by Grant Fausey
The bush thrashed, something on the other side ... something unseen, only a hand's reach away from her. Sara Jolland twitched. Whatever it was ... it was alive.
–– 19 ––
ILLUSIONS
Jerolda Manchi lay motionless among the rocks, partially buried by soot and fallen debris. Tee gasped for air, his sensors caught a glimpse of reality. His heart froze solid with grief. His biomechanical brain cells were overwhelmed, immediately identifying him with a cold–hearted readout. Streams of tears slipped down his greenish cheeks, forming little pools below his eyes. Friendship suddenly mattered to Tee and with it came stress. The thought of leaping over trees and lava didn't matter. He would have done anything to reach his counterpart.
"Oh why?" whispered Tee. "I didn't mean for this to happen...not this."
Tee pushed the debris off his companion’s chest and put his ear to it. There was no sound, not even a whimper. Relix was motionless. The harsh reality of his silence set in. as Tee took a moment to give him the once over. A full internal diagnostic would take longer. There was no choice put to pick him up, and carry him.
Relix’s head touched the slab as he lifted him; his entire body limp like a wet washrag; not even so much as a twitch. Tee paused. "I can't go on alone," he said solemn. "We've just started. We’ve been through so much together for it to end this way. This just isn't fair."
"What's not fair?" questioned a squeaky voice. Relix’s body quivered.
"YOU'RE ALIVE!" shouted Tee. I’m gonna Kill you!" Tee's facial expression changed from one of joy to one of anger. "How can you scare me like that?" he shouted.
Jerolda Manchi lifted his head and looked at Tee's arms then raised an eyebrow.
"You’re Scared," he whined. "What about me? Blinding lights–roaring thunder–wind strong enough to blow-dry my hair." Tee let out a big huff.
"With all that flying debris I thought I was a goner! It's a good thing you were looking to mooch a ride off that dragon thing, or you'd be having a first hand look at regeneration, not to mention a complete overhaul!"
Jerolda Manchi laughed and gave Tee a big hug.
"Get off me," yelled Tee. "You smell like a sewer rat!”
Jerolda Manchi slapped his hand over Tee’s mouth muffling his words. "Quiet for a minute," he said shushing him in a low rumble. "I heard something."
A roar of thunder cut across the sky followed by another flash of lightning. Four new enormous mushroom cloud columns rose into the darkening sky for a second time. But this time, it was a good distance away.
"Oh… no––," squeaked Jerolda Manchi, taking his hand away from Tee's mouth. "Detonations,” He said looking at Relix, then again at his companions. “I heard detonations."
Tee's electronic binoculars slammed tight around his neck, drawn to his counterpart's face. Relix held them tight to his brow. "Let me borrow these a second, will you, he snapped. Jerolda Manchi looked at him kind of odd. "I missed the last set of explosions. I'd like to get a good look at this one."
The lenses bounced back and Tee's fingers wrapped around the bulk of the binoculars just before he yanked them back from his stubby little friend. "If you don't mind, I’m using those. They’re using beam drivers!"
"Beam drivers!" screamed Jerolda Manchi. "Is everyone in your universe a crazy fool? They obviously have no idea what they're doing? We have to get out of here!"
"And go where?"
"Anywhere!” Screamed Relix. “Don't you remember our last encounter with a beam driver? It was on Signus III, remember?”
"Yeah–– Polar chit! I remember!"
"Polar chit!" snapped Jerolda Manchi. "We’re talking a polar shift. The poles are going to flip-flop like a drunken dinosaur rolling over to play dead!"
"So––" screamed Relix chasing after Jerolda Manchi as his counterpart headed down the side of the mountain like a track star.
"Wait!" screamed Tee. "Where did you learn to run like that?"
"Necessity's a good teacher! Remember Signus III?" His words muffled in the wind but it didn't matter. Jerolda Manchi and Relix were safely on their way and nothing was going to stand in their way.
