He then looked Scott directly in the eyes. “General, find me a battle cruiser, a shuttle, anything that can get me to Gnolom immediately.”
“What? No!” Anyta protested. “You just got back. You can’t go!”
He turned to his beautiful wife. The tears of joy that were in her eyes were now tears of sorrow again. He cupped her cheeks in his hands. “I will be okay, Anyta. Jake and Celeste are too important. I need to go. They aren’t just encountering some super intelligent computer. No, it’s something much, much worse. Something more evil and powerful than even Koroan Chast.”
CHAPTER 20
Earth Time: 2 days later, August 4, 2042 – Gnolom . . .
Celeste, along with Jake, Skip, Sean, Nichelle, Nateal Runa, and Sage Merrok stood in wonder and amazement at the scene and the landscape before them. They were all clad in black spacesuits and helmets. Their oxygen tanks had enough in them to last maybe six days at the most before they needed to be replenished.
Sadness suddenly entered Celeste’s heart. Her once beautiful home world had been transformed from a lush green world, teeming with life, to a world that was desolate and dead. The landscape before them was completely barren. Nothing but red dust whirled around them as they tried to look further out to the horizon.
“It looks like Mars,” Skip said.
Celeste turned and looked at Skip, who was standing next to her. She didn’t respond, but from the descriptions of the red planet that Jake had told her about, Gnolom certainly looked as if it had succumbed to the same fate. She then looked past Skip toward Commander Runa, who was looking down at his scanner. “How far are we from the hologram signature?” she asked.
Runa looked up and pointed. “The hologram signature is two klicks directly ahead. But I’m getting another energy signature as well.”
“Where?” Jake asked.
“It’s coming from Mount Resumpsi,” Runa replied as he pointed directly ahead. “It’s almost as if it is coming directly inside the mount itself.”
Celeste turned her attention back to her new husband. A look of concern was spread across his face as he looked back toward the mountain. “Well, it looks like we will be hiking it. This is the closest I could land us because of the dust storms. Let’s get our supplies ready as well as our extra oxygen tanks. And let’s get the engines covered so that this dust doesn’t clog them, so we can lift off when it’s time.”
Just before they began preparing for their journey, Skip piped in, “Jake, maybe we can split up. There are two energy signatures. One group can investigate the first one and the other group can investigate the hologram signature.”
Celeste looked at Jake. He paused, obviously thinking about Skip’s proposition. But before he could respond, she cut in, “No, I don’t think we should split up. We stick together. We’re safer that way. I think we should investigate the first energy signature and then move on to the hologram signature.”
Jake looked at her and smiled. “She’s right, Skip. We need to stick together.”
* * * * *
After two hours of traveling through the violent dust storm, the crew had successfully made their way into a crevice on the side of the mountain peak that contained the first energy signature. Surprisingly, the cave was damp and water trickled down from the stalagmites above to the rocky floor below. Skip looked down at his wrist at the atmospheric levels. The cave’s oxygen levels were at sixteen percent and climbing as they made their way further into the cave.
Commander Runa was leading the group, guided by the information on his scanner. He stopped. “The water is trickling down to the base and center of the mountain. That’s where the energy signature is coming from, and it’s getting stronger the further we go in.”
Jake made his way up to stand next to Runa and looked around. “Well, the good news is the cave is getting bigger the further we walk into it. I’ll go with your recommendation, Commander. But if the cave narrows, we go back and investigate the hologram signature.”
Runa nodded in agreement, and the team moved forward. The descent declined gradually, but footing was slick because of the water running along the rocky surface. As they walked, Nichelle asked, “What do you think is down there, Nateal?”
Runa shrugged. “I have no idea. But from our last discussion about this mount and the legend of Coen Chast, and the power he received from it, I am beginning to believe that all those myths that were told to us as children are true.”
“They are true,” Sage Merrok chimed in.
