Land of Nod, The Prophet (Land of Nod Trilogy Book 2)

by Gary Hoover

  “Won’t you get in trouble if you don’t bring me in?”

  “Are you trying to change my mind?” John said with a creepy grin. “I’ve been getting sick of this whole killing thing anyhow. It’s been feeling too much like a real job. I think I’m going off on my own. It might be fun if they send somebody after me.”

  Chapter 65:

  The Prophet looked at Jeff with eyes bulging and a crazier expression than usual. She was holding what appeared to be a small iguana or other lizard, “Don’t forget: When humans fight humans, they risk all, but the battle can’t be avoided. Some will sacrifice all, and their sacrifices must not be in vain. The Raja must remember this and not be too distracted to help those whose hearts are true defeat those who betray their own.”

  Jeff stared at her with a blank expression. “What is all that crap supposed to even mean?”

  The Prophet met his gaze but didn’t respond. After a few moments she laughed loudly, lifted the lizard, and bit its head off.

  She laughed boisterously, and Jeff focused on her bloody, jagged teeth. He looked at the teeth until they seemed to grow in his field of view, eventually filling it.

  Then everything went black.

  Jeff couldn’t see anything, and he looked around nervously. He slowly began to regain his vision. He saw his father sitting, tied to a chair with his head down. He looked tired.

  His father spoke. “Help me.” He began to raise his head until Jeff could see his eyes. “Jeff, help me. You’re the only one who has the strength.”

  Jeff rushed toward him and reached to untie his arms, but he vanished before Jeff could get to him.

  Now Jeff was in the Winfred house, and he saw Artimus’ wife kneeling on the floor of their bedroom. This time he saw something he had never seen before. A drawer was pulled out of place, and she was gathering together stacks of notes. She gently tucked those notes in the space vacated by the drawer and then put the drawer back in place over them.

  Then Jeff woke.

  He was in Princess Trina. He remembered that, after John had released him, he had met up with the others, they had loaded into the vehicle, and started their journey to Caesurmia to meet up with Artimus.

  The cabin was dark except for the cockpit, and Jeff could see Nahima driving. He made his way toward her, trying to get himself awake as he went.

  “How much longer?” he asked.

  Nahima looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “Several days, minimum. It’s a little shorter trip than the one we made to get to The Prophet from Dave’s,” she said as she turned back to the view screen, “but it’s still going to be a while... even if nothing goes wrong.” She looked at him with a ‘How likely is that?’ expression.

  “I feel like... ” He leaned in and squinted at the view screen. “I don’t know... I feel like we need to get there. I’m afraid if we don’t get there soon enough... ” He paused, not sure how blunt to be with the last bit, then said, “I’m concerned about your father.”

  Chapter 66:

  Jeff opened a notebook and flipped through the pages. The writing was incomprehensible. There were mathematical equations and nonsensical words. Jeff threw the book back into the bag in disgust.

  I felt sure that these notebooks would give me something, but nothing makes any sense.

  Baldwin looked over his electronic book at Jeff but quickly cast his eyes down when Jeff looked back at him.

  Jeff stared into space for a while then looked around the cabin. Rasp seemed to be trying to show Benji something by moving objects around as if to illustrate some point. Jeff always found it amusing when the two of them interacted. They seemed to get along, and even though Jeff had an idea neither really understood the other beyond a very basic level, it seemed to work for them.

  Dave and Nahima were in the cockpit. Jeff looked at a clip that was hanging on a wall and swinging freely as the vehicle bounced and jostled. He spent several minutes just looking at that clip.

  I thought when I found The Prophet, I would have the information I needed, but now I’m back where I started with no idea where my father is. He pulled the chain and locket out of his shirt and looked at them. Pheerion Rex had this. Does he know where my father is? From what Rasp says, he’s one nasty guy.

  Jeff’s face fell. Did he kill Dad? No, I can’t think that way. I’ve come this far. But do I have to find Pheerion Rex to find my father? Jeff shuddered at the thought.

  He went back to the bag full of notebooks.

  He noticed that they varied fairly dramatically. Some of them had cardboard covers and looked similar to notebooks and composition books that Jeff had used to take notes in classes. Others were bound in leather and had rougher, thicker paper.

