The Zondon: Terrorists and Aliens (an International Suspense Thriller)

by RobCharters

  He stepped on it, placing the other foot on the other footprint.

  Suddenly, the pedestal began to rise, taking Ibrahim upward. It was unnerving at first, but he knew this must be the way to the top. The pedestal continued rising even after it had reached its original height.

  Ibrahim looked up, and saw that a square hole had opened at the apex of the pyramid shaped room.

  The pedestal raised him through the hole and stopped. Ibrahim found himself at the end of another passage, just high enough for him to walk upright.

  Walking by the light of the crystal he was holding, he went straight on until he came to the end.

  To his left, there were stairs going up in the opposite direction from which he came. He walked up, and continued climbing up and up and up.

  Then, he was at a dead end. He stood on the last step, and the panel before him began to slide downward.

  It was a stone of the same dimensions as the pedestal that had lifted him from the pyramid shaped room.

  Suddenly a crack of blinding light shone at the top, and became wider and wider as the stone slid down.

  Ibrahim could hardly see when stone was level with his feet, he was blinking so from the brightness.

  Almost feeling his way, he stepped forward, and the stone began sliding upward, bringing him to the top of the pyramid.

  The sun was setting, but still the light of day was blinding him.

  'Allah be praised! It's him!' It was the voice of Uncle Abdul.

  Ed was also there, videotaping his ascent.

  Ibrahim looked at them still blinking, and then placed the crystal pyramid down and ran to hug Uncle Abdul.

  Ed suddenly had the presence of mind to shut the video camera. 'What happened to your clothes?' he asked.

  Ibrahim, through tears, began to explain to them what happened.

  Ed took off his polo shirt and put it on Ibrahim. It reached down to his knees thereby covering his nakedness. Ed would descend the pyramid shirtless.

  They were standing near one corner of the top of the pyramid

  'Now I call the ship,' said Ibrahim.

  He picked up the crystal pyramid and lifted it as high as he could over his head. It was heavy, and it took all his strength just to get it up to arms length above him. He wondered how long he could keep it there, but suddenly, just as his arms had straightened beneath the weight, it seemed like a magnetic force held it there for him. The other two could see something like thin lightening bolts occasionally flashing, sometimes barely visible, from each of the four corners of the stone surface they were standing on and the apex of the crystal pyramid. Then, a thin lightning bolt began flashing from the crystal, straight up into the sky.

  Of course, Ed caught it on video.

  Ibrahim remained in that position, now almost suspended from the crystal, rather than holding it up.

  'How will it land here with this contraption they've built on this thing?' said Abdul. He was referring to a tripod that had been built by Italian engineers to support a pole that showed where the apex of the pyramid ought to have been.

  They didn't see the ship until it was already about a hundred meters from them, and only then, because it showed the setting sun through it's body like a magnifying glass. It was almost a globe, but was flattened at the top and bottom so that it was the shape of a Smarty or M&M candy, and it looked almost transparent.

  It landed, not directly on top of the pyramid, but a bit to the side, just in front of where Ibrahim was standing so that it was half on and half over the edge, hovering about a foot off the floor.

  As it landed, the lightening from the pyramid stopped and Ibrahim suddenly buckled under the weight of the crystal. Abdul rushed to catch it before it dropped to the ground. Ed just stood, looking at the ship with his mouth open, only remembering a minute or so later to keep taking video footage.

  The three just stood speechlessly for the next few moments.

  It had a transflective surface -- meaning, it looked like it ought to have transparent, or mirror like qualities, but they couldn't see their own reflections in it. Only when one of them walked around to the other side was his image transflected to this side, as though he were really on this side, and the image a reflection. The light had some way of passing right through it without revealing what was inside, so that if it were seen against the sky, it would reflect the sky and the clouds above it. If it were seen from above, it would reflect the ground below. No doubt, it did the same with radar signals. It was the perfect camouflage.

