As he struggled to hold his eyes open, the hologram projectors flashed on, emitting three bright lights. They shined down to the center of the bay and the image of the goddess, or Macaria, as they now knew her, appeared.
“Sh-she’s back,” Jake said, pointing toward her.
Celeste whirled around. “Let him go!” she said with anger pouring from her voice.
“Oh, Celeste, my dear. You know I can’t do that.”
Celeste launched herself off the arm, and using her telekinetic powers, she locked onto a large trunk full of supplies. She sent the trunk hurtling through the air toward the hologram. Macaria just stared at her, smiling disparagingly. The trunk flew through Macaria and crashed into the far wall of the payload bay. Its contents of extra spacesuits and oxygen masks spilled onto the floor.
Jake continued to watch; what little adrenaline he had remaining helped to fend off unconsciousness. Celeste dropped to the ground in a sobbing heap. “P-please. I beg of you. He will die. Let him go and I will stay. I give my life so that his may be spared.”
The hologram lowered to average height and walked toward Celeste. She knelt down and reached her hand down under Celeste’s chin. The heat radiating from the hologram lifted Celeste’s head so they were now looking directly into each other’s eyes. “My dear, Celeste, you offer to give yourself so that he may live?”
Celeste nodded. For the first time since Jake had known his beautiful bride, he noticed defeat in her eyes.
The hologram continued, “That is very noble of you. But it is a character flaw you mortals have, willing to sacrifice yourselves for the ones you love.”
Celeste didn’t respond, lowering her head again. Macaria then turned her attention to Jake and hovered herself toward him. “Jake Palmer, son of Adrian Palmer. You both have been a hindrance to my plan for a very, very long time now.”
Jake just stared at the hologram, his own anger beginning to boil to the surface. He wanted so badly to lash out at her, to break free from the arm, and to destroy her. But he knew that he couldn’t. She was a spirit that had projected into light so that he and Celeste could see her.
Macaria perceived his rage and leaned in a little closer. He could feel the heat from light within inches of his own face. “Be still, Jake. Your anger will only cause you to bleed out what precious hours you have left of life.” She then paused and looked him over. “My, you are a handsome mortal; your son that Celeste carries will truly be something to look at. Or should I say ‘my son.’”
Celeste jumped to her feet. “Your son! He will never be your son!”
The spirit lowered herself back down to Celeste. The mortal and spirit stood face-to-face, within inches of one another. “Yes, Celeste, your child will be my son. For he is the chosen one. Jake will soon be dead, and once the child is born, you will join your precious husband in the afterlife. And Koroan and I will raise the child as our own.”
“My father?”
“Yes, Koroan was destined to be a god, but more importantly, he was destined to raise the chosen one. The one who can interpret the plates and free the one true god of this galaxy from his prison on Earth.”
“But how? How can you raise a child? You don’t have a body. You have been forbidden by the true and living God himself from ever having one.”
Macaria instantly transformed herself into her true form, horrifying Jake. Celeste, in shock as well, stumbled backwards in fear and fell to the floor. The evil spirit rushed toward her, pointing a spindly gray finger at her. “You dare mention Him in my presence! I will obtain a body and that impersonator that calls himself a God, along with his beloved Son, will fall from Heaven!” Macaria howled before disappearing.
Celeste lay still on the floor in stunned silence. Jake was in shock as well. But the incident had kept him awake, at least for the time being. What did Macaria mean? How could she get a body? he thought. Then everything that they had learned and discovered flashed through his mind. The hidden garden. The gold pyramid. The tree with its life source being drained into a mysterious energy source. And the golden tablet. Suddenly it all became clear. He looked at the woman he loved as she jumped to her feet and made her way back upon the satellite arm. The look on her face told him that she had come to the same conclusion.
She cupped his face into her hands, leaning her forehead against his. “We can’t let them take our son,” Jake said.
