Promises & Prophecies

by Lee Watts

  Water almost knee high and steadily rising, medical equipment floated by and a few of the animals tried to swim. Jambrek began a loud, high-pitched shout while waving his arms in large circles in front of him. Unseen, the Dridmor spirit began moving upon the face of the waters. Nearly tornado force winds whipped about the room that began coalescing the water into a spinning tower of liquid almost four meters high. Debris flew wildly in the storm, and a shard of glass tore across Caedmon's right shoulder, cutting him deeply. Lifted by the gale, a display screen smashed into one of the lights at the top of the chamber. Sparks rained down, and the power fluctuation caused the remaining lights in the room to dim and come off and on in a strobe effect. Water still pouring in the busted pipe filled the room with spray as it was driven around the room by the hurricane-like winds. The howling, spinning tower of water that was inhabited by Cyketh moved through unnatural tempest toward Caedmon in an attempt to draw him up and into the whirling cylinder of water and drown him there.

  Caedmon recalled the time when Elkanah was in the midst of a storm at sea and repeated the words then spoken by the Son of the Elder, "PEACE! Be still."

  Immediately the wind ceased causing the tower of water to collapse and splash to the floor in lifelessness. The waves rocked for a moment as a great calm settled in the room. Caedmon looked about, but his attacker was gone.

  Leaving the waterlogged room and proceeding into the corridor, he noticed the corpse of Nim-Gimmer lying flat against the floor. The dead man's body evidence a vicious mauling and deep teeth marks were on his bloody throat. Moving past the grisly scene, Caedmon continued on in hopes of finding Alexander or Aulani. He saw them, but not the way he hopped. Each monitor on the long hallway had the same image - that of his two friends. Scrolling below their pictures was data saying they were recaptured.

  Trying to ignore the pain from his still bleeding shoulder, he switched his walking staff to his uninjured arm and began his trek to the tower's top floor. Jambrek knew where Caedmon would go, and as a moth drawn to the flame, the priest set his fatal trap. With blind determination, Caedmon would walk right into it, and there would be no way to escape.

  ***

  With a soldier leveling a blaster at him, Merrick knew he couldn't move faster than a trigger pull. The Ramillie guard was with two others. One of them took the battlestaff in Merrick's hand then proceeded to enter the room and search for Merrick's partner. At that moment the Guardian allowed his eyes to flash. The sudden pop of light temporarily blinded the Ramillie. Quickly grabbing for the closest man's weapon, Merrick was able to seize it and blast him. He side kicked one of the other guards, causing him to slam into the remaining one and they both stumbled back. Capitalizing on the advantage, he blasted them both. Quisling darted out of the room to join his immortal friend.

  "This way," Quisling said and hurried down the corridor. Merrick was about to retrieve his fallen battlestaff when the lift tube door at the far end of the hallway opened and out came a trio of soldiers who immediately began firing. Stepping back, Merrick exchanged shots with them. Racing around a corner to follow Quisling, they were able to lose their pursuers due to his Ramillie friend's knowledge of the ship. Having served on that starship class before, his Ramillie friend was the perfect escort. As they made their way through the vessel, Merrick considered how the Elder had again put events and situations into play years ago that were coming perfectly together now. As they approached an intersection Quisling's pace slowed and he waved for Merrick to do the same. Peeking around a corner, Quisling saw the coast was clear, so he hurried inside the nearby lift tube and Merrick followed. Inside, the Ramillie pressed the button for the engineering deck.

  "Engineering?" Merrick questioned. "Why are we going there? The gate is in the cargo bay on deck four."

  "There's no way we're going to be able to fight everyone on this ship," Quisling explained. "So, we need to even the odds."

  "We could access a console and sound abandon ship," Merrick suggested.

  "No good," Quisling replied. "The bridge would countermand that almost instantly. I've got a better idea."

