The Ghost of Sephera

by J. D. Tew

  I ripped off his mask. I gasped and choked off the bile that immediately jolted up the back of my throat. Gritting my teeth, I forced myself not to retch as I straddled him.

  This man who attempted to kill my friend and disrupt the balance of time was my stepfather.

  I immediately drew my gun into his neck, and it was as I had always feared and desired. My stepfather, Shad: the man that relished in the ruin of my life and was working for the Dacturons all this time was now at my mercy. Finally, I had my chance to make him reveal the truth.

  He pulled me close and whispered in my ear, “Go ahead, and pull the trigger. You have no idea what I have been through.”

  “What did you do with my mother... you coward!” I shouted. I firmly grabbed his head by the temples with both hands. Overcome by a rage that totally consummated me, I pounded his head against the solid floor several times, nearly killing him. After my fury had been spent, I stood up slowly, panting, drawing my weapon. “You took my mother away from me!” I hollered at him.

  He locked his eyes onto mine, acknowledging his profound regret—either over the fact that his life was about to end, or over every despicable act he had ever committed throughout his life. In a weak voice, he simply said, “She got in the way, and I would have killed you too if the Council wasn’t hot on my tail.”

  All of the time, leading up to that moment, I had always hoped, over and over, that my mother was alive. That she would walk into our old family home and embrace me. That she would pay a visit to Trazuline’s castle and surprise me. But she wasn’t even alive all this time.

  Shad killed her.

  I closed my eyes and started squeezing the trigger. Yet I stopped, because his eyes closed and the last gasp of dying breath exited his lips. His blood pooled on the smooth grey floor. The last words of my stepfather sealed his worthless fate in the galaxy. It was fitting that my stepfather died by the hands of Theodore’s father. How ironic—mind boggling.

  I pulled out the digifile, activated the beacon, and programmed it for the transport of two people—myself and my dead stepfather, as proof that he was finally extinguished.

  Only a few minutes had passed since I left Theodore’s house. In a jumble my mind was clouded with thoughts of revenge and regret over Shad’s death, subsequently overtaken by my concern for Theodore’s life. The galaxy’s reformation depended on Theodore cheating death.

  I held the digifile above my head to initiate the time travel sequence to my location; this type of extraction was unique to Urilians. The extraction point was glimmering subtly above me; this forced wormhole was only easy to discern with a trained eye.

  I pulled my tablet out of my backpack and notified the Council of my position. Next, I quickly ran over to the Dacturon machine and activated the self-destruct sequence on my Council-issued tablet. I set in on the machine’s command panel, and then ran toward the light of the wormhole. By my calculations, I would appear in front of the Council’s headquarters at their officially sanctioned transport pad, and they would then take care of the disposal of my stepfather’s body.

  The light started to envelop us and I placed my hand upon my dead stepfather’s chest. Just as soon as the aura swallowed and discombobulated our matter, the time traveling process commenced, catapulting my stepfather and me toward my origin in the time continuum.

  Suddenly, I found myself torn away from my time travel path. Someone clever and with particular knowledge of my coordinates was now tearing me from the very fabric of time. Was it Odion? I panicked, not knowing what to do.

  But my dilemma resolved itself just as quickly as I had tried to think of an escape. I landed in front of the hairy king; the one I suspected of sending me on the mission in the first place: King Trazuline. He must have triangulated the radiation signals and somehow intervened.

  “Welcome back, Nilo,” the king said, pleased to see me. He looked as if he was going to burst with gratitude.

  “Sire,” I could only respond, still in a daze. I scratched the back of my head.

  “He’s still recovering,’ said the king. ‘Tend to him, will you?”

  “Drink this,” a soldier said, after handing me a vial of what seemed to be doutchine, elder mole plasma.

  The king motioned toward me. “We did it! We intercepted your transport. Thanks to you, Theodore is fine. You did your job.”

  “How do you know?”

  “We checked on him just now. His bioscans are as vigorous as one might expect.”

  I nearly collapsed on the hard floor out of relief. “Thank God,” I said.

  “What happened?’” asked Trazuline.

