The Final Reality (Alex Pella, #3)

by Stephen Martino

  Cheesesteak, William craved.

  Murph then knelt down next to Christine and placed his hand on her arm. “You take good care of her,” he said, looking up at them. Realizing Christine was safer with them than remaining in the city, he felt no hesitation about her leaving.

  “It’s a promise,” Marissa said, walking over to Murph.

  William reiterated, “Last offer. You sure you want to stay?”

  Before he could answer, Marissa placed a bio-strip on his head. Examining it for a moment, she noted, “He’s medically stable. It doesn’t look like the crystal had the same effect on him.”

  “I’ll fend for myself,” Murph responded. “Remember, my friend is now in your hands. Make sure she gets better.”

  Marissa gave a warm smile and nodded her head.

  Christine slowly awoke. Her focus immediately moved to the shield Alex held under his arm. It was as if her momentary lapse of consciousness did little to hinder her train of thought. “Excuse me,” she finally spoke up in a weak voice as she pointed to the shield, “What is that you’re holding?”

  Alex looked down at the shield. “You mean this?” he commented while turning it towards her.

  Christine paused as Murph held her arm slightly tighter. It was as if he were subtly telling her that now was not the time to talk about it.

  Realizing Murph’s cue, she simply went on to say, “It’s rather beautiful, isn’t it?”

  He must have seen the same vision as I did!

  Chapter 24

  Chapter_24

  “Mr. Windsor,” Drew stated while exiting the striker craft, “There is a lull in the Earth’s electromagnetic instability.” Examining the hologram above his wrist, he continued, “However, seismic activity across the globe is off the charts. It makes the great California earthquakes of 1909 and 2026 seem insignificant.”

  “Very well then,” Jules stated. “Go tell our pilot to remove us at once from this God-forsaken barren island.”

  “Sir, as I attempted to explain before, this is not an island.”

  “Then what am I standing on out here in the middle of the Pacific?” Jules jested. “A figment of my imagination?”

  “You would have to have one hell of an imagination then Mr. Windsor,” Drew said. “This landmass is far too massive to be an island.”

  “As you can see,” he continued to explain while expanding the size of the holograph above his wrist, “we are actually standing on a new continent twice the size of Australia.”

  A large smile lurched on Jules’ face. Like a Cheshire cat or a giddy schoolgirl, he placed his arm around Drew and looked out into the barren landscape. “This is fantastic news! Think of the potential!”

  Jules stood in silence and pondered the possibilities.

  “This will be a new beginning,” Jules stated boldly. “Out of the ashes of the old world, I will create a new one here on this continent. This whole place is one giant blank slate.”

  He began walking over the crusty surface thinking aloud, “We will first cordon off the entire continent and allow only authorized personnel on it. Then, I will construct a grand New Reality headquarters building complex that will serve as the centerpiece for not only this continent but also for my entire global initiative.”

  Jules grabbed the Achilles Shield emblem around his neck. “But first,” he turned to Drew and said, “there is still one small nuisance that we must tend to.”

  “Small?” Drew noted, tilting his head.

  “Men in general are quick to believe that which they wish to be true,” Jules said, quoting Julius Caesar. “If you wish to think Alexander is a major problem, then in your mind, he will be one. If that is the reality you wish to create, let it be your downfall and not mine.”

  “Yes, sir,” Drew said sheepishly. Feeling ashamed of himself, he wished he could be as confident, brave, and poised as Jules. As a child, he was taunted and belittled by his peers and made to feel insignificant. Occasionally, like now, those feelings of low self-esteem and self-doubt seemed to creep into his consciousness and negate his lifetime of success and achievement.

  Jules again grabbed the emblem. After a brief moment, he unbuttoned his shirt and placed it against his bare chest with his hand. Pushing down on it, he gazed into the distance waiting for it to activate.

  Nothing.

  After a few more attempts, he let the emblem dangle from his neck.

  “Sir?” Drew asked.

