Roth’stavous and the others all sat and listened to Jhahnahkan as he gave them instructions.
“I will not know of this visit. To me in that timeline, it will be my first encounter. You end up placing a mind lock on me so no one else would know the truth. You gave me knowledge that will be needed when the time fracture occurs. Only the power crystal that I find later would be used to unlock my mind when I reached the crystal caverns. This second visit will occur in approximately 2972 since it takes 10 years in that timeline and their current technology to navigate the distance to the outer rim. My third visit is when you must give me this map. It will guide me to the Forge deep within Ackturra. This is the knowledge that you lock from me on my second visit. However, my sister becomes corrupted by the Rune and steals the last crystal, keeping me from the ability to unlock the knowledge in my mind. So it is at this third encounter, roughly 2983, the timeline has been corrupted. I seek you out once more to unlock my mind, but when I arrive, I find you are taken ill. You are being consumed by the corruption within the crystals and in this timeline, the power crystals have become even more corrupted because of what my sister does with the Rune.”
“Wait,” Roth’stavous said putting his hands up to his head, “you are giving me a headache with all this timeline this, and timeline that, and this timeline is corrupted here and there.”
“I understand it is very complex” Jhahnahkan said holding his hand out to touch Roth’stavous’s temple. “Let me do the memory transference, it will all become clear in a moment.”
Roth’stavous backed up slightly with hesitation, “You must be careful doing those things, it can cause insanity if not done correctly. Too much memory exchange and the receiver will never be able to distinguish his own memories from what was given.”
“I have never had any problem with performing memory transference my grandfather.”
He leaned forward allowing his grandson to contact him on the temple. Fire and sparks shot out of Jhahnahkan within Roth’stavous’s mind as they connected.
Roth’stavous cried out in pain as the transference ended and they both shot back in their seats.
“Wow” Roth’stavous exclaimed, “You have some wild memories. Those are not your own, yet they are.”
“I received those memories from Helen and Jhahnahkan’s experiences from the corrupted timeline. It did take a bit of time to sort them out, but what you know is what I know now.”
“Yes” Roth’stavous replied, “and I know what you are about to do too. You must not change what you are to do.”
“I will do whatever I must do to prevent this corruption to ever come to Ackturra.”
“You must follow the instructions that have been provided already, or you will be the cause of the time paradox you spoke of. Be very mindful of your personal desires my grandson.”
“This is my destiny. It is what I must do.” He answered, “I cannot change that.”
“They will not listen to you my grandson.”
“How do you know? Our ancestors from Earth must have been very different than we are today.”
“No, not really,” Roth’stavous sighed.
“So you know them personally?” Jhahnahkan said jokingly.
“Well,” Roth’stavous began, “as a matter of fact.”
“Do not tell me you are that old my grandfather.”
“I told you my age does not matter.”
“But I think it does” Jhahnahkan begged to know the truth, “now out with it. You’re age sir?”
“Well, alright then, you asked for it.”
“Go on.”
“Twenty-seven thousand years old to date.”
“Huh?” Jhahnahkan gasped.
“That is correct” Roth’stavous thought for a moment, “Yep, twenty-seven thousand two-hundred and twelve to be exact.”
“I came from Earth when we first decided to migrate to Ackturra and now I fully understand how this came to be. Yes, yes that must have been it.”
“What are you talking about my grandfather?” Jhahnahkan questioned, “What really happened to cause our people to depart Earth?”
“Ultimately the wars between the two factions.”
“But how did you come to find Ackturra?”
“It was so very long ago, I barely can remember.” Roth’stavous said as he held his hands to his head again.
“Tell me grandfather, you are holding back.”
“You are the cause of the time fracture.”
“Me? Why is everyone saying I am the one, I am the chosen one, I am the cause to this or that?”
“You see, it’s complicated, but I now understand.”
“Tell me before I invoke another memory transference.” Jhahnahkan said in exasperation.
“There was a traveler who came to us on Earth all those thousands of years ago. Came at a time when we were about to destroy one another. We had only traveled from Mars to Earth just a few years before. We never learned our lesson and we began to destroy Earth as we did with our true home world.”
“Are you saying this traveler was me?”
“Yes” Roth’stavous said with sadness, “You have to come to Earth, but instead you will decide to change history and tell us of a wonderful world that we can have, a world that we can call our own. The visitor convinces the two sects to split and travel to Ackturra. A place they can call their new home. Promises of wonderful powers that the planet had within he told us. The traveler wanted the fighting to stop in order to save our race from destruction, and ultimately extinction.”
“So you were among those who left and colonized Ackturra.”
“Yes, and you were that traveler.”
“You are saying I caused the time rift.”
“If it was you, and I do believe it was, you came with promises of paradise. You seduced our clan to leave and seek this Ackturra. They were intrigued by these power crystals of Ackturra. We had to come and find this place. If you had not told us of Ackturra and the crystals, we would have destroyed ourselves and our existence would have ceased. That would have prevented the time paradox from occurring because the traveler would have never arrived and you would have never been born.”
