It was late morning and most of the base had already finished breakfast. Alec and Jodi sat across from Clay and Dolores sipping their coffee. Joshua picked at a plate of waffles while immersed in an intense conversation with Sheldon. Ernie was digging into a stack of pancakes. At another table, Leland enjoyed a second serving of scrambled eggs as Phyllis leaned against his side talking and laughing with Jade.
TV monitors showed destroyed cities and countryside’s, videos of dog fights, air and ground battles along with interviews with devastated families.
The Kan-ji attack hadn’t diminished after the destruction of their Seeker ship. To Earth’s surprise, the attacks became more intense. The hatred of the Kan-ji toward humanity seemed to intensify, causing them to attack with abandon. But as the Kan-ji’s never ending supply line was cut off, it was no longer a question of whether Earth would win… it was more about limiting the amount of destruction.
Jessie and Sofie walked in the cafeteria together, freshly showered, and dressed in new jumpsuits. They headed straight for the coffee machine, Jessie taking hers black while Sofie mixed flavored cream into hers. By the time they squeezed between their parents, Phyllis and Jade were already setting plates of pancakes and waffles in front of them.
“Looks like its over.” Clay said watching the TV monitor.
“Hey, that’s Carl!” Alec pointed to the TV showing their reporter friend Carl Dominic standing in front of a video chronicling there earlier adventures.
“Out ships will be returning soon.” Joshua looked up from his conversation with Sheldon. “We’ve stepped on a lot of toes out there... crossed boundaries without clearances, fired weapons over friendly and unfriendly countries. It’s been recommended we lay low for a while.”
“What! After all we’ve done, they should be making statues of us.” Jodi said.
Joshua laughed. “Everyone knows... its all politics.”
“I still think it’s wrong.” Jodi grumbled.
“Ahh... it’s not really over, you know” Ernie looked up from his pancakes.
“What do you mean?” Leland asked mopping up his plate with some toast.
“They know where we are.” Jessie answered for Ernie. “They’ll be back.”
“Do you mean the fighting isn’t over?” Sofie looked up worriedly.
“Don’t worry Sof.” Jessie reassured her. “Their nearest ship is at least two years away.”
“Why don’t they just portal over?” Sofie asked.
“You need an open one here. We’ve destroyed the last one.” Alec gave Jessie a knowing smile.
“That gives us time to prepare.” Joshua stood, stretching. “Right Ernie?”
“We’ve got the Seeker ship’s databases. Even more, we’ve been able to retrieve some of the databases of the ships they had open portals to.” Ernie grinned. “It’s going to take a while to translate… maybe we can get Jessie’s help?” He said glancing at her.
“I’m sorry, but right now she’s going to be busy with her family.” Alec answered laughing.
“Sure, just e-mail me.” Jessie grinned.
Joshua stood and cleared his throat... and waited for everyone’s attention. “I would like to tell everyone that I’ve now been put in charge of the Office of Technology Stability.” He waited as the cheers and congratulations died down. “Which means I can officially give you your companies’ back.” he said as Alec, Clay and Sheldon jumped up shaking his hand and patting him on the back. “But, you will be working for me” Their smiles faded. “…because we will be signing some pretty significant contracts in a very short while.” The rest quickly joined in on the congratulations.
As everyone settled back down at the tables Joshua continued. “Before we all go off in our separate directions, I’ve got a few more questions…” Joshua pulled out a chair and sat as he gave Jessie a penetrating look. “Just how did you escape? And what did happen to the Seeker ship?”
“Eugene helped me.” Jessie answered.
Sofie jumped up. “Did he escape too?”
Jessie hadn’t told anyone of what happened. Joshua, for some reason had wanted her to wait until everyone was together. “Yea, I think he’s going to be fine.”
“He was hurt?”
“The ship was blowing up. He pushed my escape pod through the portal. I thought he was left behind, but when I came out the other side, he was still holding on to the pod.” Jessie quivered. “He was hurt pretty bad. I thought he was going to die.”
“Where is he now?” Sheldon asked.