  Finally, they were emboldened to step forward and touch it. To Abdul and Ed, it was like touching a metallic surface. When Ibrahim tired, his hand went in, almost like submerging it under the surface of water.

  The father he stuck his hand in, the stronger it would pull him in.

  He pulled his hand back.

  'Well, Ibrahim,' said Uncle Abdul. 'I guess this is where you must go on to do Allah's will.'

  Both Abdul and Ed gave him a hug. Ibrahim took the crystal and, this time, allowed himself to be pulled all the way in.

  Inside, it felt as though he were suspended in jelly, except he had complete freedom of movement. There was a selection of crystals around about, one that looked just like the green 'compound eye' crystal, only it was clear.

  He looked into the back and the colours began to speak to him.

  Through hardship you have proven your ability and willingness to respond to Wisdom in many forms. Now, you are to begin the next phase of your mission. You were chosen as the one to obtain the tools that the seven of you are to use. When you return to the other six, you can use this crystal to call the ships they they are to use. Your ship will hold the transmitter from the House of Energy which you have brought with you. It is your prize, but only yours insofar as you are to use it well. It will thus continue to serve its original purpose, which is to transmit the warning signal. Place it in the roof of your craft, directly above your head, and it will remain there as long as you leave it there. When you place this crystal on your forehead, you will have expanded Gloreen senses, however, your awakening to your Gloreen memory must wait until you are with the other six. The walls of this ship also act as a sort of crystal/knowledge cache. Among the things you may see will be a green spot of light. When that appears, it is a signal to follow to your next assignment. Place this crystal on your forehead now, and you will know what the other crystals are for.

  He obeyed, first placing the big pyramid above his head where it automatically found its way to the top of the ship, and then placing the compound eye shaped crystal on his forehead. Immediately he had expanded Zondon like senses, but without the memory. That, he supposed, was still in the green crystal, if it were intact. He could tell by looking at the other crystals what they were for.

  The small one, in the shape of the ship, was for controlling the movements and other functions of the craft. Among other things, he could use it to alter the colour and transflection of the ship's outer surface so as to increase or decrease its visibility, or to allow others see in. He did the latter.

  Immediately, Uncle Abdul and Ed, whom he could see all along, began waving to him.

  Uncle Abdul held a shopping bag forward. Ibrahim took the crystal off his forehead and reached his hand and his head out and took it. It contained the rest of the food they had brought with them.

  'Thank you very much!' Ibrahim called. 'I come back to visit you!'

  'You're always welcome,' responded Uncle Abdul.

  'Say hello to Ernie for me!' said Ed. 'Tell him I'm a one hundred percent believer!'

  Raising the control crystal slowly and carefully, he made the ship rise, and then initiated forward motion by moving the crystal ever so slightly away from him. The speed of the craft was controlled by how far away from him he positioned the crystal. There was no acceleration; the ship immediately went at whatever speed Ibrahim chose, using the crystal, without having to build up momentum. When he pulled it back so i
t was in front of him, the ship came immediately to a dead stop.

  The ship stopped, but it didn't feel like it had stopped, just as it didn't feel like it was moving before. The scene's simply flashed by, or they came to a standstill, as though he were in a theatre with a round-a-bout screen. In a way, this was more fun than riding a roller coaster, or driving a motorbike which he had tried once, except he didn't feel any thrust.

  When he tilted the crystal, the ship would rotate in the direction of the tilt until he put it back in horizontal position. If he took his hand off, the crystal remained suspended where he put it.

  He went back to the pyramid, circled it, and saw Uncle Abdul and Ed beginning their descent. He turned the ship into a more visible colour momentarily, just long enough to catch their attention. They waved at him, shot some more footage and he was off again.

  Suddenly, he saw the green spot over to the side. He moved the control crystal towards the spot about six inches, and the ship went abruptly forward. Mountains came racing towards him, and he instinctively held the crystal higher to avoid them. The next thing he knew, it was dark all around.

  He brought the crystal back towards himself, and looked about. There, he saw the entire hemisphere with its hazy atmosphere and swirling clouds, continents and oceans.

