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- Herausgeber: Next Chapter
- Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
- Sprache: Englisch
Brian Elliot is nobody special; an ordinary cook in an all-night diner. His life changes when he finds himself transported to a world full of magic and strange, mythical creatures.
Persecuted by an unknown enemy and aided by a mysterious ally, Brian must find a way to survive a situation he doesn’t understand. Fortunately, he befriends a mercenary along the way who helps him to stay alive while he tries to unravel the mystery.
But how can he find the answers when he doesn’t even understand the questions? Is he just a pawn, or does he have a more important role to play?
An epic fantasy adventure, 'The Flames Of The Phoenix' is the first book in The Chronicles of Sélanados series by Adam Watts.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022
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THE FLAMES OF THE PHOENIX
THE CHRONICLES OF SÉLANADOS
BOOK ONE
ADAM K. WATTS
Copyright (C) 2022 Adam K. Watts
Layout design and Copyright (C) 2022 by Next Chapter
Published 2022 by Next Chapter
Edited by Graham (Fading Street Services)
Cover art by CoverMint
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the author's permission.
CONTENTS
Map of Sélanados
Characters
I. Spring
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
II. Through Summer
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
III. Into Autumn
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
IV. Winter Descends
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
V. Spring Returns
Chapter 59
Places
Races
Government Structure
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Map of Sélanados
CHARACTERS
Akus Ibrovo (male) - (Ah-koos Ee-bro-vo) Lord Justice of the Valikaran High Council.
Arlown (male) - (Ahr-lone) Creator of the world of Valikara.
Arunti Mahan (male) - (Ah-roon-tea Mah-hahn) Son of Imei Mahan.
Banten Kerigos (male) - (Ban-ten Kair-ee-gose) High Lord. Vice-chairman of the Valikaran High Council.
Bardos Garanea (male) - (Bar-dose Gair-ah-nay) Chief Justice, chairman of the Justice Council.
Benni-Lar (male) - (Benny Lahr) Sélantu warrior.
Bragolin (male) - (Brahg-o-leen) Lord Justice of the Valikaran High Council. Dwarf.
Brian Elliott (male) - From Earth.
Brinta (female) - (Breen-tah) Friend/contact of Neevas. Dwarf.
Korinti Kutan (female) - (Ko-reen-tee Koo-tahn) First Lord Justice of the Valikaran High Council.
Delisi Duralon (female) - (Day-lee-see Doo-rah-lone) Lord Regent of the Valikaran High Council.
Du-Dea Hiril (female) - (Doo Day-uh Hee-reel) The Dark Lady.
Eelura Kalad (female) - (Ee-loo-rah Kah-lahd) Lord Keeper of the Valikaran High Council.
Ellisorien, King (male) - (Ay-lee-so-ree-ehn) King of the Elves.
Faelerant (male) - (Fay-lay-rahnt) General of Elvin army.
Galenten Grij (male) - (Gah-layn-ten Grizh) Vice-Captain of the Valikaran City Guard.
Giltor (male) - (Geel-tor) Lord Keeper of the Valikaran High Council. Elf.
Glané (male) - (Glah-nay) Regent of Healing at the city of Sanisse-Miriel.
Halten (male) - (Hall-ten) One of Rheeso Kylan’s men in Raldoon.
Huxley, Baron - Minor noble of Raldoon.
Harza Lozu (female) - (Har-zuh Low-zoo) Lord Regent of the Valikaran High Council.
Imei Mahan (male) - (Ee-may-ee Mah-han) Chief Regent, chairman of the Regent’s Assembly.
Imrik (male) - (Eem-reek) Scout in the Elvin army.
Janin Romei (male) - (Jah-neen Ro-may) King of Valikara, Chairman of the High Council.
Jura Aksu (female) - (Joo-rah Ahk-soo) Chief Keeper, chairman of the Keeper’s Commission.
Kal-An (male) - (Kahl-ahn) King of the Sélantu.
Kazlen Vor (male) - (Kahz-lehn Vor) Captain of Valikaran security (intelligence) and the king’s Master-At-Arms.
Kris (Kristiana) Morrow - Brian’s fiancé/girlfriend. From Earth.
Krol (male) - (Krole) Sélantu warrior.
Linarik (male) - (Leen-ah-reek) General of Dwarven armies.
Masuda Yoshi, General (male) - General of the armies of Aido.
Mefano, Lord (male) - High-ranking nobleman from Zarwad’n.
Mitsuko Tokuda (female) - Granddaughter of the Emperor of Aido. (Name is shown English-style.)
Molch, Captain (male) - Captain of the Valikaran ship “Sea Siren.”
Naring (male) - (Nah-reeng) Elf woodsman and warrior.
Neej-An (male) - (Neejh-Ahn) Leader of the band of Sélantu that travel with Brian. Youngest prince of the Sélantu.
