“Hey Anya, over here! Where you scurrying off to?” said the smiling face of Brenda Harrison as she started to approach. Brenda had on her usual Beatles t-shirt and gym shorts.
“Hey, how’s it going? I’m gonna be late for the Senate meeting. Walk with me.”
“Of course. I finished my classes for the day, but how do you know I’m not busy with anything else?”
Both girls stopped and stared at each other for only a moment. Anya’s eyebrow raised, and she had a smirk on the corner of her mouth.
“Yea, you’re right. I have no life,” said Brenda as they resumed walking.
“Sooo. I was thinking of having a party this weekend. Nothing special and just the usual people. Trevor might bring one of this rugby friends. You think I should grab some beer?”
Anya adjusted the pink ponytail on her head, “I might be able to go. I can ask Will if he’d like to come. He’s always so busy though.”
“Isn’t he taking 18 credit hours this semester?”
“Something like that, yeah.”
They both rounded the corner and Anya pushed the heavy automatic door. Mondays were always busy on campus, but an unusually large crowd was in line in front of the ballroom. Both girls approached the line and saw numerous signs littering the hallway: “Cancer Awareness Day.” “Learn how to find the signs of cancer before it’s too late.” “Cancer resources.” Anya suddenly felt her heart drop as she stared at all of the signs, tables, and people.
“Oh crap, I forgot today was Cancer Awareness Day. Anya, I’m sorry. We can walk around the other side if you want.”
Anya took a deep breath and pushed her hair back. “Brenda, I can’t run away from this. It’s just something I’m gonna have to deal with.”
“I know you can beat this. Stage 1 breast cancer is really treatable, and they are coming out with new techniques each year.”
“Yea, but still. There is always that chance that it’ll get worse. I’m gonna need you if it does, Brenda,” she said.
Brenda wrapped her arms around Anya and put her head on her shoulder. “I will always be here for you. You look this cancer in the face and tell it to piss off. Besides, you helped support me when I had to go back to London when my grandmum got it.”
“Thanks, Brenda. That means a lot.”
Brenda let go of Anya’s shoulder and smiled wide with her pearly teeth showing. “Don’t mention it girl. Now let’s go see William be all important with his “president of the university job.”
“Ha. President of the Student Senate and he is important,” Anya said as she smirked and nudged Brenda. “I’m not the only student he’s helped, you know?”
They began to walk up the stairway, and Brenda moved behind her to let others walk down. They turned the corner and saw that there was still free coffee left.
Anya grabbed a cup and poured it two-thirds the way with coffee and the rest with cream, “I don’t think I could’ve handled the bad news without him. He always looks on the bright side of things.”
Brenda grabbed a mint from the tray and popped it into her mouth. “Isn’t next month your 2-year anniversary?”
“Yes, and I-I think he might propose.”
“Oohhh really?! How do you know?” said Brenda as her eyes lit up.
“I saw him looking at rings the other day.”
“Mr. and Mrs. William Dante. I can’t wait to help you plan.”
“You goofball! Already planning my wedding, are you?”
“Yea. What else do you expect?”
Anya sighed, and her face lit up as she stirred the cream into her coffee.
**********
Sorehn let go of the young Teracian and regrouped with the others. He lowered his gun, and the rest remained still as if waiting for orders. Removing his gauntlet from the major, the silver warrior turned to meet the light-blue Teracian. Sweat dripped from her delicate face. The plate that covered her mouth appeared to be smaller and less thick.
“Why did you engage in conflict, Taiyah? You know that Sorehn is not to blame for this matter.”
“I apologize, Palpon. I couldn’t control myself.”
“Return to Tohou Village and tell Elder Barogn what has happened; be swift,” thought Palpan as he began to walk over to the other Teracians. He was green in color and had a smooth and young face. “We need to return to the village and contact the others. Let us return at once.”
Anya was still in shock as she played the same thought over and over in her head. William is gone. He can’t be gone. Her trance was broken as Brenda started to shake her.