  Jules placed his hand up to his ear. “Colonel, we are to board the striker craft immediately. Give the command to your men at once. I want them back on the ship ASAP.”

  “Yes, sir,” responded the colonel.

  Surprised that the auricular chip worked and not the key, Jules walked into the striker craft and up to the cockpit.

  Drew followed without another word. He assumed the key was not functioning but dared not comment about the apparent problem.

  Jules sat down on the copilot’s chair. The pilot made a comment, which Jules summarily ignored. Taking the key with one hand, he then tersely placed it flat on the dashboard. He hoped that it would provide him with a more direct connection into The New Reality’s computer system.

  After a few minutes, Jules sat back in the chair with utter disgust. The key was not working; his means to track Alex had been lost. Looking down at his chest, he noted a large bruise behind the emblem. Recounting how he might have acquired such an injury, a solemn realization came to mind.

  Alexander Pella.

  Jules laughed to himself at the man’s ingenuity. Somehow Alex’s quantum entanglement image must have deactivated the key when it struck him in the chest.

  If it’s a chess match he wants, it’s a chess match he shall receive!

  “Drew,” Jules said, “it seems as if the key has suffered some minor technical difficulties. Surely, there must be some other way we have to track Alexander.”

  Drew attempted to answer, but Jules held up a finger, curtailing his response. “First thing’s first.”

  He then stood up and took off his dirty, ripped designer sports jacket. Placing it neatly over his arm, he pressed a button along the wall next to him. A door silently slid open. Jules then placed his sports jacket in it and removed a black leather designer jacket.

  Drew realized that Alex must have certainly frustrated Jules. He had not seen him don this jacket since he personally squashed the English uprising just after he took office.

  “And one more thing—” Jules said with a confident air to himself after placing on the jacket. He grabbed two glasses and a caramel-colored bottle from the drawer and poured them each a shot of whisky. “Drink up, my boy. It’s Tennessee’s finest.”

  Though Drew rarely consumed alcohol, he dared not refuse such an offer. Jules gulped the first shot and poured himself another while Drew sipped the whisky slowly.

  “Now that I’ve cleared my mind,” Jules said, “there is this matter of tracking our dear friend Alexander.”

  “Yes,” Drew responded, attempting to finish the whisky. It burned as it slid down his throat, and he almost coughed while answering. “I picked up a peculiar quantum disruption exiting the island of Pohnpei. Let me show you on the ship’s windshield.”

  A satellite image of the planet appeared. All three in the cockpit were stunned at the Earth’s new landscape. While certain places such as Australia had grown, others such as Africa and South America were now half under water. Also new was an impressive land mass connecting North America and Asia through the former Bering Strait along with a massive Pacific continent, which they were currently standing on.

  “As you can see from the small red dots heading out of the former Pohnpei Island,” Drew explained after regaining his composure, “we can track the course of what I believe was some sort of vehicle of flight as it left the area. However, what is so peculiar about its quantum fluctuation trail is that the ship does not have the same signature under stealth as that of a stratoskimmer. It appears much smaller in nature.”
<
br />   “Alexander must have escaped on his aero-bike,” Jules concluded, remembering how his foe used to race competitively.

  “Well, that would definitely be compatible with the data,” Drew acknowledged. He pointed towards the windshield. “However, I can only track the ship’s quantum fluctuations about fifty miles at a time. In order to discover its destination, we will have to closely follow its path as if following a trail of breadcrumbs.”

  Drew looked towards the pilot. “And because of the Earth’s unstable electromagnetic field, we will almost have to be right next to the quantum fluctuation even to see it.” He shook his head. “That will almost be impossible with these flying conditions.”

  “I have a solution,” the pilot chimed in. “This striker craft has the capability to reach orbital height. As the marquee ship of the fleet, it is designed for such extreme conditions.”

