by Erinn Price
“Okey dokey.” Was Scarlet’s reply.
“Can we gain access to the library?” Matthew asked.
“Of course. You can select people to have control and those people will have full access to everything in the library, but not the armoury.” XRA said.
“Who can access the Armoury?” Matthew asked.
“Whoever you want to have access, but they will again not have access to items in the Library.” Xra said.
Matthew gathered what XRA was saying. If you got access to one system, it would not grant you automatic access to the others. He and Morgan, with the help of the ArcCorp board would have to assign rights to people. He assumed it would be the same with the Medical room, only people they assigned would be able to activate the healing pods.
Matthew sat on one of the couches as he waited for Morgan’s treatment to be over. He got up immediately and walked to the pod as a beep came from it. As the lid moved back, he looked inside to see a wide-eyed Morgan staring back at him. Before she could say a word, he leaned down and pulled her into his arms, lifting her out of the pod as he did. He slanted his mouth across hers, kissing her passionately. They had not talked about their first kiss yet, but Matthew did not care. Morgan was his, he had known it from the moment he had seen her and had been taking things slowly, to give her time and to not frighten her. Being a Hunter, he had thought that he would never find a woman strong enough to match him. Morgan was not only strong enough, she was stronger. She was perfect for him. He let her feel all his fear and his anger in the kiss, as well as his passion.
Eventually, we both had to come up for air, “What happened?” I asked breathlessly.
“You were shot in the head. We came to the sphinx to use the healing pods to save your life.” Matthew told me, as he nibbled on my neck.
“Sphinx, healing pods?” I asked, tilting my head to give Matthew better access. Nearly dying again and this time from being shot, had made me appreciate life more. I was tired of fighting and being alone, I wanted to lean on Matthew and have him take care of me. I also enjoyed his kissing. I did not know exactly where this would lead, but I wanted to find out.
“Yes, your necklace showed me this place and I brought you here. The Library of Alexandria is also here, the Sphinx is truly a guardian of treasure.” Matthew said.
“Library of Alexandria? I guess it is a clever place to have hidden it.” I said, as I reluctantly pushed Matthew away. I could not think with him kissing me.
“What about the others?” I asked, when my brain began to function normally again. I was still breathing a bit fast, but I just ignored that. I saw the smirk on Matthew’s face as he witnessed how long it was taking me to recover from his kisses
“All safe. Scarlet saved us all, she was amazing. ArcCorp is calling all their people in and preparing for war.” Matthew said.
“Wait, does the Library contain information on the alien technology?” I asked, “Or just about past civilisations?”
“This Library only contains information about Earth’s past civilizations. The library on Mars contains ours.” XRA answered me.
“Who is that?” I asked. “What do you mean Mars?”
“XRA, from Amarna compound.” Matthew answered.
“There is a compound built deep underground on Mars, as a backup.” XRA said, “It can house billions of people and has all the information humans would need to survive and eventually to leave Mars. If the main plan fails and my people are lost, humankind will still have a chance.”
“Your kind will be lost, if we fail?” I queried.
“Yes, our fates are joined to yours. Our seers foresaw, that our only chance of survival lay with humankind. If this mission fails, my people will fade and cease to exist. But even if this was to happen, your people could escape to Mars and survive there.” XRA said.
“Can we not go to Mars and save you from there?” I asked.
“No. Our only chance is if you learn in time and leave earth yourselves, not needing to flee to Mars.” XRA said.
“How do we get to Mars?” I asked.
“Any administration console will take you there. My compound has a total of five such consoles.
“Well, then I suppose we better learn what we need and get to it. Our best way to thank you for saving us, would be for humankind to do its best to save you as well.” I said.
“Can we give access to others, so they can communicate with you and learn what is going on?” I asked.
“That will be acceptable.” XRA said. “Scarlet, already has access, have anyone you wish place their hand on the console in Cairo next to hers and they will be granted access as well.
“Let us contact Scarlet.” Matthew said, “I think we should go to Mars immediately and see what is there, then we can transport others.”
“Scarlet, it is Morgan.” I said.
“SIS!!” came the shout, “I am so glad you are alive. Tell Matthew I no longer think he is dumb, in fact, I think he is a genius.”
I heard Matthew chuckle at this and felt my own mouth forming a smile, Scarlet was truly something else.
“Can you get to Richard, we need to talk to him?” Matthew asked.
“Sure, give me a few minutes.” Scarlet replied.
I could not help but laugh this time. The communication device allowed us to communicate directly, even though we were at different time speeds. A few minutes for us, was a few hours for Scarlet. She had to be flying to Richard, which would take a few hours.
“Matthew, Morgan?” I heard Richard ask a few minutes later.
“Richard, it is Morgan. I am fine.” I informed him and heard cries of thanks, coming from all around. It sounded like my family was with him.
“We may be out of communication for a while. We need to go to Mars, the information we need is apparently there. Once we have checked the place out, we will contact you and you can send the best people to join us.” Matthew said.
“Mars? What?’ Richard said.
“XRA runs the Amarna compound. He is in charge of helping us.” Matthew said. “Go to Cairo with Scarlet, enter the Sphinx and both place your hands on the console there. XRA can explain things much better. From what I understand, time is of the essence. Morgan and I plan to leave for Mars now.”
“Stay safe sweetheart and know we are so proud of you.” My mom said.
“Thanks mom and I will, love you all.” I said, smiling, my eyes teared up a bit when I heard my mother’s voice.
As Matthew and I placed our hands on the console to go to Mars, we heard “Are you kidding me, I just got here, and now I have to go back? I haven’t even spoken to Toby yet.”
~~EPILOGUE~~
As Matthew and Morgan explored the compound on Mars, ArcCorp prepares for war. The Shadow Organisation had not done anything yet, but it was just a matter of time. Richard, the rest of the board as well as trusted people, visited the Amarna compound, the Library of Alexandria as well as the Armoury. They rushed, trying to learn as much as they could and prepare as best they could. They knew it was now a race against Mother Nature. The super-volcano at Yellowstone could go at any moment and The Shadow Organisation was also likely to attack at any moment.