  He opened one of the leather ones and noted a set of numbers in one corner: 6/15/278.

  He flipped to the previous page and saw in the same corner: 6/2/278.

  Dates?

  He opened and examined several of the books and they all had similar numbers. If they’re dates, there are big gaps, but they all seem to be in order.

  He noticed that the lower ‘year’ numbers seemed to be in the older, leather-bound books and the higher numbers seemed to be in the more modern versions.

  He began sorting and organizing them to put them in order. When he had them lined up and stacked in order, he found that the earliest entry was 2/13/202 and the last entry was 5/3/544.

  Okay, now I’m getting somewhere.

  The beginning of the 2/13/202 entry read:

  Khrwda’ Khc Fdxettdh

  Dw err qwebwcf jdwg dacnpvqelrc pebcrcqqacqq. D jeq rceadat dawh wgc fcydpc aei jeq qh cawgberrcf eai wgca fdqhbdcawcf lu wgc ydqver cnicbdcapc wgew D rhqw xu lereapc wgc zcrr wgbhvtg.

  Jeff stared at the seemingly random collection of letters. Must be code of some sort. I don’t know.

  Maybe Artimus can figure it out. If it follows any patterns, he can probably run it through a computer. I’m guessing it’s nothing too complicated – just something to keep casual observers from reading it easily.

  Jeff stared at the letters, hoping some insight or pattern would appear if he just looked long enough.

  “Oh hell!” he said out loud and threw the book back in the bag.

  Chapter 67:

  “How are we doing?” Jeff asked.

  Nahima didn’t answer but just pointed to the map. Jeff could see that they were roughly halfway from The Prophet’s cabin to Caesurmia.

  The trip, up to that point, had been much less eventful than their trip to The Prophet. While Jeff didn’t miss the problems, he was finding it much more monotonous.

  He went to his bunk and pulled the bag of notebooks from a hook. The oldest one was on top. He pulled that one out and examined it. He turned it over several times in his hands and then dropped it on his bunk. He reached for his gun-belt, which was hanging from a different hook, and pulled his father’s wallet out of a pouch.

  He compared the book and wallet. They were both leather, and they also appeared aged. The Prophet seems to think my father is ‘The Elder’, but The Elder has been here for hundreds of years. These notebooks, all in my father’s hand-writing, seem to cover hundreds of years. This notebook looks very old. How could my father have been here for hundreds of years when he just disappeared a year ago? And if, for some strange reason, he has been here for hundreds of years, how has he lived for hundreds of years?

  Jeff looked at the wallet again. This seems to be the key. This wallet looks like it could very well be a few hundred years old, but I was with him when he bought it.

  Jeff dropped the wallet and stared at the wall. So that’s it. He’s been gone from our world for a year, but here for over 500 years. Considering everything I’ve seen, I guess that’s not so hard to believe. According to Einstein, time can vary and will be different depending on speed, distance from massive objects, etcetera. When I came here, I didn’t just travel, but I traveled to a place where time acts differently. And since I seem to have strength and insight that I didn
’t have on Earth, it’s not out of the question that Dad could live for hundreds of years with minimal aging.

  Another thought occurred to Jeff and a smile crossed his face. He had been worried about his mother. She lost her husband and then lost her son. Jeff worried that she had been miserable for the past several weeks. But if 540 or more years here equal one year on earth, I’ve only been gone... Jeff did some quick math in his head. Less than an hour.

  Jeff’s smile grew until he felt it straining his face... then he saw Baldwin looking at him and he lowered his head. If I can find my father and find a way back in the next few weeks, Mom might never even know I was gone.

  Then his smile disappeared.

  But if Dad’s been here over 500 years, and he hasn’t been able to figure it out...

  Chapter 68:

  “Do you know anything about codes?” Jeff asked Baldwin.

  Baldwin looked up from his computer and then put it down. “Not much, but a little. Why?”

  Jeff gestured at the notebook. Baldwin rose and walked across to Jeff’s bunk. “Let me see.”

  Jeff realized that Baldwin had probably been curious about the notebooks since they found them but didn’t want to stick his nose in without being invited. Jeff pushed the bag with the other books out of the way, and Baldwin sat beside him.