  “Theodore was shot by the targeted violator. I knew he was alive, but didn’t know how bad he had it.”

  “Well,” the king said, glancing away from me. “You’ll have to ask him. But, as mentioned, he is in perfect health at the moment.”

  “Thank you.”

  “This scum you were after. We let him transport back to the bar, where presumably the Dacturons will take care of getting rid of him. He is dead. Did you kill him?”

  “No. Theodore’s father killed him.”

  The king had a faraway look in his eyes. “Interesting. We don’t need anyone getting in our way, past or present. Locate Pritok.’ Then he chuckled at me. He said, ‘Do you have any idea what you have done?”

  “No.”

  “We are going to keep you sequestered until we ensure Theodore is safe and completes his objectives. You will be detained for debriefing and released once we see fit.” He announced to his guards, “Take him away.”

  I was completely startled by this apparent about-face by the king. I protested, “But I did everything you said. I didn’t screw up anything. I beg of you, let me go.” Trazuline had his back to me, ignoring me. Suddenly a silky black bag veiled my face and muffled my voice.

  I could feel the king leaning toward me again. In a soft voice, the king said, “You may have just saved the Galaxy, Nilo. We are taking you to a secure location. Do not worry. We have to transport you this way to preserve the secret location of our base. Besides, the Council is lurking. You will be commended and rewarded handsomely for your valor. Nilo... your father would be so proud... Let’s go, men! The Council is monitoring radiation transmissions and will be here soon. We mustn’t be spotted!”

  15 THEODORE: FOITA

  “The planet Foita was an ice giant, consisting of a crust of several miles of thick ice, with an inner core composed of rock. In school, I remember learning about the planets, and recall almost all, save for a precious few, were not suitable to sustain life. Foita would be one of those planets, but for reason I was to find out later, its adoptive people, the Rangiers, had long ago decided to apply state-of-the-art technology to render it habitable, only if just barely.”

  Our main goal was to find Eppa, which was located on Foita in an intimidating military base in the city of Diode. Designed as a temple, Eppa was a massive mainframe computer founded by Zane to facilitate the passing of information from all sentient beings in the galaxy who had died and elected to choose the Sepheran afterlife, if they were presented that option upon dying.

  This process was vital to Zane’s artificial afterlife, which was either abhorred or adored throughout the galaxies. However, due to infatuation vested in vanity, the majority of the galaxy’s population worshiped Eppa. People wanted to know for sure that their existence would carry on beyond death, even if it was metaphysical.

  When Zane proposed the construction of Eppa to the Council, they decided that the temple should be placed on neutral ground (or ice, rather) suggesting that the advanced society of the Rangiers would be perfect protectors of this important creation, as Rangiers protected several universally famous landmarks of culture or religion interspersed across the galaxy. The Rangiers of Foita were like no other. They were warrior monks, not only assuming the role of protector but devout to this artificial form of reincarnation, using their giant exoskeletons—called Exogens—to protect the chain of cit
ies: Booyang, Zigon, and finally Eppa’s city, Diode.

  A treaty was formed, signed by Zane and the Rangiers, and then construction was completed. One year later, the Council built a massive station on an orbiting moon of Foita to watch over the planet and ensure its protection. As well, the Council established several security outposts throughout Foita’s icy surface to ensure that the security of Eppa was never compromised. It was on this moon that the council kept one ace up their sleeve, and it was a doozy. If for any reason the Rangier’s elite guard decided to rise up and use their advanced technology to overthrow the Council, the Council would then initiate a deactivation sequence, which would render the Exogens powerless, thereby weakening the Rangier’s armies.

  Years passed, and once the Council felt comfortable that the security infrastructure was heavily fortified, they started relenting to popular demand and allowed escorted ships full of tourists to tour Eppa. After the tourists were screened through multiple levels of security that would make U.S. customs look like child’s play, the tourists would then be given a grand tour of the temple’s exterior—never inside. The Rangiers declared the internal corridors of Eppa as sacred and only clerics could enter.

