by C. O. Amal
“Drop it!” Suddenly a voice said from the far corner of the tunnel.
Samson, with curious eyes, looked at the shape which is emerging from behind a boulder. Then the man fully came into view. Samson stood up.
“I said drop it.” The man said. “Or, I will cut down all of your fucking hands.”
Samson dropped the crystal. Suddenly, the dropped crystal collided with another crystal which was on the ground and it shattered into pieces. Suddenly, some kind of gaseous material escaped from the broken crystals.
“What the?” Lucy mumbled in shock.
“You broke it? You broke it? I am gonna kill you, fucking man.” The man rushed at Samson with a drawn knife.
“Hey, let me explain ...” Samson said. But the man already leapt in the air. Samson blocked the man’s knife using his gun.
“I am gonna kill you, bitch.” The man slashed widely in the air.
“Hey, stop it.” Samson desperately said.
“Stop it? Stop it?” The man looks like have been alone for a while. He must have lost his mind to this dark tunnel.
The man then lurched at Samson. Samson without thinking twice, dodged the slash and he clubbed at the man’s head using the butt of his gun. The blacked out man dropped to the cold ground.
“Lucy, check him.” Samson said.
Lucy rushed towards the crazy man and she quickly examined his body.
“He has been here for a long time.” Lucy said. “Look at his clothes. It’s easily tearing into pieces as I touch.” Lucy showed Samson by touching the man’s clothe. The clothes are all torn and it is actually tearing down as she touches.
“This crystal must have some effect on him.” Jenny said.
“He might have become mad by watching these crystals.” Sandy said and he wandered deeper into the tunnel, looking at the crystals which are all over the wall.
“Since the Wolfdogs are nearby, he might never have visited outside.” Samson said. “Or, there may be another exit nearby. Come on, everyone. We have to search this tunnel entirely.”
A few soldiers quickly came forward and they lifted the unconscious man from the ground. Then they followed Samson deeper into the tunnel.
Then, finally they saw the end of the tunnel. In front of them, there is a wide room where sun light is seeping in through the hole on the roof. The hole is wide enough for an adult man to pass. And there are green vines all over the hole. And that white crystals are shining with extraordinary glory from around the tunnel wall. Samson quickly tested the vines for its strength and he found it very good. He first climbed. Before long he reached outside the cave and he met the brightly shining sun.
He is now standing atop the hill and he could see all around him. There aren’t many trees here and he could see the Wolfdogs’ den not far away from the hill. Then he looked at the other side of the hill. Then he saw it. There is a wide barren wasteland in front of him and he could see the shape of the crashed drone in a distance.
A moment later, everyone climbed out of the tunnel. The soldiers went through a lot to lift the crazy man out of the tunnel.
Then, Samson saw something else too. There are two gigantic white coloured towers at the end of the vast wasteland. The towers glimmered in the sunlight.
* * * * *
Chapter 30
Samson and team climbed down the hill and they approached the drone. Before long they reached near the drone. The drone is beyond repair and there are wide holes in its body. The drone is actually a small spacecraft with two wings. Its centre portion is damaged pretty much and its internal wiring are all outside.
“This must be done by them.” Jenny said. “Look at the wings. The hole must have resulted when a laser bolt struck.”
Samson nodded. Suddenly the crazy man woke up.
“Where are you taking me? Let me go, bitches.” The crazy man wriggled violently in the soldiers’ arms. “I have to guard the crystals, or mother would be angry.”
“What?” Samson all of a sudden turned towards the crazy man.
“What are you talking about?” Jenny asked the crazy man.
“Those crystals are my mother’s eggs.” The crazy man said. Now everyone turned towards the crazy man. “And you killed two offspring.”
Samson couldn’t believe what the crazy man is saying.
“Who is your mother?” Samson demanded.
“She is our god. She showed me dreams. She said, if I keep the crystals out of harm’s way, I could live forever. And you destroyed that opportunity. Why are you dragging me away from my mother?”
Samson thought for a moment. This guy is out of his mind, certain. But, there is some truth about what he is saying. What if he is having dreams from Mother Nature? What if the crystals are Mother Nature’s offspring? Samson can’t disregard the fact that Mother Nature speak only through dreams.
“Can we see your mother?” Samson asked.
“No. She have certain limits. She only appear to me.” The crazy said. “Now, let me go, bitches.”
“Sergeant, what should we do?” One of the soldier who is holding down the crazy man asked.
Samson thought for a moment. “Let him go. We are going towards those towers. Soon, we will find out what is really going on here.”
