I shake my head. “No, Magdiel, that can’t be true. There’s something wrong.”
In the midst of this moment, this portal in time, the Carmelites begin ringing the bell for 21.30 hours, symbolizing the Great Silence.
Magdiel steals away to the cabin with his newfound friend Esther. I’m pretty sure you know what they did. Everyone is happy—especially Maya and me as we quietly make our way back to the rustic, well-scented cabin. You may use your imagination!
All are happy, except for one thing—something that both angered me and chilled me to the bone. A saucer-shaped craft with the initials VV on it hovers over us all night long. A chill tingles in my spine, sending frenetic vibrations to my frazzled brain. Someone is watching us, and she isn’t of Earth.
SECTION V
Eight Years Later
2401
CHAPTER 49
April 5, 2401
10:42 a.m.
I’m a happy man!
Maya and I have been married now nearly eight wonderful years. Storybook, huh? We even have a child. Her name is Molly—a precious young seven-year-old. How’s the country doing? Ironically, the American Isles found the most creative way to solve the immigration process. Our country has expanded into all of Mexico and most of Central America.
Palenque is our new home. Why Palenque? Well, it is Maya’s hometown. But what’s special about Palenque? It’s the home of Mayan culture. It’s one of the most visited archeological sites in all of Mexico, and perhaps the world. Palenque’s sculptures, artwork, and architecture are distinctively unique and mesmerizing. Yet one of the things that has truly captivated me is its epigraphy. Maya is certainly an epigraphy student. As you know, Maya’s artwork brought us back together. It was her painting of the Red Queen that led me to find her.
Any signs of Victoria Vorashian? Other than her spaceships surveilling me, there haven’t been many. I hope she’s forgotten me. Keep your fingers crossed!
I walk into the kitchen, giving Maya a hug.
“Ready for lunch?” Maya says, smiling warmly.
I nod. “Yesterday’s excursion has made me very hungry!”
Maya returns my question with a smile. “What was your favorite part of the journey?” Her dark eyes stare downward at a big wooden platter.
“Great! Guatemalan tortillas!”
“You are going to need a sturdy meal if you’re going to hike another fifteen miles today.”
I nod in agreement, although for some strange reason, I have been thinking about the past all day.
Have you ever experienced the return of a dismal memory that lingers inside you like an unwanted guest? I thought about Derek Nuze, and then I reflected upon the long climbs up and down the mountain with Magdiel. But most of all, I can’t stop thinking about my meeting with Bruner Breunig and the robotic duplicate of my wife’s face. It sticks in my head like a piece of bad frozen insect-based pizza that seems good at first but has a rancid and disgusting aftertaste. By the way, word has it that Bruner is working on other ways for robots to interact. My contacts tell me that his creations now possess consciousness. Furthermore, these AIs can now procreate—well, in a manner of speaking. Should I be concerned?
Maya places warm tortillas on my plate. I quickly pick one up and place it in my mouth. Maya looks at me as if I am the only human living on this earth.
“This is so good!” I exclaim, quite literally rubbing my stomach.
“You must want something!” Maya says, flashing a calculating smile at me.
I think about our trip to the El Mirador the day before, hoping to return to the southern tip of the Mirador basin. “Did you know that the basin is shaped like a heart?” I inquire, hoping that my reference will put Maya in a good mood.
Maya laughs. “Okay, what is it you really want?” she giggles, shaking her spatula at me.
“Can you believe the size of those pyramids? They’ve been hidden for years,” I say, showing her the pictures. Maya places a homemade panza verde on my plate, along with some of her delectable Michaeda. A big smile lights up my face. “Call me a green belly, but this is the best guacamole I’ve ever tasted!”
Maya’s mood appears to change. As I glance up at her, Maya’s face appears worried.
She takes a deep breath. “Our lives are so happy here. Promise me that you won’t leave!” Her eyes penetrate me like a laser beam. It is her way of reminding me of the many sad years when we were apart.
“I will never leave you!”
“Never say never, Michael; you forget that I know you.”