“Anya, we have to get out of here. Allen is sick, and his arm is looking pretty bad.”
“Brenda, are you sure that William’s gone?” she said as she began to cry.
“That thing that attacked us came back, and the two aliens began to shoot at it. They thought they had it pinned to the floor, but it-it jumped out of the way. I was off to the side. Otherwise, I would have fallen too. God, everything happened so fast. Love, he’ll survive,” she said trying to stay strong, but she was frantic.
“How can you make such bullshit assumptions, Brenda? Is he here now? No!” Anya said as anger welled up inside of her, “He’s gone, and this place took him away. It’s all their fault. Those stupid aliens couldn’t even save him.”
She approached the major as he crouched next to Allen. His attention snapped back as she and Brenda approached.
“I know this is a lot, guys, but we have to act fast. Your friend is highly infected, and if we don’t get him out of here, he could die. We don’t have time to take him to the station, so we’ll have to transport him to the medical facility in Treynador Stronghold.”
“Treynador Stronghold?” said Brenda.
“It’s a human settlement near Tohou village. You two need to go to the station immediately.”
“I’m not going anywhere without my friends. I’m going with you to find William,” said Anya as she gritted her teeth.
“My brother’s still in there. We aren’t leaving until you do your damn job,” said Brenda, with a maddening look.
“I understand you’re upset, but orders are orders. I assure you that Allen’s in good hands. We will secure William and Trevor as soon as more reinforcements have arrived, but for now, I can’t do anything.”
“I haven’t quite figured out how you know all of our names. What do you people want with us?”
“You can’t expect us to-”
“You’ll soon find out everything, including what happened in the temple. Board the medical transport; I will force you if you don’t follow my instructions. We’ll send an update when your friend awakens.”
Anya wanted to run as fast as she could to the temple but knew she wouldn’t make it far. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The two girls jumped at the sight of one of the black and white armored soldiers as she approached them. Her curves gave her gender away, but nothing else. “Sir, there is another human who just collapsed outside of the temple. There is no telling when the entrance could cave in.”
“Trevor!” said both girls at once.
“Stay here,” said Sorehn as he ran to the temple door.
It was only seconds later when they saw the major return, carrying the unconscious body of Trevor Harrison to the hovership.
Brenda ran over to the ramp and watched her twin brother get loaded in, “Oh, God, Trevor! No, please be alright.”
“Get him some fluids and monitor his vitals,” said Sorehn to the medical personnel on board as he hooked up the stretcher to the side of the transport. The medical assistant stared with a curious look as the major helped him secure Trevor’s body.
“Don’t worry. He’s only dehydrated. You guys need to get in before this place collapses.”
Brenda and Anya quickly climbed up the ramp and buckled themselves in. Brenda grabbed ahold of Anya’s hand and squeezed tightly. Anya tried to hold back her emotions as the immense pain burned through her heart. The hovership lifted, and she g
asped at the force of the takeoff. She wished she could have enjoyed the view of the beautiful landscape, but only saw it through a dark, tinted window and tear-soaked eyes; the moisture ran down her soft cheeks. Looks like it’s still raining.
Six
Colors of the Silhouettes
“You and your friends have the potential to save this world. Through unlocking your mind to the power within the Rishnasura, you will truly be free to choose his fate. The latent desire inside your heart will show itself in due time. Remember that you hold the key to salvation and to destruction. Choose wisely; infinite possibilities are now open to you.”
As he woke up, harsh light poured on him from a nearby window. Glimpses of a mysterious woman with skin enveloped by a pulsating flow of energy and sunlight took control of his thoughts and held on tight. His heartbeat intensified with every repeat of the words now implanted in his mind. Allen frantically looked in every direction and began to feel a cold sweat collect on his skin. Pumps, beeps, flickering lights, and needles in his left arm. White walls and various machines littered the spacious room.
