“Thank you for your attention, everyone,” the commander said. “I’m going to cut to the chase, because we don’t have any time to waste. To tell you about the situation as we know it, let me introduce Doctor Jonathon Hutchinson.”
Hutchinson, a tall, thin man with an angular nose and long, windswept silver hair, nodded.
“Thank you, Commander. We owe you and your team a debt of gratitude. Without your small but dedicated group, I dare say the Earth and the human race would’ve had their fates sealed long, long ago.”
He swished his arm and a large, holographic display showed open space, thousands of stars and several constellations. The doctor swirled his finger at the display and it turned to a three-dimensional series of scaffolds made of nebulous light and cloudy, thin filaments. It seemed almost like a computer animation of the arteries and veins and capillaries in a human body. Only this wasn’t a human body. It was the universe, webbing surrounding and interconnecting everything. A massive network of cells with charged synapses at every junction, the stars acting as firing mechanisms, the points of connection.
“Scientists have long postulated there is much more to the universe than our limited perceptions can detect. Only through keen observation, using what little we understand, the astrophysical community has begun to measure what is called Dark Matter, which is actually the internal substructure, the core that binds and connects and holds the universe together. We’ve told the public very little about Dark Matter, only enough to satiate the masses, actually. One thing we’ve told them is that Dark Matter is a theory, and even if true, it’s just an inanimate force, an uncaring, unfeeling, non-sentient entity. But we know better. We know Dark Matter is alive, and we know it’s…Eteea.”
Jack was beyond bewilderment. He searched the other puzzled faces in hopes someone might have known what the heck was going on. A general murmur signified the overall confusion in the group. The only one who didn’t seem perplexed was Argus, who watched with keen interest. And when the lecture stalled, he prompted the doctor with a question.
“Doctor? If Eteea is Dark Matter, then what do we have to be afraid of?”
“We don’t have anything to fear from Dark Matter, or Eteea, at all. It’s a benevolent force. It confirms the theory of quantum connectivity, really. It also confirms what has been written in religious texts all over the world. It’s truly a remarkable thing, Eteea. It’s both scientific and spiritual. Both logical and fantastical. Truly a miracle. But it’s not infallible, as we’ve witnessed recently.”
He swept his arm again, and the screen zoomed out of the Milky Way, then veered in another direction, past several other galaxies, further and further into the remote reaches of space until it came upon a system of planets shrouded in a lavender nebulous cloud and revolving around a red giant. Immediately Jack recognized it as the La’oon system. He locked eyes with Takota. Takota nodded slowly. Amelia must have realized what it was too. She gasped and squeezed Jack’s hand.
Jack stood.
“I know this place. This is where the La’oonians live.”
“Who?” the doctor looked confused. Argus sat straighter, and the commander perked up as well.
“What’re you talking about, Jack?” his mom asked. “How do you know?”
“Because I was there,” he indicated the small, shimmering planet. “Right there! We both were,” he gestured to Takota. “Takota and I.”
“What?” Liz raised her voice. “When did this happen? Are you teleporting to other galaxies without asking your mother first?”
“I didn’t do it on purpose. The O/A started up on its own and just took us there,” he pointed at the hologram. “To that very place,” he felt terrible suddenly. “We saw it all. So much destruction. So much death.”
As he spoke, the live action occurred right before his eyes in stunning 3D and bright, crisp color. Just as he’d seen before when the O/A lifted him and Takota away from the alien world at the last second, he once again saw the La’oonian home planet bombarded by several larger ones. A collision of such immense magnitude, so destructive, so bright, even the display had a hard time showing it, fading and fragmenting as the celestial bodies broke apart, consumed by a dark, sinister presence of unparalleled proportions.
“That’s what we saw,” Jack lowered his head.