  We couldn’t just enter the atmosphere and set an immediate course for Diode, the city that hosted Eppa. No, in order to ensure maximum security, all visitors had to touch down on nearby entry points, so that any breach of security could be rectified far away from the ultimate target. Diode was connected to a series of subterranean cities, all existing under tectonic ice plates, so instead we set out on a course to Booyang—our entry point.

  We were in orbit, so it was time to call a meeting of my crew to prepare for the mission—a long awaited reunion with King Trazuline. As everyone eagerly looked at me, I said, ‘Alright. The city we’re visiting is called Booyang, and it has three million people, so we need to be careful. Stay close at all times.’ Booyang was the capital, a massive subterranean bartering city, consisting mainly of travelers, traders, and merchants who flocked in to make a quick buck. If any greedy vendor had a grandmother with an ugly parka, he would gladly tear it off her back to sell it. A few would even sell the grandmother herself.

  I prepared the crew for what was in store, because it would be the first ice giant any of us had experienced. ‘Booyang is eighty degrees colder than Karshiz. Moreover, Booyang exists below the surface, since the exterior of the planet itself is uninhabitable. So we’ll have to wear lots of warm clothing.’

  ‘So when you say this place is underground, you mean it’s like a subterranean city?’ Mariah asked. I nodded.

  ‘So it’s as cold as Minnesota? Rad!’ Dan shouts, slapping a high-five with Liam.

  ‘I guess you could say that. Since it is a port for intergalactic trade, we will be able to dock without much resistance. It is when we finally reach Diode that we could see some troubles with entry. ED informed me that it is heavily guarded by Rangier Exogens.’

  Exogens were the Council’s answer to the Rangiers’ distaste of government interference. Rangier’s felt dishonored by the government’s doubts. The Council believed that since they ordered the construction of Eppa, they alone were entitled to hire their own staff; guards that they could trust. The Rangiers balked, saying that since it was on their planet, they were the ones with the authority to appoint the protectors. As well, the Rangiers, as supremely intelligent beings, were offended that the Council didn’t trust them. A compromise was reached: Rangiers would guard Eppa with the Exogens, but only if the Council could deactivate them at the push of a button. Exogens were massive bionic exoskeletons, which were piloted by Rangiers yet monitored by the council. Rangiers pledged allegiance to no one but to the ultimate security of Eppa. At the same time, the Rangiers readily agreed to never-ending discussion over the rules of security, which took forever to change and implement.

  Dan was always the first to ask questions, but Mariah interrupted him to get the first one out. ‘And why are we going to Eppa?’ She was batting her eyelashes and playing leader’s pet. She was trying to see if a mission to extract Lincoln was involved.

  ‘The beginning of our mission will start in the ice-rail town of Booyong. They hold yearly festivals where they ride the ice-rails through the frozen tundra. It is supposedly very dangerous because of the temperatures. Don’t get your hopes up, Dan. We are here to locate King Trazuline and will, with much hope, find refuge there. Trazuline’s factions may be able to help us to get into Diode; once there, we will see exactly what this temple Eppa is all about.’

  ‘Sounds good to me,’ Liam said.

  ED entered the conversation. ‘Theodore forgot to mention that this will not be easy. I have calculated this mission to be somewhat improbable.’

  Mariah laughed, as she knew ED’s manner of reasoning. ‘Ah, probably because there are no known variables to calculate, wouldn’t you say?’

  ‘Interesting you would say that, but it is true. The nature of this mission is an absence of information, which is a formula for failure.’

  ‘Okay—no more ‘f’ words please. I didn’t know you had such a foul mouth ED. Listen; nothing we have done so far was easy. We just need to stick together and make sound decisions as a group, and we’ll be fine.’

  ED said, ‘I have noted your refusal to agree. Very well, I will power the generators and turn down all the unnecessary consumption of power, focusing it into the cloaking system, once we land. Freebird’s core should be able to recharge.’

  ‘Everyone, ready your gear. We will be landing soon.’

  I walked down the main hallway of the ship. Everyone’s doors were shut, yet I could faintly hear the rummaging through stockpiles and the rattle of gear.