Neesha (female) - (Nee-shah) Of the race of Sélantu. Love interest for Toshin.
Neevas (male) - (Nee-vahs) Dwarf technician.
Noliana Thev (female) - (No-lee-ah-na Thayv) Empress of the Air. Ruler of the floating city of Zarwad’n.
Odemi Rocas (male) - (Oh-day-mee Ro-kahs) Captain of the Valikaran City Guard.
Oron Gartok (male) - (Oh-rone Gahr-toke) First Lord Regent of the Valikaran High Council.
Rheeso Kylan (male) - Leader of a resistance group in Raldoon.
Riley Stuart (male) - Main supporting character. From Earth.
Shar (male) - (Shahr) Sélantu warrior.
Takanaka Kitazaki (male) - Emperor of Aido. (Name is shown English-style.)
Terlan (male) - (Tayr-lahn) Neevas’ boss. Dwarf.
Tom Bombadil (male) - Earthman, wizard. Real name not known.
Toshin (male) - From Aido, which is an island south of Valikara.
Tumoko (female) - Servant in the imperial palace of Aido.
Tuorith (male) - (Too-oh-reeth) Scout in Elvin army.
Turan Wejo (male) - (Tour-an Wee-jo) General of military operations of Valikara.
Turinel (male) - (Tou-reen-ehl) Scout in Elvin army, friend of Naring.
Venil Dobran (male) - (Vay-neel Do-brahn) First Lord Keeper of the Valikaran High Council.
Ventran (male) - (Vayn-trahn) King of the Dwarves.
Yoshi Masuda (male) - General of the Armies of Aido. (Name is shown English-style.)
In Memory of Kathy Blount.
The breeze that blows across the land
Fills sails with wind and men with hope.
SPRING
CHAPTERONE
The sweat flowed freely down his trim, compact body and dark patches showed where it soaked through his shirt and the waistband of his shorts. The sting of salt in his eyes did not intrude upon his awareness. Nothing could distract him from his precise variations of thrust and parry. What had started as a simple practice match—first point wins—had gone on for over forty minutes. As a student, and later as sensei, Riley Stuart often practiced for hours at a time. This development of body and mind inured him to fatigue.
All other movement on the practice floor had long since ceased, as every face turned in silent awe at the movement of the slim, wooden Japanese-style practice swords. Swordsmanship was a rare skill in modern times. They knew Major Braithewaite to be the best swordsman on Astral-One, and the fact that he had failed to score on his opponent for forty minutes, despite the advantage of height and reach, made them look curiously at the new man.
Upon first meeting the major, Riley decided he did not like the man; not his haughty contempt for others, nor the way he enjoyed belittling people. He was a bully, plain and simple. When this opportunity presented itself for a match, on only his second day at the facility, he gladly took it, intending to work out his annoyance by besting Braithewaite where the major stored most of his pride. Normally good-natured and considerate of others, Riley did occasionally provide those who were less than considerate with an ample dose of their own medicine. Turn-about being, after all, fair play.
When Riley entered the martial arts practice area and saw Major Braithewaite abusing a young mercenary who was obviously a novice, he reacted automatically. He provided the major with a new target—himself.
“Try me,” he suggested after watching Braithewaite brutally knock the man down for the fourth time. Surprised, the major had turned his mocking tone on him.
“You can use a sword?”
Riley shrugged. “First point wins?”
“Just one point?” The major laughed. “This should be quick.”
As it turned out, the major handled a sword quite well. But he was not sensei—he was not a master. However, years and experience taught Riley to never underestimate his opponent and the rash bravado of youth had long since been tempered to a hard yet flexible approach, like the forging of a samurai sword. Riley could have won the match quickly, yet he prolonged the outcome; not scoring. He touched arms and legs but avoided the scoring areas.
Riley watched Braithewaite closely and saw the frustration build, saw him struggling to control himself as his injured pride goaded his volatile nature and threatened to loose a blind rage. The major’s movements became forced and frantic as he began to tire. Riley guessed that it had been so long since the major had found a real challenge that the man could not accept the possibility that anyone could beat him. He had obviously never learned rule number one: never take anything for granted. Riley gave silent thanks to the Japanese sensei that had ingrained that lesson in his own mind through his years of study. Sensing that the major’s inner struggle had reached its peak, Riley decided it was time to push him over the edge.
“You’re not bad at all,” he said with no deviation from his fluid movements. “But you’re slowing down. You need to work on your endurance a little.”
“You’ll instruct me?” the major exploded, his eyes wide in shock. He launched himself at Riley in a wild and uncontrolled attack.