The soldiers quickly let the crazy go. Suddenly the crazy man ran away from them. Then the crazy stood on top of the hill and he yelled, “Go there, bitches. Your death awaits there. Go and die.” The crazy man for a moment laughed. Then he jumped into the tunnel and he disappeared from the view.
Samson stared at the tower and he thought for a moment, weighing the risks.
“Let’s move out.” Samson then said.
* * * * *
Chapter 31
Isaac and team stood on top of a nearby hill and they examined things. They could see two crystal towers standing closely to each other in a distance.
“Are we proceeding?” Ruby asked.
“Yes. But, before that, you need weapons.” Isaac said.
“But, we don’t have any tools to make weapons.” Ruby said.
“True. I have an extra gun with me.” Isaac produced a small handheld gun from his back pack. And he gave it to Ruby.
Then Isaac spilled everything in his bag to the ground. Isaac took a few TNT bars from the ground and he gave them to rest of the Thibarians.
“All you have to do is, paste these TNT bars on the tower wall and extrapolate the fuse fire.” Isaac gave a small roll of fuse wire to them. “Then, join all the fuse wires to a single fuse wire and I will attach the fuse wire to this trigger. Isaac produced a small rectangular device from his pocket. “So, are you with me?”
“Hell yeah.” The Thibarians said together.
“Then, let’s move out.” Isaac said.
They all quickly marched towards the towers. There are trees all around the towers and towers are pretty tall. Robin and Isaac walked in the front line, pointing their guns. There aren’t any danger nearby and everything looks peaceful.
Before long they climbed down the hill and they saw a narrow dirt path leading towards the towers. The towers are now very close. The whole towers glimmered in the sunlight.
“Everyone, be alerted and ready for anything.” Isaac said. They slowly, cautiously moved forward.
* * * * *
Chapter 32
Before long, Isaac and team entered inside the forest near the towers. Now, they could see the towers in a distance. Isaac and team pushed forward.
A moment later, they reached near the foot of the towers. Both the towers are gigantic. The towers entirely looks like a kind of glass structure. Isaac and team ran rest of the way. It’s the first time Isaac seeing a crystal tower up close. But he had many dreams about these crystal towers.
Isaac stood near the tower walls and he examined the crystals. Then he saw it. Inside the crystals, he could see small, tiny, babies similar to a human baby.
“What the?” Isaac mumbled.
Isaac walked around the towe
r and he saw babies inside all the crystals. “Is this some joke.” Isaac again mumbled.
Robin and Ruby also saw the babies.
“I have a bad feeling about this.” Ruby said.
Ruby and his men looked at Isaac. Isaac motioned at them to begin. They quickly started planting explosives all around the foot of the tower. They quickly finished planting explosives in one of the towers. Robin and Ruby quickly ran towards the second tower and they planted explosives there.
A few moments later, they finished planting explosives. Isaac and team quickly walked towards the tree land with the trigger. They hid under some bushes and Isaac looked at his mates. Everyone nodded at him.
“Fire in the hole.” Isaac pulled the trigger.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
All the explosives exploded throwing crystal shards in all directions. Suddenly both the towers swayed for a moment. Then they both fell on top of a nearby tree land. Crystal shards are all over the place. And a white smoke filled the entire atmosphere. The crystals are shattering into pieces as they meet the ground and the smoke is actually coming from inside the broken crystals. The babies are actually turning into white smoke as the crystal breaks.
Swoosh!
Suddenly, a series of swooshes came from the distant sky. Isaac and team fearfully turned towards the sky.
* * * * *
Chapter 33
Isaac and team peered at the sky. Then a few dozens of small pod ships rushed towards their position.
“Run ...” Isaac yelled.
But it was too late. The pod ships landed around them and the aliens who are armed with big blue guns approached Isaac and his group.
“Oh, god.” Robin muttered as the aliens surrounded them.
* * * * *
Chapter 34
“Hands over your head.” An alien shouted in a distinct voice as the aliens approached Isaac and his team.
Isaac and his mates obeyed.
Boom!
“Ahh ...” Suddenly one of the alien shot down Ruby.
“No ...” Isaac yelled.
“Kill the natives.” An alien said.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The aliens shot down all the Thibarians. Thibarians went down without even making a yelp. An alien approached Isaac. Isaac’s hands and legs began to tremble. Suddenly the alien punched Isaac in his face.
“Ahh ...” Isaac screamed in pain and he fell down, massaging his cheek.
“You, bitch,” Robin quickly swung her fist at the alien. But the alien was fast. It blocked her fist and it kicked Robin on her waist.
