Ascendant Saga Collection: Sci-Fi Fantasy Techno Thriller

by Brandon Ellis

  “She was my apprentice, Drew,” came Drew’s mother. Oh, good! Back to talking! Drew hated getting the silent treatment from his mother. Even dead, she ruled his heart. “Be—”

  Gun fire rumbled outside, drowning out Drew’s mom.

  She was what, mom?

  No reply.

  Should I trust this woman?

  Again, no response.

  Shit. So, his mom knew this Andrea woman. A good omen, a bad one? He sighed loudly and took a seat, cautiously eyeing Andrea. Megan took a seat next to Drew.

  Drew crossed his arms. If Andrea Cross was going to spill anything that she knew about Drew and his dad, the last thing Drew wanted was for anyone in Whitefish to know, especially Megan. She was the bar owner, bar tender, and server in this joint. And who knew, maybe she had a gift for gab and gossip. His dad, Slade, wasn’t a nice guy, and everyone who had witnessed Slade’s hightail off this planet, along with the rest of the politicians, might not care one iota if he, Drew, was a good guy. The sins of the father could definitely be visited on the head of the son. His high had almost evaporated. Sad how thoughts of sin would do that to a guy. He fell to Earth with nasty realization. His Father was Public Enemy Number…well, not One…but in the top 10 for sure. Murder by association might not be off the cards. Drew was certainly associated by blood to Slade.

  Andrea gestured for one of the guards to move over by the door. He did, taking a peak outside, then nodding to Andrea.

  Andrea rubbed her eyes. They were tired, a little swollen and bloodshot. Whatever she’d been up to, it sure as heck wasn’t sleep. “Sorry. We’ve been trying to locate you for weeks, Drew, per your mother’s orders. If she were to die, we were authorized to find you and implement the plan. We’ve been looking for you, so we can take you to safety.

  Drew frowned. What in the actual heck was she on about?

  “We are to take you to safety, if and only if, your mother gave you pertinent details before she passed. And, according to our sources deep inside her assisted living center, we have confirmation that she did relay the relevant data to you.”

  “Something my mother told me has kept me safe?” Drew looked around, confused.

  “Close. Something your mother told you will keep you safe. We are to take you to safety.”

  Still made no sense. “Why didn’t you get me right after she died?”

  “We tried. You weren’t there. We now know that you took quite a long road trip, which brought you here, to Whitefish, Montana.” She tapped the table as if emphasizing her point. “And here we are now.”

  “I was sitting on my ass for four days in my Charlotte home after she was killed.”

  Andrea jerked slightly when Drew said killed. Why would she do that if she knew what had happened to his mother at the assisted living center?

  Andrea blanched. The pause between her glancing away and glancing back at Drew signaled all he needed to know. She’d bungled something. But what? Drew concentrated hard, waiting for another tell to flit across her face. She claimed to be acting on orders from his dead mother, but hadn’t known she’d been murdered. Something didn’t add up.

  “I thought she died from natural causes,” said Andrea. “I didn’t know she was killed.”

  Drew blinked, doing his best to erase the memory of his mother’s death from his mind. “She was poisoned and died right in front of me.”

  “You’re sure she was poisoned?”

  “Damn sure. And, how—”

  Megan held up a hand, interrupting Drew. “Excuse me? Why exactly are you here and how did you track Drew down to this exact location?”

  Megan took the words out of his mouth.

  Andrea nodded. “Good question. I’m here to move Drew to a safe place. There are plenty of safe areas in the United States if you know where to look. He’s to help us re-seed the United States for the future generations. Otherwise, we won’t have much of a nation.”

  Megan tapped the table with her finger, also emphasizing her point, though more so her confusion. “What are you talking about?”

  Drew chimed in. “What I’m assuming, and what I accidently came upon during my investigations, is that much of the government fears a global warming catastrophe. Apparently, after global warming spikes and after the water rises significantly, we immediately and suddenly fall into an Ice Age. The Earth’s water to land ratio changes so abruptly, the moon’s gravitational pull on the Earth’s rising oceans tilts the Earth in a way that spins us directly into an ice age.” He gesticulated with his hands, excited to talk about his Uncle Jaxx’s research. He dug pretty deep after reading Jaxx’s Ph.D. The stuff was fascinating. “This apparently is cyclical and has happened over eight times in the last million years. Let’s just say Earth is used to it. I’ve heard my uncle Jaxx say this before, but now I know the meaning…it’s all about gravity.”

