Chapter Nineteen
Drellic and Moya were alone under the moonlight, still standing atop the landing platform.
“I’ve been watching you,” Moya said to him. “I heard you wake up. I’ve felt and lived inside your dreams. I followed you to this world, and I watched you destroy it. Why did you do all this?”
Drellic was offended by her question and replied, “How could I not do it? Those creatures destroyed everything we had.”
“Yet, you repeated their mistake,” Moya replied. “You came to this world and destroyed everything its people held dear. You are no different than the Architects, who reduced our two worlds to ashes.”
Drellic’s rage returned and he violently grabbed Moya by her shoulders and screamed, “They are inferior! They are the putrid, mutated remains of our grand society! They are an insult to the memory of those worlds!”
“Listen to yourself,” said Moya. “You were once the most respected of our people. You were loved by billions. Now, you’re alone. Because when those creatures came to our planets, you revealed your true self. Your pride and your arrogance became the center of your life and you lashed out at a superior force, only so you could call yourself the sole ruler of humanity! You declared war against a people, that weren’t even your enemies, until you made them your enemies!”
“Do you speak for them now?” Drellic bitterly asked. “You sound like the same treasonous wretch, I remember!”
“Your wife loved you!” Moya shouted.
Drellic then realized at that moment that the suspicions he was trying so desperately to ignore, were correct. The woman standing before him, was not Moya.
“Your wife loved you. She tried to save you!” she continued. “And you repaid her tireless devotion to you, by murdering her in front of your precious, confused and diseased people!”
“I don’t understand this!” Drellic screamed. “If you’re not her, then why did the sacred Starblood that still runs through my veins, tell me that I would soon be saved by my kind?”
“You don’t understand the being inside you, nearly as well as you think,” she answered.
“I am the one that has been sharing your inner most secrets and desires with you, since you first went aboard that ship and tasted the essence of something, you should’ve never been exposed to.”
Drellic then thought back to the day he boarded the Architect Flagship, above the city of Siren. He remembered finding the hidden laboratory, which was home to an endless supply of glass vials, each containing a portion of the sacred blood that had transformed him into a deadly weapon.
He didn’t realize it back then, but after waking up inside Charon eons later, he often dreamt of a small star, traveling throughout the universe that seemed to have a consciousness, all its own. He knew that he was carrying a piece of that consciousness, and that it was the true source of his power. It was what attracted him to the gleaming orb, when it first appeared in the Sydney sky. It was then that he realized the true identity of the creature standing before him.
“It’s impossible,” he whispered to her. “You can’t be here.”
“I am called Aia,” she replied. “I’ve been drawn to you, since the moment you awakened on the ice world. It’s taken me centuries to find you, crossing over the dark matter meadows, between galaxies, and the starry plains within, but it’s finally time for you to relinquish my essence.”
“I won’t do it,” he said, as he was beginning to feel disoriented. “It’s mine. It’s a part of me now.”
“Even after all this time, you still don’t have the slightest idea of what you’ve been carrying inside of you,” Aia replied. “It is mine to do with what I will. It can have no other master. It is already joining with me, as we speak. I only needed to be close enough to retrieve it. It’s as natural as gravity. Just let it go.”
“No!” Drellic screamed, as he felt his heart beat slowing and his airways being cut off. He fell to his knees and squirmed in pain, as he noticed his skin beginning to decay and his muscles shrinking down to practically nothing.
Callum, Simone and Mary saw what was happening and approached the platform, to get a closer look at Drellic’s demise. Callum slowly ascended the staircase and saw Drellic, who appeared to be a frail old man, lying at Aia’s feet.
Aia looked down upon him with sympathetic eyes and said, “It’s going to be a slow and painful process. But eventually, the eons are going to catch up with you and you will turn to dust. But you still have a day or so of conscious thought left, in case you’d like to make some kind of peace with yourself, before you pass.”
Aia then turned her attention to Callum, Simone and Mary. The three of them froze with fear. “Do not be afraid,” Aia said to them, in English. “I have no reason to harm you, and this one is no longer a threat to you,” she added, as she looked down on Drellic’s deteriorating body.
“What are you?” Simone asked her. Aia just stared at her and was silent for a moment.