“Somehow, he opened the portal to the Cheorgh world. Chander was there… like he was waiting for us. He took Eugene... put him into one of those healing rooms. He was still in it when I left.”
“So what happened to the Seeker ship?” Joshua brought her back to his original questioning.
“You know... that’s really strange. They had a special circuit in the portal controls... it was like a combination lock. Once I figured it out.” She shuddered as Jodi put an arm around her. “It opened up a portal to a sun. The same sun they use to power their ships, except the portal wasn’t protected. The suns raw energy flowed into the ship. Nothing could withstand it.”
“Why?” Phyllis asked.
“That circuit you mentioned reminds me of a self destruct mechanism.” Jade speculated.
“I think it was those priests.” Jessie said.
“Yellow Teeth.” Sofie was the first to come to that conclusion.
“You mean Saw Tooth.” Phyllis and Jade giggled.
“I remember that he said he was on a mission from God… you know… when we were stopped by those guards.” Jessie nodded. “…it must have been him… he was evil.”
“But why? Why destroy the ship when it was just about to win the war?” Joshua asked.
“Alec?” Clay looked at his friend. “Should we tell them?”
“You go ahead.” Alec said.
“I met Alec’s dream friend Shaun.” he started. Not everyone in the room knew about it and looked questioningly at him. “You see, Alec’s been having some weird dreams lately. Now, I believe they’re real… ah… well, we were shown the Kan-ji home world. They do have gods and we think Loomius was the latest of them. I believe it is a religious thing that is driving them to destroy Earth... or humanity.”
Sheldon stood. “That’s it!” he said interrupting Clay. Everyone looked waiting for him to continue. “The double-cross, your ex-marketing VP, what was her name... Olivia. She double-crossed Loomius. He took revenge.”
“That sounds reasonable, but for now it’s just speculation.” Joshua nodded. “But Jessie, I just have one more question. How did you get off the Cheorgh world... to that portal in space?”
Jessie lifted her hand exposing the band of black symbols encircling her wrist. “These.” She said making them change colors and move. “Chander was waiting for me… he knew about the portal. We had to wait for the portal at the edge of the solar system to open first… so we had lunch.”
“How did he know about that portal?” Joshua asked.
“I don’t know. When I asked him, he just smiled… at least I think it was a smile.” Jessie laughed.
“How did they know where to open the portal?” Alec asked looking curiously at his daughter.
“With this.” Jessie looked at the symbols on her wrist. “Chander told me to think of the portals coordinates” The symbols on her wrist stabilized. “He had me hold one of those plain black keystones with this hand. It was weird. The symbols just appeared on it… he used it to open the portal.”
“I’ve got a question.” Clay asked. “Where is Loomius?”
Jessie shuddered at the thought of him. “I... I... don’t know. They had these stone altars. That’s how they talk to him. The altars can somehow transfer your mind… kind of like a portal… but only thoughts are sent. My…my mind was there.” Jessie had to stop and collect herself.
“Jess, you don’t have to.” Jodi said.
“Yes, yes I do.” Jessie said to her. “This is important. I think Loomius is their God. He is the one that hates Earth... and us.”
“I think you’re right.” Alec knelt next to her. “We’ve been to the Kan-ji home world.”
“Yes, Loomius is their God. According to Shaun, he is missing.” Clay added. “Do you know where he is? I think he’s the key, if we... well, I mean if we take him out.”
“You mean kill him?” Sofie corrected.
“Yes. If we can find and kill him... you know, kill their leader. They wouldn’t want to destroy us.” Clay said.
“I’m sorry. I saw his planet. It was horrible, dark, smoking, filled with lava. It looked like hell would look.” Jessie said.
“I think that option is beyond us.” Joshua interrupted. “For now, let’s enjoy our victory. Our time here is at an end. If you’ll follow me, I’ve got one more thing to show you.”
They followed him to the parking area inside the crevice where they first arrived, and to their surprise, the Plymouth was parked and fully restored to its original red paint.
“How did you find the time?” Alec ran over to the car with Clay.
“There was plenty of time… we found this nice little custom body shop in town.” Joshua smiled leaving them alone to look the car over.
Alec's Dream Page 77