“This,” the doctor cast a suspicious look at Jack, then continued. “Is what we’re facing, what our own galaxy is facing. Total and complete destruction. An extinction event to end all extinction events. After this, there is no more. No more anything. No more universe, at least not the way we know it. Something will take its place,” the doctor swished his hand and the screen focused in on the dark void. “For as long as we in the scientific community have known about Eteea, we’ve also had knowledge of its exact opposite, its mortal enemy, if you will. This savage force exists only for one thing: to destroy, to consume, and transform everything in its path into bleak desolation. The public knows it as Dark Energy. But we know its real name—”
“Essinis,” said Cheyton. The Tanakee shuddered at the very word. So did Jack, and he felt Amelia’s trembling hand. Not Argus, though. As everyone else shifted and mumbled, Argus stared at the animated loop of the La’oonian planet’s destruction, almost with a smug satisfaction.
“Correct,” Doctor Hutchinson confirmed Cheyton’s assertion. “Essinis. We’ve been tracking this menace for a long time. For centuries, astrologers, and then astronomers have been aware of Essinis and its effects on the universe. It’s tearing apart everything in its path and, soon, it will reach us and destroy all that we know.”
“But this system is millions of light years away,” Ben said.
“Billions, actually,” corrected the doctor.
“Okay, billions. Even better,” continued Ben. “It’ll take trillions of years to get here. Why are we so concerned about this now?”
“Under the normal laws of physics, I would agree with you. But this is far from a normal circumstance. Essinis is growing faster. Its size is increasing exponentially. At first, we had no cause to worry. Now that we’ve recalculated its rate of growth and its trajectory, we’ve come to the conclusion it will reach us much sooner than we first thought.”
“How soon?” Ben’s face went blank. Jack had never seen him so serious.
Doctor Hutchinson breathed heavily and glanced at Commander Klein. The commander nodded, and the doctor continued.
“Within two weeks.”
“Two weeks!” Ben stood quickly. “That’s not enough time!”
Jack’s stomach butterflies made another frantic appearance.
“What are we going to do? I’ve seen how powerful Essinis can be. Look at it. It eats planets. It destroys galaxies. I tried to fight it,” he motioned to Takota. “We tried to fight it. I’m sorry, but even as powerful as Argus is, and as much ability as Amelia has, and as good as the Tanakee are, we’ll never be able to overcome it, especially with the Nagas breathing down our necks.”
“That’s why I’m here,” Argus stood and puffed his chest. “If it were me, I wouldn’t have failed the La’oonians. Their home world wouldn’t have been destroyed.”
“Argus!” Amelia chastised him. “That wasn’t nice.”
“I’m just telling the truth.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jack tried hard to keep his anger in check. “You have no clue. There were Eteea warriors in that galaxy at one time, but when Takota and I were brought there, they were all gone. All except for one. And she’d lost her protector. Essinis was all over them. It was fast, and powerful, and there was no stopping it.”
“I’m not afraid of Essinis,” Argus waved his hand dismissively. “None of us should be afraid of it. We’ll be fine,” he had a misplaced confidence, and Jack knew that would be his undoing.
“You just don’t know,” Jack brooded.
“I do know,” Argus’s eyes brightened, and, at the same time, darkened. It was the strangest thing, and it felt like no
body else saw it but Jack. “I know all about Essinis, and I know it won’t be a problem.”
“It won’t be a problem once we finally locate all the Children,” added the commander.
“You mean the Children of the Blue Crystal?” asked Amelia.
Her father nodded.
“That’s our next step, to bring them here, under the safekeeping of the Eteeans,” he faced the Tanakee. “And it’s imperative that we pair up each child with his or her protector. We can’t even try to make a move until all the Tanakee have been located.”
“How did you locate them before?” Amelia asked. “How did you locate Jack and Takota? And Argus?”
The commander clenched his jaw and took a deep breath, staring at his daughter silently.
“What?” she asked again, this time more forcefully. “Why won’t you tell me how you found them?”
“You mean you don’t know?” Argus chuckled. “Commander Klein? You haven’t told Amelia yet?”
The commander rumpled his brow at the boy. Jack felt as apprehensive as Amelia looked.
“We don’t need to divulge every detail,” said the commander.
“Why not?” Argus prodded. “You told me you were proud of your daughter. That she’d already been a tremendous help to the Eteeans.”