“Ahh ...” Robin fell down, screaming with pain.
“Take them aboard.” The alien shouted at a nearby alien. Quickly two aliens came forward and they hauled Isaac and Robin inside one of the pod ships.
“Oh, god, save us.” Robin muttered as she entered inside the pod ship.
* * * * *
Chapter 35
Robin and Isaac sat down on the small sitting platform inside the pod ship and they stared outside. Then the horror struck them. The crystal tower indeed collapsed, but the crystals are now automatically growing up.
“What the?” Isaac muttered.
Isaac now feels totally defeated. He sacrificed all those Thibarians to destroy the towers. And now look where it led him. Before long the tower grew about the height of an adult man. The tower continued to grow.
The remains of the collapsed tower is breaking apart and a white mist is all over the place. A moment later, the aliens stopped their examination, and they slowly started to enter inside the pod ships.
“Now what?” Robin asked with a worry.
* * * * *
Chapter 36
Samson and team didn’t covered much distance when all of a sudden a series of explosions came from near the towers. Suddenly, both the towers collapsed. A moment later a few dozens of Xhilarian pod ships rushed towards the collapsed towers.
“They are up to something.” Samson said.
Jenny, Sandy and Lucy nodded.
They quickly bolted into a run towards the collapsed towers.
* * * * *
Chapter 37
Samson and team almost reached near the collapsed towers when all of a sudden a series of laser bolts rushed through the air. Samson and team pushed forward.
A few minutes later, Samson and team reached near the towers. Then they saw the Xhilarians. Xhilarians are starting to leave. Samson quickly motioned at his group to take out the targets. And Samson rushed forward firing his plasma gun. The Xhilarians weren’t expecting a fight. Samson’s soldiers quickly followed Samson, firing all the way. A few Xhilarians managed to fire their laser guns, but it was in vain. Samson and his team quickly shot down all the Xhilarians. Then Samson saw it. The collapsed tower is nothing but a pile of glass shards now. And near by the remains of the tower, a tower is magically growing up, automatically.
“Who are you?” A male voice asked from a nearby pod ship. Samson approached that pods ship. Then Excitement jolted through him. Inside the pod ship sits a young man and a young woman. Both of their arms are restrained.
“I am Samson.” Samson said.
“I am Robin and this is Isaac.” The woman inside the pod ship said.
“Is this your home planet?” Samson asked.
“The hell yeah.” Isaac said.
“Then, I have so much to ask.” Samson said with excitement.
* * * * *
Chapter 38
“So, these crystal towers are created by them?” Samson asked.
“Yeah. These towers are actually draining our mother’s energy.” Isaac said.
“There must be some kind of machine somewhere around here which is controlling the growth of these towers.” Lucy said. “Do you have any idea about that? The tower won’t grow up automatically without an external force.”
“No. We were told to destroy the towers. But, we didn’t expect it to grow back automatically.” Robin said.
“On the way, we saw a crazy man.” Samson said. “Inside a tunnel. We saw this same crystal there. He said these are his mother’s eggs. Do you have any idea about that?”
“No. But, look at these crystals carefully.” Isaac said. Samson looked at the crystal carefully. “Do you see it – the babies?”
Then Samson saw it. There are tiny babies – similar to a human baby – inside each crystal. Lucy and the soldiers stared at the crystal tower with complete wonder.
“When the crystal breaks, the babies are turning into a mist or a gas.” Isaac said.
“Interesting.” Lucy mumbled.
“Lucy, do you have any idea what is happening here?” Samson asked.
“I have no idea. Maybe, these are the offspring of our enemies’ mother.” Lucy said.
Samson thought for a moment. “So, these towers must be feeding from the nature’s energy.”
“Right.” Lucy said.
“Then, we need to find whatever the hell that is controlling these towers before they terraform this planet entirely.” Samson said.
“Right.” Isaac said.
Suddenly Samson’s radio beeped.
“Samson, do you copy?” Captain Miller asked.
“Loud and clear, captain.”
“Our ship is being surrounded by them. We don’t know what to do. I think, we are dying here. Get to a safe place, Samson. Ahh ...” The radio went silent.
“Shit, shit ...” Samson muttered.
“What is it, Samson?” Robin asked.
“Our ship is compromised.” Samson said with a worry.
* * * * *
Chapter 39
Ship Victoria proudly rests in a place surrounded by trees. A very quiet atmosphere. Suddenly, a series of swooshes came from the distant sky. Then five small Xhilarian warships came from the distant sky.