by Bob Cooper
Acey grabbed them both by the shoulder and gently moved them back from the line of confrontation.
“They clearly have some powers that we can’t compete with so let’s not provoke them,” she said.
The leader walked past Aidan and Dirk and stopped at Acey. She held her breath as he raised his three-fingered hand and gently stroked Acey’s head. He muttered something to the other two and walked over to Raina. Raina tensed up as the leader did the same thing to her. Again, he muttered and walked over to Hillary. This time the leader jerked his hand back quickly after touching Hillary’s head as if it burned him. Hillary let out a stifled scream, and Acey rushed to her. The other two creatures blocked her path.
“Hillary! Are you all right?” Acey asked.
“Yes, I’m fine,” she said.
The leader motioned to the other two, and they all bowed close to the ground in front of Hillary.
“What was that all about?” Dirk muttered to Aidan.
The creatures slowly got up and looked directly into Hillary’s eyes. She felt a chill as words and images began swirling in her head.
“They’re communicating with me. They must be able to translate our language patterns like the Guardians. I can see their village. There are fires everywhere. Everyone is heaping wood onto the fires.”
“What do they want?” Acey asked.
Hillary hesitated as she tried to clear the images and listen to the language that was now going through her head. The language was very much like that of the Guardians.
“We honor you, oh great Queen. We have been preparing for this day for a long time. Our Holy One awaits you for the marriage ceremony.”
Hillary gasped and backed away.
“Marriage Ceremony!” she screamed.
***
O’Malley examined the painted wall from every angle. It was impenetrable. He ordered his men to look in all the other caverns for another opening but found none. Any archeological significance of the site ceased to be of interest to him.
“Where are the explosives?” he asked his men.
One of them handed him a small box of explosive charges from his backpack.
“Plant these and blow that wall down,” he ordered.
The men bore holes in the wall with their blasters and filled them with explosives. They used a remote detonator to ignite them. The wall crumbled and left a large pile of rubble.
“Let’s clear this mess and get going,” he ordered.
***
“They want me to marry their leader,” she said.
Aidan dove for the blaster but one of the creatures got there first. He kicked the gun away and then kicked Aidan in the stomach. Acey and Dirk went to his defense, but the other toad-like creatures grabbed them and easily knocked them to the ground. The leader grunted something, and Acey and Dirk’s hands and feet were tied. They were dragged into the ship. In the confusion, Raina took off running through the forest—and kept running. The leader attempted to stop her, but Aidan tripped him as he went after her. That earned him another kick to the stomach, and he fell in agony. Hillary swung her fist at him and missed. He grinned at her showing his crooked, green teeth. His breath smelled of rotting fish. Hillary tried to run, but he grabbed her around the waist and carried her to the ship along with Aiden. The leader gave the order, and the ship lifted off the ground just above tree level and headed for the valley below.
Raina watched it disappear over the treetops while scrambling to a clearing at the top of the mountain then watched it descend into the valley. It wasn’t that far away, but she couldn’t see the village down there. She went back for her backpack and loaded it with food and other items from the other packs. As she turned to leave, a blaster pointed at her head greeted her.
“Well, what do we have here?” O’Malley asked yanking Raina to her feet.
Raina, stunned by the invasion, gasped as O’Malley spun her around. She stepped back as he grabbed her by the throat.
“Where are they?” he asked, applying pressure.
Raina managed to kick him between the legs hard enough to stun him, and he let go. His men roughly held her arms while O’Malley regained his breath.
“You will pay for that later, but for now tell me where they went.”
“They’ve taken them away,” she said.
“By whom and where?”
“I don’t know.”
O’Malley slapped her across the face, and a trickle of blood ran down her cheek. One of his men pulled out a knife and held it to her face.
“I ask you again. Where are they?” he screamed at her.
“I told you. They took them in their ship somewhere in the valley below.”
“Who’s they?”
“Green slimy creatures.”
The men all laughed along with O’Malley.
“Well, let’s go find these green creatures,” he mocked.
***
Acey managed to peek out the small porthole, and she could see the village come into view. Stone and thatch huts circled around the main meeting structure. Large and small creatures scurried about building fires and raking the area clean in front of the massive structure. She thought of Raina running into the woods. Was she running to escape capture or running to meet up with O’Malley? Acey was not convinced Raina was on their side even though she did save her life.
She saw Aidan struggling to get his hands free.
“We’re landing,” she whispered to him.
He stopped struggling. A stream of light coming through the porthole illuminated Acey’s face. He smiled at her.
“Did I ever tell you you’re beautiful?” he said to her.
Acey smiled back. She felt anything but beautiful. She inched her way over to Aidan and tried to untie his hands from behind her back. The touch of her hands was something he hadn’t felt in a long time. His body responded, but the pleasure was short-lived as the craft landed with a thud. They heard whooping and hollering outside.
