Life-After

by J. A. Laraque

  Theed approached the crystal hanging above the coffin-shaped capsule and slowly removed it. He turned back towards us and showed it to me.

  “Within this crystal is the energy source used to create the shield my father attempted to place around the anomaly. I designed it to interact with your life energy, David. When your father enraged his life energy signature changed. Its power was magnified a hundred times. When we pass though the gateway this crystal will absorb some of the life energy within there. When we arrive on the other side you must unleash your red life energy and allow the crystal to absorb it.”

  “A bomb...” Clara said. “That’s why you needed David, to become a living bomb?”

  I understood what Flag planned to do. When his father activated the shield it reacted with the life energy from the anomaly creating a massive explosion. With a mixture of the gateways life energy and my enhanced red colored life energy the resulting reaction would lead to an explosion a thousand times more powerful than what occurred before.

  “I’ll do whatever it takes to end this.” I said and turned towards Clara. “If this is what I am to do…”

  “There is no need for dramatics.” Flag interrupted. “The crystal will not detonate right away. First, you release your red life energy. This will destabilize the gateway. It is possible in your enraged state you may not be able to react quickly enough or lose concentration similar to when Clara retrieved you. This is why Clara and I will be accompanying you.

  We will leave the crystal behind and if need be pull you back through the gateway. Regardless of how powerful Richard may be his power is still life energy based. Any attack he makes on the crystal will only amplify its power. We will have enough time to escape. The gateway will close before the detonation and once its energy is unleashed Richard will lose access to the life stream.”

  I wanted to ask him what would happen after that. Then I realized, dead means dead. The one constant was that my human body had died and all that remained was my soul. All I could hope for was that with Richard unable to interfere any longer we would all finally be at peace.

  Flag returned to the computer station and began running scans on the crystal. Clara took my hand and held it within hers. She was shaking. I pulled her to my chest and wrapped my arms around her. Knowing that there was a reality out there was Clara and I were in love made me feel better inside. Perhaps I was missing the point. It did not matter what happened in another reality. What mattered was how I felt in the here and now.

  “I promise no matter what happens we will make it back together.” I said to Clara. “No one else will suffer as we have.”

  “David…” Clara whispered. “I…”

  An explosion from above rocked the facility. We were nearly a mile below the earth and I could feel it shake the very foundation. I grabbed hold of Clara and turned to Flag who was holding on to the computer console for support. In the distance I could hear the elevator doors open. I looked at Clara making sure she was ok and then ran towards the hallway. As I did Kyle and Kim came around the corner. They were both bloodied and covered in dirt holding their weapons.

  “Whatever your plan is Flag, we have to do it now!” Kyle shouted. “Richard sent an army after us and this time I don’t think…”

  Kyle was cut short by another explosion directly above us. Flashes of light began to appear all around the laboratory. As the light faded I could not believe what I was seeing. Containment suits, the same as used by the alien attackers surrounded us with their weapons trained on us. Kyle tossed me a weapon then drew down on the closest one to us.

  “The only way out of here is though them.” Kyle said. “I hope to God you are as good as everyone thinks you are.”

  18

  With the Global War lasting as long as it did it was not a strange occurrence to have retried soldiers return to duty. The Alliance military was desperate for recruits even as the tide was turning in its favor. A returning solider knew he or she would receive the full benefits package and it would be extended to their family. Many returned knowing they would die. To them, all that mattered was that their loved ones would be well cared for.

  Returning soldiers were honored in the corps. Those who retained their rank were highly trained and skilled. I often wondered how could someone who had known peace could return to field. I once asked an older solider who had been away for over ten years how could just come back and return to the killing. He told me in his mind he never left. When he put on the uniform and held his weapon in his hand it was as if not a day had passed.

  “It’s just a part of you. No, it’s who you are.” He said.

  The suits opened fired upon us. Instinct kicked in. The familiar sound of their energy weapons returned me to my training, my roots. Nothing else in that moment mattered. Survival was paramount, but I also knew that there were only two trained soldiers among us.

  “Clara, Flag! Move toward the computer station!” I yelled. “Duck underneath and wait for our signal!”

  The suits were firing randomly. Their weapons seemed less powerful doing only minor damage to whatever they struck. Unfortunately, our weapons were almost useless against them. Both Kyle and my own weapon used conventional bullets which did nothing to their armored containment suits.

  “They’re trying to capture us!” Kyle yelled. “There’s no way they would miss us in this room while surrounding us.”

  “Then we have to use that to our advantage!” I shouted.

  It was then I noticed the grenades strapped across Kyle’s chest. I made my way over to him and Kim and pointed toward two suits on the opposite end of the room. I knew we needed to make our way back to the elevator, but they would be expecting that.

  “David.” Flag called to me. “If we can make it to the anomaly we will be safe. The distortion it gives off prevents them from transporting themselves down there.”

  “Kyle, throw one of your grenades toward the back center.” I said. “They want me. I know it. I’ll charge towards the blast drawing the others from the hallway. You take the rest and head towards the elevator. I’ll double-back and follow you.”