“But I just got here,” she alternated her stare between her father and Argus. “How could I have helped with anything?”
“Listen, Amelia, we—”
Her dad begun to explain, but Argus, in his usual arrogant and inconsiderate way, butted in.
“He’s been using your abilities all this time,” he crossed his arms, smiling that arrogant smile of his. “Listening to you while you were asleep. Hypnotizing you without you knowing it. Tapping into your Eteea powers using technology you haven’t even heard of. That’s how he found Jack. That’s how he found me!”
Amelia gathered a short, rapid breath, her lips pursed, her jaw clenched.
“You did what!”
Her father squeezed her elbows.
“Don’t be angry, honey,” he both begged and seemed to command her at the same time. “It was the best way, the only way to utilize your aptitudes for the mission status to be a success.”
“Utilize my aptitudes?” she twisted away. “Mission status? I’m not some piece of military hardware! I’m a person, with feelings and emotions and…I’m your daughter!”
“Now, Amelia,” her dad took a careful step in her direction.
“No!” she burst from his advance, spun on both heels, and stormed out, her long hair whipping in a frenzy, her eyes aglow with rage. Jack wanted badly to comfort her, but the look on her face filled him with such fright he had to stop and take a quick breath. Never, ever, had he seen her so angry. She sprinted through the exit membrane, disappearing behind a film of iridescent fizzles and sparks.
EIGHTEEN
JACK, IN LOOKING for Amelia, hoped he didn’t have to search the entire Black Pyramid. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found her in the dormitory. She didn’t seem so happy to see him, though. She had her head down, sitting on a cot and staring at the floor. He got beside her slowly.
“Are you okay?” he didn’t know what else to say.
“He used me, Jack,” she sniffled. “My own father. The one person in this world I’m supposed to trust, and he betrayed that trust.”
“I’m-I’m sure he had a good reason.”
“There’s never a good reason to betray someone like that, especially your own daughter,” she put her head in her hands. “You could never understand. Your dad is so great. He shares everything with you.”
“That may be true,” Jack got up brusquely. “But I happen to know a little bit about betrayal right now. From everyone. Even you, Amelia,” he caught her ruddy stare and turned away. She put her hand on his shoulder. “Don’t,” he squirmed away. “Just don’t.”
“Jack, I’m…I’m sorry, but—”
“Don’t tell me you’re sorry,” he said. “Because this is way past sorry. I mean, I feel bad that your dad secretly used your abilities, but at least you still have Ayita. You still have a protector. I don’t have anything. I lost the O/A and Takota to Argus. And I lost you too,” he paced to the exit. Amelia stopped him.
“Jack, I thought I knew what was going on,” she sniffled. “We’re a pathetic pair, aren’t we? Both of us confused as the day we were born.”
“But why, Amelia? Why didn’t you see this coming? I mean, can’t you see the future?”
“I don’t see everything,” she said. “I only have the powers Eteea wants me to have, I guess.”
“Yeah,” agreed Jack. “I’ve had firsthand experience with that.”
“It works in mysterious ways,” she tried to force a smile. Then she yawned and stretched. “You know what? All this excitement has really drained me. If you don’t mind, I think I’ll just get some rest.”
Jack wasn’t in the mood for a nap. He still had too much energy to burn, and knew just where to burn it. The Discovery Room.
“THERE YOU ARE, JACK,” Rory greeted him with a big smile. Her tone told him he wasn’t going to like what she had to say. He was right. “I’m glad you’re back. We need to do some quick tests on you, okay?”
And before he knew it, Jack felt like a prized pig. Poked and prodded. Measured and scrutinized. First they took measurements of his eyes and tested his vision. Then they confirmed his bone density and shocked his muscles with electronic pulses to examine his endurance and reflexes. The testing and retesting had gone on far too long, and he’d begun to lose his patience.
“Tell me again, why do I have to do this?”
The lab tech raised an eyebrow.
“Just standard stuff, Jack. Don’t worry.”
“But why?” he was just plain confused. But more than that, he was annoyed. “Why do we have to do this? What about Argus? Why doesn’t he have to?”
