“There’s no time to give them a proper burial, Cassie.”
“I know.” She replies.
“We’ll have to bury them like we did the crew members. I’ll do it after dark.”
Cassie lovingly wraps Noah’s children in linen. I wrap Noah and his wife. I carry the bodies out and put them in shallow graves out in the garden and cover them.
“We can’t stay here, Cass...they’ll come back.”
“I know.” Cassie replies. “Let’s get out of this place.” We hike up the trail, in spite of lack of sleep and food. We’re determined to survive this.
“I pull Cassie behind me suddenly.”
“Korban! What are you?”
“Shhhhh.” I point to the very large Cave Bear up ahead. “He’s feeding on something.” I tell her.
“He’s so big.” She replies. Another smaller animal behind Cassie startles her. The Cave Bear hears her and spots us as easy prey. We’re only 300 yards away. The bear heads towards us.
“Run, Cassie! Run!” I yell.
I’ve never seen a bear so big in all of the time we’ve have dwelled on this new planet. We hit the tree line again and come upon a large crevice ahead of us.
“Cass, if we get a running start, we can jump to the other side and escape.
We come to the crevice. “Jump!” The bear approaches as we jump and roll on the opposite side. It stops and stares at what might have been his dinner. He roars. We both take a deep sigh of relief. Life just isn’t working out for us in this place. We rest for a while.
“Did you see the size of those berries that bear was eating?” Cassie asks.
“Are you hungry?”
“Yes.”
“Let’s wait for the bear to leave and try them. We know they’re not poisonous.”
We watch the bear from this side of the crevice until he gives up and moves on. Finally, we jump back to the other side to check out the berries. We pick a few and dine. They’re delightfully delicious! Something new.
“Korban, these are so good! Why haven’t we seen these before?”
“Maybe we should thank the bear!” I answer.
“Let’s pick some and take them with us.”
I look down the trail towards Cassie. “Quiet,” I tell her, again. “Look!”
Further down on the switchback are Coriantumur’s men.
“What are they doing up here?” She asks.
“Back to the Genesis, now!”
“How did they know we were up here?” Cassie asks.
“It seems that this Coriantumur doesn’t want any survivors. Pax was right.“ We make it to the big meadow and continue running as fast as we can.
“Korban, do you think they’re following us to the Genesis?” Cassie frets.
“We’ll deal with it if it comes to that. We must keep going.” Soon we’ll be in plain sight of our would-be killers. But distance is on our side. And we know the trail better than they do. There are still places to hide. They’re approximately a quarter mile behind us now. Relentless, I think.
We make it up to the glacial area and continue towards the ship. At this point it is either the ship or the cave. If we stay, we’ll have to find a way to defend ourselves.
AN UNEXPECTED RESCUE
Our team passes through the portal. My adrenalin level is brimming. Passing through a portal to another time on earth is unprecedented.
“It only happens in movies,” I state to anyone that’s listening. I pinch myself. “Yep, this is real.” The weather is warm on this side of the portal. Not as much ice and snow. Interesting. We can see the cave now also. The crew sticks together as instructed. No one is to leave the group or split up. We stop and look around. I look back to the portal. I can still see the ship and the blue stream of light. That makes me feel more confident. Getting back to our time is our life line. I also am expecting a delay of some type upon returning.
“Let’s head towards the cave.” Mark tells everyone. A small stream flows out of the cave. Lightfoot leads us. He has been invaluable on this mission. He enters first with a flood light and finds footprints inside. Lightfoot looks back at us.
“See here...there were survivors. At least five.”
“Interesting.” Mark replies. “I wonder what happened to them.”
“Well, since their ship was destroyed, they’d have at least two options,” I reply.
“What do you mean, Matt,” Mark asks.
“Well, they’re going to be going back and forth to the ship for supplies. They wouldn’t be able to live up here in this cave very long because of winter. So they’d have to branch out; explore the area.”
“Right.” Mark says.
“My guess is they would do just that, but return from time to time for things needed from the ship. That would depend on the time period and season they crashed in. Hard to say.” I add.
“That’s even more interesting. What would you do if you were an alien crashed on another world?” Mark asks.
“I would look for civilization,” Ray adds. “But if it’s a primitive civilization, it’s not going to be easy for them to fit in.”
“Good point.” I agree. “They would have to completely start over.”
“Cliff judges the crash site on the other side dates back to at least 2,000 years B.C., and possibly longer than that.”
“Just like ‘Ancient Aliens’,” Peter calls out. “Outrageous, man!”
I laugh.
Mark laughs. “It’s true.” Mark acknowledges. “Fact is stranger than fiction.”
Lightfoot continues to check out the cave and we follow him.
“It looks like they spent a short time here. They obviously kept a fire to be warm.” Lightfoot postures.
