"What happened up there?" I asked. It had been eating at me as I had time to dwell on it.
"I believe you were out of phase with our Universe." Madias said matter of factly. "I've seen such a thing before, but never for more than a few seconds. You just kept going. I still don't understand where all the energy was coming from." He paused, apparently deep in thought, then quietly said, "I just don't understand why a simple human would exhibit such characteristics."
He turned to Koda, and then said, "Not bad enough he shows up, but then you're with him. I don't understand how two average people from Earth could suddenly appear, and join the timeline with so much power." He seemed to consider again, and then asked, "You don't happen to know the answer to that, do you?"
I hadn't expected such a question, and stood there gaping at Madias for a second. Then I slowly said, "Not that I'm aware of."
"Don't look at me," added Koda.
We were standing there talking, and far down the corridor we were in, I could see a large opening. It was an apparent crossing point for several corridors like the one we were in. As I watched, three of the largest men I'd ever seen walked by. They were about a hundred yards away. I might have thought I was mistaken, except for Koda loudly saying, "Hey! Did you see those guys?"
Madias turned to see what we were staring at. He was smiling when he glanced back, and said, "That's right. I guess you've never seen one of Kark's giants before."
"You guess right!" I replied. "They looked eight feet tall!"
"Most of them," Madias observed. "Seven to nine feet tall is an average height."
"And they're on our side?" Koda quickly asked.
"Yes," acknowledged Madias. He smiled widely at Koda and said, "You would hate having them as an enemy."
"I'll bet," agreed Koda under her breath.
Madias turned, and started walking again. We went through the corridor interchange, and started down another corridor. We had walked about another ten minutes, when Madias abruptly pointed at a doorway, and said, "Here we are." He reached over, and palmed the security scanner. With a whoosh, the door sprung open, and two men could be heard yelling at each other.
"I don't care what the simulation says," yelled the older man. "It's not safe!"
"Why run the simulations of you won't trust them?" snapped the younger man.
"To learn more, until it is safe!" growled the older man. As he spoke, he seemed to realize we were there. His eyes darted over at us, and the younger man's gaze quickly followed. They both stopped talking, and stood staring at us.
"Another highly scientific discussion no doubt," Madias noted loudly.
"He's driving me crazy, Madias!" stated the older man.
"We're never going to make this happen!" observed the other person quietly.
Pointing at the older man, Madias said, "This is Dal Sere, a brilliant physicist." Madias then turned, adding, "And this is Donald Righthouse, his ever suffering assistant."
"Hey! That's not funny!" the younger man sounded off.
"It is to me," said Dal. "What's going on Madias?"
Pointing at us, Madias said, "This is Mike Rutger, and Koda Hackman. They are the people from Earth we talked about."
Donald instantly reached over to a table next to him, and put on a pair of really heavy looking glasses. They reminded me of a set of 3D viewing goggles I once saw on Earth. Turning to look at Koda and myself, his mouth dropped open. He stood gazing at us for several seconds. Then abruptly ripped off the glasses, and thrust them at the man named Dal.
Donald excitedly said, "I told you they would naturally tear space around them! It's as if they constantly walk through water. Time swirls around them in small eddies."
"These don't prove that!" stated Dal. "They just show that their energy levels are off the scale, and the glasses can't interpret the data coming in fast enough."
"I don't agree," began Donald.
"I hate to interrupt this important discussion," Madias suddenly interjected. "But I brought these two people here so you could show them what you're working on."
The two scientist seemed to suddenly remember we were in the room. They started to collect themselves, and Dal asked, "You brought him here to see our work?"
"No," corrected Madias. "They came on their own. But since they're here, I thought they might find your work interesting."
Donald seemed to suddenly see an opportunity, and loudly said, "He could test the ring!"
"Yes Donald! He could test the ring," agreed Madias, seemingly enjoying a joke of some sort at Donald's expense. The younger man bolted off into another room. Dal just sat staring at us for several seconds, and then asked, "Does using energy at those levels make you feel warm all the time?"
