Worlds Without End: Aftermath (Book 2)

by Shaun Messick

  Koroan, alone in the darkness, continued to walk down the path lined with headstones. He made his way to what the humans called the Tomb of the Unknowns. The smile disappeared from his face. The thought that the humans would honor their dead repulsed him. Humans had no real power or potential. The goddess had made that clear to Koroan when they first met. She wanted revenge on them for what they did to her and to her master. They were meant to serve Koroan, the goddess of light, and ultimately the master.

  Now standing next to the tomb, Koroan looked around. Nothing. “Where is this so-called master?” he muttered.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly saw a dark mist spinning like a small tornado about five feet away. The cyclone spun and grew until it towered over Koroan. A ferocious wind blew from the tornado, pinning Koroan against the tomb with paralyzing force.

  A voice then bellowed from within the storm. “So-called master! You forget your place, Koroan. You may have the power of a god, but I am your true master.”

  Koroan tried to move, but the force from the cyclone was too intense. Usually unfazed, he felt a small amount of fear. “F-forgive me, Master.”

  The cyclone continued to spin, and Koroan saw two glowing red eyes appear from within the center. The powerful wind pinning him to the tomb subsided. The master’s voice spoke, a deep, hollow voice, but it was a voice strong enough to strike fear into anyone. “Bow before your master, Koroan.”

  Koroan knelt to one knee and lowered his head. “My Lord.”

  “Rise.”

  He stood, staring into the red, glowing eyes.

  “My daughter has chosen well, Koroan.”

  “Thank you, Master.”

  “You are truly the chosen one to unite two worlds and two peoples. But there is more for you to do.”

  “I understand.”

  “How long before the process is complete, freeing my daughter from her imprisonment?” the master asked.

  “It will be complete in a matter of weeks, my Lord.”

  “Good. Soon my daughter will be free, and you, with her by your side, will rule this galaxy as my son.”

  A small smile curved along Koroan’s lips. “I am honored, Father.”

  “Yes, and the galaxy’s true god will finally reveal himself, disrupting the plan of the false God the humans worship on his creations in this galaxy.”

  “Yes, my Lord,” Koroan declared.

  “And what of the relics? Have they been found?”

  “Yes, Master, your daughter possesses one, and the goddess has just informed me that Lord Kreuk has just recovered the other.”

  “Very well, all that remains is the relic from Earth. Conquer this planet and begin the search.”

  Koroan bowed his head. “Yes, my Lord. Thy will be done.”

  As soon as the words left his lips, the cyclone spun away and disappeared, leaving in its wake a powerful wind. The wind faded, and Koroan began to walk back to his shuttle. As he walked, a surge of power resonated throughout his body. Tomorrow, the first obstacle hampering his ascension to godhood would be eliminated, placing him one step closer to his final destination and dominion.

  CHAPTER 6

  Earth Time: 1 day later, July 6, 2042 – Slave Camp of Zikf, Terrest . . .

  Skip paced nervously within one of the so-called shacks that housed the slaves of Zikf. The shack was drafty, containing about fifty nap sacks for each slave to sleep on, all on top of the wet, jungle floor. He looked around. The conditions within the shack were absolutely dreadful. The stench alone was nauseating. The roof and walls were nothing more than thin slabs of wood patched together with rope and palm leaves from the jungle. The sun’s rays trickled in, giving some light to the room.

  His heart sank upon the thought of Ariauna, Bantyr, and Sean living in such conditions. Glancing down at Skyler, he noticed him squirm a little. The Enforcer had said that Skyler would be unconscious for about an hour after his chip was deactivated. However, an hour turned into a day.

  Now Skip waited impatiently for Belzar and Tolpez to arrive. Skyler moved again. He seemed to be waking up from his long slumber.

  Skip heard the tarp covering the entrance to the shack ruffle. It was Belzar, followed by Tolpez. Skip nodded toward Belzar, acknowledging his presence. He then glared at Tolpez. Unexpectedly, however, Tolpez didn’t notice Skip’s glare. He kept his head down and didn’t look well, most likely from withdrawal symptoms.