  He then looked at a few readouts along the windshield. “I think we can ride this zone of electromagnetic stability straight up into the exosphere. There, the Earth’s electromagnetic instabilities should not affect us, and we will hopefully be close enough to these quantum fluctuations to detect them.”

  “Good show!” Jules applauded.

  “Don’t you think the people of the Earth deserve some explanation as to what is going on right now?” Drew asked, feeling less reserved after consuming a shot of whiskey.

  “Right you are,” Jules said. “I will prepare a speech as to how our former and misguided leader of The New Reality precipitated such a predicament. I will say that through her previous, catastrophic endeavors such as the Masjid Project, she destabilized the Earth’s crust and upset nature’s delicate balance in the process.”

  “Once you have made the video feed,” Drew commented, “I’ll send it high-priority to all the major and minor media outlets across the globe.”

  “And be sure to have all the usual political and scientific pundits confirm its validity to provide the story with some traction,” Jules added with a wink on the word confirm.

  “Understood.”

  “All aboard and accounted for,” echoed the colonel’s voice in Jules’ auricular chip.

  “Very good,” Jules responded. Now turning to the pilot, he ordered, “Let’s see what this ship can do.”

  Chapter 25

  Chapter_25

  Christine slowly awoke. Confused at first, she thought she heard Benjamin speaking in the other room. Her head pounded, and her mouth was dry.

  Where am I?

  The last few days seemed like a blur, and nothing made sense. For a moment, she was doubting her own sanity and questioned if any of it was real.

  Christine heard the male voice again. She sprung up in the bed. Coming to her senses, she noted two IV drips attached under each of her shoulders. Her body was also under a thick blue comforter, and she was changed into clean, new clothes.

  When she went to grab one of the IV lines, her hand was gently restrained.

  “Who are you?” Christine asked, staring at the vaguely familiar face next to her.

  “I’m sorry I did not properly introduce myself. My name is Marissa Ambrosia.”

  “Where am I?” Christine asked. “What happened to all my friends?”

  “You are safe,” Marissa said soothingly, “and among friends.” Wanting to avoid overwhelming her guest, she slowly laid Christine’s head on the pillow.

  Details of the last few days quickly returned as she began to relax. As if reliving them again, Christine remembered the Art Museum, the earthquake, the cave, and the vision. She also distantly remembered flying over ice and snow before landing.

  “Between what happened down in the cave and the biotag ablator I gave you,” Marissa explained, “you may feel washed out for at least another day.” She pointed to the two IV bags. “I’m rehydrating you now along with replenishing your electrolytes. You’ll feel better soon.”

  On the contrary, Christine felt as if she were awakening from the worst nightmare she’d ever had.

  “Rest,” Marissa insisted, nudging the blankets closer to Christine’s chin.

  The softness of the mattress, warmth of the blankets, and coziness of the pillow were certainly attractive, especially after sleeping on a cold, hard floor for the past few nights.

  Getting up from the side of the bed, Marissa said, “When you feel better, detach the IV stickers and come out for something to eat. We have a warm cooked meal waiting for you.”

  The door dematerialized in front of her as Marissa walked out into a large communal area. A rectangular table boasting an abundance of food stood in the corner of the room while other couches, chairs, and a few end tables filled the rest of the space. The crisp smell of coffee permeated the air.

  “How’s your patient?” a strong female voice asked.

  Sitting on one of the couches and wrapped in a blanket, Samantha Mancini sipped from her large mug of coffee. Though the room was about sixty-eight degrees, she acted as if she were in the subarctic. With young olive skin, high cheekbones, flirty green eyes, a bright smile and petite build, she made many underestimate both her mental and physical ability.

  “She’ll be fine,” Marissa responded. “Christine is just a little wiped out from the whole ordeal.”

  “Alex was just telling me of all the excitement that I missed,” Samantha said. She looked over at him and sarcastically commented, “Next time, you guard our hideout while I go out and have a little fun.”