• • •
Sara Jolland and Callen moved silently trying to stay close to the brush. Several shadowy figures beat the bushes to scare out the wild life. Others gathered at the lake edge, scavenging what they could off the new landings. The leader, a tall, shaggy-looking creature with long arms, hunting with curved crossbow and spears, squatted at the water's edge speaking gibberish. The language was something Sara Jolland had never heard before. She watched cautiously as the group dispersed in opposite directions around the lake. It was obviously indistinguishable but it was easy to see the critter was giving commands in a completely foreign dialect.
"Kel-fee...." whispered Callen. He motioned with a hand gesture. They need to keep moving. The Kel-fee didn't take prisoners and remaining out in the open would mean detection, capture and eventually death. For the moment, the Kel-fee warriors were preoccupied. One warrior on the prowl; he had the scent of something. Callen hoped it wasn't them. The creature stood on his hind legs, pulled the scorched wing of a Pteranodon fat the water's edge, and let out a bloodcurdling cry.
Sara Jolland turned white feeling the same goose bumps along her arm that were visible on Callen. "They're stalking, aren't they?" she asked in whispers, pointing out the observable movement behind them.
"I don't think we're the target," answered Callen. "They're making too wide a circle. I think they’re trying to force whatever it is they're chasing toward us."
"Great!" Said Jolland. "They're stalking prey and we’re…. She shut up. Movement, she felt it. “Why else would they have discarded the prospect of finding another food source?”
"Come on, we're going," whispered the young warrior tugging gently at Callen's shirtsleeve. "Watch your step," she cautioned. “There's a ledge here."
Callen nodded, running his hand across the surface of the ground in front of him to feel the edge. Finding it, he moved his fingers carefully along the rim. The floor was a foot or two below the surface like steps caved out of stone. It wasn’t the perfect hiding place but with a couple of groans, he reached the bottom. The rocks were cold and damp, slimy from the upheaval that transpired earlier. Jolland whispered something under her breath. Callen didn't answer. There was no need to think about possibilities; whatever was under his feet could stay there. The chances were in the Kel-fee's favor anyway. Any confrontation would be deadly, so deadly that as the prey he was satisfied just to be alive. There was a slight chance they could get through this alive. Maybe even keep their skins. The thought of living suddenly had become more important to both of them than either of them realized. Survival brought new meaning to their existence.
Another cry bounced off the rock, but there was something else. A piercing the roar––waterfalls somewhere beyond the alcove. Sara Jolland moved closer to Callen, taking a tight hold of him. He pulled her close, unsure of how much protection he would be, but in a moment of desperation he needed closeness too. One feed the other.
"Stay close," he whispered, practically whimpering. "Stay calm."
"Calm––" moaned Jolland. "At a time like this?" Sara Jolland looked down over the edge past the ledge. She was about two hundred and fifty feet above the ground. A bedrock floor the next elevator stop, and it was covered with trees. What was left of a temple glistened in the morning sunlight in the distance. It looked more like a flattop structure arranged in a series of steps; all four sides like a sawed off pyramid.
She remembered seeing the temple when she emerged from the vortex, nearly a day ago. The events unfold differently then, only this time in a new arrangement: A nightmare without an ending. There was too much going on to be just coincidence. It was time to corner Callen and find out the rest of what he wasn't telling her. She wanted to know the truth.
"All right,” she said in a groan. “Tell me what the hell is really going on here?"
"Relax–�
�" answered Callen.
"We're on a ledge in the middle of nowhere flanked by man-eating crazy warriors hell-bent on a search for God–knows–what, and you want me to be calm! Well––to hell with you!"
Callen chuckled, cracking quite a smile. He understood what she was going through. The answers she was looking for but he didn't have the answers; he couldn’t tell her if he knew. Besides, he was already feeling her tension. He knew sooner or later, she was going to hit him. He just didn’t know with what.
"Before I die," snapped Sara Jolland feeling. The ground beneath her feet began to rumble. Apparently, she was getting confirmation from the distant beam driver explosions. “What are you keeping me from doing?" She asked, continuing her flight into the unknown.
"Dying, Jolland––that's all," Callen interrupted. "I've kept you from dying. No more, no less." He took another step and stopped. "If you want to die just climb up there and wait for a minute, or two. You'll be dead, stripped and sautéed––everything we've planned will be for nothing."