After his mind cleared, he realized that something was amiss; an aching pressure hindered his right shoulder. Pulling back the wool blanket revealed the anomaly: a foreign metallic arm etched with a lining of emerald green, following the outline of the appendage. To no relief, he began to feel a painful ache in his chest and gripped it; it blasted like a pounding river. A young Teracian girl with turquoise skin quickly entered the room and rushed to his side, checking a large computer monitor on the wall.
“Allen, I’m so glad you’re awake, but you have to calm down. We need to get you stabilized.”
Allen felt a panic rip through his body with every breath. “Where am I, and what hap-happened to my arm?”
“You’re at Treynador Stronghold. It’s a settlement of coexistence. We had to remove your arm, as you had a severe infection traveling through your system. I’m sorry we couldn’t do more to save it.”
His pulse started racing. “You had to cut off my arm?! What the hell did you do to me? Why can I hear you in my head? This-this has to be a dream.”
A quick surge of painkillers and stabilizers flooded through his body as the Teracian finished with the computer. It slid back into the wall with a slight click. He let himself relax and let out an audible sigh of relief as the various chemicals traveled through his blood-stream.
“I forget that you and your friends don’t know anything about this world yet. It was either remove your arm, or watch you go into an irreversible coma,” the young Teracian thought as she pulled the side of his blanket down, took hold of his right arm, and began examining it. “My name’s Taiyah, and I am a Teracian. We are the inhabitants of this planet and communicate through what you humans call ‘telepathy. You may start to feel heightened emotions as this medicine begins working.”
“My outburst was a bit uncalled for. Thank you for saving my life. Do I still have access to my full range of movements? I can’t feel my arm.”
“Yes, you will be able to move your arm just like before. We couldn’t stop the infection from breaking down your nerves; a metallic arm was all we could use at the time of the surgery.”
“I’m just glad it wasn’t more serious. Does the technology exist to replace my arm?”
“Yes. I heard supplies for organ and appendage creation is becoming null. I’m sorry, Allen.”
He took some time to think and enjoyed the silence of the room. His body ached, but he was still alive. “I thought I was going crazy earlier after I passed out. I started hearing faint voices.”
“What you felt were the effects of the Spectrum Wave Emitter, a technology that utilizes the flow of energy that surrounds all of us and your cerebrum’s ability to process language. It reprogramed your brain so we could communicate with little difficulty.”
Allen found himself taken aback as he attempted to process everything, “So, you're telling me we have that kind of technology?”
Taiyah let his arm rest on the bed and pulled up a chair next to him. Their eyes met, and he felt a strange feeling go through his body. The hair on his arm stood up on end. He took the sight of her in as if he were lost in the beauty of her delicate, pale blue skin. Covering her mouth was a small plate the same color as the rest of her body. The young Teracian’s form was curved similar to that of any women he had seen, except for the absence of breasts. Instead, she had a bone-like piece of armor cradled below her neck that went down below her chest. A calming blue color was barely visible on its surface and seemed to behave like a light glistening on the edge of the shore.
He felt his heart leap as he realized he had been staring. Allen turned his gaze down to the foot of the bed. “I-I’m sorry for staring.”
“There’s no need for apologies. I’m quite different than you,” Taiyah thought as the glow on her chest turned pink.
Allen couldn’t help but start to feel fascinated by the Teracian sitting beside him, and her presence made him more comfortable. His peaceful bliss was suddenly shattered by a bombarding vision as he started to regain his memory. Images of his friend falling through the hole in the floor came flooding back. His body jerked upward, and he felt a shot of pain throughout his shoulder.
“William! Is William here too? He fell through the floor with the other two Teracians. I passed out after that and didn’t see him come back up.”
Taiyah held his shoulders back, “Allen you have to stay still, or your procedure won’t heal correctly. There is nothing more for you to do right now.”
“Please, just tell me. Is he alright?”
Allen saw her chest shift to a dark shade of purple. “I’m sorry, Allen, but we haven’t seen anyone else turn up. That chamber’s deep and I doubt he survived the fall, same as for the others.”