  Nilo warned me that the Dacturons could be searching for us in major cities; the reality is that the moment Nilo told me this, I thought: of course they are. Why wouldn’t they? We weren’t keeping an eye out for large units of soldiers, because it wouldn’t be wise for Odion to make his units noticeable.

  Odion and his Dacturon army might have been scouring the large subterranean metropolis of Booyang, but who knew if they would make a move on the city of Diode, which was impenetrable. It was hard to imagine Odion succeeding in penetrating into the temple that was so heavily guarded by the Council.

  I said, ‘Let’s do a quick equipment check. Everyone, clear your weapons and place them on safe.’ I stood next to Liam, uneasily leaning away from him. ‘I wouldn’t want to be standing in front of you when you’re waving that axe.’

  ‘This is my baby. I wouldn’t part with her, for anything. I hope I won’t need her,’ Liam said. He was snuggling the axe.

  ‘That’s the spirit!’ I yelled. ‘Okay Dan, just show me your core igniter cartridges,’ I requested, pausing for him to pull them out. ‘Eight. Is that how many you had before?’ Dan’s cartridges would lose their flare after use.

  ‘I did have ten, but I lost two in the battle.’

  ‘Okay people!’ I announced to the crew, somewhat annoyed at Dan. ‘This is the only equipment we have. Some of this stuff we cannot replace. From now on, ED will do hands-on equipment and inventory checks.’ Then I walked over to Mariah. ‘Your rifle seems to be fully functioning. How many light-emitting magazines do you have?’ I asked.

  She started pulling magazines out of their holsters and counting them aloud, ‘One, two, three, four, five, six—seven. I have seven. No, I have eight. Sorry I forgot about this pouch.’ I leaned closer to her, enough to feel her breath against my neck. ‘That should be enough to get us through any attack. Trust me. Wait, what is that?’

  ‘What?’ I asked.

  ‘On your neck! I have never seen that scar before!’ she exclaimed, while pointing at her neck as a guide for me to find the scar upon my own. I touched my neck and felt a ribbed area, like Braille on a public sign.

  This was most uncomfortable. It was like feeling one’s teeth after several fillings inserted by a thorough dentist. Knowing that something had fundamentally changed. I dug my fin
gernails into the ridge on my neck, hoping it was just a build-up of dry skin. But no. Scratching away at it was like rubbing into my own skin. This was not something that could be removed.

  I said to Mariah. ‘Weird. Mariah, what do you see right here?’ I ask, whilst rubbing my neck.

  ‘It looks like an ordinary wound that healed years ago. It’s about two inches long and it’s quite noticeable.’

  ‘You ever see this before?’

  Mariah shook her head, boring onto it with her eyes.

  ‘Something is not right!’ I blurted out. ‘I have never had a scar here before. ED, any suggestions?’

  ‘Theodore, it is possible that your timeline has been altered, as of this moment. We must be careful. You may be currently followed, and I’m not certain, but this scar could indicate something bad. Really bad.’

  I felt the shock of the situation, but I badly wanted to brush the discomfort away. What could I do about it, anyway? I would have to get in contact with Nilo as soon as possible after we landed, since he was an expert on nabbing time travel violators. ‘We don’t have time to address it now,’ I told my crew. ‘Stay on your toes, watch out for anything peculiar, and notify me immediately if you see something strange.’

  ‘Yes, Theodore,’ said ED. ‘While we are waiting, I will command my algorithms to match up the alternate timelines and see if I can pinpoint exactly when and where this incident happened to you. Mind you, more often than not, I am unable to find the answer in fiendishly complex paradigms like this.’

  As we gradually descended, I could see an icy vacant city on the surface, glazed by the inquisitive light of a distant sun. On the planet’s surface was a near endless sea of abandoned dwellings, now covered with crystallized ice. Our view of the abandoned city was obscured by the whiteout of heavy snow that drifted over our observation shield.

  ‘This is the way it is supposed to look,’ ED said. ‘Remember, Booyang is a mile below the planet’s surface, so what you are seeing now is nothing close to the real thing. This ghost town was abandoned thousands of years ago when the temperature dropped below inhabitable. The people of this world retreated into subterranean life, and that’s where we’re going now.’