“We won’t let them, Jake. You and I together. We’ll keep him safe, raise him the right way, teaching him right from wrong, as well as knowing and loving the only true and living God.”
Jake shook his head in a tremendous amount of pain. “No, listen, Celeste. I’m not going to make it. I’ve already lost too much blood. You . . . you need to keep our child safe.”
Celeste didn’t respond as tears began to pour from her eyes as well. She leaned her head against his and the two cried together. Jake could tell that she knew he was right, but she didn’t want to admit it. He could feel his life slipping away, and very soon, Celeste would be all alone to face her father and the evil spirit, Macaria.
* * * * *
Scott Hauler squeezed the controls that commanded the warship. Petey sat next to him in one of the computer terminals of the command bridge. Both men stared at the viewscreen. On the screen was the menacing image of Koroan’s warship staring back at them. He turned to Petey. “Any word from Adrian yet?”
Petey looked at his computer screen. “No, I’ve been trying to hail him. He and Skyler must be out of range. But his bio-signature is still active, along with Skyler’s. They’ve joined up with three other signatures that I am now reading.”
“Only three?” Scott questioned, knowing that Jake’s team had seven members.
“Yeah, they are all healthy and alive … At least that’s what their bio-signatures tell me.”
Scott turned his attention back to the warship on the viewscreen. “Well, he better hurry up because Koroan Chast is staring right back at us. And we don’t have the fire nor the man power to take on that ship.”
The loudspeaker of the warship suddenly crackled and a voice came through. “This is General Lychen, commanding officer of the Raqel. You are trespassing through Gnol space. State your name and purpose here.”
Scott and Petey looked at one another, unsure of what to do next. Should they try to make a run for it? That would be useless. The Raqel, without question, was faster than the rickety old piece of space junk they now sat in.
Scott looked back at the Raqel, its ominous red glowing eyes peering back at them. “This is General Scott Hauler of the Terrestrian military. We are simply here on a reconnaissance mission and mean you no harm.”
Another voice came through the COMM, a frightening voice. “This is Lord Koroan Chast. You lie. I know that Jake Palmer and the woman who used to be my daughter are on the surface. You are here to either protect them or provide a means for their escape. Therefore, you have two options: the first, prepare to be boarded where you will then be captured and have the honor of serving me the rest of your pathetic human lives, or the second option – death.”
Petey looked at Scott with terror in his eyes. Scott, on the other hand, remained calm. He cut communications to the Raqel and spoke to his frightened friend. “You know that I am not going to let that monster capture us, don’t you?”
Petey nodded his head nervously. “B-but we don’t have the firepower or the shielding to match the Raqel. Besides, how will the others get back to Terrest?”
“You forget, Petey, they have a battle cruiser down there. We can’t let Koroan get to them.”
“B-but they will blow us to oblivion,” Petey uttered fearfully.
“I’m counting on it,” Scott said with tenacity as he locked a missile on to the Raqel and then pressed the firing trigger on the controls within his clutches.
* * * * *
Adrian, with difficulty, had managed to climb aboard the old space shuttle that he had been in command of through another access point near th
e flight deck. Memories flashed through his mind as he crawled his way in through the small air duct. The memories were painful. The last time he had been on this shuttle, he had lost the second love of his life. He also remembered the dreadful feelings he had as he ordered his crew to abandon ship and the hopelessness of knowing that he would never see his son again. But thanks to divine intervention, God had other plans.
He reached the end of the air duct and managed to turn himself around. Pulling his legs back, he kicked hard at the grate three times, popping the bolts loose. Then with one more kick, the grate fell to the floor of the flight deck. He jumped down and scanned his surroundings of the flight deck that he had spent countless hours in.
“I’m in,” he reported to Skyler, who was in control of the Wildcat II just outside of Mars I. “Are the others in position yet?”
“Negative, Colonel Merrok still has not reported back to me, letting me know if Nichelle and Skip have finished their task.”