“Please,” Simone continued. “I have to know. I’ve devoted so much of my life to discovering the truth, about who we are and why we’re here. We’ve all lost so much. Billions of us are dead, because of that man on the ground.”
Aia remained silent.
“You owe her some kind of answer,” Callum said. “The things he did to us are somehow connected to you. I think you owe all of us some kind of explanation.”
“I was here in the beginning,” Aia began. “Just as I will be here at the end. Just know this. The ones that created him,” she continued as she pointed down at Drellic. “The ones that created him, were gods only in their own minds. They moved like giants throughout the stars, creating whatever life they wished, and depositing it wherever they wished. They were ancient, wise and exceptionally gifted, but they no longer valued their lives, as much as they valued their abilities. They merely took their blessings for granted. They were my children, and these are things that even you know, children tend to do.”
”But if they created him, then they’re also responsible for creating us,” Mary said.
Aia paused and replied, “No. Even after all my years studying you, your reemergence on this planet defies reason. I caused a terrible storm that ravaged the entire universe, in a time long before now, erasing my children from existence. They had seeded themselves in every galaxy, and it was the only way to stop them from ridding the universe of natural life and replacing it with their own creations.
Yet here you stand, on the same soil, on the same rock, just a few billion light years from where you began. For that, I have no explanation.”
“That’s not good enough,” Simone said, as she wept. “There has to be more. There has to be more you’re not telling us.”
“I’m so sorry,” Aia said. “But even I have to submit to the will of miracles, from time to time.”
Aia then looked back down upon Drellic, who was gasping for air and barely able to speak.
“As for you,” she began in the ancient language. “…You always said that only your people could be worthy of you. Well, it appears that you now have no choice, but to answer to your people.”
She then looked back to Simone and said, “I leave him to you. For now and forever, this Earth will be yours. But remember. I will always be watching. Take care of this world, for you may not be granted another, as long as I exist. I’ve found a purpose in protecting naturally evolved life. If necessary, I will protect it from you, should you choose to bring your barbaric tendencies with you into the stars.”
“I hope to see you out there…in peace,” Aia then added with a smile, and with those final words, she became engulfed in flames and quickly ascended into the sky, in the same star-like form she had assumed, when she first arrived.
Callum, Simone and Mary, stood over Drellic and couldn’t help but take pity on him.
“What do we do with him?” Mary asked.
“We can still study him. There’s still time,” Simone said.
�
�No,” Callum sternly replied. “We’re going to do exactly what she said,” Callum added, as Drellic nervously looked up at him and remained curled up in a feeble ball, on the metal platform.
“What are you talking about?” Simone asked.
“He’s going to answer to his people…by dying with them. I’ll drive,” Callum said.
Callum then picked Drellic up and slung him over his shoulder. In his diminishing state, he weighed only a little less than one hundred pounds. The sun was rising in Sydney, as Callum carried Drellic back to his stolen recon ship, which was still parked on the outskirts of the city.
Mary and Simone walked alongside and watched as hundreds of people were coming out of their makeshift homes and tents, to witness Drellic’s end. No words were spoken. There was still a great deal of animosity to be had for the citizens, as most of them had betrayed humanity in order to stay alive, under Drellic’s rule.
Callum remained focused on the ship as they walked, while Simone gave an angry glare to any who were watching them. Mary simply kept her eyes on the ground, and refused to look anyone in the eye. The three of them finally reached the ship and boarded it. A moment later, the ship launched and headed out into space, leaving the ruins of Sydney and the gleaming Delendra Tower, behind.
In the following years, factions that would later become governments, were formed by those who fought alongside the resistance, during the dark years under Drellic’s rule. Despite the outrage of many resistance fighters, there was to be no form of capital punishment for any of Drellic’s followers, regardless of their crimes. It was said that in a society that would have to rebuild from the ground up, all human beings were to be given a clean slate, in order to display the difference between the philosophies of a ruthless dictator, and that of the leaders of a free society. It was also common knowledge that there were more people still alive in the world who had betrayed humanity, than had not.