The crew cut their ties and freed them just as the door opened and the landing ramp was lowered. The leader grabbed Hillary gently and nudged her down the ramp. The citizens gasped when they saw her. They bowed down as the leader led her towards the largest structure. Dirk, Aidan, and Acey were shoved down the ramp, and some of the citizens in this village made threatening gestures.
Hillary saw this and attempted to communicate with the leader.
“These are my friends. You will treat them with respect,” she said to the leader.
He got the message and apparently so did the rest of the crowd because they backed off. They were led to the main entrance where guards were posted outside. The guards stood there rigid and stared straight ahead. They stopped and waited for the large wooden doors to open. Colorful vines and flowers decorated the inside. Large candelabras swung from the ceiling casting large shadows from the hundreds of small, lit candles. A woven mat of vines and other material ran the length of the building where a large group of creatures stood. They led Hillary inside, and the rest followed her. As they approached the gathering, Hillary saw a being seated on a rock carved with intricate scenes and pictures painted on it. She panicked to think that this might be her new husband.
She stopped and turned to Acey.
“We’ve got to do something. I can’t go through with this.”
Dirk stepped over to her.
“As long as they think of you as their Queen, they won’t hurt us. So please, play the game until we can think of a way out of this,” he whispered.
“You all better start thinking fast,” Hillary muttered.
Hillary saw the seated being stand up, and she continued walking slowly to meet him. He had sparkling gems hanging from cords around his neck, and a large scepter with a crystal orb mounted at the top. As they got closer, Acey noticed a large stone hanging over the throne. It had several small amulets surrounding it with familiar symbols carved into them.
The procession stopped. The leader took Hillary’s hand and led he
r to the throne. The chubby creature stood up and waddled down to meet her.
He stared at her and then walked around her to get a look. He smiled with approval to his citizens, and they responded with cheers.
“Behold this lovely creature! For when our moons shine full, she will be your new Queen,” he said telepathically. Hillary heard what he said and watched the reaction from the crowd.
There were cheers and shouting until she raised her hands to quiet them down. She walked up to the King, and calmly walked around him, eyeing his rotund body.
“What is she doing?” Aidan asked Acey in an irritated manner.
“Hillary is up to something. She’ll get us out of this mess.”
Aidan and Dirk raised their eyebrows at that last comment. Acey shrugged her shoulders and turned her attention back to Hillary and the king.
Hillary turned to the villagers.
“I am honored to be your Queen,” she said telepathically.
They all bowed to her as she was speaking.
“These are my family,” she said telepathically and aloud walking towards Acey, Dirk, and Aidan.
“You will treat them as you would me. My family and I require rest in order to prepare for the ceremony.”
The King smiled with approval. He communicated to the leader to direct them to their quarters and bring them refreshments. The leader acknowledged and led them out of the hall. The villagers cheered and bowed again as they walked by.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Acey whispered to her.
“I haven’t got a clue, but I bought us some time,” Hillary replied.
Acey just shook her head and continued walking. Hillary always had a flair for the theatrical in these situations. She remembered an incident when a mugger confronted her. She convinced him that she was the daughter of a prominent senator and that he would relentlessly pursue him if anything happened to her.
The leader took them to a thatched hut barely large enough to hold them. Several creatures followed him bringing water, assorted fruits, and meats to eat. Dirk looked at the plate of goodies and noticed some of the food was still squirming. They all selected fruits from the plate. What they thought was water was some sort of fermented berries with high alcohol content. Dirk spoke first.
“We’ve got to sneak out tonight and get back to the temple. I’m convinced the Guardians can lead us to what we came here to look for.”
“It’s a long trip up the side of that mountain, and in the dark, it would be almost impossible to find our way,” Aidan said.
“What about Raina?” Hillary asked.
“What about her?” Acey shot back.
“She’s probably planning to meet up with O’Malley and his group,” she continued.
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Dirk replied.
“I believe I can convince them to take you back to the temple tomorrow,” Hillary said.
“What are you talking about?” Acey asked.
“I can get them to take you back if I agree to stay here,” Hillary answered.
“No way will we leave you here by yourself,” Dirk said.
“Look, it’s the only way. It looks like they will do what I ask, so let’s take advantage of it. But you better be back before the ceremony.
“How long before the next full moon?” Aidan asked.
“I’m not sure, but I would say no more than two to three days,” Dirk replied.
9
O’Malley and his crew hiked to a cliff overlooking the village below. Through his range viewer, he observed the inhabitants scurrying around.
“I don’t see Dirk and the others. Let’s camp here for the night and continue in the morning,” he said.
They made camp, careful not to light any fires that would alert the villagers to their presence. After they ate, O’Malley continued questioning Raina, and that’s when he noticed her amulet. He remembered seeing it back on Europa. He racked his brain to remember the circumstances, but it didn’t come to him.
