The Andromeda Project (The Cluster Chronicles Book 1)

by Jason Michael Primrose

  “I don’t know where Leesa is,” Zosma cried sadly, “I can’t find her and I need her.”

  “Stay in control.” His voice soothed but it wouldn’t stop the inevitable. A small pulse released blowing Allister into the hotel hallway. He warned civilians to get as far from them as they could. Four squad cars pulled up below. Gunshots pelted her expanding field and it radiated outwards. Allister’s skin sizzled off while he shielded himself. Anything within a quarter of a mile was vaporized.

  Inside of their shared mind a wall of energy flowed like a tsunami toward the mountain range Leesa built to protect her existence. Zosma ran at the barrier to avoid coming in contact with the reality behind her.

  “Leesa!” She yelled amongst a blue haze. An opening allowed her to cross into the human side.

  “I’m here.” Leesa revealed herself. They embraced.

  “I am afraid.” Zosma wouldn’t let go, but turned around.

  “I was never meant to live this long.” Leesa followed her gaze to the wave towering over them. Their distance increased. “Promise me you’ll take care of Allister?”

  “I won’t let you go,” Zosma said, with both hands around her wrist. “I can’t govern this power without a touch of humanity. Some of the emotions and morals you have, they don’t exist in my culture.”

  Leesa finally knew what she wanted out of life but it was too late to get it. She broke down but Zosma held onto her. “Don’t forget to feel. No matter how scary or painful, because once you stop feeling, you lose out on the beautiful moments as well.”

  The alien princess turned the young girl around so her back faced the annihilation approaching. The wave propelled through the mountain range and overtook their astral forms, eliminating the human side of her mind as if it never existed. Zosma sat alone with dust in her hands. The remnants blew aside.

  Eerie quiet followed Leesa’s death, but illuminated particles circled her rapidly as Zosma stood up. Leesa’s essence filtered into the center of her forehead becoming what she was meant to be. A clear ripple traveled throughout her mind but the energy’s intensity didn’t diminish.

  In the real world, a magnificent transformation began. The lieutenant’s uniform burned off leaving the creature floating amongst them as pure energy. A metallic crown followed wild violet hair the same shade as Neight’s. The remaining energy was sealed within an angular face and shapely body; both with skin the color of lavender. The Uragonian princess’s royal garments returned along with her new physiology, covering all but her center torso.

  “It won’t turn off,” she said, with her three-fingered hands facing up, wafts of power rose like steam from them. “I will destroy this place unless I can get away from the surface.” Zosma knew she didn’t look like the woman Allister had fallen in love with.

  “What happened to you…” He asked.

  “She’s gone,” the princess yelled, her voice became increasingly powerful to match the energy pulse building within her. The cries turned into screams of child labor. “Don’t let me destroy another civilization,” she pleaded, gazing into his eyes.

  Temporal energy from the gems appeared to do battle with the Zosma energy as if they were the opposing forces of yin and yang, but the single strand wrapped around them until the sphere of transportation contained Allister, Zosma and the limitless energy she fought to contain. They vanished from the surface.

  Horns from stationary cars accompanied sirens from fire trucks. Civilians stood in awe of the empty block where the Montcalm once stood. Medical services assisted any survivors on the outskirts of the telekinetic vortex.

  Above the Earth’s atmosphere, the sphere peeled away. Allister couldn’t breathe but Zosma could. It would be impossible for him to transport away without proper brain function. She watched his body freeze over as he drifted away from her and in one controlled motion, sent him tumbling back to Earth. Energy exploded, spanning out even further than anticipated. In an instant, brilliant blue light invaded the northern hemisphere’s skies, stealing the show from aurora borealis. It lasted for only a minute.

  As Allister burned up in the atmosphere the transporter gems activated, carrying him out of view. Zosma went unconscious after the massive pulse but her body fell into re-entry.

  Waves washed over the white, sandy beach submerging his feet enough to introduce the cooling sensation before retreating. The tide came in until the salt water soaked his tattered clothes and stung his bruised, cut up body. Pretty bad shape by human standards. Onlookers gathered over him shouting in a French dialect about how he’d come from the sky. He murmured Leesa’s name and Neight’s name while drifting in and out of consciousness. Accompanied by medical experts, the authorities transferred him to an emergency vehicle. Before their eyes, his body stitched itself back together. He appeared to recover but the process took an unexpected turn and trauma from his powers, working at their maximum, sent Allister into a coma.

  RABIA GIRO

  Antarctica, May, 2026

  The containment center went online. Russell sat upright on the cot; Rabia wanted to be the first thing the engineer saw when he awakened. The patient proved healthy and ready to resume their important work.

  Rabia made a number of powerful enemies and decided to scope out an assortment of equally powerful allies. Testing the combat limits of his power was fun, but strategy would be his focus moving forward. His potential recruits were in the research phase but his excitement could hardly be contained. There were so many extraordinary superhumans in the world. He turned to Neight who materialized inside of the prison once believed to be a casket. “Welcome back,” Rabia jeered.

  “The key to a successful life is always keeping yourself together,” Neight said, coughing. A few organs and a limb were missing but overall his atoms reconstructed faster due to the enclosed space.