“What does that mean?” I say helplessly.
“Here! Have some of my cacao… from the seeds of the gods!” she exclaims.
“Isn’t this cacao a ceremonial elixir?”
“Well, maybe. It’s for people whom I love… and I don’t ever want to leave me!”
Maya walks over to the window, nervously staring outward. “Do you remember what you said to me yesterday?”
“When?”
“When you were staring out the window, saying you really wanted to find the lost cities of Tintar and Nakbe?”
“Of course I do!” I exclaim. “I’ll go, but not for long,” I say with a smile.
Maya’s eyes fill with tears.
I shoot up out of my chair, place my hands on her face, and rub away the small rivulets of moisture that cover her cheeks. “I’ll never leave you! You know how much you and Molly mean to me.”
Maya’s eyes fill up like overburdened levees. Her whole body shakes with fear.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, holding her tightly.
“I got a call yesterday,” she utters, looking worried.
“From who?”
“Solly. He says that our family may be in jeopardy.”
“What?” I say, cringing. After all, if there’s anyone I trust to tell me the truth, it is Solly.
“That’s right. He didn’t tell me why, but I know that it’s serious.”
“Oh, you know Solly; he’s a worrier, right?”
Maya winces. “He told me to expect a visitor—someone who might have some bad news.”
“Who?” I ask as I get up and begin rubbing Maya’s shoulders.
We hear a dull, rhythmic knocking at our front door. I take a deep breath.
Trouble is something that seemed to follow me.
CHAPTER 50
April 8, 2401
11:27 p.m.
Victoria Vorashian hated intergalactic travel; however, she loved her virtual reality dynasty back home on the planet Vorashia. But when it came to the subject of world dominance, sacrifices just had to be made. “Some things are just necessary,” Victoria utters softly to herself. It took her three teleportations to get to this godforsaken planet in the middle of nowhere. But she is determined it would be worth it.
She is planning on meeting Abnaxas Eurynome, the Spider, and Cerberus Asmodeus, the infamous Predator Raptor Bird, on the planet of Asmodeus X566. Asmodeus is part of the spiral galaxy located thirty million light-years away. The best part about this is that they are men—predator men—and are on her menu.
Victoria stares at her long, sharp black nails, thinking how much they really resemble talons. She glances around Cerberus’s abode, studying the aviary. There are birds everywhere, yet they are not the normal type, for these birds are in training; they are carefully drilling to be a part of the takeover. These voracious fowl are athletic, keenly sharp eyed, and totally controlled by their master, Cerberus Asmodeus.
“What’s taking them?” Biddle chides in his raspy, impetuous fashion.
“Are they dry?” Victoria queries, waving her black fingernails in the air. Victoria has to laugh—she is meeting with a predator bird and a crazed arachnid; why should she care? Yet, admittedly, these two misfits are the keys to her goal of universal dominance.
Biddle Gnat squints downward, peering at the volatile aviary beneath. Three birds appear to be flying directly toward him; then they stop on a dime to rest on their perch, just two feet from chewing his face off. But they’re on the other side of the glass. “Thank God.” Biddle winces, wondering exactly how menacing these angry fowl are. “Those birds are nasty!” he chastises in his shrill alto voice.
Victoria’s mind is already wandering. She hopes this is the right fit for her—a planet of birds stuck dead center in this godforsaken swirling mass. The galaxy itself spans seventy thousand light-years across, which is nearly as large as the entirety of the Milky Way galaxy. After all, this particular star system’s potential capacity for destruction is intense, with the core of it known for its circumnucleur star bursts. Victoria begins to hum gently.
The dark energy levels on this planet are prolific. It’s pure evil, and Victoria loves it. After all, dark energy was never truly understood until her own scientists found the essence of its power and strength.
Victoria reflects upon her own invention—an alien superstructure, now known as Vorashian Spheres, that has the capacity to suck in energy sources from all over the galaxy. Pure science? Yes, of course. “But it’s a secret,” she whispers. “My own little intergalactic vacuum cleaner. Delicious, isn’t it?”