“Where did you get this?” he asked, fingering the amulet.
Raina knew she wasn’t in the best situation, so she decided to answer him.
“My mother gave it to me before she died,” she answered.
He studied it closer. The symbols looked familiar to him.
“And who was your mother?”
“We lived on Europa. The mining director was her father. Her name was Lilly,” she said.
The mention of her mother’s name sparked his memory.
“And where did she get the amulet?”
“I believe my father gave it to her.”
“And who was he?”
“I don’t remember him. He died before I was born. My mother never talked about him.”
It was starting to come together now. He felt anguish as he remembered more. She was another link to the past that had to be dealt with. He smiled at her.
“Why don’t you get some sleep now? We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow,” he said.
Raina kept one eye open all night watching them and thought about his questions wondering why he was so interested in her mother. She believed somehow he knew her mother or father—or possibly both. She had to find out more.
***
The next morning, Acey woke to the sound of shuffling feet and the smell of fresh flowers. With one eye open, she saw the creatures arranging fresh fruits and water. Hillary directed them to where she wanted things to go. They bowed to her every command and seemed happy to please her. It looked like Hillary was really getting into this Queen thing.
“Good morning your majesty,” Acey said sarcastically.
Hillary smiled at her.
“Come over here and get something to eat,” she said.
“I’ve already spoken with the King about taking you back up the mountain, and he agreed to do so,” Hillary said.
“I don’t like this. I mean leaving you alone while we’re gone,” Acey said.
“Don’t worry about me. Just be back before this marriage ceremony is supposed to happen.”
Dirk woke in time to overhear their conversation. He grabbed a cup of water and shook Aidan. They quickly packed their gear while discussing their plans for when they reached the mountain. They decided to search for Raina once they got there.
“I’m certain the evidence that will vindicate me is somewhere at the temple. We need to find it and get out of here. We’ve already spent too much time on this planet,” Dirk said.
“How are we going to communicate with the Guardians?” Acey asked Hillary.
“If you just block out all other thoughts except what you are trying to say, they will read them. Although I’m not sure you will be able to hear their response.”
“We’ll just have to make do,” Dirk said interrupting their conversation.
After they were packed and fed, Hillary summoned the leader and told him to pack some provisions and take them to the mountain. It was evident that he was not in favor of this, but he did what he was told.
The ship looked even worse than the first time they saw it. It appeared to be the only one in existence. Two creatures shoveled charred wood into an opening in the side of the ship. When they climbed aboard, Aidan looked at the controls and tried to make sense of how the thing would fly.
“The propulsion system seems to be powered from the wood that was loaded,” he said to Dirk.
“Somehow the wood must contain something that this thing converts to fuel,” Dirk replied.
“I wonder where these creatures got this ship. They don’t seem to be equipped mentally or physically to build something this sophisticated,” Aidan said.
Hillary issued her final orders to the leader, and they were ushered onto the ship. It reeked of burnt wood and was very cramped. The craft shook unbearably as it lifted off the ground. Acey saw Hillary waving to them as the village shrank below them.
***
O’Malley was halfway down the mountain when he saw the strange craft. He ordere
d everyone to hide while it rumbled through the morning fog as it headed up the mountain. O’Malley was more interested in finding Dirk and continued to press on towards the village.
***
When the craft landed, Acey stepped out and walked towards the temple. She tried to clear her mind and concentrate as hard as she could.
“Please help us. We need to know what happened to those who came before us.”
There was no answer.
“Please help us?” Acey asked again.
There was a sudden whirl of dirt and leaves. Acey felt light-headed and held on to the obelisk. Thoughts were being injected into her head, but she couldn’t make them out. It was a jumbled set of sounds with no meaning to her.
“I hear you, but I can’t understand you,” she said.
There was more noise, but nothing she could decipher.
Aidan looked around and saw something that made him extremely nervous. He called Dirk, trying not to disturb Acey’s concentration. Dirk looked down at the footprints that Aidan found. They weren’t theirs. Suddenly a horrified look came to his face.
“O’Malley’s been here,” he whispered to Aidan.
Acey tried to parse through the sounds she heard, but they still made no sense.
“I’m sorry I still…” Acey started to say.
A strong feeling of nausea interrupted her concentration. She sat down to quell the queasiness. Finally, it subsided. She saw pictures dancing around her head. At first, she was frightened but then decided that maybe this was the method that they would use to communicate with her. She let her body and mind go limp as the Guardians took control. She saw more images. There was a picture of a young man and woman conversing. As the images became clear, she also heard them speaking.
“Laura, please help me with the recording equipment?”
Acey gasped as she saw her parents for the first time. Her mother set up the tripods to record something. Acey studied her face. She had deep blue eyes and long flowing black hair. She saw her father, Henry, smile at her. He was writing something in a notebook.