  The machine alerted them of the Zosma energy signature detection verbally while they waited for the men to bring her back from the deadly ice storm in northern Russia. The cluster knew she was alive, the cluster knew they were alive.

  “You did great job on machine.” Rabia glided away from the capsule.

  “It all makes sense.” Neight nodded; he’d been waiting for part of the prophecy to reveal itself. “Dylurshin Hexforth, the great betrayer of the cluster.”

  “I wonder which of us would be considered greater traitor,” he joked, commanding Russell to stand for a reflex test.

  “I am willing to place all stakes on the one who killed the King of the Cluster and sabotaged our existence. Anton will help me if it means bringing you to justice.” Neight cringed while his arm reattached.

  “You were always so smart,” Rabia said, completing his examination. “Shame it hasn’t helped you much.”

  Russell saluted and dressed himself. His face registered Neight in captivity.

  He shooed the engineer away, feeling the tug of free will. “The biggest mistake the Cluster ever made was sending me to this sector,” Rabia finished, “after generations of suffering, when the alliances and families and governments have been ripped to shreds…the human race must survive so it can rise as the leader.”

  Generations of suffering had already been predicted by the former Uragonian king and three cosmic beings with more experience and power. Neight sighed, the alien disguised as Rabia had lived at least six times longer. Dylurshin knew the patience of a true immortal. Having waited so many years for the Zosma energy, for a step toward much desired revenge. The manipulative skill of weaving through a foreign civilization, on a new planet, rising and falling with empires, kingdoms, and government structures. Waiting to take action meant Rabia would win in the end, a thousand years away, but Neight saw it. Unless they found the other seven gems.

  Rabia’s attention drifted to the screen depicting the Zosma rescue mission via cameras on the scientists’ helmets. She lay in the white snow, too weak to fight back after her fall. Surrounded by men in radiation-resistant suits, she faded back and forth from her more human form to the p
ure energy one, and back again. They restrained and prepared her for transit.

  “We’ve got the weapon.”

  ALLISTER ADAMS

  Washington, DC, May 2026

  Allister’s coma endured for a week, allowing his body to heal completely inside and out. He asked every nurse and doctor if anyone was with him when he was found. Answers stayed the same.

  The media had been silenced again, no hope there. “Maybe Zosma didn’t even come back. Maybe she didn’t care about me or Earth. Leesa’s dead anyway,” he thought. Allister refused to answer any questions about himself or where he came from. Sat in silence for days without eating or drinking. Turned the computer in his mind off for as long as needed. Thinking hurt. His heart hurt. But issues still bubbled to the surface. Patrick, Dolores, Leesa, Florence, Neight. No one left to trust, to guide.

  Allister heard the sound of a helicopter nearby. The nurse apologized to him before revealing the chains around his body, keeping him attached to the bed. Once they discovered his identity via blood testing they were told to restrain him until the authorities got there. The nurse jumped when the door flew open and the president entered with four members of the Secret Service.

  “You traveled light considering how dangerous I am,” Allister said, straining to corrupt the welded chain links. One of them would give.

  “They said you were sassy,” President Alibris said. “Hi Private Adams, I assume you know who I am and why I’m here.”

  “Don’t call me Private, it’s Allister. I’d shake your hand but,” he said, shrugging, “give me a minute.”

  “I needed you to stay put,” the president said apologetically. One of the links bent, the noise sent the accompanying agents into attack mode, red dots sprinkled his face. The detective from the pub in London stepped into the room soaking wet, but his arms were solid metal instead of flesh.

  Allister relaxed, he’d suffered enough pain, “What do you need?”

  The president wanted Allister to help him find the latest C20 operation. He was afraid the initiatives restricted by America’s leadership would be green-lighted by C20 since they were no longer involved.

  “I don’t trust you or them. You’re all out for yourselves,” he scoffed. “I want immunity for saving the world or I’ll destroy every single person or thing you send after me.” Allister glanced at the detective.

  President Alibris agreed to his terms, he was granted citizenship again with access to his frozen wealth. “I’ll give you one year. But I promise if you want to find your alien girlfriend…you’re going to need my help.”

  “Make it two and you got a deal.”

  Allister woke up in his old house, lying in his mother’s bed. He looked in the mirror across from it. A month-old beard and hair touching his shoulders looked back. His eyes, once filled with hope and light, darkened by despair. He sank to the wooden floor glowing with Zosma energy and his screams echoed through the suburban night.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Epilogue

  DRAGOZIUM

  Taldykin - Zellatris Solar System 2026 AD

  The Royal Armada’s six ships hovered as if suspended by tiny strings, on the outer edges of the active volcano. Singular proton cannons and missile launchers lined their vertical wings. Taldykin and Zellatris blazed in the indigo sky, bouncing light off of chrome colored ships with the Infinity Cluster insignia plastered on each wing. The armada was made up of the Cluster’s best and brightest, recruited to serve and protect. They enforced laws of King Anton Infinity and the Alliance.

  “The use of any gems are illegal under Infinity Cluster Law L1-567,” the Admiral said to the Phyre king. “I will slaughter this entire countryside if someone does not speak up.”