“So I am the one.” Jhahnahkan said to himself, “I am the one who caused this whole timeline fracture.”
“And you must do it again or time would have never warped into a circle. I believe your traveling back to ancient Earth is what caused time to warp into a circle for the first time.”
“Why can I not go to Earth and plant the ship and live out my life on Earth and not tell them anything of Ackturra?”
“Because we would never find Ackturra, but we did find it so it must happen again.”
“What if I convince them to stop their fighting and not seek out Ackturra?”
“We have not changed in all these twenty thousand years my grandson. We will have the desire for the power you speak of. Telling us not to seek it will only create the desire in our hearts to find it all the more. Which is what we did, we came to Ackturra. It appeared abandoned, only wild life in the jungles and oceans. Once we arrived, we immediately felt the power you spoke of. It is one of the reasons I managed to become so very old. Death is never an option for those who came to Ackturra for the first time.”
“But my grandfather, you will die.”
“I will welcome death when it comes knocking.”
Jhahnahkan began to weep at the last remark his grandfather made. He knew what he had to do now, but didn’t know if his new plan would work.
* * *
Ackturrian Jungle – Leif Erikson
Year: 2983.9
“You are gonna what?” Lanatek shouted back at Riideet.
“Yes sir!” he answered. “I am asking the klendessa to help us move the engine.”
“That is impossible!” Lanatek said with urgency, “Are you mad? Those beasts will kill you; get out of there, now!”
“Sir, I know what I am doing.” Riideet said with confidence, “I
am in communication with their clan mother. We have an… understanding.”
Lanatek became interested in the security chief’s news, “Explain!”
“I handed an egg to her and we became telepathically attached. She understood that we meant no harm to her children.”
“Uh huh,” Lanatek scoffed, “you mean you tried the trick we all heard that Jhahnahkan did on his way to the falls.”
“Yes sir!” Riideet said, “It works, we must be in very close proximity to an old crystal deposit.”
“Why do you say that?”
“There is no other reason for my acute increase in mental telepathy.”
Lanatek authorized Riideet to proceed with caution as they made preparation to allow the large beasts inside the perimeter. What he was going to attempt was something that had never happened in the entire history of Ackturra.
“Are you sure you know what you are doing sir?” Riideet’s aid asked.
“I just saved 20 of their children, I feel that she is indebted to me and will decide to aid us in return.”
“I hope you are right sir.”
“I do too.” Riideet said as he disarmed himself in preparation to approach the massive beast once again. “Keep a close eye on her and I want a fall back plan in case it goes awry.”
“I will have you flanked from both angles with soldiers using sonic beams.”
“Just remember I will be down there in your line of fire as well.” Riideet said, “Do not miss, but do not fire unless I give you the signal.”
“What signal is that sir?”
“If I run” Riideet smiled back.
“Yes sir,” his aid answered, “we will be ready sir.”
Riideet left the base of the ship where they had set up their control station and approached the perimeter gap. He slowly approached holding his arms out wide in a non-threatening manner. He thought to himself, I sure hope I do know what I am doing.
The largest mother klendessa quickly noticed that Riideet was approaching them. She lifted her head back and roared at him as a warning.
“Easy now momma.” He softly said, “Why do you not just ease on over here and have a little chat, shall we?”
The beast stomped her massive foot causing the ground to shake. She leaned forward roaring a bit longer this time with a couple others entering in with their points of view clearly relaying the message of do not approach.
“Now momma,” he said softly but just a little louder this time, “You know I do not pose a threat to you or your children.”
He cautiously approached the pack of klendessa as he crossed over the fence line and continued until he was face to foot of the massive beast. The klendessa’s were noticeably nervous and some of them reared up with ear piercing roars. One of the smaller klendessa began to charge Riideet while the largest beast gave a cry making the charging klendessa stop in her tracks.
Riideet was relieved that the big momma intervened on his behalf and stopped the charging klendessa.
The massive beast lowered her head down and they looked at each other in the eye. The crew looked on from the safety of the perimeter as the two gazed for what seemed a very long period of time. Then the klendessa rose up and held her head up high, opened her mouth wide and gave a massive cry to the others.
Riideet turned and quickly headed back to his base camp and called Lanatek on the bridge.
“This is Lanatek, report.”
“Sir, the klendessa have agreed to help.”
“Help? How are they going to help?”
“Trust me sir.” Riideet said with a wide smile as if not believing what he was about to relay to his first officer. “You must give the order to drop the shield generators from the port side of the vessel.”
“Do what?” Lanatek shouted back.
“Lower the shields sir, do not fire on the beasts as they enter the perimeter.”
“This better be good man!” Lanatek commanded. “Were putting the entire crew at risk by letting them in, you do realize this.”
