by Eric Black
“I was and I did.”
“Did you ask him why he was telling you this?”
“I did. His answer was that he was one of only a few left alive who knew that the book existed and he could not let that secret die with him. He said he owed the government at least that much for sparing his life and treating him well throughout the years.”
The Keeper considered the Kaptajn’s words. The Kaptajn had not backed down and that pleased him. The Cancellarrii had chosen well, as he had expected him to. “Very well. So we know that a book exists. And we know that book contains an unknown narrative. We also assume that the book is in the hands of the Chokka. Is there any way to discover where the book truly ended?”
The Cancellarrii regained the conversation. “As I mentioned, we are making all possible inquiries.”
“Is there no way to trace the deliveries and narrow down those people involved?”
“We can narrow down the timeframe and look at the most likely suspects but our inquiry will take time to make sure the information is accurate. It wouldn’t be prudent to neglect any timeframe based solely on if they served with the cook or not. During the interval which we spend investigating, the Chokka gain more time to plot. We will work all angles but our efforts would be better spent on the present than chasing stories of the past.”
The Keeper nodded regretfully. “Any news of his whereabouts?”
The Cancellarrii shook his head. “Our battalion in the Great Waste picked up the trail and followed it east but it ended just to the north of the city.”
“So they have come back here?”
“Either that or they discovered a means to travel undetected.”
The Keeper placed his hands behind his back and paced around the room for a few moments. The Cancellarrii and the Kaptajn waited patiently. Finally the Keeper looked up at them. “Have you ever heard of a secret Chokka fortress?”
The Kaptajn shook his head indicating that he had not. The Cancellarrii on the other hand had heard of such a place, although it had been many years since he heard anything spoken on the subject. “In the first few years after our arrival year, I often heard whispers among the residents of the Elder Quarter asking why the Császár did not take residence in the fortress upon our invasion.”
“Did any of these people mention where such a fortress might be located?”
“It was said that the fortress lay just north of the city. I have investigated several times but have never revealed anything.”
“I have heard similar rumors. I have been to the area a few times myself but like you never seen sign of a fortress.” The Keeper looked at the Kaptajn. “Do you have men in the area?”
The Kaptajn nodded. “The battalion that trailed the Chokka trail remains in the area. I will have them scour the area. It is a large area. Is there a specific location we should begin?”
“If you were to build a fortress, what would you look for in a location?” the Cancellarrii asked.
“I would find a higher elevation for a vantage point.”
“Even if it were underground?”
The Kaptajn considered. “Yes.”
“Then that is where you will focus.”
The Keeper looked at both men. “Make it happen. We need to find the fortress.”
Both men noted the dismissal and exited the Keeper’s office.
After they had gone, the Keeper went back to his living quarters and sat down at his kitchen table. The past few weeks had been more stressful than at any other point of his rule. That stress was starting to wear on him. “Perhaps tomorrow I will take a few days in the Northern Palace. The Cancellarrii can meet with me there as well as he can here.”
With that, he undressed and went to bed. “Things will be better tomorrow.” he said to himself before falling asleep and dreaming of the face of the Chokka’s father.
CHAPTER FORTY TWO
“Everyone out!” The Cancellarrii saw the timer. There were only twenty seconds to evacuate – they weren’t going to make it.
The Cancellarrii actuated his body shield and turned to the Kaptajn; the Kaptajn had engaged his as well. He had just enough time to survey his men and saw that most of the Klopph were unprotected. He yelled out to them but was cut off. At that moment, the bomb detonated.
The Cancellarrii felt himself being propelled through the air. He felt something hit hard. Then, his world went white, and then black.
Brrrrrrr. Mmrrrrrrungggg.
He could hear sounds in the background. They were muffled.
Crrraaaaannng. Wwwwiiilllllllllddd.
There was only darkness.
Then, there was something. There was a long tunnel and at the end was a hazy light. He could not feel himself walking but the light slowly came forward. As it did, his world became clearer. The sounds in the background began to resemble words.
Almost blinding him, the light engulfed him. He felt a tingling sensation. He tried to reach out and touch the tingling but couldn’t muster his hands to work. The light penetrated his closed eyes and called to him. He tried to open his eyes and found he could not, at least not at first.
He tried several times to speak to whoever was in the outside world but words failed him. He felt his eyes blink. Then they opened.
There was a face in front of him. A black area of the face moved. Finally he understood that the black area was a mouth. He saw the face of an old friend.
Just like that, he was back in the world. He could see. He could hear and smell.
“Take it easy.” The Keeper’s words dripped of concern.
The Cancellarrii strained a slight smile and called his old friend by a name that had not been used in many years. “Where am I?”
“You are in a medical unit.” the Keeper answered placing his hand on the Cancellarrii’s chest. “You have been here two days.”
“Two days?” The Cancellarrii tried to sit up and found that he couldn’t.
“You have been in a coma. You came out about an hour ago. The physicians just left. They have your arms and legs strapped down so you don’t try to pull off the machinery.”