  Kyle nodded. The suits continued firing holding their position. It was clear they wanted to keep us pinned. I prepared to make my move. Kyle removed a single grenade and pulled the pin ready to throw it. Then there was a flash of light that covered the entire room. It was blinding and I could feel a wave on energy pass through me. At first I believed it was flash grenade fired to disorient us. As my vision cleared I could see a distortion forming in the center of the room. It hung in the air in front of the large standing capsule.

  “What the hell is that thing?” Kyle yelled.

  “Another anomaly..!” Flag shouted. “Another gateway is opening.”

  Bright flashing light pulsed from the tear opening in space. The suits continued firing keeping us pinned and I realized why. They were holding us where we were for whatever was to come from the tear. It was coming for us.

  “Kyle, do it now!” I screamed out.

  Kyle threw the grenade across the room. As it sailed across the anomaly the grenade was drawn into it. A second wave of energy fired out from the tear. As it passed through me I screamed out in pain falling to my knees. My body felt as if it was burning from the inside out. I could hear the screams of the others. I forced myself to my feet and stumbled over to Clara and Flag’s location.

  “We have to get to the elevator.” I screamed out. “Come on!”

  I reached out my hand grabbing hold of Clara. Kyle stood and began firing at each suit drawing their attention. The tear began to expand and I could feel a presence approaching. The static-like feeling was returning as if whatever was coming through was tearing its way through reality itself. Its energy was massive, overpowering.

  “Kyle, focus on the suit near the hallway!” I yelled.

  Kyle pulled another grenade from the chest and threw it towards the hallway. The blast buckled the legs of the suit. It felt to its side with a thunderous crash bu
t continued firing. Kyle rushed the suit unloading his weapon into its head. I followed close behind him ducking to avoid the incoming fire. The suits began to move, they were closing in on us.

  “It’s clear!” Kyle shouted. “We need to cover…”

  Kyle went silent and raised his weapon toward me. I had no time to react as he opened fire. The bullets whizzed inches from my head. I turned quickly to see two of the suits directly behind me. Kyle motioned to Kim to stay as he charged toward me. I pushed Clara and Flag forward and turned firing my weapon.

  Our combined fire destroyed the two suits pursuing us. As the suits fell they were pulled into the expanding tear. Another pulse fired out this one much stronger than before. I lost control of my body. In an instant I could not see or hear. The energy coursed through my body, it felt as if it was taking over. The tear was drawing me in. I felt it pulling me toward it.

  Then I felt someone grab my shoulder. As my vision returned I could see Kyle dragging me towards the hallway. Kim was next to him firing his weapon, providing cover. Clara and Flag were at the end of the hallway waiting for us at the elevator. We were halfway to them when I heard Kim scream out.

  Kyle let go of me and ran to Kim’s aid. I turned around to see her lying on the ground, a gaping wound in her chest. Kyle fell to his knees and lifted Kim from the ground. He held Kim in his arms rocking back and forth, shaking. In the distance I could see two more suits approaching them.

  “Kyle, come on!” I screamed. “We can fix this!”

  I ran toward Kyle. He picked up his weapon and pointed it at me. I stopped and stared at him. There was a look in his eyes I had not seen since the alien attack. He took his arm from around Kim’s waist and reached for his chest. I knew exactly what he was doing. He pulled the master pin connected to his remaining grenades. His look was the same as mine when I knew everything I loved was lost. Kyle turned the gun on the suits and began firing. They returned fire this time with deadly precision. The blasts tore through Kyle’s body. I could do nothing, not even scream. His body fell backwards to the ground. The pin fell from his fingers.

  “David…” Flag called to me. “There’s nothing you can do. We have to go.”

  I turned and ran toward the elevator; the explosion pushed me forward knocking me to the floor. Clara reached out pulling me into the elevator. I turned around to see the hallway had collapsed. Kyle did not want to leave the love of his life behind. He sacrificed himself to allow us to escape. As the elevator doors closed I realized Flag was wrong. There was something I could do. I closed my eyes and thanked him.

  The elevator sped downwards. I sat on the floor of the elevator with my back against Clara’s knees. There was silence for a moment and I thought about the second anomaly that appeared. I was beginning to doubt everything we were doing.

  “What was that back there?” I asked Flag returning to my feet. “Tell me!”

  “I…” Flag stuttered. “I don’t know. I believe it was another opening, another gateway, but…”

  I turned away from Flag toward the elevator door looking at my reflection. I closed my eyes and could see Kim and Kyle lying on the ground dead. The rage was returning, building up inside me. I had only known them for a few moments, but their death still affected me. I slammed my fist against the elevator door. Clara reached out to touch me, but I turned motioning to her to stop.

  “That’s not good enough, Flag.” I said. “What we are about to do. You said you have been planning since you arrived. Everyone is dead and now we discover Richard can open a gateway to us?”

  “We don’t know that.” Flag exclaimed. “I felt it to, David. There was something inside the anomaly, but we don’t know if it was Richard. As I said, I believe we are within the Life stream, the central point for all converging realities. It is possible, as I stated before, that we are not the only ones fighting against Richard.”

