by Saxon Andrew
Chapter Six
Gregor climbed the stairs leading into the stone structure and walked through a large set of curtains covering the main entrance into the temple. They had to be the means of keeping cold, high winds from blowing into the building. The men in orange robes followed him into the building and the man he first encountered said, “Would you like some refreshments before you go to see the Wise One?”
“No, I’m fine.” Gregor took a bottle out of his side satchel and took a long drink while staring at the man who made the offer.
“I sense you don’t trust us.”
“I’m not alone. It appeared most of the community we walked through doesn’t trust you either.”
The man stared at Gregor and said, “Please follow me.” He turned and Gregor followed him deeper into the ancient building. The others remained behind and squatted down on the floor and continued their chanting. Torches illuminated the walls inside the building and Gregor wondered why the occupants didn’t use modern lighting. It wasn’t like Earth was still living in a totally primitive society. The spaceport was as modern as any city he’d ever seen. That wasn’t the case here. He saw a well on the way into the building and women wearing green colored robes were carrying buckets of water up the steps toward the entrance.
They arrived at another entrance covered by curtains and the man stopped. Gregor stopped with him and he nodded toward the entrance, “The Wise One is waiting for you inside.”
Gregor stared at him and then pulled the curtains apart and entered the room. He waited inside the curtains for his eyes to adapt to the room’s darkness and heard, “Gregory, it’s good to see you after all these years.” Gregor saw a single torch illuminating a large stone chair with a man sitting cross-legged on it at the front of the room. He had on a small turban and pants that covered him down to his knees. His torso was bare and his skin looked to be pale white in color. He motioned Gregor to come forward and Gregor took a deep breath before walking into the large room. His eyes continued to adjust to the dark and he saw the walls on each side of the room were cloaked in dark shadows but he was still able to see there were other men sitting against both of the sidewalls. Unlike the men who brought him to the temple, these men were dressed in black robes and were difficult to see. He did sense all of them were watching him closely. Gregor arrived in front of the chair, where he sat down and crossed his legs.
“I have greatly anticipated your return, Gregory.”
“I’m surprised by that. I chose to come back to Earth recently on a whim and it had nothing to do with coming here.”
“Then why did you choose to come to this place?” the man sitting on the stone chair said as he smiled.
“I determined that the tattoo on my arm came from this community. I was curious about it.”
“That is why we put it on your arm. We knew you would one day follow it back to us.”
“How do you know me?”
“You were brought here when you were an infant to be trained.”
Gregor’s eyebrows came together, “Trained?”
“You were born with rare talents and we worked to develop them to a higher level.”
Gregor glanced over his shoulder as he said, “How was the man beside the road able to recognize me? I left here when I was very young.”
“He looked at the electronic device in your head and saw who you are.”
“I didn’t detect an electronic field…”
“He does not require technology to see it.” Gregor suddenly realized he was in way over his head. He glanced at the left wall and saw some of the black clothed men start to stir. “You should relax, Gregory. You are among friends and you’re disturbing the peace of my warriors,” the Wise One said softly.
Gregor turned to the man on the stone chair and said, “He asked me if I remembered how my mother died.”
“Do you?”
“No. I have no memory of this place or anything else from the time I was here.”
“You deliberately block those memories.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because the loss of your mother was traumatic and you refuse to remember.”
“Can you help me remember?”
The man smiled and he extended his hand. Gregor hesitated and then he leaned forward and took the man’s hand in his.
• • •
Suddenly, he was in snow and felt himself being carried. The woman carrying him put him down and pulled him by his arm, “RUN, GREGORY!” He ran as best he could and heard a loud roar behind him that almost deafened him. The woman gripping his hand was pulling him hard and he saw a hole in the side of the mountain directly ahead of him.
The woman pulled him into the cave and continued to run toward the back wall. The cave ended but a narrow corridor continued to the right and he was pulled further into the darkness. Then, the cave ended and he heard the woman groan. Suddenly, he felt himself being lifted over the woman’s head as another deafening roar filled the cave. He looked up and saw a vertical shaft running into the cave ceiling overhead as the woman thrust him into it, “CLIMB, GREGORY!!”
He looked back into the cave and saw two giant green luminous eyes where the cave turned to the right. He put his small arms and legs out and pulled himself higher into the shaft. He heard himself scream, “MAMA!!” He looked down and saw the woman turn and pull a sword out of a scabbard she had tied over her shoulder. He saw her draw it over her head and then something enormous struck the woman and she was ripped into two pieces. He started climbing as fast as his little arms and legs could move him as he saw the rock inside the shaft below him ripped loose. He saw nothing in the shaft causing it. He climbed until he could go no further and saw he was out of reach of whatever was ripping the rocks off the shaft’s walls.
He stared down the shaft and saw the two giant green eyes looking up at him. Then, the remains of his mother was snatched off the floor and disappeared from view. He remained in the shaft for what seemed like a long time and then climbed down. He dropped to the floor and saw the sword lying on the floor covered in blood. He saw the sword’s scabbard on the floor a few feet away and he inserted the blade into the scabbard. He held the sword tightly against his chest and started rocking back and forth.