"Not that I've noticed," I replied.
"It's started to feel warm in here to me," Koda observed under her breath.
"Pardon me?" asked Dal as he stepped a little closer to Koda.
"Nothing," Koda quickly responded. Madias smiled broadly, and Donald walked back into the room. He was holding something small in his hand, and as he stepped up to me, the item appeared in his opening, outstretched hand.
Out of reflex, I reached out and accepted what appeared to be a small ring box. Inside was a ring made of some form of polished black stone. As I stood, staring down at the ring, Dal said, "Put it on!"
"Now wait just a minute," Madias abruptly said. "First, you tell him about the ring."
"Well! It wouldn't hurt him!" Dal noted.
"Tell him what it does," instructed Madias.
"It's like a Guardians bio shield, except it doesn't drain your personal energy levels," Dal explained. "In fact. It can actually charge your built in genetic battery as you use it. It is also designed to match your DNA profile. It won't work for anyone else."
"It may also amplify any other abilities you may have developed since joining the Chosen," Donald added.
"If you were wearing the ring a few hours ago, you might have crushed the enemy Critz far worse," Madias said.
"May I have one?" asked Koda
"It took two years to develop this," Dal observed. "We spent the last month adapting it to Mr. Rutger's DNA. It may be a while before we can produce another."
I stood there, looking down at the ring. It reminded me of black obsidian. It looked almost delicately carved for a man's ring. What appeared to be tiny runes covered the piece of jewelry. It shone as though it was highly polished. Pulling it out of the case, I put the ring on my finger, and felt a charge of energy run through me.
"In theory, you can fight for hours now," Donald said. "Your energy levels would just continue to build up."
"And what happens then?" asked Koda.
The two scientist stood staring at each other for a second. Then Dal glanced over toward Koda, and said, "I'm not really sure."
"Oh boy! I really don't like that answer," Koda noted sarcastically.
"It may require some testing," huffed Madias. "The important thing is, it will allow you to fight for a far greater period of time than you can currently. It's feasible you could stand and fight indefinitely."
"I definitely want one of those," Koda murmured quietly.
"Let's see if it kills me, before we get you one," I observed.
"It shouldn't harm you at all," Dal interjected indignantly. "I wouldn't let you put it on if I thought it would harm you!"
"Well! Let's test it out!" I stated. I focused on the entrance we had come through on the surface. It had to be about a mile away, through solid rock. Pouring energy into the jump, I folded space. The look of shock on Dal's face as I left, was priceless.
We had been taught that jumping through solid rock was a bad idea. I now knew that my abilities had been amplified many times over. I stood, at the bunker surface entrance, debating how to test those new abilities. It would take a while for Koda and Madias to catch up with me.
I debated about folding space to a distant galaxy. Perhaps I should attack the Critz that were still trying to es
cape.
The battle at the actual surface entrance was over. The job of saving the wounded had begun. The macabre job of battlefield triage had started. Lines of bodies were being created. One for the dead. One for the wounded. Another for the dying. I found myself stepping over to the lines, looking down at a wounded Guardian, laying on the ground.
He was dying. The spark of life was fading. One lung was filling with blood, and his heart was damaged. I stood above him, and reached toward him with my right hand. I could feel the wound for just an instant, as I took the pain. He was healed, and I moved to the next Guardian in line. By the time I healed the third man, I began to draw attention. A crowd began to form.
As I healed the seventh man, an Empath approached me. I could see his thoughts in the link. He wondered who I was, and was concerned for my health. He was exhausted from helping others. I finished helping the seventh Guardian. Reaching over, I took the Empath's wrist, and for several seconds, I replenished his energy levels. His eyes widened as he realized what I was doing. He abruptly pulled his wrist from my grip, saying, "You’d better be careful! You're going to over extend yourself!"