“He’s gone? But, that can’t be possible. He…he,” Allen said as his emotions begin to swell, “He was my best friend and the strongest among us. Anya. What about Anya, and Trevor and Brenda? Please tell me they’re okay?”
“They are perfectly fine.”
“Are they here now? Can I see them?” he said with a frantic choppiness in his voice.
“I’m afraid not. They're at the Septune Station, meeting with Actavian. You should be able to see them soon.”
With a feeling of numbness, he let his head fall forward. A sharp cough escaped his lips, and he brought his right arm up without thinking. The cool metallic surface brushed against his face. With a gasp, he slowly put it back down on the bed and closed off his thoughts. A far-off chorus of strange calls sounded in the distance. His brain felt foggy, and he felt sick. Allen opened his eyes for a moment to see Taiyah pressing holographic boxes and moving them around on the computer monitor.
“Please, can you tell me more about what’s going on? Why and how did we get here?
She finished her progress on the monitor and looked his way. “I was told that the Septunians were trying to bring something to this planet from a past Earth. I don’t know why you and your friends were chosen.”
“From the past? How…what year is it?
“Based on the Actavian human calendar, the year is 3087. However, the years on this planet are shorter.”
Allen replied with a sudden yell. “3087? That’s over a thousand years in the future.”
A small laugh escaped his mouth, and he let his head hit the pillow beneath him. He looked up at Taiyah, but her expression hadn’t changed. Feeling his mind start to go numb, Allen tried to stay awake.
His face tightened as he stared at her for a few seconds. “You’re not lying, are you? So, this really is 1062 years in the future?’
“That is correct. At least based on your illusion of time.” She paused for a second, and he saw a look of sadness. “I think you should rest. You need time to accept all this. I’m sure your friends will be able to help you understand. We can talk more after you have recovered.”
Allen closed his eyes for a moment while she worked on the monitor. H
e heard a few voices and noises outside, but they faded. For a moment, he thought he had heard a helicopter take off, but couldn’t be sure. She glanced over and saw him watching. “I’ll be in the room next door if you need me. It was nice talking with you, Allen Schraider, and I look forward to seeing you again.”
As if it were waiting for permission, his mind drifted off into sleep. Colorful visions of his campus came into view as he sat with his friends in the Student Union courtyard. William was holding onto Anya as they all watched their fellow classmates walk by.
**********
The fullness of the bright sun started shrinking as it hurried to meet the other side of the green planet. There was a dull rumble outside that sounded like a truck going by the medical building. The coupled feelings of emptiness and isolation gripped him and refused to let go. Bright lights etched in the fabric of his mind that raced in every direction as the whole day played over and over. He was powerless to evade the onslaught of emotions as his best friend’s body fell into the darkness time and time again. A slight ringing sound took refuge in his ear as it banged around his head. Eventually, he fell asleep once more, but the comfort of rest only teased him.
Something caused him to abruptly wake up; he cradled his stomach as it started to ache. The room was empty and silent. Each and every pore on his body flowed free with fear as if to warn him of a coming disaster. Allen held his breath and tried to detect any traces of movement, but could hear nothing. Minutes passed by, and the feeling came back even stronger now. Invisible claws scratched and teeth grated in his mind, causing his breathing to increase. The thought lingered in his head that he was somehow in danger. Before he had a chance to move, a puff of light erupted at the end of the hall. Quiet footsteps banged like a monotone piano as the unknown force got closer and closer.
“Tai-Taiyah, is that you?”
No reply came from the hall, and he began to shake; the metal prosthetic clanged into the steel railing on the bed. Allen took a deep breath. There’s only one exit, but I could try to make it out of the window. No, that wouldn’t work. I’m still too weak to…His thoughts halted instantly from the sound of a large object crashing to the floor, followed by a soft cry.
The Gauntlet of Possession (The Teracian Chronicles Book 1) Page 6