“Roth’stavous… grandfather… you must unlock my mind… that is why I have come back… please… I beg you… you must open me to the knowledge…”
“I am much too weak now my grandson…” Roth’stavous whispered, “but I will tell you… that there is a way… you can still beat the Rune and return the timeline to the way it was…”
“Tell me… what must I do… where must I go?”
“Deep within the caverns on Ackturra… the crystal caverns… they were not always there… you see? The crystals became… thousands of years ago… they came to be… by the original race that existed before we came… They became so far advanced that they no longer required physical bodies… They created the Crystal Forge… lowest part of the cavern…”
“What is this… this…Crystal Forge?” Jhahnahkan asked shaking his grandfather to prevent him from drifting off to sleep.
Roth’stavous woke with a start. “Oh… the Crystal Forge is where they made the crystals… they forged each and every soul within a crystal… save one…”
“You are saying this race of ancients are the entities within the power crystals?”
“Entity… entity… one… once they enter the silver lake of the crystal forge, the pool absorbs them and they join as one… as the crystals form… they have the essence of an ancient race… it is this race that gave us the way to our understanding…”
Roth’stavous began to fall into sleep again. “I must rest,” he said as he drifted off. “Tell, more, later.”
Drakes and Diyra entered the hut and built a small fire in the middle of the room. The heat felt good as the storm above them seemed to worsen. The wind howled like a lonely wolf in the prairie searching for his lost mate.
The wind reminded him of the sobering time he was all alone… no one to care for, no one to care for you. He had found his soul mate… he loved Katie with all his heart… no more would he be lone… he would always have Kate and if anything would happen to her it would devastate him.
Roth’stavous continued to rest in the warm fire the two Scorpii had made. He continued to ponder his thoughts of what his grandfather was telling him. He needed to know more… what was this Crystal Forge… why has no one ever heard of this before?
He had a million questions, but needed to ensure the health of his grandfather was good before he continued.
“How long has he been this way?” Jhahnahkan asked Drakes.
“He took ill last year,” Drakes answered.
“He got worse a few weeks ago…” Diyra said. “We knew he would be alright for now though.”
“How’s that?”
“Because, Roth’stavous told us he would not die until the time of your third arrival,” Drakes said.
“My third arrival?”
“Yes… the first time you came, you gave him the secret…” Diyra said.
“The second time was ten years ago…” Drakes said.
“That’s when he gave you the secret and locked your mind…” Diyra said.
“This is the third time, when he tells you about the forge.” Drakes finished.
“I know… I know it’s confusing…” Diyra began motioning with her hands. “To you this is only your second visit… to us… this is your third… which means your first visit to us would be your third visit to you… you follow?”
“Sort of…” he said with a puzzled look.
“It is hard to keep these thoughts straight in our minds… this is very true.” Drakes said as he reached for a stick and stirred the fire.
Diyra added some small pieces of wood causing sparks to rise and filter back down slowly in the dimly illuminated hut.
The outside temperatures had dropped through the night and the bitter cold continued to flow down the narrow corridors accompanied by that lonely howling wind.
Roth’stavous stirred and slowly opened his eyes and fixed them on his grandson sitting nearby and slightly nodding off to sleep himself.
Diyra nudged Jhahnahkan and pointed to Roth’stavous with her slender blue finger.
Jhahnahkan sat close to his grandfather to see if he was about to wake up. Roth’stavous, even though he couldn’t see very well, smiled back at Jhahnahkan. He raised his hand and took Jhahnahkan’s hand and squeezed him slightly.
“Grandfather… you must tell me more…”
“You must find the crystal forge, the one ancient that remains was the one who had to work the forge… He has been given eternal life in solitude… he lives in the liquid of the crystal forge… you will know it when you find it… you must find it…”
“You must know if I found it… wouldn’t I have told you?”
“The time fracture has changed everything… before the fracture, you did not need to find the forge… you had the crystal, but now you must to find it…” He paused and coughed a couple of times and then struggled to catch his breath.
“There was one more thing…” he fought to say. “You did tell me… that since time also is circular… it was possible… to correct the timeline… before the fracture made it to your future time… thus preventing the altered reality that would eventually overtake any future you knew…”
“Stay with me Roth’stavous…” Jhahnahkan said as he cradled his grandfather.
“You… must find… the crystal… forge… if you do not restore time… there will be a catastrophic time paradox… a paradox that would cause such a severe shock throughout the entire timeline that it could be the end of time as we know it…” Roth’stavous said with his last breath.
Jhahnahkan looked down at this grandfather. His eyes went dim and closed slightly and he fell limp in his arms.
Drakes and Diyra grabbed a ceremonial blanket and covered Roth’stavous as they gently tugged at Jhahnahkan to pull him away. They tucked it in at the sides and then said a few words unknown to Jhahnahkan in their own tongue.
They turned when they finished what they wanted to speak and hugged Jhahnahkan. He embraced them in return to comfort them in their loss as well.
He knew the pain they felt… they were with Roth’stavous for hundreds of years and he had become part of their family here on Delta Scorpii Twelve.