  Jeff showed him the opening passage:

  Khrwda’ Khc Fdxettdh

  Dw err qwebwcf jdwg dacnpvqelrc pebcrcqqacqq. D jeq rceadat dawh wgc fcydpc aei jeq qh cawgberrcf eai wgca fdqhbdcawcf lu wgc ydqver cnicbdcapc wgew D rhqw xu lereapc wgc zcrr wgbhvtg.

  Baldwin stared at Jeff, clearly as puzzled, but then seemed to have an idea. “The ‘D’ must be ‘A’ because it’s by itself... no, wait! It’s capitalized, so it must be ‘I’.”

  Jeff nodded. “Good thinking.”

  Baldwin jumped up and grabbed his computer. “So that means we have to shift everything five places in the alphabet.” He typed furiously for a minute or two. “That means ‘K’ would be ‘F’, ‘H’ would be ‘C’, and when we put all that together we get… ” He continued typing for about 30 seconds then stared at his screen. He showed it to Jeff.

  Fcmryv’ Fcx Ayszooyc

  “Does that mean anything where you come from?” Baldwin asked as his face flushed.

  Jeff smiled and put a hand on Baldwin’s shoulder. “No. I think it may be a little more complicated than that.”

  “Yeah, I guess that seemed too easy. I wish we had some kind of key. What’s the most common letter? ‘E’? Or is it ‘S’? Or ‘T’? I have no idea. Maybe if we look at the three letter words, we can figure out which ones are ‘the’. We might still be right about the ‘I’, and if we can figure out which one is ‘a’... ”

  As he was talking, Jeff pulled out a pen and a piece of paper and began writing. He showed what he had to Baldwin. “Does this help?”

  Joltin’ Joe Dimaggio

  Khrwda’ Khc Fdxettdh

  Baldwin looked at it. “Joltin’ Joe Dimaggio? Do you think that’s it?”

  Jeff nodded.

  “Then that should help,” Baldwin said. “See! We were right about the ‘I’. That gives us–”

  He spent a few moments typing into his computer and then showed it to Jeff.

  It all _ta_ted _it_ ine_ _ _ _a_le _a_ele_ _ne_ _. I _a_ leaning into t_e de_i_e and _a_ _o ent_ _alled and t_en di_o_iented _ _ t_e _i_ _al e_ _e_ien_e t_at I lo_t m_ _alan_e and _ell t_ _o_g_.

  “I see a few ‘the’s and this word,” Baldwin said pointing. “Looks like ‘disoriented, so that gives us ‘h’, ‘s’ and ‘r’–”

  Jeff nodded. “So that makes it–”

  It all started _ith ine_ _ _sa_le _arelessness. I _as leaning into the de_i_e and _as so enthralled and then disoriented _ _ the _is _al e_ _erien_e that I lost m_ _alan_e and _ell th_o_gh.

  “It all started with inexcusable carelessness. I was leaning into the device and was so enthralled and then disoriented by the visual experience that I lost my balance and fell through.” Jeff said then looked at Baldwin.

  Baldwin nodded slowly. “I think that’s it.”

  Chapter 69:

  Jeff took a seat at the computer table where Baldwin was teaching a new game to Rasp.

  “Hey!” Baldwin said. “Are you finally done decoding all of those books? I haven’t seen much of you the past couple days.

  “Not even close,” Jeff said as he rubbed his eyes. “But I’m finding out a lot of interesting things, and I was hoping to ask both of you some questions.”

  Baldwin and Rasp looked at Jeff expectantly as Jeff tried to decide where to start.

  “I started at the end, and I’ve been working my way back. It seems that... ” Jeff paused and looked from Rasp to Baldwin then back to Rasp again. “It seems that my father had been corresponding with Pheerion Rex right up to the point where the notebooks end.”

  Rasp said something in his native tongue that Jeff understood as an expression of concern.

  “He seemed to think that Pheerion Rex might have some technology that he could use to go home. Is that possible?” Jeff looked expectantly back and forth from Rasp to Baldwin.