  “Has he awakened yet?” Belzar asked as he and Tolpez made their way next to Skip.

  “No,” Skip replied.

  Agitated, Tolpez spoke up. “Well, he better wake up soon. My head is pounding. This is the worst I have felt since not having those drugs.”

  “Relax. He will wake up soon,” Belzar said.

  Skyler squirmed again.

  “Are all the slaves working?” Skip asked.

  “Yes, we shouldn’t have any intrusions,” Belzar responded.

  Skyler began to fidget more. Suddenly, he sat up. His eyes were wide open. He was confused and disoriented.

  Skip knelt down and grabbed him by the shoulders. “Skyler, relax. Your body and mind are trying to adjust. You haven’t had control of your own mind for a long time now.”

  Skyler looked around in a daze. “Wh-where am I?”

  “You’re in the slave camp of Zikf,” Skip said. “My name is Steven Hendricks. They call me ‘Skip.’ Like you, I am human and from Earth.”

  Skyler looked at the two behemoth Gnols standing behind Skip. His eyes widened. He recognized them. “Why are they here?”

  Tolpez lurched around Belzar and grabbed at Skyler’s neck. “We need you to make more of those drugs you addicted us to, you human feces!”

  Skyler reeled onto his back, his eyes wide with fear.

  Belzar grabbed Tolpez’s arm, twisted it, and pinned him against the thin wall. “Calm down, Sergeant. Green will do what he is ordered to do. Just let Skip talk to him.”

  The sergeant nodded and relaxed.

  Skyler sat up again and looked at Skip. “Wh-what’s he talkin’ about?”

  “Those drugs … you know, those drugs you made and traded to the guards for preferential treatment,” Skip said.

  Skyler’s mind was showing signs of returning to normal. “Yeah, I remember. Th-that was before we had those chips put in our necks,” he said as he reached his hand to feel behind his neck.

  “That’s right,” Skip continued. “Do you remember how you made those drugs?”

  Skyler smiled at Skip. His arrogance and confidence seemed to return. “Of course I do. I knew what I was doin’. Gnols are addicted for life. Without it, they die.”

  Belzar reached out instinctively and caught Tolpez in the chest before the sergeant could attack again.

  Skyler grinned at Tolpez. “And I remember you, Tolpez. You were one of my best customers. Boy, you look like you definitely need a dose.”

  Tolpez gritted his teeth and glowered at Skyler.

  “So you do remember?” Belzar asked.

  “You bet I do.”

  Skip smiled. “Good, because we need your help.”

  * * * * *

  Washington, D.C., Earth . . .

  His vision was blurred, his ribs were broken, and his psyche was nearly destroyed. Despite his injuries and despair, Adrian Palmer was still very aware of where he was. He and his family were tied to four different poles on top of a makeshift platform on the steps of the Lincoln memorial – Kevin to his immediate right and Ashley to his immediate left. Adam was tied to another pole to the left of Ashley. They were still dressed in the same clothes they had been dressed in for weeks.

  But Adrian didn’t care anymore. He knew why he and his family were there on the steps of one of America’s most iconic symbols of freedom. A building modeled after the Greek Doric temples of ancient Greece, a civilization that was the first to practice self-government, instituting the foundations of freedom for the government of the United States of America. Not to mention, a building that housed
the nineteen foot, 175-ton statue of Abraham Lincoln; a man who united a nation and ended the centuries-long practice of slavery. How ironic was it that the freedom of the human race on Earth was about to end on the very steps where Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his infamous I Have a Dream speech.

  Adrian tried to look out toward the crowd of the thousands of human slaves covering the grounds of the National Mall. Notwithstanding his impaired vision, he could make out the charred remains of the national monuments in the background. The human slaves closest to the platform were silent with fear.

  He made eye contact with a young girl, barely in her teenage years. Tears streamed from her eyes. Her clothes were tattered and burned. The look on her face told Adrian that all hope was lost in the aftermath of the attack. Where was her family? The human slaves had obviously witnessed the godlike abilities of their Gnol captors. They knew they were defeated. That’s why the hundreds of Gnol guards, dressed in their black fatigues, battle helmets with tinted visors, and plasma rifles were able to control the slaves that outnumbered them in the thousands.