  “Yes,” responded Andrea. “And with that comes earth changes you won’t believe. Even though there are safe places in the United States, we are still going underground during the first few years of the polar shift.”

  Megan moved in her seat. “Hold on. You didn’t answer my question. How did you find Drew at this specific location?”

  “Let’s go,” said one of the body guards. He held up his wrist and put a finger on his watch. “We don’t have much time.”

  Andrea stood. “Understood.” She held out her hand for Drew to take it. “If you want to bring your friend here, you can.”

  “I have a request,” he said.

  “No more talking, Andrea.” The other guard stepped forward. “We have to move.”

  “We have a little more time. Don’t worry about that,” she told the guard. She gathered herself and folded her hands in front of her. She leaned in toward Drew. “Yes?”

  “Before I go with you, take the rest of the people in the city and evacuate them to a safe place.” He glanced up. “I don’t know if you haven’t noticed, but we’re being bombarded by big-ass ships. Please take the people of Whitefish to a safe place.” Most of all, he was thinking of Mya.

  “That’s the plan.” Andrea reached into her coat and pulled out a picture. The picture was old and Drew could tell it was taken from a camera back in the nineties before cell phones. She handed the picture to Drew.

  Three people were in the picture, all hippies. One was a woman with blond hair, holding a baby. A man sat beside the woman. He was scruff, toned, and looked as uncomfortable in his clothing as he was uncomfortable with his long, bushy hair and beard. The guy stared at the camera like he wanted to rip it apart and throw it to the bottom of the sea.

  A second woman stood next to the woman holding the baby. She was younger than the other two, perhaps ten years younger, and definitely in her teens. She had brown hair, much like Andrea’s and stared at the baby with love, care, and excitement. Drew could tell she wanted to hold the child.

  “The woman holding the baby is Laura, your mom. The woman next to your mom is me. And the man next to your mom, is your dad. He was quite a bit older than your mom, at least by ten years. His name was Colonel Slade Roberson—”

  Of all names, Drew didn’t want to hear Slade. “I know my dad’s name. He—”

  Megan gasped. “The guy who took all the politicians off planet?”

  Drew nodded.

  Megan rested her elbows on the table. “I don’t know if I should thank your dad or shoot the prick.”

  Andrea straightened her lips. “Shall we get going?”

  Drew remained seated, hesitating…thinking. “No. We need Mya. I’m not leaving without her. I have to find her and her dad. Then we can get going.”

  A guard leaned his hip against the bar. “We know where she is. We’ll get her on our way to our transport.”

  Drew and Megan looked at each other, then gave a sideways glance to Andrea. He didn’t want to say it out loud, but he sure as hell hoped Megan had heard the gorilla in a uniform use the word “transport.” They weren’t being escorted from Whitefish, they were b
eing abducted.

  Andrea immediately noticed her guard’s mistake and back peddled, her eyebrows raised. “Mya’s safe. You’re all going to be safe. Just do as I say. Follow me and you’ll be…”

  “Safe. Yeah, I heard. Strange how the more you say it the less I believe you.” Drew’s antennae were all on high alert. Something wasn’t right.

  Megan lifted her rifle and pointed it at Andrea. Drew pushed off the table, standing, and backing away from Andrea and her guards.

  Andrea put her arms up. “Drew, we don’t want any trouble.”

  Megan slowly moved to her right, making her way toward the steps that went down to the basement. “Drew, follow me and get that weird phaser gun you left down in the basement. And wake Carl. Kick him if you have to.” She inched closer to the steps. “I’ll wait up here and I ain’t moving my sights from the doctor here.” She glanced at one of the guards. “You hear that? If you shoot, this Andrea bitch gets it.”

  Drew cautiously made his way toward the stairs, eyeing Andrea the entire way. “Tell me, who are you really?”