“No record-keeping on the walls.” I comment.
“They probably kept it electronically.” Peter says from behind. “Why would they stop using technology just because they’re in a primitive civilization?” Ray adds. “They had an advantage.”
“Makes sense,” I acknowledge. “That’s what I’d do if it were me.”
“South American history is full of dealings with people from other worlds,” Peter adds. “Look at the landing strips in Nazca. With this kind of evidence, it means they could be living amongst us. Even today.”
“I must live a sheltered life.” Mark says.
“Well, there’s nothing wrong with it, Mark. If anything, they’ve probably helped civilization along. We may be the benefactors of it.”
“Well, just think. It’s been in front of us all this time. The realization of it is almost overwhelming.” He sighs.
Lightfoot shows up. “The cave ends at 40 feet.”
“Let’s head out.” Mark says. We all regroup outside the cave. “Time to go back,” Mark calls. “We need to find out how long we’ve been gone.” As we start back towards the portal, we hear screams for help. We look back and see a man and a woman approaching us. They’re being pursued by a group of ancient warriors.
“If you’re not a ranger go through the portal...NOW!!” Mark yells. Mark stands with his SOAR team. He signals for the man and woman to come join behind us. He looks at Lightfoot.
“Your advice please.”
“I’d say kill them if we have to, or we’re dead. They look blood thirsty to me. Rangers. Warning shots first.” Lightfoot yells.
They press on towards the warriors firing their warning shots into the air. The warriors stop in their tracks, stunned. Then they quickly retreat.
“It looks like we’re going to have to post security on the other side of the portal.” Mark tells Lightfoot. Lightfoot acknowledges. The man and woman have already entered the portal with the rest of the team. Mark and the Rangers follow through the portal. The couple thanks everyone in English.
I shake my head. “Wait a minute. How are you able to speak English? We can understand you.” I respond. Both the man and woman pull devices from their ears and hold them in their hands.
“Translation devices,” Mark
answers. He looks at the couple as they put the devices back into their ears.
“So you two must be survivors from the crash here. Is my assumption correct?”
“You are correct.” the man answers. Everyone gets ecstatic all of a sudden.
“Now we’re a rescue mission.” Peter jests. “This just gets more thrilling as time goes on.”
“Okay, everyone. Let’s go have some food and debrief our new friends. I assume our new friends are hungry and are in need of refuge?” Mark asks.
Korban stretches out his hand to Mark. “I’m Korban. And this is Cassie.” Korban and Cassie look at each other. They seem to feel they’re safe now. Mark and company escorts the couple to a conference room and orders MRE’s and juices for them as soon as possible. As far as everyone can tell the two are human just like everyone else. We all sit down at the table and eat.
“This is good,” Korban says. “Thank you.”
“Yes, thank you,” Cassie adds.
“I assume you are both tired from your ordeals. You both look like you could use a hot bath and some rest in decent quarters. There will be plenty of time to talk about your experiences and history.” Mark suggests. “Allow me to make the usual introductions and then we’ll move you both to more suitable quarters. We’ll get you both stabilized here in this time period, assuming you are both interested.”
“Yes, we are interested.” Korban answers.
My name is Mark Valentine. I represent our government on this project with Cliff over here. Cliff is a biologist. Matt Vaughan over here is an archeologist and paleontologist.” Pointing to Ray, “Ray is Matt’s assistant.” Mark makes the rest of the introductions.
He concludes. “I’ve ordered a V-22 to transport you down the mountain away from all of this. Matt and his assistant, Leesa will be joining you and will be your guides. Let me assure you that they have your best interests at heart. They’re my friends and good people.”
Mark looks around the room. “Very well, people. That is all.”
A V-22 lands outside the compound. Leesa and I grab blankets for Korban and Cassie. We board the V-22. None of us knows where to start as far as conversation. I just assume the two need to adjust to their new world. Modern as it may seem compared to where they have just escaped from, it still has to be a shock to them. Leesa holds the Yorkie in her arms as well. The little dog is panting.
Leesa introduces the dog, “This is Maddie. We found her up here from another crash site. She was a passenger with about nine other people. Sadly, there were no survivors. So Maddie is looking for a home.”
Cassie looks at the little dog. “She’s very cute.” I had a pet once also. Can I hold her?” she asks.
“Certainly.” Leesa says. She hands Maddie over to Cassie. The dog licks her face and Cassie laughs. Korban laughs as well.
“Good job, Leesa,” I think to myself. The dog is an ice breaker; especially in a very loud V-22.
“We sent the dog through the blue stream to test it with a ball. Dogs like to fetch things. She came right back, although there was a delay.” I tell them.
“Maddie has become a mascot with the crew.” Leesa explains. “But if you would like to take care of Maddie, I’ll get you some supplies. Maybe you two could take care of her for us?”