Victoria scrutinizes the eerie silence outside the spaceship, watching debris whirl through the outer limits of empty space. She revels in her fiendish plan. After all, Vika, as some of her friends call her, has a rare and creative scheme. Victoria secretly despises the tempestuous bird Cerberus. He is an egotistical, narcissistic, literally bird-brained male. The thought of her taking him to bed disgusts her.
Victoria touches her right temple; the time 12:00 appears in her retina. “He’s late! What can possibly be taking him?” Her thoughts return to the dark side and dark energy. The pure size of the galaxy and the dark energy that it produces is a complete necessity to Victoria’s mind-altering plot. After all, Earth has gravity, and this galaxy possesses excessive dark matter, which she can use against Earth. Michael Eisenstein and his ilk will never know what hit them! Besides, she has a plan for him, as well as that little beautiful wife and daughter of his.
Why? Because no man will ever take advantage of me! Victoria glares downward at the vicious birds flying like whirling, fiendish villains. “I don’t care if Michael is a re-created bundle of recycled DNA,” Vika muses. In his past life, he rejected her. No man alive will live to tell that story; I’ll see to that!
“Run along little Biddle; leave me! I have more important things to do than talk to you right now!” Victoria peers below, observing Cerberus making his ludicrous entrance. “Dear God, what an obnoxious, ostentatious fowl!”
The mere sight of the expansive winged creature makes her want to throw up. Victoria shakes her head in amusement, for Cerberus is wearing a puffy powdered wig, a purple coat, and pinkish feathers.
“What? How in the world did this ridiculous bird fit into boots?” Vika says under her breath. “Oh my God, there’s Abraxas as well.” Abraxas Eurynome is one of those oafish hybrid spiders that years ago was genetically manipulated into a half human, half arachnid. Victoria cringes, for even she wouldn’t create something that repulsive! Victoria spins her evil head toward them. Abraxas stands upright, like a human, except for the fact that he has numerous hairy, spindly arms extending from a rather limited torso. “Incredible!” Vika says out loud. As Abraxas opens his coat, Victoria observes that he is wearing a black leather vest along with a chic three-toned purple shirt. It’s called a hex triplet, for every color coordinates with the CIE chromaticity diagram.
“How chic,” Victoria utters sarcastically. She smirks, waving delightfully at Abraxas. But Vika knows not to mess with this absurd hybrid arachnid, for the galaxy that he originates from is colossal and powerful, consisting of millions of bright star formations. Perhaps it is the galaxy’s spiral arms that create the arachnid look.
“Just like Abraxas,” Vika says, trying to hide her disdain for him. Just keep repeating, ‘I need him… be nice!’ “You’ve heard of the black widow, haven’t you? Abraxas, you may think you’re smart and cunning, but you haven’t seen anything,” she whispers luridly, peering downward; she squints at what is probably the most prodigious tarantula in the universe. “I’ll tame you; just wait and see.”
Victoria waves downward at Abraxas Eurynome. She mouths “hello” in her best sultry, sexy manner. Abraxas gestures somewhat lewdly up to her. “Disgusting,” she utters under her breath.
Yes, they’re forming a triumvirate consisting of her, Cerberus Asmodeus, and Abraxas Eurynome. They are master thieves, master connivers, and master lovers of themselves, but the hybrids are only amateur predators compared to Victoria, for she was the ultimate queen bee.
Yet the strength and expansiveness of their galaxies appeals most to Victoria. Cerberus Asmodeus’s galaxy is rich in dark energy, while Abnaxas Euryome’s galaxy, NGC123, is preeminent in many things; even those long, swirling spiral arms will come in handy.
Victoria strokes her black hair while waiting for the large arachnid mutant to climb the stairs. She observes the huge spider, Abraxas, leering like the loathsome, spiky mantis that he is. Little does he know that one day she would use her female charms—let’s just say her black widow charms—to reap carnage over his grotesque cephalothorax.