They wiped what appeared to be tears from their eye stalks, but were more of a gelatin liquid. The two stood up to Jhahnahkan and offered their assistance.
“We shall come with you… you were Roth’stavous’s grandson… we believe that what our friend believed in… the cause… we shall continue with you.” Drakes said with the utmost sincerity in his voice.
“If you’ll have us that is…” Diyra finished.
“Your offer is most gracious,” Jhahnahkan replied. “What of your people? What of the hard ship that will bring to them with your absence?”
“Caring for Roth’stavous was our assigned task…” Drakes said. “Now that he is gone… we will have no purpose but to become a burden on our people.”
“I will be happy to have you… you are all that I have left of my grandfather…”
“No, there is one more thing,” Diyra offered. “Roth’stavous left a parchment… it was given to him by you on your ‘first’ visit.”
Diyra reached under the cot where Roth’stavous laid and pulled out a fourteen-inch-long parchment that was tied with a leather cord and offered it to Jhahnahkan.
“Go ahead…” Diyra poked it at him like a stick, “It belongs to you anyway…” she said with a smile.
Jhahnahkan reached over and took the gift and clasped her hand with his other and shook her wrist in acceptance as he slid it out of her hand.
“This document is very special you know…” she said.
“Roth’stavous put me in charge of keeping this document…” Diyra continued, “I’ve had it for many hundreds of your years.”
“I will cherish this always,” Jhahnahkan said with honor as he held it to his chest.
Drakes and Diyra made their preparations to depart. They were already packed and set to go even before his arrival. They had t
rusted that Roth’stavous told them the truth of the exact date… he had already told them they would make the trip to Ackturra.”
“We shall wait until the light of day,” Jhahnahkan said. “Perhaps the storm will have moved off by then.”
A few hours had passed and sure enough, the winds and bitter cold did diminish as the light of day approached. Jhahnahkan and the two Scorpii made their way to the entrance and began the hard laborious work of digging out to the surface.
Glenda reported to Lanatek that Jhahnahkan’s com signature appeared on the scanners. Lanatek gave the command to the shuttle to make the pickup as the three on the surface made their way to his landing spot.
The timing of their arrival and the shuttle landing before them was perfect. The three entered the small support craft and headed back to the Leif Erikson.
* * *
Chapter 9
Time of Help
High Council Palace
Year: 3983
Helen and Tamika tossed and tumbled through the vortex. They had wrapped their arms around each other to help stabilize them as they crossed through. They had just slowed down their spinning around and around when the vortex opened on the other side and deposited them abruptly on the ground.
The vortex closed and left the two as they picked themselves off the ground. The night sky was so very familiar to the both of them as they each looked up and around to see their surroundings.
The night sky on Ackturra was unmistakably beautiful with the red colored sky turned dark you could still see a slight red hue which colored the two moons like red giants in the sky.
They were on the grounds of the palace on a back deck. The deck was huge and they had landed, fortunately, on the far side. Jhahnahkan’s sleeping quarters were just inside, and Tamika did not want him to be woken, at least not yet.
Tamika’s eyes had nearly returned to normal as well as all the other effects that the Rune had changed. She took Helen by the arm and sat them down on a concrete bench.
“My Grandmother,” she began to say holding her temple seemingly in pain, “no time to explain… There is not much time… I may not be able to remain in control for very long. I am sorry… but you must remain here for now… you must not go back to any time after I took you away…”
Helen held her fore arm and did the best she could do to comfort her granddaughter. “I know, I know…” Helen said. “I have been here before. I saw the destruction with my own eyes… that is when I went back to try and correct this wrong… and now this wrong is way worse than before.”
“Just know that there is still good in me… you must see this… do not write me off my grandmother… I brought you here… before the time fractures have had an effect on this time in the circle.”
“I will do as you say… I know I must.”
“You know what you have to tell your brother… tell him I love him too…” she said, struggling to fight off the Rune that was beginning to rise to the surface. “Now you must block my mind so I will not remember bringing you here… when the Rune takes over, I must not know… now hurry,” she demanded as her eyes began to turn yellow once again.
Tamika stood and turned away from Helen, opened up the vortex once more.
Helen stood and reached up and touched Tamika’s temples with her fingertips and concentrated on blocking the memories of being brought to this time.
Tamika, not able to hold the Rune back any longer, leaped into the vortex and closed it behind her.
“Wait!” Helen shouted. “I wasn’t quite done…”
The doors to the patio deck burst opened and Jhahnahkan ran out into the two moons light.
“Who’s out here?” he demanded.
Helen stepped out of the shadows and into the moonlight and replied, “Simple questions get simple answers…”
* * *
Delta Scorpii Twelve
Year: 2983
Lanatek ordered Glenda to continue tracking Jhahnahkan’s shuttle and to relay a message that he was needed on the bridge. There were several developments that needed to be briefed on.
“Rex,” he said turning forward facing the helm, “maintain this orbit and let me know when the Captain is in docking range.”
“Aye aye, sir.”