“We’d like that,” Cassie answers. She looks at Korban. He seems alright with it. The dog will give them some focus.
Korban looks out the window. The scenery is beautiful, but it’s raining and foggy in places. He judges it to be summer below. The V-22 lands at the base camp and the four of us climb out with the dog and head for the compound.
“Are you two married?” Leesa asks.
“Yes, we are.” Korban answers.
“Great. We’ll give you quarters together then. You can take a shower and freshen up. There are uniforms waiting for you. I believe the sizes are correct. But let me know. You’ll find everything you need. You two rest up and we’ll meet later for dinner.”
“Thank you, Leesa.” Cassie gives her a big hug.
“I’ll get some food and supplies for the dog as well.” Leesa tells them and leaves.
Leesa and I head for the command center.
“This is one of the most exciting adventures I’ve ever experienced. The past and present worlds coming together? Unheard of...” I comment.
“And startling as well.” Leesa adds.
“Imagine, Leesa. They’re aliens and they’ve lived on earth at a much earlier time period.”
One of the officers asks, “What happened up there, Matt?” No one has informed the rest of the crew.
“This couple just showed up on the other side of the portal.” Leesa answers.
“They were being pursued by very a small army of men wearing armor.” I tell them.
“Conquistadors?” he asks.
“No. nothing like that. But they had helmets with feathers on them. And the armor covered them down to their knees. They had shoes as well. But they were nothing like Conquistadors. More like something out of the early Pre-Egyptian period.”
“That sounds crazy.”
“It just depends on the time period. South American history is very mysterious.”
TALON’S RETURN
Mark catches up to Matt and Leesa at the base camp. “I’m planning a big dinner for our guests.” He announces.
“Sir,” one of the rangers approaches Mark.
“Yes,” Mark answers.
“Your associate, Talon, has flown in to the airbase below us and is on his way up to the base camp as we speak. He’ll arrive in ten minutes, Sir.”
“Talon, here?” Mark asks. “How about that? He must be excited to come all this way. Originally, he’s taken a back seat on this project. He only had an interest in the egg-shaped stones and worked intermediately with Cliff on them. But he wouldn’t come to Peru, even though he’s from here,” Mark adds. “I’m glad he’ll share in the excitement.”
I arrive to the base camp via helicopter. My gut sensation tells me I’m supposed to be here. The chopper sets down and Mark comes out to greet me.
“Talon, you won’t believe what’s happening.”
“I’m all ears, Mark.” I tell him. “I don’t know why I’ve come. But I’m finally here.” We enter the conference room. There is a festive table set full of food. Probably, a Christmas party, no doubt. It’s a pretty good setting, considering we’re deep in the mountains of Peru.
“Let me bring you up to snuff.” Mark tells me.
“Mark, listen to me.” I try to tell him. “I have something I need to tell you.” People start pouring into the conference room, talking and anticipating great excitement about…what? It’s all happening too fast for me to comprehend. Suddenly, Leesa and Matt enter, escorting Korban and Cassie.
I stand up. Tears swell in my eyes as I catch my breath.
Korban and Cassie glance over towards me, and I stumble in my rush to embrace my friends.
“Talon!” Korban chokes up. “We thought you were dead.” We weep as we exchange hugs.
“I thought you were dead. We saw the graves.” he replies.
“Where’s Deonna?” Cassie asks. Leesa hands Cassie a handkerchief.
I choke as I begin to speak. “Deonna was killed by one of the warriors. We returned to warn you all and you were no longer at the compound. We went to the village and found everyone dead. It was a bloodbath. Then we encountered a man in armor, crying like a mad man. He threatened to kill us too; so we fled back to the compound. We made it back and then discovered the shallow graves.”
“That’s where we buried Noah and his family.” Korban says. The intense scene of this reunion is gut wrenching to all surrounding us. I continue.
“Deonna went inside the compound and two men were there with spears. One of them introduced himself as Pax and told us he was Noah’s son. He said he had been taken and raised by another of Coriantumr’s men.”
Cassie chokes but smiles. “Yes, we lived among the Jaredite people for 30
years, Talon. We knew Pax from his birth. He was Noah’s oldest. We thought he was dead. They must have raised him.”
“He was about 29 years of age.” I tell them. “He said he hadn’t seen them since he was a child.”
“Yes, that’s true,” affirms Korban.
“Noah and I became part of the council. We helped them build shelters, and traded with them. Cassie and I raised Alpacas. Then one day there was a coup. One of the rebels murdered Chief Yoseph. We didn’t know who we could trust any more. They laid the blame on us and we escaped at night. We returned to the compound we first built.” Korban summarizes. “We held out for a few days and then Cassie and I went back to the Genesis to find what we could to defend ourselves. When we returned, we found Noah and his family all dead.”
Starship Genesis Page 25