  'Too fast!' he thought.

  In middle of the swirls and haziness, where darkness was beginning to encroach, he saw the green spot.

  Just then, the Zondon eye like crystal began to hum. It was still suspended where he had left it when he reached for the bag of food from Uncle Abdul. He looked into it.

  Never trust your human senses when operating a Gloreen ship, said Wisdom through the crystal. There are dangers that far surpass your human ability to deal with.

  He placed it back on his forehead, and sure enough, the ship handled much more smoothly. Now, he instinctively knew some of the dangers and shuddered when he realised how close he had come to destroying himself and the ship. He could see asteroids, satellites, radiation and other dangers through the crystal that his human eye could never have caught.

  He turned the ship around by twisting the crystal in his fingers, and went forward at a more controlled pace towards the green spot.

  As he drew closer, he began to recognise the city of Jerusalem. The spot was in middle of familiar territory. Nearby was Zion Square, and over to the right, where the green spot rested, was Mea Shearim. In fact, it was on Rabbi Simcha's house.

  Just as he began to hover over the street in front of the house, the spot disappeared.

  An upstairs windows opened and the head of Rabbi Simcha poked out and looked up as though he were expecting to see something in the sky.

  Ibrahim flashed the ship green just for an instant, and the Rabbi immediately broke out waving with both hands, and bringing them together as in thanksgiving. Then he motioned for Ibrahim not to go away, and disappeared inside. A few minutes later, Ibrahim saw a trap door open on the flat roof, and Rabbi Simcha climbing out.

  Ibrahim brought the ship down slowly, making sure it was in transflective mode, so as not to alarm the neighbourhood. He got out of the ship and the Rabbi invited him inside. With the control crystal still in his hand and the other on his forehead, he sent the ship up and into a safe orbit. Then he put both crystals in his shirt pocket.

  'What are you wearing? Only an oversized shirt?'

  'I lost everything inside the pyramid. Ed gave me this when I got out with the crystal for the ship.'

  'Come, I'll get you some old clothes left from Yo'el when he was a boy.' He climbed down the ladder with Ibrahim following. 'I still keep some of them here in this store room.'

  The room with the trap door to the roof was something like an attic. He went about opening old footlockers and boxes, pulling things out until he had Ibrahim outfitted like a young yeshiva boy. He even gave him a kippa to replace the skull cap he had lost.

  Over supper, Ibrahim told the rabbi the third part of Zizz's story as he had read it in the so-called tomb of Thakanamen, and about his adventures inside the pyramid.

  'So, you are indeed the seven planters of the garden,' mused the rabbi when he had finished.

  'We are?' said Ibrahim, incredulously.

  'That's what I was promised, so according to that, you must have been the Gloreen before you were Zondon.'

  'I have to wait until I meet the others before we get awakened,' said Ibrahim.

  After supper, he took his leave, and was off again.

  Now he realised how dreadfully tired he was from this whole experience. He ascended to a high altitude, where he could see the darkening earth below with the receding crescent of daylight beyond. There, he drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter 60

  'Nicolai,' said Rosa, as they were talking the following morning. 'All you need to do to come out on top of this is embrace Wisdom. You have to renounce the dark knowledge that Dosh brought you and choose to follow Wisdom. Just say it, Nicolai.'

  Nicolai began saying it. 'I choose Wisdom. I don't want Dosh's knowledge any...'

  The crystal probe began throbbing on and off, just as it had always done when any of them appropriated wisdom's perfect exercise of authority of 2000 years ago.

  Nicolai's demeanour changed. 'Okay! If I'm not welcome here, I'll go! I have three other bodies at my disposal. I will be back and I will deal with all three of you, beginning with you, Gromley.'

  'Ciao then,' said Thomas calmly. 'I'm sure you'll have no trouble finding us.'

  Finally there was silence.

  * * *

  Being so high up, Ibrahim saw the rising sun much sooner than the nations directly below him. He could still see the stars. He slept a bit longer, until he felt fully rested. Then he ate some of the food from the bag Uncle Abdul had handed him.