Rory ran a laser grid over Jack’s temples, then crossed his eyeballs. The brightness stung for a moment.
“We already did all the testing on Argus,” she laughed.
“You did, huh? And I suppose you’re the ones who determined he was the True Soul?”
“It was a group consensus.”
“Group consensus,” he repeated as the exam continued. “You guys have a pretty thorough procedure, then? Did all the background checks on him?”
“Jack,” Rory let her self-confidence become self-evident. “Argus is the True Soul. I’m sorry you can’t accept that.”
NINETEEN
TAKOTA FOLLOWED ARGUS, his new charge, everywhere he went, although he didn’t like the assignment. It felt strange. But, deep inside, he knew protecting the True Soul was his first priority.
When he and Argus arrived at the Discovery Room, they found two people in there already—Rory and Jack. Jack saw him and smiled. Then Jack noticed Argus, and every shred of joy evaporated. It ripped Takota apart inside.
“Ah,” said Argus. “Getting in some discovery? Excellent choice, Jack. You need all the experience you can get.”
“Argus, I’m gonna…” Jack made a move, but Rory held onto him.
“Don’t, Jack.”
“I don’t need you to protect me from him, Rory,” Argus scoffed. “I’ve got my protector,” he nodded smugly at Takota. “Where’s your protector, Jack?”
“You filthy…” Jack did it again, and again Rory stopped him. Argus laughed out loud.
“That’s enough!” Takota shouted. “I’m not letting you fight over me anymore!” he controlled his breath, concentrated, and slipped out of time and space. As he crossed dimensions, he heard both Jack and Argus calling his name. Right away, he found himself where he wanted to be, near the waterfall at the entrance to Wind Whisper Woods. In a sudden blast of electric light, Ayita was by his side.
“What are you doing?” she looked confused. Then, with three other blasts, Cheyton, Enola and Pud showed up, all surveying the forest, ready for anything.
“What
’s going on?” Cheyton twisted to scan their surroundings. “Why are we here?”
“That’s my business,” snapped Takota. “Why’d you all have to follow me?”
“Because we’re a tribe, Takota,” Enola’s greenish glow relaxed him a bit. “We’re supposed to stick together.”
“I need to talk to Orzabal alone.”
Ayita took his hand, and her gaze locked onto his.
“It’s about Jack, isn’t it?”
“Why can’t I just stay with him? Why can’t Argus get another protector?”
“Argus is the True Soul,” she said softly.
“That’s what everybody keeps saying,” he shook his head. “I’m just not sure.”
He teleported to the top of the long stairway, carved into the steep rock cliff. Near the ledge he stood. Toes dangling, shaggy hair tumbling over his eyes, he stared down at his four Tanakee friends.
“Takota!” yelled Pud. Then he blinked to Takota’s right. “We have to get back to the Black Pyramid. They need us there.”
As the rest of the Tanakee appeared on the rocky cliff, Takota answered.
“Something’s wrong.”
“What’s giving you problems, dear?” Enola asked.
“Can’t you see? It’s everything. I’m not sure if I can trust Commander Klein. How do we know these Eteeans really have our best interest at heart? Most of all, I’m not certain about Argus. I mean, where did he come from? Doesn’t this seem a little odd to anyone else?”
“I can’t believe this,” Cheyton threw up his paws. “After all this time I’ve been telling you guys humans aren’t to be trusted, now you finally wake up?”
“That’s not true and you know it,” Ayita argued. “I trust Amelia completely.”
“Really?” Cheyton got close and forced her into a stare. “Do you really trust her?”
Ayita looked away.
“It is not about whether you can trust humans,” a powerful voice rocked the trees. Immediately, by the smooth yet commanding tone, Takota knew it was Orzabal. The gray old Tanakee made himself seen by stepping out of a ripple in the very air, his way of moving through dimensions. Much more refined than the others. Takota saw that plainly. “Do not concern yourselves with trusting others,” he declared, giving each of the stunned Tanakee an individual glance. “All you must do is learn how to listen to what is inside of you. Listen to the Call.”
Jack James and the Call of the Tanakee Page 14