by Bob Cooper
Tai-Som hugged her daughter.
“He is out there, and we will find him,” she said reassuring Chi.
“Let us retire for the night and tomorrow we will search for this cave,” the leader said.
He gave Tai-Som and Chi protective clothing to protect them from the radiation. He also offered clothing to the strangers, but Dirk politely refused because the radiation levels were less than those of the Earth’s sun.
Their new friends provided them with reed mats to sleep on. Acey and Aidan found a corner in a small cave far enough from the others where they laid next to each other. Acey fell asleep immediately. Aidan watched her breasts rise and fall to a slow rhythmic beat. He stroked her hair and thought about what his life would be like on Earth, assuming they were successful in retuning. He had violated his allegiance to the Citizen Guard by helping Dirk escape, and his career was over.
What will be next? he thought as he finally fell asleep.
15
O’Malley and his men left the city with the administrator and two military personnel. As they drove through the city streets, the citizens went about their daily lives, unaware that things were about to change. The driver took them to an elevator shaft that led them to the surface where O’Malley contacted Franz back at the ship.
“Franz! Get a fix on us and then do a scan for Saunders and the others. Just give us their positions, and we’ll do the rest.”
“It will be almost impossible to do that without a tracking device,” came the response.
“Well then use the heat-seeking sensors and hurry,” O’Malley shouted back.
“Sorry, I’m on it now,” Franz replied.
“I believe we have them, sir. They’re about ten miles due north from your location.”
“Okay. Let me know if they move,” O’Malley said.
The men set their locator devices to the specific coordinates. The Antarians preferred to travel at night to avoid the radiation and persuaded O’Malley that darkness would be the best way to apprehend them. Traveling in the dark slowed them down, but they finally reached the general vicinity of where Dirk was sleeping.
Hillary heard voices. Gasping, she jumped up suddenly and looked around. Everyone was sleeping. She closed her eyes and focused on the voices she realized were in her head. The Guardians spoke, warning her of the impending danger. When a vision of O’Malley came to her, Hillary quickly roused Dirk first, and then the rest of the group. The leader of the Antarians rushed over.
“I have heard the warning from the Guardians also. We must leave now. There is a way out through the caverns,” he said, leading the way.
The group grabbed their gear and followed single file through the narrow passageway. Tai-Som spoke to the leader and gave him directions to the cave where Acey’s parents died. It was not far, but it took them a long time to get there in the dark. They arrived at daybreak.
As they entered the cave, Acey stopped, unsure if she could go any further. Dirk held her close as they walked in together.
“I gave Henry and Laura the amulet here. And here is where we were attacked,” she said, pointing to an area in the back of the cave.
Acey rushed over there and looked around. No clues remained. O’Malley and his crew removed all traces of their presence.
“This is where it happened,” Tai-Som said, remembering. Someone struck me in the head and left me for dead. The Guardians sought help for me, and I woke up in the hospital. Laura and Henry were gone, and I never heard from them again.”
“In the vision the Guardians showed me, I could still see and hear what was going on after they took my parents and destroyed the main recording device. There must have been another device somewhere in here,” Acey said.
“This might help,” Aidan said.
He pulled out something from his backpack.
“It’s a standard-issue bug finder. We use it to debug rooms when we secure a location.”
Aidan pointed the device at the cave walls. A red light pulsed as he moved it around. It began to beep in the direction of a rock ledge near the roof of the cavern. He scrambled up to the ledge and removed it. It was still pulsing.
“I think it’s still recording,” Chi said.
“How is that possible after all this time,” Raina asked.
Dirk took the device from Chi. He studied it brushing off the dust.
“This is a standard-issue recorder used by archeologists to record in low-light environments. The Hadron Batteries are charged from the Quark particles that permeate everything.”
He pointed it to the cavern wall. After fiddling with the buttons for a few seconds, he got an image to project. The first pictures were of animals that were in the cave, but it wasn’t long before he located the incident. He held his breath and pressed the button. They watched as Tai-Som talked to Laura and Henry. Acey stiffened as her mother and father appeared again. Dirk put his arms around her. She saw something she didn’t see in her vision.
O’Malley’s men burst onto the scene and slammed Tai-Som in the head with a rifle butt. Her head turned red in an instant. Henry retaliated by kicking the man in the back and slamming him into the wall. Two other men grabbed Laura and held a blaster to her head. Henry stopped and moved towards her. The downed man rushed to him and pointed his blaster at him.
“Should I finish them off?” he asked.
“No,” came a voice from outside the view of the video.
“Take all the notebooks and recording devices. O’Malley wants this to look like an accident.”
“What about her,” he said, looking at Tai-Som’s lifeless body on the ground.
“She’s dead,” another man said feeling her neck for a pulse.
Chi fell to her knees. Hillary and Raina tried to comfort her.
The men tied Henry and Laura up and led them out. Henry stopped abruptly.
“You won’t get away with any of this. I’ll see you hang,” he screamed lunging at his captor just as someone struck him in the neck. Laura screamed. Someone slowly emerged into the picture. The person gave a sigh of relief as he came into focus.