"I don't think so!" I responded.
My time with each Guardian I helped was becoming shorter and shorter. Reaching the end of the line I was in, I realized I had healed over three dozen dying Guardians in under five minutes. The ground behind me was littered with stunned Guardians. Each one had been snatched back from the jaws of death.
By me.
They were aware they were dying, and they were aware who had saved them. I had an instant fan club.
Across the field, about a hundred yards away, another set of lines was forming. This was triage for the Critz. Their line of dying warriors stretched on and on. There had to be hundreds. I stepped over, and started healing them. I moved along the row of creatures. Healing them faster and faster, till I was doing it at a brisk pace.
I lost track of time, and abruptly realized, Madias, Koda, and the unnamed Empath, were all watching me from about fifty feet away. Behind them stood a large, mixed crowd of Guardians and Critz, all watching me intently. I had just reached the end of the row of dying Critz, and as I turned around, I realized my fan club was following me.
I looked up at all of them, and was rather caught off guard. In that moment, the crowd started to cheer. It startled the shit out of me, and I about jumped out of my skin. Madias, Koda, and several of the others started to laugh as they saw how startled I was. The rest of the crowd pressed in around me, and started patting me on the back, thanking me for what I had done.
I had reacted out of reflex, helping the men and creatures before me, without thinking how they would feel. Even now, I don't believe I fully understand all the ramifications of this kind of power. Hundreds of dying humans and Critz had been brought back from the edge, and as it sank in, I started to freak out.
Madias allowed the crowd to flux around me for about a minute. Then he shouted, "Enough!" Almost instantly, the crowd grew silent, and the old man walked through the mass of people. Koda, and the Empath, followed in his wake. Stepping up next to me, Madias quietly said, "In future, don't leave me behind like that. I would be really angry, but you've obviously been putting the time to good use."
"I don't know what I was thinking," I reflected. "It just seemed the thing to do."
"It was the thing to do," Madias agreed. "But only you could do it!"
"I'm telling you, I want a ring too!" noted Koda. "Where do I sign up?"
"First, comes the other half of the test," said Madias. "Now you must remove the ring."
"What ring?" asked the Empath.
"I suggest we do this down in the lab," Madias said loudly.
"I suggest we take the ring off at home," Koda said. "Let's go home, back to Kathy's."
"I still have wounded people here!" noted the Empath. "If you can help them, please don't leave!"
Madias looked at the Guardian for a second. Then he said, "Ben, this Guardian is Mike Rutger! I need to get him out of here. You know how important he is to us."
The Empath was torn, but he quickly relented, saying, "Get him out of here!" The man turned from Madias, to me, and added, "Thank you for all your help! I hope we can meet again!" An injured man screamed in the distance. The Empath smiled, turned, and walked away.
"It's time to decide Guardian," stated Madias, "Remove the ring here, or on Earth."
I thought for a moment, and then said, "I want to go back to Earth."
"Very well," Madias said. "Let's go home." I hesitated for just a moment, and then folded space for Earth.
Chapter 4
The Ring
We arrived back home, standing in front of Kathy's house. Koda looked at me, saying, "Lisa should be there when you take the ring off."
There was a flash of movement off to one side as Dal Sere and Donald Righthouse appeared. The older man was panting slightly, and said, "You could have waited for us! We need to know what effects the ring has on you."
"Then come along," Madias commanded. "We're about to find out."
Koda was already at the house's front door, and opened the door lock using the keypad. The five of us stepped in, and started walking through the house toward what we half-jokingly called the Command Center. I could hear voices as we approached.
We walked in to find Lisa, Harold, and Tim, just sitting at the table, talking. They all looked pleased for about two seconds. Then they saw what was going on as they scanned us. Lisa was the first to stand up, asking, "What have you gotten yourself into this time?"
"He was testing a device for us," Dal Sere noted. "I'm concerned he may suffer an adverse reaction when he removes the device from his hand."