  Rasp leaned back in his chair and seemed to be thinking. He ran a scaly hand against his chin and then began speaking in a slow, methodical manner. “He had Magggiccccc... at leazzzzt he made it zzzeeeeem like maggggiccccc... he uzzzzed that magggggiccccc to take overrrrrrr. He had zpezzzziallll… ” Rasp seemed confused and gestured to the gun turret above their heads.”

  “Guns? Weapons?” Jeff asked.

  “Yesszzzzz, magic weaponzzzz... but it wazzz not juzzzt the powerrr of the weaponzzz, but the fearrrr thoze weaponzzz and hiz magic powerzzz created that made him... ” Rasp filled his lungs and held his arms in a powerful pose.

  “Strong?” Baldwin asked.

  “Yesszzzz,” Rasp said, pointing. “Pheerionzzz afraid to challenge him. I alwayzzzz thought it... scienzzzzze... not magic, sssszzzzo that might be why... fatherrrrrrr… ”

  Jeff nodded. “So he may have some special technology. But you said he was a nasty guy.”

  “Yesssszzzzz!” Rasp seemed relieved that Jeff had said it. He shook his head. “I not think Pheerion Rex help juzt to be niccccce. He only do it becauze he want zomething.”

  There was silence as they all had similar thoughts. Jeff reached for the locket he wore around his neck and fiddled with it through his shirt. “There was nothing in the notes about a weapon. It seems that my father thought he might be someone who could help him... he seemed to trust him. He indicated in his notes that he intended to meet with him to see how they could work together.”

  There was more silence, this time much more ominous and protracted.

  Did my father help him create that weapon? Jeff wondered. Is he still helping him? If so, does he know what he’s doing?

  Jeff rubbed his eyes and sighed. He couldn’t imagine his father doing anything without some understanding of what he was doing.

  Chapter 70:

  “We’re here,” Dave announced as the vehicle slowed to a stop.

  Jeff felt a mixture of emotions. He was a little frustrated that he couldn’t continue decoding his father’s notebooks. He was gaining huge insights into what his father had done since he arrived while also learning much more about the place. He was even gaining some insight into his own special abilities.

  Jeff was glad to be done with their journey, but now that it was over, he was already feeling an odd sense of nostalgia. His mind was crafting a romantic recollection that belied the unpleasant emotions Jeff had been experiencing during the actual events.

  But while his journey was finishing, it was not anything like an ‘end’. He had obtained some great information, but that information was leading him toward a conclusion that he was having trouble dealing with. It seemed that his father had gone to partner with Pheerion Rex and following him was a very daunting idea.

  Beyond all that, there was a different feeling of foreboding that was more immedia
te and not directly associated with Jeff’s anxiety regarding the journey still ahead.

  Something’s just not right. Jeff thought as he tucked a notebook into the bag with the others. He dropped the bag onto his cot, pulled his gun-belt from its hook, and strapped it around his waist.

  Jeff squinted as the rear door opened, and light flooded into the poorly lit vehicle. He joined the others at the rear and exited to the bright daylight. He could see the blue energy field that surrounded the city and formed a protective barrier. Since they didn’t have the devices on their vehicle that could briefly disable sections of the shield – as citizen’s vehicles had – they had to contact Artimus and wait for him to come and disarm the shield.

  Nahima activated her communicator and held it to her ear. “Dad?” she said with a confused expression. “Who is this?”

  They’re after us!

  Jeff snatched the communicator from Nahima, pulled his bat from his belt, tossed the communicator in the air, and wacked it with the bat. The communicator shattered, and the larger pieces flew fifty or sixty feet.

  Nahima glared at Jeff. “Why did you do that?!”

  “Is it fair to say my feelings have offered insight in the past?” Jeff asked. “I don’t know the details, but the person you were just talking to wants to get his hands on us. I’m betting there are people on their way now.” He looked around nervously. “How quickly can we get out of here?”

  “I guess we can get away for a little bit,” Dave said reluctantly. He was still skeptical of Jeff but was learning not to dismiss his feelings too quickly.

  “No, you don’t understand,” Jeff said urgently. “Princess Trina isn’t fast enough. People are going to be coming quickly, and we’re not going to get away from them fast enough in that.”