  Before he could detail what he had in mind, the tube arrived at its destination, and the door panel slid aside with a soft hiss. A guard and one crewman were in the corridor before them. Quisling got off a shot first but missed. The guard pulled his weapon and blasted at them with three quick bolts forcing them to duck back inside the tube. With the fugitives pinned down, the crewman rushed over to the nearby console and started to activate the comm unit. Merrick reached his weapon around the side of the doorway and began blasting. He couldn't see what he was hitting, but all he wanted to do was force the guard to try and seek cover. After two or three seconds of pulling the trigger, Merrick moved into the hallway and was able to spot his targets. First, he blasted the communications panel so no message could be sent. Hitting his mark, power erupted from the device, which knocked the crewman there slamming toward the far bulkhead and unconscious to the floor. Next, Merrick honed in on the guard. They exchanged a quick series of blasts then the guard took a hit and dropped. As the fugitive pair rushed to the engineering section, Quisling used his thumb to switch his sub-rifle to fully automatic. When the compartment door opened, he held down his trigger sending red blasts spraying throughout the room. Merrick did the same, and in less than three seconds it was all over.

  "Secure the door," Quisling instructed.

  As Merrick went to lock down the door, Quisling went to the main engineering control console.

  "What's the plan?" the Guardian asked.

  Quisling kept typing in commands as he explained. "I'm shutting down all coolant flow the engines and programming the diagnostic computer to show there's a cascade systems failure. From here I can shut down each of those systems so when the bridge checks the readouts will confirm that the ship is on the verge of a breach and they'll call for the evacuation themselves." With that, Quisling hit the last button activating his malicious programming. Every few seconds he deactivated another system to make it look like they were failing.

  Suddenly a voice came over the speaker of one of the work stations.

  "Engineering, this is Admiral Valqson, we're reading power core temperature overload. What's going on down there?!"

  Quisling activated the communications station he was at and set the speaker to project static then rushed over to the answer the call from the bridge.

  "Confirmed," he said in his best-panicked voice with the sound of static in the background. "Primary and secondary coolant systems offline! Looks like sabotage! She could blow at any moment! Attempting-" he cut off his own transmission by blasting the panel he was using. "There, that should be convincing."

  After several tense seconds, with no call to evacuate, Quisling added, "Maybe they just need a little encouragement." He then tapped a few controls causing a power overload in the medical bay that blew out every relay on that deck. He then sent a steady increased power flow to the weapon system.

  "ABANDON SHIP! ABANDON SHIP," came an announcement over the speakers. "ALL HANDS TO THE ESCAPE PODS! OVERLOAD IN PROGRESS!"

  "NOOO," Koraden yelled as he heard the call. He knew Merrick was behind this somehow. It made him doubt the ship was actually going to blow apart. Merrick knows the explosion wouldn't destroy the gate. "BACK TO YOUR POSTS," he shouted in anger as the panicked crew ran past him. "AAAH," he screamed in fury as they ignored his command. Enraged, he separated his battlestaff and started hacking at anyone who came his way. In a few quick slashes, he killed three crewmen and injured a fourth who went running the opposite direction. "MERRICK! MERRICK," the demonic being called out in challenge and rage. "WHERE ARE YOU?!" He stopped and thought for a moment then the answer came to him and he began sprinting toward the spot of their final contest.

  Waiting a few minutes to give everyone time to leave, Quisling reactivated the coolant system then he and Merrick headed to the cargo bay where the gate was. Reaching the door, they found its control panel was showing g
reen.

  "It's not locked anymore," Quisling said in puzzlement. "Maybe the evacuate protocol overrode the security system," he said with a shrug, and they entered the expansive room. There was a howl of rushing wind that circled as a whirlpool into the energy of the portal. Quisling hadn't taken his third step inside the bay before a bolt of fire slammed into his chest and knocked him to the floor. Merrick looked to where the shot came from and saw his old rival there with an outstretched fangblade in hand.

  "Mer… Merrick," came the weak voice of the dying man at Merrick's feet. The Guardian knelt down to say goodbye to his friend, but there wasn't enough time. Quisling was gone. Merrick reached to Quisling's face and slowly closed the man's eyes.