“Did you get the notebooks?”
“We got them, boss.”
“Good now get them out of here. I want their deaths to look like an accident. I have an idea. Bring them back to the shuttle and destroy that recording device,” O’Malley said.
His men followed his command. O’Malley remained on camera, leafing through one of the notebooks. A sickening smile formed on his face. He looked very content as he left the scene.
The cavern was silent. Acey and Chi sobbed. Dirk struggled to control his anger. Aidan broke the silence.
“We have it! This is it! This will put O’Malley away for good.”
Aidan secured the recording device in his backpack.
“Now let’s get out of here,” he said.
“There is one more thing I would like for you to know before you leave,” Tai-Som said.
“The amulet I gave your father contains the technology for pure energy. It was put there from the information found on the codices. It must be found for it will benefit your planet greatly,” she said, looking at Acey.
Acey remembered the image of the amulet and turned to Raina. Raina took it off from around her neck and showed it to Tai-Som.
“Is this it?” she asked.
“Yes, that is the one,” Tai-Som said.
“But how did you get it from my father?” Acey asked Raina.
“I’ll take that!” a voice thundered from the entrance.
O’Malley entered with his men. He was outside watching the whole show. Dirk rushed towards him, grabbing him by the throat. Aidan took advantage of the situation and rushed one of the men who held a blaster. Aidan was stunned and fell unconscious. Acey screamed and went to him. One of O’Malley’s henchmen hit Dirk in the neck, and he went down. Aidan stirred but couldn’t get up.
The security guards that accompanied O’Malley took Tai-Som, Chi, and the other Antarians outside.
“Now give me that recording device!” O’Malley said.
Nobody moved.
“Who’s got it? I want it now!” he shouted.
No one moved or said anything. O’Malley grabbed Acey and put his blaster to her head.
“I’m asking one more time, and then she’s dead,” he yelled.
Aidan threw his backpack at him. O’Malley smiled as he dumped the contents on the ground. The device fell out.
“Thank you,” he said sarcastically.
“Now take them outside with the others.”
They were shoved through the narrow opening and out of the cave with the other Antarians. O’Malley was talking to the security guards, but Acey couldn’t hear what they were saying. Hillary sat on the ground with her eyes closed. No one paid any attention to her, but Acey knew she was trying to contact the Guardians.
O’Malley engaged in a heated exchange with the Antarian security guards. It was difficult to hear, but Aidan pieced together that O’Malley wanted Tai-Som and Chi to go with him. The captain of the security guards knew he had to bring Tai-Som back or face termination himself. For O’Malley, she was just another loose end that he needed to tie up. The only way he could be sure was to do the job himself. But the security guards weren’t going to allow it. Finally, O’Malley backed down with the assurance that she would be terminated as soon as they returned to the city. Besides, he had the only remaining proof that tied him to the deaths of Laura and Henry now.
“Tie their hands and let’s get out of here!” O’Malley ordered his men.
They grabbed Acey first and tied her hands behind her, while the security guards shoved Chi and Tai-Som into the back of their vehicle.
“What do we do with the rest?” one of the security guards asked, pointing to the other Antarians.
“Let them go. They are powerless.”
Hillary remained on the ground; her eyes closed in deep concentration. She paid no attention to the things happening around her. The vehicle with Tai-Som and Chi prepared to leave when a thunderous crack shattered the moment. A black tar-like substance streamed down with pinpoint accuracy covering the vehicle. Chi could barely push open the door to get out. The door was almost glued shut. She looked overhead to see the football-shaped craft noisily hovering overhead. Rom and the Antarians overpowered the guards and were able to take their weapons.
Dirk took the opportunity to rush O’Malley’s men and Aidan, still shaky, followed suit. Raina untied Acey, and they joined in the fray. Another crack and more tar hit O’Malley’s men immobilizing them.
“It’s the Oran, “Acey said, smiling at Hillary.
The craft landed noisily, and the King emerged with grand ceremony.
“I am happy to be at your assistance, my Queen. Follow me, and we shall leave,” he said to Hillary.
O’Malley cursed and yelled orders as his men struggled to free themselves from the tar-glue.
Chi studied the King carefully.
“Are these the surface dwellers that you referred to mother?”
“Yes. They were here before we inhabited the planet. We gave them technology, but they never really progressed.”
The King ushered Acey and the group into the craft. He looked at Tai-Som and whispered something to one of his men. The man’s eyes became as big as saucers as he went off to tell the others.
“These are our friends, Tai-Som and her daughter Chi,” Hillary said.
“I wish that they accompany us,” she said to the King.
Tai-Som hesitated at first, but she and Chi climbed aboard.
While his party boarded the Oran ship, Dirk went to retrieve the recording device from O’Malley. He grabbed O’Malley by the throat and shook him.
“You will pay for all of this. I will see that you rot in prison,” he said, yanking the recording device from his pocket.
Acey came and gently pulled Dirk away from O’Malley, and they headed for the ship.
“O’Malley cursed him and continued to yell orders.
She then thanked Rom and the other Antarians for their help and got on board.