  “Fun?” Alex smirked with a raised eyebrow. He walked over and rubbed her shoulders. “Please, next time you can have all the fun you want. While you’re out there, wish Julius and all his armed WOGs my best. I bet they’ll want to know how I’ve been.”

  Samantha was not only Alex’s first hire at his business, Neurono-Tek, but she was also a lifelong friend. Though a few years his senior—now in her late-forties—she grew up with him; the two were like siblings. Their families had been close friends, getting together regularly.

  “I certainly will,” Samantha jested.

  “Not to rush you Alex,” William said, taking a breath from an oversized plate of food, “but half of China is now submerged and seismic activity is tearing up this entire planet. Not to mention some Atlantis-like land mass suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the Pacific. You have any ideas before we are all swimming with the fish?”

  Alex recognized that William’s sarcasm was well founded. He then looked at the shield on the end table next to him, hoping it would bring him some inspiration. If the mysteries of this artifact were not soon discovered, there would be a mass extinction unlike anything seen since biblical times.

  There must be something I missed, he contemplated as he stood and began to pace.

  Finally, out of the WOG attire, Alex now donned black jeans with pockets down the side and a plain, equally dark aero-bike racing jacket.

  Marissa wanted to tell Alex to relax and have a seat. However, she knew her fiancé sometimes worked better under stress and needed to pace in order to have his creativity blossom.

  “Not a one,” Alex went on to say, aggravated at himself for taking a moment to sit. Lives were at stake; if he did not do something soon, more innocents would die by the day if not by the minute.

  “Orisihpa did not finish her story at Nan Madol,” Terzin said, hoping to maybe shed some light on the situation. Sitting next to William on the couch, she had changed into a new set of clothes. No longer wearing a dress, she now donned a cream-colored sweater and black pants. Her long dark hair was also cropped into a ball on the back of her head.

  Alex stopped pacing. “Go on,” he said.

  “Legends passed on to me by my family told of this great flood that cleansed the planet and almost erased humanity from existence,” Terzin explained. She looked at everyone in the room before continuing, “This legend is not unique. In fact, it’s prevalent throughout every continent on the planet. From the Hopi Indians, Aztecs, Jews, Mayans, Rapa Nui, Khmu, and Masai. In fact, there are hundreds of stories
of a great deluge that almost wiped out all of mankind.”

  Christine listened on from the open door. The events of the past few days had become mentally too unsettling just to lie back and act as if nothing happened. Unable to rest any longer, she took off the IV bags and approached the door, which dematerialized upon her arrival.

  As Terzin spoke, visions of the flood flashed through Christine’s mind as if she were there. Her body shuddered at the memory.

  “My grandmother used to say,” Terzin explained, “that humanity is suffering from amnesia. They have forgotten their history and are disregarding all the clues left behind by past civilizations. The Aztecs along with multiple other cultures believed that mass extinctions like that caused by the last flood had occurred multiple times before and that we are now living in the fifth sun known as the Tonotuih Era.”

  William kept his mouth shut. Still highly skeptical of these flood myths, he chewed on his second slab of steak and stared at the storyteller.

  “After this last great biblical flood,” Terzin continued, “mass chaos ensued. New mountain ranges arose, lakes and seas were drained, rivers ceased to exist or flowed in different directions, large swaths of land crumbled into the sea, and great cities were lost. Plus, global volcanism caused day to become night. The Earth instantly chilled, killing off the large mammals, many plants, and choked the food supply. Surviving humans were left to fend for themselves on hilltops, or as the tribes of Bangladesh say, in caves, until the floodwaters subsided. The Aztecs wrote of being cold and hungry during these times.”

  As Terzin recanted the flood story, Christine recalled the image of Zorian on the Athenian mountaintop. The image seemed so real. It was like she had been there when the flood actually occurred.

  Christine then turned her attention to the shield on the end table. It was undoubtedly what she saw in her vision. The chances that it was something else would just be astronomically coincidental. She wanted to go into the room and say something, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it.