Callum, Simone and Mary were not seen again for three days, after departing Sydney, on the night of Drellic’s defeat. But what happened during those three days, was just a small occurrence, in a long chain of events to come. These events would one day lead to the discovery of a very different kind of evil, buried beneath the red soil of Mars; or, Tyrran, as its current inhabitants preferred it to be called.
Epilogue
On May 22nd, 2031, a fast, sleek recon patrol ship, of Drellic’s design, landed near Aeolis Mons (Mount Sharp), on Mars. The radically advanced ship had gotten its occupants to the Martian surface in less than 24 hrs.
Massive, quick moving dust devils, tore across the rocky surface, sending debris smashing into the ship. Given its nearly impenetrable hull, the dust devils were having no effect. The ship remained stationary, hovering just a few inches above the planet’s surface, as its pilot, Callum Hammond was waiting patiently for the Martian winds to die down.
Aboard the ship, Callum Hammond, Simone West and Maryann Santos were sealed inside fully pressurized EVA suits. Lying at their feet, was a rapidly aging and deteriorating Drellic, who was not afforded the comfort and security of a suit that would protect him from the violent conditions outside.
Drellic was barely conscious, but was still able to squirm around, while lying on his back. He knew what punishment was awaiting him. More importantly, he knew where he was. Drellic had decided that it would be a fitting end for him.
He had remained awake for most of the trip to Mars, and upon arrival, knew right away that he was going home to Tyrran, the true planet of his birth; a truth known only to Callum and Simone, before their most recent departure from Earth.
A few moments later, the dust devils ceased their fast violent rotations and faded away.
“Should be safe to open up now,” Mary said.
“If we’re going to do this, we should do it now,” Simone added.
Callum nodded and replied, “Let’s give him what he’s always wanted. Let’s send him home.”
Callum got out of his seat, while Simone and Mary minded the ship’s controls. Callum lifted Drellic’s body with ease, as Simone depressurized the ship, causing Drellic’s body to thrash about. She then opened the outer hatch, exposing the inside of the ship to the Martian environment.
Without hesitation, Callum threw Drellic’s body out onto the Martian soil. Drellic was already dead from the moment the cabin was depressurized, but it still pleased Callum, Simone and Mary just the same, to see his body lifelessly crash into the Martian surface.
“That’s it. Let’s go home,” Callum said, as they sealed the hatch and re-pressurized the ship’s cabin.
“Here’s to new beginnings,” Simone said with a smile, as the ship quickly left the Aeolis Mons area and headed back to Earth.
Several hours passed on the Martian surface, as the environment ate away at Drellic’s skin, organs and bones, until there was almost nothing left. As his eyes were on the verge of falling from their sockets, a tremor vibrated beneath Drellic’s body, and a circular opening in the Martian surface, appeared beside him.
A faint white glow, then illuminated from the opening, and a platform carrying three large human-like beings, ascended to the surface. The three creatures were wearing dark colored pressure suits, of their own, and although appeared to be human in nature, had dull gray skin and haunting black eyes. They also seemed feeble and poorly nourished, as they staggered towards Drellic’s remains. One of the creatures spotted the symbol of Siren and Tyrran on Drellic’s uniform and communicated recognition to the others.
Together, the three creatures carefully picked up Drellic’s remains and carried them to the opening in the surface. They rode the automated platform down, several hundred feet, through a tunnel of rock, until reaching a long corridor of water tanks that stretched as far as the eye could see.
Each cylindrical, transparent tank, contained a naked, modern adult human. There were men, women and children of all ethnicities present. The people in the tanks were hooked up to intravenous tubes that connected them to the sides of their tanks.
Drellic’s remains were given to two other similar looking creatures, who took them away on a rolling cart. The three creatures who had initially found Drellic’s body, then removed their protective helmets and each approached a separate water tank.
They each hooked up their bare arms to IV drips, which were attached to the outsides of the tanks, and simultaneously extracted blood and nutrients from the humans inside. When they were finished with their seemingly daily routine, they disappeared down the corridor and went about their business. Printed on the wall, above the entrance to the corridor, was the unity symbol of Siren and Tyrran.
THE END
The Shadow Colony
Book Two of, “The Drellic Saga”
Copyright ©2013 Michael John Marlinski
ISBN: 9781301431267
The Drellic Saga: Books One, Two and Three Page 22