The Cancellarrii laid his head back. “What happened? I can barely remember.”
“There was an explosion. Your body shield saved your life.”
“What about the others?”
“Over three hundred Klopph lost their life.”
The Cancellarrii couldn’t believe it. He had walked his men into a trap. Now three hundred men were dead because of his failure. “What about the Kaptajn?”
“He is alive. I’m not sure how. But he won’t ever walk again.” The Keeper looked down at his oldest friend, his eyes deep with the same pain that the Cancellarrii felt. “There was nothing you could have done. You couldn’t have known. Men die in battle.”
There was anger in the Cancelllarrii’s eyes. “It is my responsibility to check everything. I led the men into that room without checking first. We just stormed in. Now those men are dead because of me.”
“I know you’re angry. I am, too. But this is war. Yes, men died. They aren’t the first and they won’t be the last. What matters now is that they have struck and stuck hard. You and I are the leaders of this world. The Klopph will be looking to us for leadership. We have to honor our men and move forward. If we don’t, we’ve already lost.”
The Cancellarrii was silent for several minutes as he weighed the Keeper’s words. He knew the Keeper was right. “Okay.” he said finally. “We will lead them.”
The Keeper nodded approvingly. “Good. Now let me catch you up. You will not be able to leave here for at least another day, I insist. Your will need some time to get your mobility and strength back. During that time, you and I will be working here.” The Keeper started to add something else when two of the nurses came in pushing a cart. “Well, that’s my cue. I’ll leave you to your tests.”
The Keeper patted the Cancellarrii on his shoulder and walked out of the room. From the corner of his eye, he saw the nurse pick up a s
yringe with a needle that resembled at long, thin nail.
CHAPTER FORTY THREE
“We’ve got company.” Rusk said running over to where the three men stood. Rusk had been a bully as a kid but Jims had taken him in and mentored him and he had become a man of strong integrity and character. He was now the Deputy Minister of Security, appointed by Jims.
“What do you mean?” Jims asked.
“The Klopph are all over this area. I don’t think they know how to gain entrance to the fortress but they definitely know something is here and they are searching.”
“How many?” Quentin asked.
“A battalion. Almost a thousand Klopph.”
“A thousand? I guess they’re serious.”
“They won’t find this place.” Babel said confidently.
“Are you sure?” Jims asked. “My boy Rusk here doesn’t get worked up about much but he seems pretty concerned right now.”
“They will not be able to access the stairway. Only my energy can open the stairway.”
None of the men spoke for a moment. Babel looked at them and started to speak when he noticed Quentin’s face. Quentin’s concern was exposed. “What is it?” Babel asked.
“The device that the Klopph have that detects the Chokka energy.”
“What about it? I’m wearing the device that displaces the energy.”
“No, you don’t understand. If they can detect the energy, that means they know how the energy is configured. If they can configure the energy, they can replicate the energy. If they can do that, they can open the doorway.”
Babel inhaled deeply and closed his eyes. “I have led them to us.”
“Don’t take it too hard, mate.” Jims replied. “Besides, we can use this to our advantage.”
“What do you mean advantage?” Quentin asked. “We’re surrounded.”
Jims flashed his teeth. “Exactly. They are all here in one place and we have an armory full of bombs.”
Babel saw Jims’ intentions and nodded. “We’ll draw them down here and then take them out.”
Jims nodded. “I knew you had some of that Chokka common sense in you somewhere. Aye, we take them out. Rusk!”
Rusk stepped forward. “You take some of the boys and bring the bombs.” Jims ordered. “You’ll need to move quickly. Once we’re ready, we’ll move out through one of the escape tunnels.”
Rusk nodded and followed through on his orders. Once all was in place, they waited for the sound of the stairway to open. It was quiet for only a moment, then the mechanical sound of the stairway opening echoed in the room. The sound was followed by the trudging of a myriad of marching feet.
“Time to go.” Babel ordered.
Jims set the timer for two minutes and then ushered those who remained to meet with the rest of the group already waiting by the back door. They sealed the blast door behind them and traveled the dimly tunnel that would bring them out further north.
The Cancellarrii entered he main commons room of the underground fortress, ahead of his men and saw that the room was empty. He ordered a halt, ready to give his next command to search the entire fortress when something caught his eye. There was a pile of something in the middle of the room covered by a canvas cloth. The pile began to blink and then beep.
“Everyone out…!” he started to yell. But he was cut off by the explosion.
CHAPTER FORTY FOUR
The Barren Lands were beautiful in their own desolate way. There was no vegetation to speak of and the land truly was barren. But it was the eerie quietness of it all that appealed to Babel. What disturbed other men who may have been more superstitious, Babel enjoyed the soundlessness that lay all around them.
