Finally, he said, “It does sound a bit crazy, doesn’t it?”

  “What?” Benten asked. “Are you listening to yourself right
now? Are you listening to what Trinant is saying?”

  “I hear what you’re all saying. I’m just not sure any of it matters. The only thing that’s important right now is what that man over there believes. Whether he thinks saving us, or sending his daughter to fight some demon is more important. We don’t exist anymore, and maybe none of you have realized that yet. He exists. His daughter exists. And that weapon exists. And whatever happens, it’s up to those three and God.”

  Daniel looked out at the darkening world with dry eyes.

  He started out on this path with his wife, her convincing him to shield their daughter from the knowledge of the sight. Some ghastly Ministry program to try and replicate the weapon. To try and produce a weapon of their own.

  That had been two plus decades ago, and now Daniel sat here in a world he never expected to visit, surrounded by people he never should have known, and only wanting to be with his daughter.

  He was dry-eyed because he knew the responsibility falling on him now demanded it. The psychopath told him the woman was telling the truth, and Daniel had thought the same from the tone in her voice. There were any number of other possibilities—one being that she was bringing Nicki to the weapon simply to kill her.

  He didn’t feel it was true, though.

  The woman sounded scared, nearly defeated. Defiant still, refusing to give up, but Daniel thought she saw the end rapidly approaching.

  Nicki has been at the center of this from the very beginning, he thought. You have tried and tried to pull her from it, but no matter what you do, she’s still right there.

  What are they asking of you right now? Be very clear on it. What is it that you have to answer when you stand back up?

  Daniel Sesam had to tell his daughter whether to run or fight. He had to tell her whether to risk her life or not.

  And what have you been doing this whole time? What have you told her since the beginning—tried to force her to do even as far back as that shitty motel when you tried taking her out the back bathroom window?

  Daniel had been running. He’d attempted to remove his daughter from harm. He was her father, and that was his job, if no other. To make sure she lived.