• • •
Gregor released the Wise One’s hand and sat with his eyes closed. The room remained silent as he felt a rush of memories filling his mind. He saw men in orange robes touching his arms and legs as they chanted over him while they clamped metal bands on his limbs. He saw a sword in his hands as he swung it around him at things that popped out of the floor while the men around him chanted and his mother offered encouragement. He felt a device placed on his head and then felt extreme pain in his brain. He opened his eyes and stared at the man on the chair. “Do you remember?” the Wise One asked.
Gregor nodded. “Why did you send me away?”
“The death of your mother so traumatized you that your mind was blocked and everything we had done was lost. You were unable to talk and you just sat and stared at walls around you. We determined that staying here could only make the trauma permanent and that it might be possible that time would eventually heal your mental wounds if you were removed from where the trauma happened.”
“What was that thing that killed my mother?”
The man stared at Gregor and sighed, “All of your memories have not returned?”
“I don’t know. What was it?”
“If they were all present, you would know.” The man paused and Gregor tried to determine how old he was. He gave it up. The man could be in his thirties or eighties. He just couldn’t tell. The man said, “After Earth was destroyed by an orbital bombardment thousands of years ago, mankind was in a bad way. Technology ceased to exist on the planet and humans were forced to struggle to survive. Most of the soil on Earth was radiated and there were few places where plants could grow. So, men had to go out to hunt for their food. All the animals that survived the bombardment were also f
orced to do the same. Some of them were radically changed by the lingering radiation and evolved into predators the likes of which have never been seen on Earth.”
“And the animal that killed my mother was one of those evolved predators?”
“It was, and still is, the most dangerous animal to ever walk Earth. Its fur would change color to match its surroundings instantly and effectively made it invisible. The only thing that cannot change color is its eyes. If you were close enough to see its eyes, you were probably going to die. Humans named it the Green Death.”
Gregor nodded, “Because of the color of its eyes?”
“Yes. It probably evolved from Tigers and it shares the Tiger’s territorial instincts. Anything that entered their domain would be attacked. Your mother was caught out in the open and was seen by a Green Death.”
“Why was she out in the open?”
The man stared at Gregor for a very long moment and then said, “She did not agree with your destiny and sought to take you away.”
“My destiny?”
“You are a piece of a greater future that will bring Earth back to life. She realized she would be losing you to that destiny and couldn’t deal with losing you.”
“You sound like the men in the Movement.”
“We are the ones that started the Movement. What do you know about the Movement?”
“Not much, but I think they are trying to find me.”
“Do you remember any of the training you had when you were a child?”
Gregor stared at the man and then shook his head, “All I saw was the death of my mother. What else should I be remembering?” Gregor asked with narrowed eyes.
The man stared at him and then closed his eyes. A minute later, he lifted a box from beside the chair and took out a metal sphere. Gregor watched him and saw him push a button on it. White beams shot out of the sphere and Gregor forced himself to show no reaction. The man held it up and said, “What do you see?”
“A metal sphere.”
“Is that all?”
“Yes. There seem to be some holes in it; what else should I be seeing?”
The man stared intently into Gregor’s eyes again and, after a minute, put the sphere back in the box. He looked at the back of the room and said, “Tell them they are wasting their time. We will have to start over.”
Gregor tilted his head, “What are you talking about? Start over on what?”
The Wise One shrugged, “Your mother caused great damage to you, Gregory, and our plans for you. You are free to go and I wish you long life.”
“But…”
“You will no longer be bothered by the Movement. Go in peace.”
“But…”
“There is nothing else for you here!”
The man who originally recognized him was standing beside him looking down at him, “Please, come with me.”
Gregor looked at the Wise One and saw he had closed his eyes and had started chanting. He blew out a breath, stood up, and followed the man out of the room. Once he went through the curtains, one of the shapes against the wall came forward and bowed before the wise one. The man on the chair kept his eyes closed and said, “He should die like his mother.”
The dark shape rose and left the room. He walked quickly through the curtains and looked at the man wearing an orange robe standing next to the curtains, who said, “He did not have a blaster.” The man in black nodded and sprinted to the left toward a hidden exit. The man in orange tried to hide his disgust but couldn’t pull it off. The Black Robes were stunted in their development and possessed none of the higher skills. They were little more than killers and had some talent controlling wild animals. He shuddered and went back to chanting outside the curtains.
• • •
Gregor walked down the steep path toward the community and saw no one was following him. He took the small plastic pad out of his pocket and turned it on. The light was red and did not turn green. He pressed the recall button again and the light remained red. He closed his eyes slightly and saw a light blue colored haze surrounding him. He opened his eyes and it disappeared. Someone was blocking his recall transmitter. That meant someone didn’t want him to leave and that clearly spelled trouble. Then, he heard a roar off in the distance. He sprinted down the path and arrived at the community where every building was closed and shuttered. The men in orange robes that passed him going toward the community were also gone. He turned to the right and sprinted along the base of the mountain the Temple was on away from the direction he heard the distant roar and heard the roar again; it was getting louder.