Everyone stopped and turned their attention toward Colonel Sage Merrok. During their entire journey to Gnolom, the Gnol had spoken very little. The only time he had spoken was when he had promised that he would not sabotage their mission when they unshackled him.
Skip stepped forward. “Do you think there’s another golden tablet down there?”
Merrok turned and looked down the dark corridor, shining his flashlight through it. “I hope so.” He then walked ahead of the group, and they followed.
After a few more minutes, Skip saw what appeared to be a faint gold light, penetrating the darkness. As they approached the light, they all turned their flashlights off. Sage Merrok was the first to step out of the corridor of the cave and into the light. He stopped and dropped his flashlight. Skip was next. “Oh my,” he uttered.
The others stepped out into the light. Each one of them stopped as well in shock. Within the center of Mount Resumpsi was a tropical paradise. However, most of the foliage of the paradise was beginning to die. A small stream of water trickled into a gigantic underground pool to their immediate left of what used to be a gigantic waterfall from the top of the mount. The natural pool was only a quarter of the way full. Dead and rotting foliage lay next to living, lush vegetation, fighting to survive. Gigantic trees towered above them, some dead and some barely holding on to life. But the most impressive thing of all rested right in the middle of the garden paradise.
A gold pyramid jutted from the surface up to about five hundred feet in the air. The pyramid reminded Skip of the temple on Terrest and the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. Only this pyramid’s gold was intact. The gold light that illuminated the entire hollow of the mount emitted from the top of the pyramid, providing enough light for all of them to see the details of the garden.
“This must be the legendary Garden of Taosheoa,” Nichelle whispered.
“Taosheoa?” Skip questioned.
“Taosheoa translates to ‘paradise.’ This must be the fabled garden of paradise where Gnolom’s first man and woman partook of the forbidden fruit.”
“Like the Garden of Eden on Earth?” Skip questioned.
Nobody responded. They all just stared in wonderment at the scene before them. And Skip wondered what the connection was between the temple of Terrest, this garden, and the ancient biblical story of Adam and Eve on Earth.
* * * * *
Macaria hid in the shadows of the hollow of the mount. Even though she could not be seen with mortal eyes, she hated the light and preferred to stay in the darkness. She watched the mortals with disgust as they stood in amazement within the garden, staring at the golden pyramid. She hated these souls and could remember most of them in the pre-mortal world, in particular Jake and Celeste. It took every ounce of control for her not to use her telekinetic abilities that tapped into the physical world not to cause the mountain to tremble and rain stones down upon them. No, she had to keep Jake and Celeste alive and couldn’t risk killing them if she tried to kill the other mortals that were with them.
As the mortals began to make their way toward the towering pyramid, she hovered out of the shadows out ahead of them, examining each one of their faces. Every negative emotion from hate, anger, spite, and rage flowed through her. She hated them, every single one. “Celeste!” she screamed, wishing that Celeste could hear her with her mortal ears.
Celeste, however, stopped and looked around, almost as if she did hear, or at least sense the evil spirit’s presence. Instantly, Macaria was
drawn to the womb of the Celeste. She reached her hands down just above Celeste’s belly. She sensed something, the beginnings of life within her womb. “The chosen one,” she whispered.
Celeste walked right through Macaria and stopped, suddenly, dropping to her knees. Macaria whipped herself around and watched as Jake rushed to her side.
“D-did you feel that?” Celeste questioned.
Jake reached down to help his new bride up. “Feel what?”
Celeste staggered to her feet. She looked back and seemed to look right at Macaria. The evil spirit’s eyes glowed fiery red, and she hissed at the mortal in vexation.
The daughter of Koroan shook her head. “I’m okay. But … there’s something evil here. It’s like … like I walked right through it. And as soon as I did, every hope and pleasant emotion suddenly disappeared – sucked from me like a giant black hole.”