  Even though his faith was beginning to disappear, he looked up toward the sky and offered a prayer to his Father in Heaven. The smoke and ash from the attacks were beginning to dissipate. Patches of white clouds dotted the blue sky, and the noonday sun beat down upon him. The day was hot, but he enjoyed the sun’s rays as they shined down upon his battered body.

  He looked at his older brother. Kevin returned his gaze. The look told Adrian that his brother had lost faith as well. They knew they were about to die and there was nothing neither one of them could do.

  He then heard sobbing to his left. The pain of turning his head in that direction was almost unbearable, but he managed to do so. It was Ashley. Her head was down, and tears streamed onto the wood planks of the platform. He then glanced past Ashley and noticed Adam. Despite Kevin’s and Ashley’s despair, Adam seemed to exude an almost defiant resolve as he stared into the crowd.

  Suddenly he coughed again. The pain from his broken ribs rippled throughout his body. Grimacing in pain, he turned his gaze back toward the crowd. At the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial steps, he saw Dorange Gar making his way up to the platform.

  Dorange was dressed in his all-black officer’s uniform. The uniform reminded Adrian of the Schutzstaffell, Hitler’s SS guard from the 1930s and 1940s. Dorange stared at Adrian the entire way up the steps and up onto the platform with a conceited smirk on his face. The thousands of human slaves remained absolutely silent.

  Dorange walked to within inches of Adrian’s face. His long, black hair was braided tightly behind his neck. “This is a good day, Adrian. You have no idea how long I have waited for this day to come.”

  Adrian looked past Dorange without a response and into the crowd.

  “Today, Adrian. Today is the day that everything you have fought for and believed in will be destroyed. I have won, Adrian,” Dorange said. He then turned toward the crowd. Without the use of a microphone, he bellowed his speech. “Today! Today is a day that will forever change human history!”

  He paused as if he was waiting for the crowd to respond. An inaudible fear seemed to resonate from the slaves.

  “My name is Dorange Gar, the commanding General of all of the Gnol armed forces. I serve only one master: my savior and god – Koroan Chast. We have come to Earth for you to receive your true god. For it was written millennia ago that my lord and savior, Koroan Chast, would unite two worlds and two peoples. He was the one prophesied of and chosen by the goddess of light. He has united the peoples of Terrest and Gnolom. Under the goddess’s direction, the people of Terrest were commanded to serve Koroan and the Gnols. And now, it has been commanded that the people of Earth should serve their savior, Koroan Chast, and his goddess mother.”

  Unexpectedly, a young man barely out of his teens and standing next to the girl Adrian had seen crying before screamed out, “I serve only one master, my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!”

  Adrian cringed. For as soon as the words escaped the young man’s lips, Dorange raised his right arm. The young man began to levitate, flailing his legs and arms in fear as he was raised higher and higher, about 100 feet into the air. With a flip of his hand, Dorange telekinetically flipped the young man upside down. And with a downward thrust of his arm, he sent the rebellious slave crashing to the concrete ground below.

  Adrian turned his head before he heard the skull-crushing impact of the young man’s head hitting the pavement. There were several gasps and screams throughout the crowd. He looked back and saw the bloodstained concrete. Two guards grabbed the mangled body and began dragging it away from the crowd.

  “Is there anyone else who dares question their god’s authority?” Dorange demanded as he focused his attention back to the foreboding multitude. Hundreds of slaves fell to their knees into heaps of sobs and anguish; the last of their faith was now gone.

  “Today, you will believe,” Dorange continued. “Your true master is here on Earth now as I speak to you. Many of you wait for a false God who calls himself Christ. But, I say to you, has this false God returned like he has promised? No, he has not. But your true god, Koroan Chast, is here. Soon he will reveal himself to you. And the rebels you see behind me will die for their acts of rebellion!”

  A dark shadow began to spread along the wooden planks below Adrian’s feet. He looked up and saw a large ship coming into view, thousands of feet above the Lincoln Memorial. He didn’t recognize the ship. It was a new design, resembling a black bird of prey. A bright blue light emitted from the bottom of the hull, and a human figure began to descend down to the platform.