Sara Jolland stared at him with questioning eyes. "Planned for?” She repeated. “What are you talking about? I'm tired of trying to figure out your little riddles."
"There aren't any riddles, Sara. We're talking about survival.” Callen leaned against the rock; head down. "Your survival, our survival. The plan wasn't for you to die, at least, not before you completed whatever it was you were sent here to do, but that's all changed now."
"Changed how––I'm still alive."
Jolland stepped down to the next ledge, beside Callen as he gripped the stones with his fingers. He looked down, then up. Six more ledges were visible below him, after that the safety of the forest edge was only a couple of feet away. The treetops were just a few feet beyond the edge of the ledge. He paused, taking a breath. The ground was shaking noticeably now. The beam drivers were drilling into the planet, coursing deeper into the magma layers. It wouldn’t be long before the planet splintered apart and the night would be over.
"All right––" he said, figuring if he died she’d at least have a fighting chance at survival. "They were wrong, Jolland," continued Callen. "It appeared destinies were chosen, some along the right lines, others not so much, but they made a crucial miscalculation and put the entire future in jeopardy." Jolland's feet slipped, the intensity of the vibration beneath her getting worse. She felt the trembling ... rumbling, and churning sands shifting the planet's insides. It was only a matter of time before the central island was destroyed.
"Somehow," said Callen, his voice beginning to echo. "The Industries knew about you––about the mission you yourself never had no idea of; they found out about you––about the attempt. You were created to alter the course of history. You changed history forever, or so they say in the future I’m from."
"Then that's why you're here?"
Callen dropped down to another ledge. Sara followed. She took a hold of his arm and helped him along without any resistance. He didn't push her away; instead, he accepted the help, mumbling about the pain in his leg. "We hoped your survival could insure the success of the plan to set the future on a normal course again."
"Do you really expect me to believe what you're saying?" Jolland leaped down to the ground.
"No––not really," he told her. "But it's the truth." Callen slide down to the ground into Jolland's arms.
"It's horse shit!"
She dropped him.
"FINE!" cringed Callen, in pain, "Then you explain it!"
"Explain what? That I'm out of here in the middle of the wilderness with some kind of a maniac? You're a nut case!"
"It isn't that easy. You have to survive."
Jolland threw her arms back, waving with her fists. She huffed and tromped off into the trees. Callen forced himself to follow, hurrying to keep up in spite of the pain in his leg.
"Look," he yelled, "the future isn't what it was intended to be, not any way you look at it. You're the focal point on the time line, the focus. Get ride of you ... there isn't anything to focus on. I know what to believe or understand, but the plan is real, it was real. The explosion of the beam drivers proves that. Don't you see ... don't let the universe end this way. Don't let your death be meaningless. Let me get you to the safety of another time."
"Another time?"
"Yes–– you have to understand that much, don't you? If you stay here, you'll die!" Jolland didn't bat an eye; she just stared into Callen's eyes with fire on her breath.
"I'm dead already, remember ... just like you!"
"Not like me! I'm just a clone."
–– 20 ––
NIGHT FLIGHT
Jolland's dragon lay among the underbrush, partially buried beneath a landslide of debris. Its head was missing, burnt off by the force of the mid-air explosion. The remainder of the carcass was only partially intact and lay covered with the burnt out hide of a Kel-fee scarecrow. Beyond the carcass, Tee stopped dead in his tracks as looked around in a panic. The ground ruffled from the hooves of the beasts. "Feeding dance––" he said to himself, looking over his shoulder at the remains of the dead dragon; it was anything but comfortable.
"We've not much further to go," he told himself, speaking rather loudly. "There's a path down to the river just beyond the remains of that Clarneek scarecrow."
"We’re in Mannuka territory. Their forestland," Jerolda Manchi announced, grinding his teeth together as he passed the carcass, trying not to go anywhere near to it. His upper lip curled in disgustingly reassuring himself. Tee made no mistake; he was going out of his way to step around the carcass, but trying not to leave a visible trail. Relix on the other hand searched his memory data for any listing of Kel-fee. Who they were? Where they came from, etc.? It was something he knew nothing about.