Jake looked back at Macaria as well. The spirit knew that he couldn’t see her. She let out a deafening shrill and sped her way to within inches of his face. “You will soon die, Jake Palmer!” she said, spitting between her clenched teeth.
Jake turned back around. “C’mon. Let’s check out what’s in this pyramid.”
The evil spirit stayed still and watched as the mortals stopped at the entrance to the temple. She knew what they would discover, but she wasn’t concerned because what she truly wanted to protect was hidden behind a huge boulder and a five-meter thick steel door on the other side of the garden. There was no possible way they could get to her most prized possession.
Just as the mortals entered the pyramid, a thought occurred to her. She now knew how she could trap Celeste, keeping the unborn child protected, and killing the rest – including her new groom, Jake Palmer.
* * * * *
Celeste was right. The feeling within the hollow of the mount was not a good one, and Jake could feel it too. But he quickly put the negative emotions aside as he stepped into the pyramid. The light within was brighter, causing him to temporarily lose his vision. But once his eyes acclimated, he stopped in absolute astonishment with what lay before him. The five hundred-foot tall pyramid was covering a gigantic tree, the top of it almost touching the top of the pyramid. It was the largest tree he had ever seen. He and his crew were within ten yards of the trunk, which seemed to have a circumference as large as half of a football field. Encircling the trunk was a circular pool of water. And on the other side of the pool, the floor of the temple was gold as well. A single bridge of gold extended to the other side of the circular pool. And there, resting at the base of the trunk was a golden altar. On top of the altar was a miniature replica of the golden pyramid in which they now stood. The replica’s base was a perfect square foot and the pyramid point extended to about two feet in the air.
Sage inched his way forward toward the miniature pyramid. “I’ve seen this before. It’s just like the miniature pyramid that contained the golden tablet of Terrest. Only this one doesn’t have a lock on it.”
Skip made his way to the altar, stopping next to Sage. “Do you think this contains Gnolom’s gold tablet?”
“There’s only one way to find out,” Sage said as he began to pull his gloves off his hands.
The rest of the crew had made their way to the altar and encircled it as well. “Wait,” Jake said as he grabbed Sage’s hand to stop him from taking off his gloves. Jake then looked down at the atmospheric readings on his wrist. Within the garden and the pyramid, the pressure had normalized, and oxygen levels had risen to twenty-one percent. “We’re good.”
They all unsealed their helmets, took them off, and set them aside. Jake took in a deep breath. The air was musty and smelled rotten. Sage then grabbed the upper half of the miniature pyramid and twisted it one hundred eighty degrees. They all heard a series of clicks as the upper portion of the pyramid collapsed into the lower portion, revealing a book-sized indentation where the golden tablet of Gnolom should have been, but it wasn’t there.
Jake looked at Skip. He seemed disappointed. “Do you think Koroan has this tablet as well?” asked Skip.
“He must have it,” Celeste said. “He and Vlamer would have obviously been the last two individuals to have been in this mountain and garden.”
Sean finally spoke up. “But this still doesn’t explain how Koroan and Vlamer were able to enhance their abilities.”
“Maybe it has something to do with this tree,” Runa suggested.
They all looked at the gigantic tree in awe. Branches jutted out from every direction, nearly touching the walls. Jake took one step forward, closer to its trunk, but his foot stepped onto something soft and mushy. Rancid fumes lifted up from whatever it was he stepped in, nearly knocking him out from its stench. “Ugh. What is that?” he asked, turning his nose as he tried to wipe the yellowish and foul substance from his boot onto the tree trunk.
Skip stepped forward and leaned in closer to what Jake had stepped on. “It looks like a rotten piece of fruit of some kind.”
Just then, Jake began to feel searing heat, penetrating the sole of his boot. The rubber on the bottom began to melt away. “It’s melting my boot!” he shrieked as he tried to untie it.
Runa rushed forward with his dagger and quickly cut the laces. Jake grabbed the portion of his boot that hadn’t been infected yet, yanked it off and through it into the pool behind him. The water began to boil as the acidic substance ate the entire boot until there was nothing left.