  Pyx flew over the nonsense, screeching an interruption. He dodged between intruding vessels as Amora prepared to jump onto the Citadel. The Admiral stepped crossed the platform extending to the roof’s edge. She landed before he stepped any further.

  “We understand,” she nodded sideways reassuring Ders. “Nodus, son of Anton.” A deep bow followed.

  Nodus Silverstreak Infinity, Prince of the Cluster, was the Admiral overseeing Dragozium’s sector. A blue skinned member of the race of beings called Infinians. Nodus’s hand found the handle of a hybrid weapon, part sword and part projectile device. “You are not permitted to speak on this matter. I seek answers from the ruler of this planet.” He almost killed her until it clicked she was Neight and Empresia’s daughter. Amora boasted kinship to the Infinity family on her mother’s side.

  “This planet don’t have one ruler, it has eight. I’m tha guardian of this system and therefore all ya inquiries go through me,” Amora shouted. Ders let out a shallow growl in support, welcoming her conviction, where he despised and dismissed it before.

  Borrowing dragon’s sight, the Uragonian princess studied Nodus’s features. His toxic green hair was shaved into the kind of mohawk found on reformed criminals. An almost non-existent nose, high cheekbones and mouth of jagged teeth, made the beady white pupils scarier. Amora weighed all factors, including a suit of shiny Infinian armor covering everything but his arms, before deciding Nodus was handsome. A byproduct of wealth and royalty.

  The Admiral pursed his lips as a computer attached to his arm projected a hologram of Neight. “I have a Neight Caster listed as guardian of this system. I am certain you are not a six-hundred-year-old Uragonian Magik. Or that is a powerful spell.” His crew laughed and taunted the dragons with weapons.

  “I am his eldest daughter. Appointed myself after his,” she paused, listening for violence, “disappearance.”

  “You mean escape,” he corrected, moving to cover her vision with his broad shoulders and bulging chest. “We know he’s alive.”

  “Are ya here to discuss the crimes of my father?” Amora asked angrily.

  “Since he’s committed another, yes.”

  Being blind made Amora less aware of her facial expressions and worry overpowered self-assurance.

  “The transporter gems were here,” Nodus accused. “And I can only assume your father activated them.” He was over a foot taller than her, maybe two. Small spiked growths of hard skin lined his long muscular arms. A walking army was the common nickname for any member of the royal family.

  Lying to an infinian was like lying to a parent, somehow they always found out the truth. And when they did, the punishment was swift and severe. The time to reconsider speaking on behalf of an entire solar system had passed.

  “Incorrect.” Regaining her prowess, Amora pretended to be sad she hadn’t been reunited with her father recently. “Anothah creature arrived, from anothah world…one I neva heard of.”

  Nodus wasn’t expecting the partially honest answer; admission of seeing the gems was almost as bad as having them. Points for bravery, he thought. His plan to apprehend her for treason took a back seat to a more startling development. A new race of creatures were in possession of cosmic artifacts and Neight had new allies. “And what of Zosma?” He inquired with a curious eye.

  Not much more than a weapon of mass destruction to her. Hardly a sibling, hardly something she’d loved or felt sorry for. Closer to, the thing that destroyed her happiness, the reason her mother was murdered, the cause for the end of their race and her father’s abandonment. “I know nothing of it,” Amora answered of her sister. Ders shrank further out of sight to avoid inquiries his direction. Dragon’s couldn’t lie.

  Nodus waved his hand around his head and the royal guards returned to their ships. Before leaving, Nodus whispered to her, “As guardian of the Taldykin-Zellatris system, it is your job to keep out the exiled. I do hope your familial relationships do not cause you to falter in upholding those responsibilities.”

  “Suppose we have somethin in common then,” Amora said back. “Ya seem to be doin fine, think I’ll do fine too.”

  An unexpected blow below the belt.

  “Disrespectful witch!” he screamed, with one giant hand wrapped around her neck.

/>   Ders roared at the outburst but the pointed edge of the Admiral’s sword forced him back. Defending Amora was one thing, killing the son of Anton was another.

  It was too big to pry off. “Deepest apologies,” she struggled hoarsely.

  The iron grip loosened to freedom. “Never speak of my kin again or I will personally take you to Judge Xor Infinity for the foulest punishment you can imagine.” A beam of gold light covered him and Amora stepped away while his long face delivered a scowl. He ascended onto the ship, arms covering his torso in hostility. It was a serious warning, one she hoped he never got a chance to execute.

  Ders watched danger rise into the atmosphere, disappearing among binary starlight. Amora climbed Pyx in preparation for departure. “Perhaps it is safer for you to stay within the Phyre kingdom,” the dragon king offered.

  “We’ll be fine,” she mumbled. “We’ll all be fine…for now.”

  Ders opened a telepathic link between the two of them only, “Amora.”

  “When tha time comes, King Ders, we reunite.” Pyx rose into the air, returning to the dangers outside the safety of a scorching hot volcano. An unspoken agreement of their alliance meant they would call on each other for assistance when needed, not if. War was on its way.