Lisa gave the man a dirty look, and said, "You tested it on a human, and you don't know what it will do?"
"We warned him it might be dangerous!" Dal's young assistant blurted out.
If looks could kill, both Dal and Donald would have been dead by now. Lisa looked from them, to me, and sarcastically said, "I'm shocked Mike would take a risk without thinking it through."
"Take off the ring, Mike," Koda instructed. Without further comment, I pulled off the ring. Then I passed out.
I woke up in the medical bay with Lisa looking into my right eye with that damned bright light again. I could get to hate that damned thing. I managed to raise my arm, and brush it aside, but Lisa just shifted it to the other eye.
"Of all the stupid things to do!" she growled. "You're lucky to be alive."
I couldn't see Dal as I laid there in the bed, but I heard his voice say, "We didn't tell him to take so much on! It's not our fault!"
"I think you better shut up," Tim snapped angrily. I could just see his shadow as he stood next to the bed I was in. "If anything happens to him, you're in a lot of trouble!"
"Knock it off!" I ordered. Just talking seemed to hurt. With each passing second, I could feel my strength returning. After a few moments, I asked, "What happened?"
"You took off the ring, and died," Koda observed in a hushed voice.
"You went down like a bag of sand," Lisa added. "We saved you, by putting the ring back on! Don't take it off again Mike!"
Glancing down at my hand, I realized the ring was back on my finger again. It was keeping me alive, but at that moment, I wasn't very thankful about what was happening.
"Are you okay, Mike?" asked Koda.
"Yah, I'm all right," I groused as I sat up. "What do you mean by dead?" I asked, glancing up at Lisa.
"Your heart stopped, and so did every other indicator I could think of," Lisa responded. "You died on the spot, Mike. I was desperate, and shoved the ring back on your hand." She broke eye contact with me, and added, "I didn't know what else to do!"
Dal stepped into my line of vision, and said, "I'm sorry! It never occurred to us there might be any chance of this happening. We had no idea..." His comment trailed away. He looked down at the ground, no longer willing to make eye contact with me.
"So I
gotta wear a ring now," I observed. "If you knew how much I hate jewelry!"
"I'm sorry!" Dal noted quietly.
"I regret this, Guardian!" said Madias. "I had no concept this would happen, but I can see now that you’ve strengthened the timeline. It appears this event was meant to happen."
"It's alright," I said quietly. "At least it appears the ring works."
Koda looked at Dal, and dryly said, "You can cancel my order. I don't want a ring after all."
"Smart decision," I agreed. "Always learn from the mistakes of the idiots around you!"
Lisa smiled at me slightly, and said, "Shut up, you idiot!"
I managed to sit up, and swung my legs over the side of the bed. My stomach was a little woozy, but I was feeling pretty good for a dead guy. "How long was I out?" I asked.
"Just a few minutes," Lisa answered. "I put the ring back on within sixty seconds, and you woke up within a few minutes after that." She hesitated, and then added, "I don't like this Mike. If we can ever get the ring off your hand, I don't want you to use it again."
"We will get the ring off his hand safely! I swear!" interjected Dal. "It's just a matter of time."
I paused for a moment, and then said, "Thank you! I know you're doing your best. No matter what happens, I want to thank you for trying."
The man's eyes met mine again, and he promised, "We'll make it work safely! I swear it!" He gestured to Donald, and they folded space together. I was left to wonder what they could do to help.
Madias stood looking at me for a moment. Then he quietly said, "You must learn to think things through better. I concluded long ago, that people who live on the edge, are the ones most likely to fall off a cliff." He smiled slightly, and then added, "It's a fault you share with several of my favorite friends. You are in good company!"
For some reason, the backhanded compliment made me feel better. "I wasn't exactly known for always doing the safe thing." I observed.
The Koda Files Boxed Set - Books 1 & 2 Page 20