“Copy that,” Adrian replied. “I will wait for your signal before I begin.”
“Roger that.”
The comlink to Skyler clicked off, and Adrian stood in silence. Before they executed their plan to rescue Jake and Celeste, he had explained to the others everything that had happened to him on Earth, who John was, and what he had told him. Obviously, the three just stared at him in disbelief and were astonished with the information. Skip then explained to Adrian what they had discovered within Mount Resumpsi, the lost Garden of Eden of Gnolom, the pyramid, and of course the tree with its strange fruit. Skip also told him about some sort of energy being drained from the tree and into another hollow within the mount. With this newfound knowledge and everything that John had told him, everything began to make sense. This new revelation about Koroan’s plans also gave them some leverage to develop a plan to free his son and Celeste.
After a few more minutes of waiting patiently, his comlink crackled. “We’re all in position,” Skyler said.
Adrian acknowledged Skyler’s communication and began to make his way out of the flight deck and out into the main corridor. The only light he had was from the light on his helmet as he slowly made his way to the payload bay. He looked around carefully, knowing that the spirit that possessed his old shuttle was watching him. He just hoped that she would confront him or their plan would fail.
He stopped as he walked past the computer deck of the ship. He knew that he didn’t have much time, but he wanted to pay his last respects to a man who had been his friend for over 25 years and to a Gnol who had proven to be a valuable ally in the fight against Koroan Chast. He walked into the room and looked down at his friends’ charred bodies. Their spacesuits were melted into their blackened charred skin, and their faces were unrecognizable with portions of their skulls showing. He knelt down and paid his respect to Nateal Runa.
After he was finished, he turned his attention to Sean. “I’m sorry, Sean,” he whispered. “I am thankful for you. I thank you for the sacrifice you made for my son and Celeste. I will see you again, my friend.”
He then left the computer deck and made his way to the door of the payload bay. When he reached the door, he glanced through the window quickly. He did not want Celeste or Jake to see him, at least not yet. His first instinct, however, when he saw the condition his son was in was to let them know that he was there, there to rescue them. Celeste was sitting on the arm of the satellite with a blanket wrapped around her, and her head leaning against the back of the claw that had her Jake pinned to the wall. Her eyes were closed, appearing to rest. Jake had a blanket covering his body. His head was leaning to his left at an uncomfortable angle, and he was unconscious. Blood soaked bandages covered a significant wound on his left side. And from the pool of blood on the floor, it looked as if he had lost way too much still to be alive.
Adrian felt sudden dread that he was too late and that his son might already be dead. Quickly, he dropped to his knees and pulled his backpack off. Unzipping it, he thrust his hand in and pulled out the charges that he would need to blow the door completely off its hinges. There were seven in all that he would place around the door. Before he began to place the charges, he looked around. “Where are you,” he whispered, hoping that the spirit would soon make an appearance.
As soon as he was done placing the charges, he pressed the facemask of his helmet against the window and clicked on his comlink. “Celeste.”
Celeste’s eyes popped open. “A-Adrian. Is that you? You’re alive. What hap—”
“No time to explain. How’s Jake?”
“His pulse is weak, and I’m afraid he’s not going to make it,” Celeste said, emotion creeping into her voice.
“Then we don’t have much time. Listen, I am going to blow the door in. Do you have enough strength to hold the blast off telekinetically as well as the shrapnel?”
“Yes, I think so, but—”
“Adrian Palmer, you fool,” the spirit said, appearing in her goddess hologram form right next to Celeste. “Did your inept colleagues not inform you that the moment you blow the door open, Celeste and Jake will die?”
Adrian didn’t respond. He glared at the evil spirit as she walked toward the door that separated them from one another. She continued to walk until she was out of range of the hologram projectors. The goddess image suddenly disappeared, and the evil spirit revealed her true hideous form. Celeste could see her as well. Macaria walked right through the door and passed directly through Adrian. Every negative and evil emotion Adrian had experienced suddenly poured over him like scalding, hot tar being poured onto its victim.