  The portions of Earth directly below him were now lit. He went on a ride around the world, and then, as he gained confidence, he went up towards the moon and circled it once.

  Now, a message was coming through the Zondon like crystal, Begin to transmit the warning.

  Instinctively, he reached for a previously untouched crystal and placed it at the base of the large pyramid over his head, where it stayed. Immediately, it began transmitting.

  * * *

  The nature of the transmission was such that besides sending a warning message, it caused disorientation to any extraterrestrial mind that had not been given an authorisation of some sort (Apparently, it didn't affect Gleamon, as Vantbrot and Nakhash and other kindred energy forces didn't have any trouble entering Earth -- probably because they were native to begin with). For Dosh of Asvork, having just left the body of Nicolai Stanovitch, the effect was especially disorienting. If he were inside a body, whether human or Glaat, he could have probably managed to cope, but being only a force field on its way to another location, the sudden transmission at the strength at which it came served to drive Dosh from the solar system.

  Thus for a long time after that, Dosh of Asvork wandered here and there, looking for a resting place. He finally found a weak minded Glaat who needed help in gaining upward mobility in the cosmic pecking order. In time, he both rose in the ranks, and expelled the weaker Glaat (he kept it in a crystal -- they're really quite useful in that state), but by then, he had lost interest in Earth, preferring to concentrate on opponents who hadn't spotted all his weak points.

  * * *

  Nicolai broke the silence.

  'We really must go with all haste to Mae Lai village, the headquarters of General Li. He has been keeping some extremely lethal weapons which Dosh intended to use for mass destruction, and I think arrangements are already in place for their implementation.'

  With no time to be lost, they piled into the jeep and drove off in the direction Dr. Stanovitch showed them. They drove all afternoon and arrived at sundown at what looked from the outside, apart from the trenches, sandbags and a few satellite dishes, like a tribal village.

  There was als
o a checkpoint, but as Stanovitch was expected, they were waved through.

  Deeper in the village, the neighbourhood consisted of two story cement and wooden houses with fenced in yards. People in military uniform were loitering in open coffee shops. Then, they came to what could have passed for a town commons. A closer look told them it was training field.

  Around the perimeter, were what looked like barracks, comfortable offices and a few luxurious looking homes. Some of the uniformed men, on recognising Stanovitch, ushered them over to the most sumptuous of the homes.

  Though they recognised him, some had to look twice, because it was a different Stanovitch than they were used to seeing -- a gentle, happy soul rather than the hard, proud old man that had always come on previous occasions. Only the square burn scar on his bald forehead reassured them.

  As they entered, Nicolai managed to put on a composure similar to what he had before. Thomas also put on airs as he used to when accompanying him to meetings with important people.

  General Li was cordial and had green tea poured for them after they turned down his offer of Johnny Walker Black Label.

  'My men tell me you were attacked by some wild men in the jungle,' said the general. 'They all flee in different direction and find their way back to camp, each give me a different story. We give you up for lost!'

  Stanovitch said he wasn't exactly sure himself what happened, '...but we managed to get away. My two aids joined me at my request and helped find lodging in a local village where they showed us wonderful hospitality.'

  Even with trying to act like the Stanovitch he once knew, Thomas couldn't help thinking how much more pleasant and courteous he was.

  After more small talk, and inquiries about his health and well being, Nicolai got to the point.

  'The items I left in your care, it's time to make use of them.'

  'Ah, yes. One of my men bring me your shipping instructions. I would ship them already last Wednesday, but when I hear what happen to you, I wait until tomorrow's convoy, just in case you show up first. But the five men you teach how to detonate the device, they on their way already, one to Tel Aviv, one to L.A., London ...'

  'Very good,' interrupted Nicolai. 'But we've had to move up the date and I'm afraid they won't arrive in time if we do it this way. My two associates here have arranged for a pickup not far from here. I will accompany them there, personally.'