  "HE WAS AN ELDERITE FOOL," Koraden sneered over the sound of the rushing air. "Like you. Your time's up, Merrick! You know the prophecy; the gate will be activated and all the key holders will die then the age will end! After a thousand years, the wait is over! The age ends today, and you're about to meet your fate!" He sheathed his fangblade back to its holster at his chest then reached for the battlestaff that was stored across his back. Pulling the fiery blades apart, ruby light reflected off his face giving it an even more wicked appearance. He laughed in sinful pleasure as his eyes turned as black as the darkest night. Merrick had no battlestaff, and Koraden relished the thought of slicing his hated, defenseless enemy apart before, at last, killing him.

  CHAPTER 37

  "In famine he shall redeem thee from death: and in war from the power of the sword." – Job 5:20

  "There," Ra'daq said to as he pointed to the display.

  Crex looked to the data readout, which confirmed the warlord's statement.

  "One point five seconds after we changed power levels that beam from the Dauntless did as well, and here when we brought the secondary guns to bear, the same thing in direct proportion to our power levels."

  "So those plates on their hull," Crex said as he reasoned it out, "they absorbed our beams?"

  "Not absorbed so much as redirected," Ra'daq explained. They were able to channel our power back at us through that cannon."

  Captain Crex was concerned.

  "But Warlord, if they can reflect our own beams back at us, how could we defeat them?"

  Ra'daq smiled as if he already knew he'd won.

  At the holographic projection table, Admiral Balin saw what was happening before Commander Iglesias gave her report.

  "Sir, sensors report the Tyrannus is swinging around and heading straight for us."

  "I know, Commander. Let's meet her head on. Hitting a switch on the HPT Balin opened a comm channel. "Helm, bring us about. Make our heading one-one-four mark two-six. Half thrusters. Weapons, lower the forward shields and open all ports to activate the particle transfer cannon. Stand by."

  Banking to its left, the super battlecarrier set itself on a direct course for the gargantuan enemy flagship. Secondary and tertiary guns of the reptilian looking Ramillie command craft spat red death at passing Realm ships as it charged toward its counterpart. Though in the center of their firing arc, the main cannons of the Tyrannus were oddly silent as it crossed the distance to its prey.

  "Something's wrong," Balin said to himself and Miranda as he watched the mammoth ship stalk nearer. "She's not firing at us... He's figured it out. SHIELDS UP!"

  No sooner had Balin issued the command when hundreds of projectiles leaped from the many ports of the beast and zoomed across space toward the Dauntless. Within seconds the target's energy shields collapsed allowing the torpedoes to slam against the ship. Impact after impact blasted off the energy redirection plating of the Realm ship. Beneath the plates, the exposed armor of the Dauntless' reinforced hull now bore the full brunt of the concussive forces relentlessly pounding it.

  Suddenly, at least a dozen powerful purple beams slammed into the Tyrannus from high to its right. The deck plating shook as Ra'daq yelled out for a report.

  "It's the Coalition fleet, Warlord," came the answer. "They're here! Reading three Chinix heavy cruisers to starboard!"

  "Redirect fire," Ra'daq called out. "Target those cruisers!"

  Ra'daq hated the Chinix more than he did the Realm and the sky was now full of hundreds of Chinix ships. Unrepentantly, the shaking of the Dauntless stopped.

  Why has the Tyrannus quit firing? Balin wondered. Are they going to wait and see if the Dauntless will explode on its own?

  Having been knocked to the deck, Balin didn't know what had happened. As he got to his feet, one of the bridge crew reported the answer.

  "It's the Chinix fleet. They're here!"

  "Thank the Elder," Balin said as he stood.

  "But I don't understand," Miranda said as she wiped a hand over her face to pull back a wayward lock of hair. "I thought the Coalition fleet wasn't going to arrive for a while yet."

  Balin explained, "Chinix propulsion technology is more advanced than the rest of the Coalition fleets. They must have seen the trouble we were in and raced ahead of the others. None too soon either." Activating the communications panel of the HPT, he issued orders. "Get me a damage report, and put some distance between the Tyrannus and us so we can catch our breath. We're going to swing wide then come around again. I want everything we have left ready to fire on our next pass. We're not finished yet."