Rex had mastered his control console with ease as if he was meant for this job. He had got so comfortable with flying the Leif that he felt there was time to research the computer files for anything that might be of use on their journey. Rex barely took his eyes off the display while searching. He had a very interested look on his face as he studied the console. He only looked away to cross check the instruments for orbit decay and then back intently focusing on his findings.
“Sir,” Rex finally said.
“What is it, Rex?” Lanatek asked as he stood and looked over Rex’s shoulder.
“I found a file that wasn’t there before. I wanted to check on some of the time stamps to get its origin and they just don’t make any sense.”
“Who was it from?”
“It was from Helen… I think Jhahnahkan should see this right away.”
“Glena, what is his ETA?”
“His shuttle is coming up behind us now sir… sending docking control to receive”
The landing bay doors rolled open and the quartermaster gave his captain clearance to land. Jhahnahkan lowered the ship down into the bay lowering the landing skids and locking them in place. The landing bay deck crew was standing by to secure the skids to the deck and to hook up the shuttle for recharge. One of the indicator lights for the front skid on the shuttle sent off a warning that it had not locked in properly.
Jhahnahkan radioed the quartermaster advising to clear from the front of the shuttle in case the gear did not hold, but the quartermaster was not able to relay the message to warn one very enthusiastic crew member who stepped up on the platform as the nose of the shuttle began to set down.
The front skid had been damaged by the ice pack when it lifted off from the surface. When Jhahnahkan finally set down, as gently as he could, the stabilizer broke off of the skid sending one of the securing bolts flying at the crewman, striking him in the helmet.
The crewman fell back and bounced on the
ground in front of the shuttle. The nose slid down and pinned his leg between the deck and the ship. The other crewmen dropped everything and rushed over to assist and discovered his helmet had cracked and was venting the life suit environment rapidly.
The com system filled with screams as he flailed his arms franticly as the ship pinned the man. His screams slowly turned to silence as his suit emptied of its air. He fell limp as he slowly watched the landing doors roll closed, sealing the landing bay.
The quartermaster shouted orders to his crew and called medical while he flooded the landing bay as fast as he could to pressurize and hopefully save his crewmember.
As the nose of the shuttle dropped to the deck Jhahnahkan was thrown forward with a jolt has where his two guests. Fortunately the seat restraints caught them and they would only suffer minor bruises.
Diyra insisted that Jhahnahkan open the shuttle door to let her out. She convinced him that she could save him, so he pulled the emergency evacuation hatch just behind them.
She took in a huge breath of what was left in the shuttle compartment, Jhahnahkan had already activated his life suite and followed Diyra and Drakes and they exited the hatch.
She ran over to the injured crewman and removed the cracked helmet, stretched her mouth completely over his face like a mask and held him there as the atmosphere returned to normal.
After a few minutes, sounds returned to the landing bay as the air resumed to normal. Diyra removed her mouth and returned it to its normal shape, cracking her jaw back into place, and then stood to her feet.
The crewman began to twitch and move on his own as his lungs filled with air and gave a huge exhale. He breathed in another large breath, only this time he let out a blood curdling scream of pain.
“M
y leg!” he shouted
The crew by then had retrieved a support hoist and began lifting the craft off of the injured man. The medical support team, accompanied by Doctor Collins, entered the landing bay with a portable stretcher.
They quickly moved him to the medical bay for emergency treatment. The doctor, though not pleased that a crewman was hurt, was happy that he was going to see this wonderful medical computer at work again.
They wheeled him off after Jhahnahkan assured the injured man that he was going to be all right and that he was in the best of hands with this surgeon.
Jhahnahkan turned to his new friends as he removed his life suit helmet. “That is some talent you got there.”
“Why thank you Jhahnahkan,” Diyra said with a smile. “That’s one thing that the Scorpii can do… not very many outside of our race know that we can withstand the elements of space.”
“Yes, we find this ability to be very useful in some cases,” Drakes added.
“We can last for hours in the vacuum of space… but we can’t do it very often.” Diyra continued.
“What she means is we need several hours to recuperate after a long exposure.”
Jhahnahkan nodded as they made their way to the bridge deck.
He passed the quartermaster in the corridor and apologized for injuring the crewman, but advised that he tighten up his authority by ensuring all deck hands follow safety protocol.
The quartermaster acknowledged his fault and assured his captain that his crew would be retrained.
Jhahnahkan entered the bridge deck followed by his two new friends and resumed command of the Leif Erikson.
“Rex, take us out of orbit and plot a return course back to the Touulug system.”
“Aye, aye captain,” Rex replied as he took control of the Leif and fired her main engines to give enough power to break from their current orbit. Delta Scorpii Twelve had no moons to navigate around so Rex said he was going to floor it as he turned slightly looking at his captain with a slight grin.
The crew felt the G forces as Rex accelerated at full speed before the inertial dampeners could kick in to stabilize those forces. “Let’s see what she’s got, shall we?” “What do you have their Rex?”
Secret of the Crystal - Omnibus Edition Books 1-3 (Time Travel Adventure) Page 39