"Kel-fee tribe warriors," he announced. Tee pointed to the scarecrow.
"They were developed by the Industries to keep slaves under control on off-world plantations farms, like this one."
Jerolda Manchi rubbed his head. "I guess that confirms it then," he said rather coyly, "the Industries are involved.
“The Industries are always involved,” said Tee. The Earth wasn't meant to be a farm, not by standard Industrial practices. Originally, when the Industries first set-up the ranch project they saw it through to the end, but in this case the council decided to abandon the project. They wanted to discard the dinosaur families, finding them inadequate as a food supply and far too dangerous to control. At least, that's what the Industry IO said about it.
"The truth is over there in the Clarneek," he said bluntly, taking a position of authority on the matter. The scarecrow represented the real power of the off-worlders. The Industries dumped them here after a failed attempt at controlling the brood. The destruction of their home world left them subjugated under the industry control. The scarecrows were a ritualistic reminder of the proud people they were.
"It's my guess," affirmed Tee, "they're mindless warriors now––"
"Hey," said Jerolda Manchi, pointing to the meadow. "See those two out there in the open, looks like they're making for that temple. “Do you guys think they'll make it?"
"Not a chance!" answered Relix, scanning the immediate area with his electronic binoculars. "The Kel-fee will be on them, if they don't already. At least, that should keep them off our backs for a while."
"For a while?" Jerolda Manchi looked up at Tee, frightened.
"Don't worry, the Atlantis Two will be here soon enough."
Relix sighed, wrapping his hands about Tee's neck like he was giving him a hug, but Tee jerked backward, quite unaffectionate. Jerolda Manchi laughed.
"Getty up," he shouted, nudging Tee to take off across the stone ledge. A wide smile crossed Tee's face, but he did nothing of the sort.
"Sometimes––"Tee said. "Do you know how long it's been since we––"
"Yeah," laughed Jerolda Manchi. "It's about time we have a little fun in our lives, don't you think! We could beat them to the temple in no time ... let's give
it a try!"
• • •
Callen looked to the cliffs behind them. There was still a good deal of forest between them and the bluff ridge; however, there was that feeling to find safety. The temple was too far. "They're watching us, I can feel their eyes," Callen told Jolland. "We have to keep moving and fast."
"How are we going to get across this river?" questioned Jolland worried. The river widened, and was seemingly impassable, the banks overflowing into the meadow on the other side. Beyond it barely visible in the dim light of a densely overcast sky, she could almost see the outline of the temple in the distance.
"Shadows––"yelped Callen, he called out, but Jolland never heard him. "Something moving on the cliff."
Jolland looked up. "Where––" She said, unable to see anything.
"It's descending along the…." Callen stopped mid-sentence. He turned to her, but before he could get another word out a warrior jumped at him. Jolland moved like the wind, defended him from the attacking creature, hitting the beast in mid–leap, before Callen fell to the ground. Instinctively, she cupped her fingers together forming a sphere made of light within her hands. Callen was pushed aside in the fury. Jolland moved into the attack, fighting against the menacing shape, single handedly; her power overwhelming.
Callen was in total awe of her abilities as a fighter. Not since his encounter with the Daggoon warriors on Septa II had he seen someone, especially a woman fight with such ease and skill. Sara Jolland was an expert at hand-to-hand combat; out numbered ten-to-one, and she was winning. She was fearless against the tribesmen, warding off two and three at a time. Callen figured it was about time he acted. Jolland was surrounded, shadows moving in on her on three sides, out numbered and out gunned. Even if she was a champion in every sense of the word, she was still going to need help. Callen lifted from the ground with one hand toward the river, and shouted. "Come on," he exclaimed, "before they get behind us too."
Jolland looked over her shoulder, keeping track of the creatures as they encircled her. They were closing for the kill like Camlogian vultures. She felt the wind, moving swiftly through the underbrush. She considered the possibilities like a mathematician, the distance she'd have to leap; the direction of the wind. Her mind was like a manipulating calculator working in finite numbers into ten digits. She reached out grabbing a hold of Callen in the process and leaped. They both hit the water, swept away in the currents.