  ***

  Imenand spun his burning staff in a figure eight pattern as he advanced on the bleeding Realm king. Alexander moved back then sidestepped to try and get to his opponent's back and then jabbed with one of his short swords. Imenand, moving his staff behind his back, blocked the strike and spun around sending a roundhouse kick toward Alexander's head. The mortal ducked and extended one leg in a sweep of the leg Imenand was standing on. Catching the Dridmor in the back of the ankle, it knocked out the immortal's support, and Imenand thumped to the ground flat on his back. Without hesitation, he rocked back and sprang to his feet then twirled his staff in a defensive pattern bringing it to rest behind him as he set his forward arm in a blocking position.

  Without warning the entire room began to tremble violently. Everyone staggered to keep their footing. Alexander used the distraction to try and put some more space between him and the Dridmor combatant. The base of one of the room's pillar's cracked. As it began to crumble, the mighty post broke from its connection points at the ceiling and came crashing down with great force. Saqir cried out in fear as the weighty stone mass came smashing down toward him and in one blow crushed him to death. Powdery smoke from the devastation filled the room, and the shaking allowed Aulani to get free of Cale's grasp. Unable to see through the haze, she sprinted away trying to escape through the confusion. As the shaking subsided, Cale coughed as dust filled his lungs. With the ground steady again, he moved toward the wall hoping to find one of the side doors.

  Imenand, losing sight of his opponent, infuriated about the interruption and needing to know what was going on, activated the communications device strapped to his wrist.

  "REPORT," he demanded. "What's going on? Is it a quake?"

  "No," came the voice through the device. "It's a shockwave from The Cloud. It's... collapsing."

  Imenand was unclear what the man meant.

  "What? It's starting to dissipate?" he questioned.

  "No, it's condensing. It's closing in on itself. We've lost contact with every station and planet it has overtaken! It's also destroying each of the internal hypergates as it passes over them."

  Imenand didn't know what to make of the report. There was nothing in the prophecies about The Cloud shrinking and destroying the worlds within. The Dridmor were on the brink of total victory, and then the unconceivable begins to happen. It made him despise the Elder all the more. He decided none of it mattered. Let the Ramillie worlds crumble to dust, he thought. All that mattered was finding Alexander and killing him to ensure the only surviving descendant of Jeramon was the brother who would worship the dark prince and usher in the new age for the glory of the Dridmor. As the dust began to settle, he started his
hunt for the mortal. His wounded prey was unable to escape.

  ***

  Three blasts slammed into one of the interior bulkheads of the Fortune as Crimson and his men tried to commandeer the ship. Taking cover around a corner, Sosimo and Mei waited for an opening before returning fire.

  Hearing a break in the attack, Mei did a diving roll to behind one of the crates in the cargo bay. A pair of shots traced after her but missed. Reaching around the corner, the captain sent a blast of energy to right between the eyes of Mei's would-be assassin.

  "Jerk," Sosimo said as he moved back behind his protective wall.

  Risking a peek over the container, Mei noticed a flash of Crimson's artificial eye. Ducking back down, she reached inside one of her boots and pulled out a slender rod. Using her thumb, she quickly tapped the tiny controls of the device. All the lights on the rod flashed red then she popped up from behind the crate and tossed it device at the metal boxes where Crimson and his men were taking cover. It landed with a clank, and a heartbeat later did... nothing.

  I told the captain that stuff was junk when he traded for it, she grumbled to herself. Two more shots impacted near her then, as fast as she could, she reached over the top of her crate, targeted the cylinder she'd tossed and blasted it. It exploded - sending material and pirates flying. Ducking back down, she avoided the shockwave and airborne debris. With the blast finished, Sosimo looked around the corner to see the effects. Four intruders lay dead, but Crimson wasn't among them. Mei stood, and she and her captain moved forward to continue their pursuit. Where Mei's grenade detonated, Sosimo noticed a hole in the deck plating that now exposed the deck beneath them.