Nonetheless, he was not afraid, knowing that he had the strength of his Lord with him. He turned around, meeting her fiery eyes. She sneered at him in contempt. “I am more powerful than Celeste, rendering her abilities useless. The force needed alone to blast through that door is enough to kill them, and Celeste won’t be able to hold off the shrapnel from tearing through her or her precious love.”
Adrian smiled at the evil spirit with unwavering confidence. “Are you sure about that?”
The spirit leaned her abhorrent face closer to his, as her own confident smile disappeared. Adrian knew that she was taking the bait. She looked at the charges and began to remove the first one from its position.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Macaria.”
The spirit snapped her head back to Adrian. He could literally see fire burning in her eyes. So this is what regret, hate, rage, and every negative emotion does to a soul? Adrian thought.
“And why not?” she asked as she began to remove the next charge.
“Because of that energy source you have hidden in Mount Resumpsi.”
She stopped and glowered at Adrian. Fear of her presence began to creep into him for the first time. He took in a deep breath for strength and continued, “My team is about to blow that entire mountain down upon your hidden secret if you don’t let Celeste and my son go.”
Macaria raised her presence to nearly ten feet in the air, gnashing her teeth and screaming. “You’re bluffing!” she bellowed in a shrill voice that almost caused Adrian to drop to his knees in absolute sorrow and despair.
But he held his ground. He knew that his team was listening and he said, “Am I?”
Suddenly there was a massive explosion that all of them could hear from a distance outside of Mars I. Immediately after the blast, the shuttle began to tremble from the shockwave. Macaria glared and screamed at him before disappearing.
As soon as she vanished, Adrian knew that she was no longer connected to Mars I. The hopeless feelings of despair and anguish that he had since entering the shuttle were now gone. He quickly reattached the two charges that the spirit had removed and sprinted to the other end of the corridor.
“Are you ready, Celeste?”
Celeste, who had been listening and watching the entire scene unfold, replied, “Let it rain!”
Adrian then pressed the detonator in his hand.
* * * * *
&nbs
p; Celeste stood in front of Jake in nervous anticipation after having just witnessed the entire exchange between Adrian and Macaria. She was exhausted, hungry, and weak. Raising her arms, she prayed to the God that she had learned so much about that she would have enough energy to hold off the kind of blast that would bring hot flaming pieces of the door and wall toward them at missile-like speeds.
She heard Adrian ask her if she was ready. “Let it rain!” she roared.
The ear-piercing blast penetrated the payload bay. She felt the searing heat of the flames as they rushed in. Conjuring up the energy around her, she formed an invisible shield around both her and her husband, protecting them from the heat and the shrapnel of the blast. After a few more seconds, the last piece of shrapnel fell to the ground.
The amount of energy she used to hold off the blast nearly caused her to pass out, but she had to hold on to free Jake. Just as Adrian rushed in through the smoke, she whirled herself around and telekinetically locked onto the satellite arm. She screamed with all her might to pull the colossal arm and claw from her husband as Adrian got himself into position to catch his son once he was released.
Sweat poured from Celeste’s head, but blood began to drip as well. A sharp and unbearable pain shot through her head. Something was wrong as she continued to strain, using her mental abilities. Her vision was now blurry as she felt her body sway. She fought to maintain her balance and the lock onto the arm, managing to move it only a few feet from the wall. It was just enough to allow Jake’s body to fall into his father’s arms.
Celeste lowered her arms and dropped to her knees. Something was definitely wrong. She was still conscious, but she couldn’t see a thing. She was blind. She cried out. “Adrian! Help me!”
Just before she fell face first onto the hard metal floor of the payload bay, she felt the strong hands of Adrian catch her. And then, she fell into unconsciousness.
Worlds Without End: Aftermath (Book 2) Page 37