Worlds Without End: The Mission (Book 1)

by Shaun F. Messick

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  Celeste slowly walked down the hallway leading to her room. As she passed her father's room, she could hear his voice. It sounded like he was speaking with someone on his computer monitor. She knew that her father rarely slept, so it didn't surprise her that he was still hard at work. She also knew that her father was monitoring her current position, which told her that Runa must have successfully manipulated the computer system. If her father even were to suspect that she was a foot outside of her room, the entire palace would be on alert.

  She tiptoed quietly by her father's room, knowing her father's senses were acutely sensitive. As she walked toward her room, she saw Runa sitting at his desk outside of her room. Runa looked up from his computer with a look of anticipation. Celeste nodded and walked into her room with Runa following.

  Kylee shot up from her lying position on the bed. Celeste noticed she didn't look well, but the eagerness she had for what Celeste discovered superseded any physical discomfort she may have felt. Celeste sat on the bed next to Kylee with Runa across on the other bed.

  "Well?" Runa said with excitement in his voice. "What did you find?"

  Celeste, with a look of confusion on her face, replied, "I don't know. I-I think I had a revelation from my father's goddess."

  Kylee gasped, "That can't be."

  "I know," Celeste said. "Everything your father and Jake have told me about your God tells me that what I experienced couldn't be. She didn't have a physical body. It was like ? like she was a spirit."

  "Or a hologram," Runa interjected.

  Celeste looked at Runa with bewilderment. "A hologram?"

  Runa continued, "I've been monitoring the energy levels within the palace. I was curious to see what readings I would get when you entered the top floor. While you were there, the energy levels spiked. The readings matched the energy signature from hologram technology."

  "But this wasn't a recording, Nateal," Celeste said. "I communicated and interacted with her."

  "What did she tell you?" Kylee asked.

  "Nothing that I didn't already know. She basically told me that she was the goddess sent to reveal new technology to the people of Gnolom and that my father was the chosen one. And that I needed to repent and follow him."

  Celeste stopped and looked at Runa. "If it wasn't a recording, then I had to be interacting in person with her. She has to be somewhere in the palace or within Chast."

  Runa looked down and thought for a moment. "Gnolom. ? She has to be on Gnolom."

  Celeste nodded. "That makes sense. Wherever my father went on Gnolom and learned about new technology, she has to be the source."

  Kylee cut in. "But I thought Gnolom was a dead planet. How can someone survive on Gnolom?"

  "Unless she is not alive," Runa stated.

  It hit Celeste like a hammer. She remembered the story of how Adrian and his crew had to abandon Mars I in outer space. "A computer program!" Celeste looked at Kylee. "Kylee, you might remember more about your father's past. I know that Mars I had an artificially intelligent computer system. What was it they called her?"

  Kylee thought for a moment and then looked up with a smile on her face. "Maggie. They called her Maggie. My dad's bother, Kevin, invented artificial intelligence." Kylee stopped, and emotions flooded to the surface. "My dad always said that he somehow felt responsible for the Gnols coming to Terrest. ? And he's right. It was Maggie and Mars I that gave Koroan the knowledge for new technology and a way to escape Gnolom."

  Celeste put her hand on Kylee's. "There is no way Adrian could have known that by abandoning Mars I, he would cause the enslavement of the Terrestrian people." Celeste then looked at Runa. "Nateal, we need to escape and get to Gnolom."

  "I've already planned an escape. But we can't go for at least a week. Your father is scheduled to leave Terrest in a week to visit Earth. There is no way we can attempt an escape while your father is on the planet." Runa looked at Kylee, "Also, Kylee, you may not survive past a week. This will give me enough time to crack the security codes to the facility where they are keeping the antidote."

  Celeste sighed. "Okay, we sit tight ? but I have another concern. If my father communicates with the goddess of light or Maggie, he is going to know that I was out of my room and found the hologram."

  Runa lowered his head and thought for a moment. "I might know a way around that. If it truly is a hologram, I can temporarily down the power to the top floor. I've already gained access to the power grid that powers the palace. I needed access to it to plan our escape."

  Celeste smiled, amazed at Nateal Runa's ability to crack into the most secure computer system on the planet of Terrest. She had full confidence that they would be able to escape the palace, be reunited with Jake, and return to Gnolom to destroy the source of her father's power.