It was a desert in all aspects. They journey there took several days and they kept a constant watch for Klopph. Twice now they had gained a small victory over the army of the world and they expected that the Klopph were famished for revenge. They had no way of knowing the full extent that the explosion inside of the fortress had impaired the Klopph. They were unaware that the Cancellarrii and his new Kaptajn had both been severely injured and the Klopph were temporarily on stand down until the enormity of the situation was evaluated.
As such, Babel and his band moved swiftly north, unimpeded.
Their journey provided time for Babel and Quentin to continue their conversations on Quentin’s knowledge of the Chokka. Between what was said at the fortress and what was shared on the crossing north, Babel became well acquainted with his ancestors and their enigmas.
On the third day, Babel began to see signs of a massive bridge that had once stood. There were only small portions of the bridge standing and none of those segments were longer than twenty feet. Babel recognized that the segments belonged to what had been the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. That meant that the silt on which they now crossed had been the lake.
“I wonder what these structures were.” Quentin questioned.
“They were once part of a massive bridge that spanned nearly twenty five miles over a lake.” Babel answered.
Quentin stopped. “How do you know that?”
“I know it because I have been here before.”
“You have been to the Great Waste? I don’t understand.”
“I was here when this bridge was intact. It was the longest of its kind in the world. The land we are now walking on was once a large lake.” Babel paused. “This world that you live in, it is the future of the world that is seen through the portals. The portals lead to your past. That is where I come from.”
Babel had spoken loud enough for everyone to hear. Everyone now stood and stared at Babel.
“The past, Babel, are you sure?”
“Look, either I’m insane or I speak the truth. I would not speak them in jest. You have to decide. Am I crazy? If so, why are you following me? If I am not insane, that means my words are true. I come from your past. My father escaped to the past and that’s where I was born. Now I return back to the world of my family.”
“How many years in the past do the portals lead?”
“It’s hard to tell. I have no idea how many years have passed from them until now.”
“So what does that mean for us?”
“It means nothing. This is the world that exists. We can all go back to the world through the portal if we can figure out how to make it work. But it won’t change anything. All of this will still happen. The only difference will be that the Klopph will continue to rule this world and we will not be here to stop them.”
“And we need to stop them.” Jims said, joining the discussion.
“I agree,” said Babel, “we need to stop them.” He turned and looked at the people who bordered him. “Look, I know the thought of a new world without the Klopph seems wonderful. But if we can go there, so can they. If they go there, I can’t be sure of the extent of damage they would cause. Who knows, maybe they are the ones who went back and caused the world to be this way. The only way to be done with the Klopph is to do it here.”
“Then let’s stop them.” Repeated Jims.
“So this man we are going to see,” Quentin interposed, “he is key to us stopping the Klopph?”
“This man has lived in this world since before the world changed.”
“How is that possible?”
“I don’t know. I only know that he has lived through the entire history of this world. And, yes, he is vital to our success. We cannot defeat the Klopph without his transport device.”
Quentin took a serious air. “Babel, how do you know all of this?”
“When I opened the fortress I was show all of this. I can’t explain it. I just know what I saw.”
They continued their discussion as they walked. And on the fifth day of their journey north, they came to a deserted area of housing; only one of the homes appeared to be not so deserted.
“We need to keep an eye out.” Jims warned. “This man does not know us and he will be leery. We should assume that he sees us as a threat and will treat us a
s such.”
Most of the people of the village stayed back while Jims, Rusk, Quentin, and Babel moved forward to investigate the house. To all but Babel, the home seemed strange. A relic of past days – the architecture was foreign as was the landscaping. But to Babel, the house reminded him of his father’s house back in Tennessee.
They moved slowly with their open hands exposed, not wanting to give the wrong impression. Babel could see a garden behind the house – the only vegetation in the vicinity – but there was no sign of any life.
Jacques had seen them coming. He didn’t know who they were and didn’t care. He had been alone for so long that he preferred it that way. He had seen what he thought were signs of people to the south of his home but had seen no one. Now that had changed.
He was not aware of how the world had moved on in recent centuries. He stayed to himself and he stayed safe. He didn’t know if these new people were dangerous or not but they were certainly a threat to his solitude way of life. Now that he had been discovered, he knew that he would not be left alone.
The cylinder was in the bag stowed over his shoulder. He could have used the device to go somewhere else – anywhere else in the world. He knew the rest of the world was dead and he would be able to live peacefully, undisturbed; but this was his home and no one was going to drive him from it.
He circled around behind them, to where he knew the rest of the group was waiting about a half mile from his house. His abilities had continued to increase and he used his incredible speed and strength to take out five men among the group before the group could react. He snapped the necks of the five men and was blind with the feel of death when he heard the cries and noticed for the first time that there were women and children among the mass.
Jims heard the cries first. “The village! They are being attacked!”
Without waiting to see how the others reacted, Jims sprinted back to his people and his wife. Rusk, Quentin, and Babel followed suit.
When they arrived three minutes later, they discovered the dead among them. Women and children cried at the bodies of the fallen men. Solemn looks filled the faces of those who stood and watched, helpless to offer assistance or change what had happened.