  The multitude stared in awe as their new master, Koroan Chast, continued his descent downward. Koroan was dressed in all white. His costume contained white leather, knee-high boots with white pants tucked neatly into them. His arms and broad chest were covered in a white leather jacket, zipped up to the middle of his neck. A small cape was attached to the bottom of the jacket, wrapping around his waist, down to his shins. It was obvious Koroan had studied the Christian religion. His descent onto the platform and his dress clearly emulated the prophecy of Christ’s return as spoken of in Acts 1:11.

  Koroan landed softly onto the wood surface of the platform. As soon as he landed, Dorange bellowed to the crowd, “Kneel before your lord and savior!”

  The mass of apprehensive slaves knelt down. Dorange then turned and knelt before Koroan and bowed his head. “My Lord, I present to you the planet Earth.”

  Koroan smiled and stepped forward. “My children, arise.”

  The host of slaves all stood up in astonished silence.

  “I come before you today, my children, to proclaim unto you that I am he who was prophesied to come forth. The one chosen that would unite two worlds and two peoples. I have fulfilled that prophecy. And now, the goddess of light, your mother and the true goddess of this world, has chosen me to bring the truth to you.

  “For millennia now, humans on Earth have worshipped false gods; gods who have promised to return but have not. But I say unto you that I am here. I am your savior and true god. You will serve me and your Gnol brothers and sisters, or you will perish.”

  Koroan paused, waiting for his words to sink in.

  He then turned and looked at Adrian, raising his right arm. Adrian lowered his gaze. He dared not look into Koroan’s eyes. After all, Koroan had been in his mind. The psychological damage the Gnol inflicted the night before was incomprehensible. Adrian was broken beyond repair, a shell of the man he used to be.

  The ropes holding Adrian’s hands behind the pole began to untie themselves. The rope securing his waist around the pole untied as well. He felt his body lift from the ground and away from the pole.

  Koroan levitated Adrian into the air and moved him out to face the crowd with his back toward Koroan. There were gasps of awe throughout the captivated audience. It was obvious Koroan wanted to use Adrian to demonstrate his godlike abilities to the human slaves.

  “This m
an you see before you and his family behind me, they are rebels. They have refused to worship the true goddess of this galaxy and me. For this reason, they will die today. But before they die for their sins, you will witness what will happen if you fail to follow me – your true and living god!”

  Without warning, Adrian felt a hot surge of electrical energy pulsate throughout his body. He nearly passed out from the pain. Koroan was sending an invisible force of electricity throughout his body – his death sentence.

  * * * * *

  The Washington Monument stands 555 feet in the air and is the tallest standing structure in Washington, D.C. The distance from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial is exactly 1.2 miles. Within the observatory of the monument, visitors can get a vivid 360-degree view of Washington’s great city. A city that once stood for freedom. And it was within this observatory where Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Peterson stood, peering through the scope of his third generation Barrett M82A1, an updated version of the original sniper rifle used by the elite Army Rangers.

  The original M82A1 had a shooting range of 2,300 meters. But the newer version had an accuracy range of 4,000 meters, 2.485 miles. Thus, the distance from his position at the top of the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial was a relatively easy target.

  Christopher Peterson was a master sniper. He had joined the Army Rangers shortly after graduating from West Point in 2034. His exuding confidence and ability to earn the respect of whomever he led earned him the rank of Lieutenant Colonel shortly before the Gnols attacked Earth.

  And now, here he stood with his rifle resting on the edge of the observation window, peering through the scope and staring in awe at the awesome power of these godlike aliens. Despite the dire situation, Colonel Peterson knew what his mission was, and the odds with which he was faced. The man known as John had made it clear to him that the package in question be extracted without harm. It was imperative to the survival of the entire planet.

  Colonel Peterson drew in a deep breath, calming his nerves. The shoulders of his 5’10” frame heaved up and down for a few seconds as he drew in a couple more breaths. He began to relax and checked in with his four-man team.