The rag-tag group of Antarians decided to return to their caves, but Tai-Som promised they would meet again. The Oran craft took off rocking back and forth, shaking up the passengers inside. It made one more pass over the scene and dumped another load of tar-glue below. Acey giggled as O’Malley covered completely as the craft wobbled away into the clouds and disappeared.
Tai-Som relayed the story about how the Oran helped the original Antarians settle on this planet eons ago.
“They provided everything we needed and showed us how to use the natural abundance that was there. We, in turn, gave them the technology to make their lives easier, but they preferred their natural ways. This craft, no doubt, is one of the last vestiges of this technology. It wasn’t long before the Antarians suffered from radiation poisoning. That’s when they went underground, and the city there developed.”
Tai-Som was almost finished with her story as they approached the village. The villagers gathered below to greet them.
“We have treated them poorly in the past. We considered them inferior. But their survival and adaptation skills are a testament to their intellect. The Antarians that remained on the surface have interacted well with them and have learned a lot.”
The craft sputtered as it wafted in for a landing. The villagers cheered when they saw Hillary disembark. Hillary waved and performed her finest curtsey. Dirk, Aidan, Raina, and Acey filed out. Chi and Tai-Som were the last to leave the ship. The cheers turned into whispers as Tai-Som stopped to look them over.
“I am Tai-Som—Governess of the City. This is my daughter Chi. I am happy to meet you.”
Her words were met with whispers and confusion from the crowd, but the King explained.
“According to our legends, these are the Antarians that chose to live underground. The Guardians have long since wanted us to reconcile with them.”
The King turned to Hillary and took her hand. He led her through the throngs of people who threw flower petals and cheered again.
Acey explained to Chi and Tai-Som the circumstances that led to Hillary’s pending betrothal to the King.
“I hope she has a plan to get herself out of this,” Aidan said.
Acey shrugged her shoulders but knew something was going through Hillary’s mind. The King seemed preoccupied with Tai-Som. He kept looking back at her. Raina hung back, walking last in the procession and Dirk fell back to walk with her. She had been very quiet through the whole ordeal, and he knew something wasn’t quite right. She looked at him for a long time before saying anything.
“I am truly sorry for causing you all this pain,” she said.
“I know you are. How do you feel about the Earther movement now?”
“Well, I’m not sure. I have seen people from other worlds now and know that they are like us. I guess we can learn from them, and they can learn from us.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Hate and prejudice are not good principles for a cause, and you have more going for yourself than to be caught up in all that.”
Raina smiled at Dirk as they continued to walk into the King’s wooden palace.
The King sat on his thrown and beckoned Hillary to sit beside him. She took her place at the cheers of the villagers. He then looked at Tai-Som and Chi and motioned for them to come forward. The villagers suddenly fell quiet.
“Behold our fellow Antarians. These are the people that the elders talked about. Most of you have never seen them, but they are real. They have taught us many things in the past,” he said, looking at Chi and Tai-Som.
“We were forced to live underground because of the harmful rays of our suns and as you know have built a city there,” Tai-Som said.
The villagers continued whispering among themselves not sure of what to make of them, but the King quieted them down.
“We would like to return to the surface and live among you and all this natural beauty—a beauty th
at our city lacks. Living down there for so long, our people have lost their desire to seek the natural wonders of the surface and are only concerned with the mundane work required to keep the city running.”
“We welcome you and will show you how to live in harmony with our natural surroundings. We will show you how to harvest the bounty of food for yourselves. We can teach you ways to protect yourselves from the radiation. But now we must turn our attention to the ceremony tomorrow when this beautiful creature will become my Queen.”
He reached over and took Hillary by the hand. All eyes were on Hillary.
16
Hillary stood and did her curtsey; by now, she was quite good at it. She turned to the King to acknowledge his gesture to the audience. She took a step forward and looked first into the crowd and then to the King. Acey raised her eyebrows doubtful Hillary could pull this one off. The crowd waited for her to speak.
“Tomorrow, I will be your Queen. My desire is for the ceremony to take place at the Temple of the Guardians.”
There were gasps from the crowd at the major breach of tradition. The King quieted them but had a look of grave concern. Hillary continued.
“The Guardians have watched over this land for a long time. I believe they will sanctify this marriage and will be instrumental in uniting the peoples of this great land.”
Dirk looked at Acey to see if she knew something he didn’t. Acey just shrugged her shoulders. The King pulled Hillary aside and spoke to her.
“I do not think it is wise for us to move the ceremony to the Temple. It has not been used for a long time, and it is far away.”
Using all her charm and wit to convince the King that it would be best if the ceremony took place at the temple, the King finally gave in.
“Let us make arrangements for the trip and the ceremony!” he told the crowd.
The crowd scurried around, while the King ushered Hillary into his hut. Tai-Som and Chi talked with the villagers who were very curious about life below the surface, while Dirk and Aidan planned their exit from the planet outside their hut.
Raina and Acey found themselves alone. Acey still had a hard time trusting Raina, since it was her actions that caused this whole situation to happen in the first place. Raina felt the uneasiness and wondered if she should keep her distance.