“Watch your step,” Jake ordered as he turned back, looking at the rotten fruit he had stepped in. He then looked up at the lower branches of the tree. The branches that he could see were all dead, their leaves obviously gone. But as he scanned further up the tree, he saw some green. He pulled his binoculars from his pocket and peered upward into them. Sure enough, the top of the tree had branches with leaves that were still alive. The very fruit that he had stepped in also hung from several of the branches. But this fruit was not like any fruit he had seen before. Each fruit was about the size of a cantaloupe, gold in color, and emitted light of its own. “The fruit … That’s what’s providing the light.”
“What?” asked Skip as he took the binoculars from Jake, looking up into the tree. Skip continued to stare for a few more seconds when he uttered a familiar scripture from the Old Testament. “And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.”
Sean looked wide-eyed at Skip. “Wait, Skip. Are you telling us this could very well be the tree of life for Gnolom?”
Skip lowered the binoculars and looked at Sean with an intensity Jake had never seen before. “If this is indeed Gnolom’s Garden of Eden, then this is in fact the garden’s tree of life. Why else would it be enshrined in a pyramid made of pure gold?”
“So, that fruit up there, my father and Vlamer could have eaten some of it. That’s why their abilities were enhanced,” Celeste said.
“I’m willing to bet my life on it,” Skip uttered. Then, he paused, looking down at the ground in thought. After a few seconds, he looked at Nichelle. “Nichelle, you seem to know more about the ancient mythology of this planet than any of us. You said that one of Koroan’s ancient ancestors found sacred knowledge here. Do you know any more about the story?”
Nichelle shook her head. “Only what I have told you. There aren’t any ancient texts that I know of, elaborating on the story.”
“Maybe that information is encoded in the gold tablet,” Sage added.
“Maybe so,” said Skip as he looked back up to the top of the tree. “That fruit up there is ripe and living, and whoever eats it . . . I don’t know. Maybe it changes their genetic code, almost giving them godlike powers or immortality. That’s why, in Earth’s Old Testament story, the tree of life in the Garden of Eden was protected by Cherubim and a flaming sword, so that Adam and Eve wouldn’t partake of its fruit and live forever in their sins.”
“Cherubim?” Runa questi
oned.
“Angels. Messengers of God,” added Sean.
Runa nodded, obviously understanding what an angel was. “But then, why isn’t this tree protected by some supernatural force?”
Skip shrugged, looking back at the tree. “Even though there are similarities to Earth’s and Gnolom’s creation stories, maybe there are some variations.”
“Well, all I know is that when that fruit dies,” Jake chimed in. “It can burn flesh and even kill you.”
Again, nobody said anything for a few more minutes as they continued to examine the tree, and Skip began walking around the monumental trunk, examining it further. As Jake looked up, he couldn’t help but wonder what would happen to him if he ate a ripe piece of fruit. Would he change into someone like Celeste? Or would it kill him? He didn’t know. Nonetheless, the power enticed him.
“Wait. What’s this?” Skip questioned. “Come here.”
Everyone walked around to the other side of the tree trunk where Skip was kneeling. There, at the base of the trunk, was a tube connected to the bottom of the tree. The tube was about ten inches in diameter and transparent. A fluid of some sort, emitting the same light, flowed through the tube, which then extended underground. Skip began digging the dirt with his hands. Pretty soon, everyone else was digging as well.
After a few more minutes, they had successfully dug a shallow trench about a foot deep into the ground that revealed the tube. The tube went deeper into the ground and disappeared under the circular pool surrounding the tree.
“Where does it go?” asked Jake.
Runa placed his scanner next to the tubing. “The energy levels are off the chart. This must be our energy source, and it leads out that way,” he said, pointing to the far wall of the pyramid.
Worlds Without End: Aftermath (Book 2) Page 34