“Yes sir,” Riideet answered with confidence, “I am on my way to the bridge to give you the rest of the plan. Meet me on the catwalk of the port conning tower stabilizer in five, Riideet out.”
Lanatek paused for a moment and shook his head slightly. Resting his elbow on the side of the command chair he cradled his chin in his hand and went into deep thought letting out a sigh. Then all at once he stood and walked over to the ladder that led down to the lower deck and to the hatch that Jhahnahkan had used when he left the ship and entered the jungle.
Riideet had already opened the hatch and engaged the catwalk support fence. The two walked out on the support stabilizer and looked back at the massive creatures that had taken their position by the side of the unattached engine.
“Sir,” Riideet said, “I do not know how but I have reached the leader Klendessa. It is the same one that Jhahnahkan contacted in the jungle. He saved her egg, and now I have saved the rest of her clan’s eggs. She trusts me and offered to help us in return.”
Lanatek looked at the klendessa in amazement, “You are saying these creatures are intelligent?”
“Yes sir” Riideet responded quickly.
“You also remember that they have killed many Ackturrians, they are wild beasts’ man!”
“Yes, and Ackturrians have not killed any of them.” Riideet said sarcastically.
“Alright” Lanatek said finally relenting, “Let’s see what you can do then.”
Lanatek called his chief engineer to their location so he could be briefed and to set up the engineering crew to have the pins set and ready to press into the massive brackets as the engine is set into position.
Riideet set the palm of his hand on Lanatek’s shoulder and concentrated on the plan and relayed it to his first officer.
The chief engineer gave Lanatek the signal that his crew were ready and standing by. Each drift pin was set in place by laser autovice’s and would be pushed into the brackets using ionic levers. Each crew had an Isohammer ready to give the pin an extra nudge if the ionic levers were not strong enough to set the pins completely.
Lanatek concentrated on the severity and the need for the beasts to use extreme caution and his thoughts traveled back to Riideet who then reached out with his mind to the leader klendessa giving her the signal to begin.
The massive klendessa beast raised her head and gave roaring commands to her clan. The beasts came into position and with their heads resting on the side of the hanging engine, they gently increased pressure and bore down with all their strength. Their massive clawed feet dug into the tundra beneath shoving dirt into mounds behind them.
Much to the amazement of Lanatek, the engine began to move as it creaked and groaned at the pressure being exerted on it. They continued to push for what seemed an eternity but in actuality were only minutes. Finally, after several loud metal popping sounds that echoed through the jungle, the engine was in position. Lanatek gave the signal to his chief to sink the pins into place.
The crew began pushing the massive drift pins into place. The klendessa were remarkably accurate in their alignment of the engine. The brackets on the engine lined up perfectly to the clamps on the hull of the ship. The ionic lever made quick work of sinking the pins into place.
The chief inspected each set pin for final approval before allowing the beasts to relieve the pressure on the engine. He only needed to use the Isohammer to set two of the pins completely. Once he was satisfied that the engine was secure, he gave the order to Lanatek to call off the klendessa.
Riideet relayed the order from Lanatek and the klendessa gently eased off their pushing which caused the engine to rest on the securing pins that had been placed. With the engine refit a success, the chief was now faced with the final task of sealing the hull breach.
The leader klendessa gave her clan the orders to return to the jungle. She looked back one last time at them standing on the conning tower’s stabilizer and gave a nod before heading into the jungle
and out of sight.
Riideet and Lanatek looked at each other in disbelief at what they had just accomplished.
“Any parting thoughts from her Riideet?”
“She said their debt to us has been repaid. She thanks us for saving their eggs. She also said she cannot guarantee that all klendessa will honor this accord that was made, but they will do what they can in spreading to the others what took place here today.”
They returned from the port stabilizer to the bridge. Lanatek gave the orders to activate the perimeter fence and to close the remaining gap, “There are still plenty of dangers out there.”
“Yes sir,” Riideet acknowledged.
“We are closer to getting her space ready, but we still have a ways to go. Start preparing to seal this hull breach and finish stress testing the hull. I will start looking at ways to restart the reactor and get our power back online.”
The crew continued on their duties and carried out their orders.
* * *
Chapter 5
Snatched
Palace Medical Bay
Year: 2983.9
Kate looked down at her newborn child that she was cradling in her arms. Jhahnahkan sat on the edge of her bed in the medical bay looking at the miracle child that had just been born.
She looked up at her lover’s eyes with tears of joy as she gently rocked the child in her arms with a wide smile that any mother would have on a day like this.
The proud father returned her smile as he watched the first few minutes of his son’s life. “You look so beautiful Kate” he said as emotion took over his voice.
The doctor stood back to allow the new parents some extra privacy during this special time that they would need to bond with the newborn infant. He stepped over to Luanren and helped her off of the floor. Ghaia refused any help from the doctor as she pulled away sharply and then returned a sneer at him as she climbed off the floor on her own.
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