Victoria lets loose a mockingly derisive chortle. “Run to your death, you ugly, evil monster! Victoria is going to wreak revenge over you and your pathetic planet.” Victoria wonders if Abraxas has ever heard of Hogna helluo, the wolf spider. One of my role models, she muses. After all, the female wolf spider consumes the male after sex. “I will devour you and spit you out, you hideous, sprawling, crawling tarantula. I’ll dip you in my fondue oil and eat you raw!”
Abraxas peruses his wannabe lover. After all, he possesses quite a bargaining chip. He would spend a night with Victoria and then move on to the destruction of the blue planet. Then all would be his. Too bad no one knows that except him. Abraxas wallows inside his own foul and vile brain. At the right time, he will send his auditory call to Vika, that delectable morsel.
Victoria bats her eyes and waves her long, slender fingers. “So good to see you, Abraxas! And Cerberus, it’s been way too long!” Vika holds her hand open toward Abraxas, observing the hideous insect touch her with his long, hairy tentacles; then he leans in, kissing Victoria on the cheek.
Victoria smiles luridly, watching Cerberus do the same.
Cerberus snaps his fingers as he watches two female birdlike beauties fly toward the trio with tall glasses of wine. “Our best port for my two new best friends.” Cerberus curtsies, winking at Abraxas and then smiling like a king arachnid with a sinister plot in his soul.
“To the new masters of the universe!” Cerberus announces.
“To the new masters of the universe,” repeat Victoria and Abraxas.
“How perfect!” Victoria says under her breath.
The new triumvirate drink to their alliance and their plans of conquest. Yet, as Victoria peers below, she observes nasty, aggressive birds biting and striking violently at the glass jail that contains them.
Victoria cringes, wondering what might happen to her if the glass were removed.
CHAPTER 51
No date—time traveler privilege
10:42 a.m.
Farewell kind friends where tender care
has long engaged my love
Your friend embrace I now exchange
For better friends above …
—The Wailin’ Jennys (ancient lyricists)
I jump. “What was that?”
“The door, Michael… someone’s at the door!”
Our eyes meet in fear. My legs suddenly feel weak. But I get up, walk slowly toward the door, and open it just a little bit at first, and then wider. I stand there frozen, looking up a
t a man that I knew two and a half decades before. He stands tall and gaunt, not really the same vibrant man that I remember.
He smiles gently. Then he glances at Maya, beaming with joy.
“Aren’t you going to ask an old friend in?”
I stand like a mannequin in disbelief. After all these years, I begin to imagine my experiences as an awkward teenager. Perhaps my memories of him are straight out of my own imagination. But here he stands, nearly seven feet tall, flaunting a long, gray, well-manicured beard that makes him look like and erudite Moses. I think of my travels with him. I remember his surreal fourth-dimensional home on the asteroid Gaspra, the trip through a menacing wormhole, and even our visit to Vorashia, which scared and chilled me to the bone. I think of his brother, Bone—the man whom I admired and hounded quite literally into the depths of hell: Dulce.
Why is he here? What does he want?
I feel my legs shaking.
“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your wife?” The statuesque man smiles, his voice trembling ever so slightly.
I clear my throat. “Maya, this is my good friend Ezekial.
I am prepared for Maya to faint. Ezekial reaches out, waving his prodigious hand. “I’m Ezekial—or Zeke, as Michael prefers to call me. May I sit down? After all, I’m getting a tad bit older. I get tired sometimes.”
I nod, watching him slowly descend onto our soft-cushioned Proto chair. He looks like a giant sitting in a child’s toy playhouse. “It’s so good to see you, Michael,” he says. Then he turns to Maya, smiling warmly.
“I’ve heard a lot about you Zeke,” Maya says gently, like a beautiful diminutive doll speaking to a fabled giant. “It’s so incredible to meet you!”
“In the flesh,” Ezekial quips, easing the tension.
“Some tea?”
Ezekial nods. “Sure.” Maya obediently complies to his rather simple wish.
“You don’t look well, Zeke,” I say, stating the obvious.
“Yes, that’s probably true,” he says in a gruff voice. “I’m dying, my friend.”
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