  I had not had time to think much about what Flag had theorized. He was correct that if I was somehow accessing different dimensions and that there were others working on similar plans against Richard. Then it was possible another version of me or Flag was responsible for opening the tear. The energy that came through, however, caused pain when it hit me. I believed that perhaps it was incompatible which would have explained the static-like feeling.

  Flag held on tightly to the crystal. I knew we were at the point of no return. Either Flag would be correct and we succeed or we were all misled and all realities would come to an end.

  “Their deaths won’t be in vain.” Clara said. “I know we will end this.”

  “Yes.” I said taking Clara’s hand. “We will.”

  The elevator came to a stop. As the doors opened I could feel the energy pouring out from behind them. A long dark hallway stretched out before us. At the end of the hallway I could see a bright flashing light. Clara, Flag and I walked forward toward the light. The imagery was not lost on me. It reminded me of the beginning. The dark void and then the bright light leading me to Clara or who I thought was Clara.

  The room was spherical in shape. A dome-like ceiling was reinforced with a metal I had never seen before. It was an onyx color, but reflected the light from the room. The anomaly sat in the center of the room on a raised platform. A single narrow catwalk led to the platform. A railed walkway surrounded it. Two metal arches crisscrossed around the anomaly. As series of cameras and sensory devices were placed around the room on the adjacent walls, but there were no computer stations or other equipment anywhere to be found.

  The anomaly was about ten feet high and three feet wide. The light pulsating from within was bright and yet soft on the eyes. I could feel the energy flowing from it, but it did not cause any pain or discomfort. In fact, if felt as if it were healing me. Not just my physical injuries, but the mental and emotion ones as well. A peaceful calm came over me the closer we came to the light. I wanted nothing more than to step into it.

  “This was to be my life’s work.” Flag began. “Though I was fascinated with the theory of life energy it was the discovery of this gateway that I felt held untold potential. To be able to travel to alternate worlds and see the differences in history, science and technology…”

  Flag went silent. When he spoke about the anomaly his eyes brightened like a proud parent talking about their child. I realized what brought out the emotion, the passion in Flag. I also realized by him going silent and his face returning to the cold scientist I had known, that he knew that if we succeeded in our mission any hope of continuing his research would be forever lost.

  “We have to stop Richard.” I said to Flag. “Nothing else matters.”

  “Of course...” Flag whispered. “You are right. Once we detonate the device it will not only close the gateway Richard has opened, but all gateways to and from the Life Stream. The combined energy will destabilize the entire area. No one will ever be able to open a gateway to here again. This means once we return, we will be trapped here, forever.”

  Flag slowly approached the platform holding the crystal. He climbed the first stair and placed the crystal on the second step just below the anomaly. The crystal began to glow as tiny streams of energy flowed from the tear into it. He turned back toward Clara and I with a saddened look on his face.

  “There is something you should know before we proceed.” Flag began. “My knowledge on the anomaly did not just come from my own experiments and my father’s research. When I arrived here and found this place I came down here. I wanted to see if the anomaly was here and when I found it I believed it was a way out. I stepped into it and could feel the follow of energy and the power it contained. I felt more than one presence within and realized I could not go any further alone. I exited the anomaly, but I brought something back with me.

  My understanding of the anomaly was different. It was as if it spoke to me. It was a transfer of information. Data can be transmitted through energy and since we are merely vessels of energy I understood that data could be transmitted and received by my body. I took into
account that this information could be misleading. However, it was not raw knowledge I received, but awareness. It opened my mind and allowed me to create this device we are about to use. With that said, I did take a precaution.”

  I had worried that perhaps everything that had happened no matter how elaborate was nothing more than steps to lead us exactly where Richard wanted. The fake Clara told me she could stabilize my life energy by giving some of her own to me. I realized that could be a form of control. Like placing a computer chip in a machine Richard could have imprinted himself into each and every one of us. In the end I realized it did not matter. One way or another, the nightmare had to end.

  “What precaution?” Clara asked.

  “The crystal will detonate, no matter what happens.” Flag answered. “While it would be much more powerful with David’s life energy it will have absorbed enough of the gateways energy to be viable. If this is a trap set by Richard I will throw the crystal back into the gateway. There it will quickly overload and explode. This will not only destroy the gateway, but the Life Stream itself.”

  Flag knew much more about the gateway and the Life Stream than he had told us. He was well aware that from the start it was a great possibility that we were all being manipulated. There was no need to ask him the how or why. I just knew he already had the answer and I had no problem with it.

  “Destroy the Life steam?” Clara gasped. “But, if the Life Stream is the afterlife for all existence than that is what you will be destroying? What effect will that have on the universe? How do you know you will not destroy everything?”

  “I apologize. I was not clear.” Flag continued. “Energy cannot be destroyed. What will occur is all the energy within the Life stream will change. Life energy is the force behind all creation. However, sentient life energy is not needed to continue feeding the universe. Richard requires sentient life energy. When the crystal detonates within the Life stream it will erase the consciousness of the life energy. Our individuality will be destroyed and the life energy within will return to its most basic state. With this done Richard will become powerless.”