  Andrea dropped her hands by her side. “Your friend here will die if you do not come with us.” She snapped her fingers a few times and the guards unholstered their odd-looking guns and targeted Megan’s head.

  Megan moved her finger closer to the trigger and closed one eye, aiming at Andrea’s chest. “Do it, bitch.”

  20

  J-Quadrant, Solar System - East Rise, Callisto

  The room was empty, filled with darkness, or was that just Jaxx’s mind playing tricks on him? The last and only time he felt like this was when he had a bad LSD trip.

  He held onto the sides of his head and crouched on the floor. The electric energy bars surrounded him, keeping him captive, surging ambient blue light and flashing every so often as if zapping a bug.

  A screaming terror ran through his ears like fingernails down a chalkboard accompanied with a cat screeching bloody murder. The sounds filled his body, jolted his nerves, and squeezed his heart with a vice grip.

  It was unbearable.

  He wanted to vomit, anything to get this feeling out of him. If he’d had a knife, he’d have slit his own throat just to be away from this sensation for a few seconds.

  He turned in a circle in his crouched position, seeing dark humanoid shadows in the room, coming toward him, wanting to suck every inch of life from him. They melted, oozing into a thick, black mess, reminding him of gallons of spilt black ink. They slithered his way.

  Were they real? He shook his head and closed his eyes tightly. He slapped the side of his head. Opening his eyes, the shadows were gone.

  He dug into the implant behind his ears. He pulled, twisted, and scratched at it. It wouldn’t budge.

  Fight this, Jaxx. Fight this, he told himself. He was caught in Okbak’s grip by way of the Kelhoon mental implant.

  If he could just doze off, sleep for a few hours, then he could concentrate better. Every attempt to fall asleep ended the same way. He was electrified, thousands of volts surging through his muscles, ligaments, and tendons.

  Why didn’t he let his friends help him? Why did he think he could do this all on his own? He shook his head, and slapped his cheeks again.

  Okbak, on the other hand, wasn’t so bad, wasn’t so negative. He felt the thought sneak into his consciousness; it had a different feel, a different mental taste to his own thoughts, and yet it marched forward as if it had been invited in. These Kelhoon have a right to commit genocide on the Atlanteans, and to use humans as food and slaves. It is just the nature of life. Life is cyclical. Some must die so others might live.

  “No,” yelled Jaxx. He contorted his face, then whacked his ears. “Do not fall for their tricks.” The implant was doing its job, placing new thoughts—positive thoughts—about the Kelhoon in his mind. It was lying to him, convincing Jaxx to lie to himself. And in time, Jaxx would believe those lies…unless he could rip this implant off his skin.

  Use the Chi. Use it, he chided himself. But how? He could barely think on his own, let alone bring up energy for his benefit. For all he knew, the Chi would backfire and cause mayhem, even penetrating deep into Callisto’s core, blowing the moon to shit.

  He shook his head violently, almost laughing. The implant was putting more dangerous thoughts into his brain. The last thing it would want would be Jaxx channeling Chi.

  “Screw it,” he said, clenching his jaw. He let out a growl and threw his arms in the air. He took in a deep, forced breath. “I can do it.” He stood and widened his stance.

  You can’t do it.

  He fell to the ground. “You’re right. I can’t.” He groveled on the floor, tears pouring out of his eyes, the side of his face smashed against the concrete flooring. “I’m hopeless.”

  He sniffed and wiped his eyes. “No. I’m Jaxx.” He pushed himself up.

  Don’t be silly.

  He bounced his head up and down, pulling his hair, agreeing with his own thoughts. He was being silly. In no way would it be intelligent to use Chi. It’d kill the entire galaxy in minutes if he wasn’t able to contain it, channel it, put it to its proper use.

  “What? That can’t be.” He paced in a circle.

  He crouched and put his head in his hands. “Stop.” Screams ran through his mind and he rubbed his legs frantically. If he just let go, let the implants control his emotions, his movements, his very opinions, everything would be fine. No more pain, no more screams.

  It would be easier.

  Jaxx liked easy.

  “No, I don’t like easy.”