He slowed down and started jogging. He didn’t need to be exhausted and he still made good time. This time the roar was incredibly loud as he saw an opening in the wall of the mountain ahead of him. He suddenly realized he had seen the opening before but the ground was covered in snow. He sprinted into the opening and knew this cave turned to the right at the end. He squinted and saw that there was a ledge on top of the wall where the right turn started. He scrambled up the wall and went prone on top of the ledge and waited. He pulled the sword out of the scabbard and held it in his right hand.
He forced himself to focus on a chant that entered his mind and he thought it over and over. Something happened. His body felt different and his vision changed. He could see everything around him down to the tiny dust particles floating in the cave. The light from the entrance was brilliant and he watched as it changed to a bearable level. The roar that filled the cave told him that the Green Death was close. He closed his eyes and saw through the giant predator’s eyes that a man in a black robe was standing outside the cave pointing at the entrance. He opened his eyes and saw the huge green eyes enter the opening. The roar was unbelievably loud and he knew this was the cat that killed his mother. He continued to mentally chant and watched as it moved deeper into the cave.
Gregor gripped the sword’s handle and realized he couldn’t tell where his hand stopped and the handle began; it felt like a part of his body. He squinted slightly and saw the Green Death. It was at least twenty feet tall at the shoulder and moved with a smooth deadliness that was incredible for an animal that large. It went to the right turn and moved into the corridor.
Gregor jumped off the wall and landed silently behind the giant cat and swung the long sword at the back legs of the Green Death. He sheared off both legs above the knees and cut off eight feet of its tail as well. The cat roared loud enough to break rocks loose from the ceiling. The corridor it was in was too narrow for it to whip around and it struggled to turn with no legs to assist it in backing out of the corridor. Gregor stared at it as it roared even louder and then the cat managed to use its front legs on the sidewalls to push it over its hind quarters. Gregor was waiting and slashed savagely at the giant’s front legs. Both legs fell to the ground in front of the predator. All it could do was roll over in the narrow corridor.
Gregor held the sword over his head and ran out of the cave as the roars were deafening behind him. He came out of the opening and swung the blade up against the man’s throat and stopped it. The man froze and didn’t move. Gregor looked into the man’s eyes and said, “You were here when my mother died.” The man stared into Gregor’s eyes and his lips curled. He moved his right hand slightly and Gregor pressed the sword against his neck causing a spurt of blood, “Don’t!”
The man sneered, “I should have been allowed to kill you then.”
Gregor’s mouth hardened and he lowered his eyebrows, “I won’t make that mistake.” He shoved the sword’s blade into the man’s neck and pulled it to the left. The man’s eyes went wide as he grabbed his throat and started falling. Gregor spun too fast to follow and the sword cut the killer’s head off along with the man’s two hands before he hit the ground. Gregor went back in the cave and saw the Green Death was no longer capable of roaring; it had almost bled out and the huge green eyes were barely open.
Gregor wanted to hate the giant predator but knew that it was only a tool used by the one
s in the temple and not to blame for his mother’s death. He lifted the sword and struck the Green Death’s head in the middle of the two green eyes. The sword ripped through the skull and hit the dirt under the animal’s jaws, ending its suffering. Gregor cut the upper jaw off the dead cat and sliced the two giant fangs out of the jawbone. He walked out of the cave and squinted. The blocking field was still there. He started jogging along the base of the mountain away from the temple and an hour later saw the green light appear on the pad. He pressed it and waited in an open area above the tree line for his ship to arrive.
The assassin had inadvertently told him something. His mother was deliberately killed and that had to mean the man on the chair was the one who ordered it. He must have also ordered his death as well. He owed this Wise One but this was not the time. They should be finding the assassin soon; he needed to get out fast before they sent warships looking for him.
His ship arrived and he entered the port and walked to the bridge of the ship with the two fangs in his hands and sat down. He held up one of the two giant fangs and heard, “Good grief!! Did you kill a dinosaur?”
“Close to it. Get us out of here. The Movement knows we’re here.”
The ship moved into orbit and boosted toward the filament. It entered the outward flow and three hours later took another filament out toward the Andromeda Galaxy. The Movement ships arrived fifteen minutes after he left the filament to Earth.
• • •
The Wise One sat on his chair and stared at his assistant, “The Green Death was killed?”
“Yes, along with its handler.”
“How were they killed?”
“A sword was used.”
“It appears our Gregory remembers more than he revealed. I didn’t see it in his mind.”
“He must be capable of hiding his mind, Master.”
“I did see the death of his mother in his thoughts but that was all. Contact the others and tell them I was wrong. We will still have to start over but Gregory must be removed. He is now a liability to the project and could endanger it.”