  You do. Easy takes away suffering. Easy gives you patience. Easy helps your friends.

  He stomped the ground. “No more.” Okbak would not win this. He brought in all the energy he could muster, pulling it up from his solar plexus to behind his ears. He squeezed his fists together, veins popping out of his forearms and forehead. “You will not win, Okbak.”

  The oval device sparked, then fizzed. The internal screaming inside Jaxx’s mind died, the pain searing every facet of his body diminished, and the darkness faded.

  He took a deep breath, gathered himself, and wiped the sweat from his brow. He smelled something burning. He looked around, trying to find the source. He glanced up. A trail of smoke wafted toward the ceiling. He checked the ground. It wasn’t coming from there. He looked at the energy bars surrounding him. There was a steam that rose from them, but that wasn’t it. Where was it coming from?

  He turned his head, feeling a stream of smoke touch the back of his ear for moment. He brought his hand up and touched the oval device behind his ear. It was warm and definitely the source.

  Not good. The trauma of short-circuiting the device had stupefied him, momentarily. How could he have not known the smoke was coming from him?

  Boots clanked against the ground outside. Someone was coming.

  He took a step back to bring himself close enough to the electric bars that by chance the smoke could be hidden in the singeing and sparking electricity around him, and perhaps in the steam rising. If anyone saw the smoke, they’d know he’d sabotaged the device. He couldn’t let that happen.

  The door clicked.

  Kreeeeeeeen!

  In stepped Kajka Okbak. He slammed the door shut behind him.

  Jaxx stood straight. “Ready for orders, sir.”

  Okbak dipped his head. “Good. You will stay in here until I deem it necessary that you are completely under my control. Do you understand, young human?”

  The device’s language translator still operated with perfection, yet the mind-controlling aspect was either out of commission, or blocked.

  “Yes, Prime Chieftain.” Jaxx didn’t know if what he was saying was Kelhoon protocol or absolute bullshit. If it was bullshit, Okbak didn’t seem to notice.

  “In the meantime, I have a proposition I’m taking into consideration. You’re the key to the pyramid network across the galaxy. A network created by the Ancients. I could either keep you and use you for my rac
e’s benefit, or I could sell you for my own benefit. You’re worth a lot in galactic credits. You’d be the most expensive slave ever sold in Kelhoon history. I’d be a legend.”

  “Do as you please, Master.” Jaxx did everything he could not to twitch a muscle and to keep his eyes on Okbak. But could Okbak not see the smoke or smell it? He wanted to close his eyes and call Zara, Fox, Rivkah…anyone to come and help him escape. Zara was right. He shouldn’t have gone it alone.

  He concentrated on Okbak’s eyes and whispered for Zara, Kiyo-zan, and Fox in his mind. Help me. My cell stands unguarded and when it’s under guard, only a few Kelhoon stand watch. There has to be another way to turn off the energy bars around me. When you find the way, and disengage the bars’ electrical charge, come get me.

  Okbak covered his hand over his ear. He nodded, his eyes conveying a tinge of surprise. “He is here now? Let him come forward.” He crossed his arms and gave a screwed-up smile in Jaxx’s direction—if you could call it a smile. His sharp, yellow-stained teeth and crooked upturned mouth looked more like a facial tick, but Jaxx knew it was supposed to mimic a smile, not something you came across often when dealing with the Kelhoon.

  “How much he offers will determine my decision,” said Okbak. He didn’t explain who “he” was.

  The door creaked open and a man in a full robe, his hood covering his face, walked in. The door shut behind him. He bowed to Okbak, then turned and bowed to Jaxx. A loud, mechanical laugh came from the man, like a saw cutting steel.

  Jaxx forced himself to remain absolutely still, in spite of the summersaults his stomach was executing.

  The newest visitor to Jaxx’s cell gave a few more cackles and sniffed. He flipped off his hood. It was Taz, his blue-gray skin flaking off his face, and his eyes burned a hole through Jaxx. “Before I hand over the majority of Agadon assets, in exchange for this stinking chunk of human meat, I must ask you, Kajka Okbak, why does my future prisoner have smoke pouring out of his head?”