Little more than a blur, Riley’s weapon was suddenly everywhere at once. His first strike obliquely separated Braithewaite from his weapon. The second smacked him across the chest, bringing him to a full stop. Then in one swooping motion, he struck the back of the major’s knees to land him on his back, out of wind, with the wooden sword point against his throat.
Riley stepped back. “Sure, I’ll instruct you,” he said, grinning amiably down at him as though agreeing to a request. “Or anyone else for that matter. All you had to do was ask. That’s what I usually end up doing, you know,” he added mildly, “giving instruction to those of lesser skill.”
The major rose, his expression livid. Hatred burned bright in his eyes as he glared at Riley. Turning wordlessly, he left the practice floor. The door echoed as it closed behind him.
Not a bad day, Riley thought, I'm glad I got up this morning after all.
A voice broke the silence, “Did you really mean that? You'll teach anyone?”
“With pleasure,” Riley replied as he turned to face the bruised young mercenary who had spoken. “Hand-to-hand, blades, guns, lasers, and a few other things, mostly mixed martial arts. Or I can teach you any number of styles.” He glanced around at the faces. Speaking louder he said, “I'm new around here, can anybody tell me where I can get a beer?”
The men responded with mixed laughter as the room began to breathe again for the first time in over forty minutes. Some went back to their drills, others headed for the showers.
There was no beer on Astral-One.
CHAPTERTWO
Brian Elliott’s feet ached. He climbed the dark stairs to his second-story apartment as though in a fog and fumbled the keys at the lock. He hated his job. Still, he was lucky to have one. If he got too sick of restaurant work he could always go the route most had gone after the big computer crash had left companies too frightened to rely on such vulnerable technology. He could always enlist.
Brian only occasionally wondered why he had not been drafted along with all the other healthy male seventeen- to twenty-five-year-olds. He had filed the registration forms as required and that had been the end of it. It was probably just another cluster of data that had been left useless in the aftermath of the computer virus wars. Brian felt little disappointment or curiosity. He had long since ceased caring about the insane political and economic struggles of the world beyond the scope of his own meager paycheck.
Brian got the door open and stepped inside. Closing it, he flipped the light switch, frowning when the light failed to respond. He recalled the dark stairs and that the lights had been out on the street as well.
He hated showering in the dark. He wanted to be free of the kitchen grime but was too tired to bother with it. Especially in the dark. It was time to wash the sheets again, anyway. Returning the switch to the “off” position so he wouldn’t be woken if the power returned while he was sleeping, he made his way cautiously across the darkened room when the phone rang.
Groping for the phone, almost dropping it, he answered, “Yeah?”
“Brian? It’s me.”
The soft contralto belonged to Kristiana Morrow, the one bright spot in his life; the only thing that made him question his lot in life and yearn for something more. They had been seeing each other for over a year. He wanted to marry her, but they had not spoken of it. He wanted to have something to show—something to offer her besides being married to a cook at an all-night diner.
“I wasn’t sure when you’d be in,” she said. “I thought you might have to stay longer again with the blackout and all.”
“Nah, I lucked out. It must have hit right after I left. I just walked in the door.” The last time there had been a blackout, Brian had been asked to watch the place and then clean up everything once power was back.
“How about some breakfast tomorrow?” she asked.
“Breakfast?” The thought of an early rise made Brian wince.
“Yeah, breakfast. You know,” she teased, “it’s that meal that people eat in the morning?”
“Oh, yeah. I think I’ve heard about that. How about lunch instead?”
“That’ll work.”
“Something up?” he asked her.
“Well, I’ve got some news I wanted to talk to you about.”
“You can’t tell me about it now?”
“Nope. Not over the phone,” she said cheerfully. “You’ll just have to wait.”
“Alright,” Brian sighed. “What time do you want me to come by?”
“How about noon?” she suggested.
“How about one?” he asked hopefully.
“You must be pretty tired.”
“Yeah, these twelve-hour shifts are starting to get to me. I'm falling asleep right now.”
“Okay,” she relented, “I'll compromise. Twelve-thirty.”
“How about one-thirty?” Silence. “No, huh?”
“No, huh.” The amusement had evaporated from her voice.
“Okay,” he said. “I'll see you tomorrow at twelve-thirty.”
“I love you.”
“Me too.”
“You love you too?”
“No. Me love you too. Now stop tormenting me and let me go to sleep.”
“Oh, all right. Get some sleep.”
“Thank you. G'night.”
He heard her chuckling as she hung up the phone. He smiled, seeing her face in his mind. He peeled off his work clothes and tossed them in the hamper. He climbed into bed and was asleep moments later.
The dream came to him then. The same dream. It had visited him nearly every night for weeks.
It began with a vaguely familiar voice talking to him from the mist. Calling him. Warning him. Urging him to hurry before it was too late. There was someplace he had to go.
Go where?
Valikara.
What's Valikara?
Your destiny.
I don't understand.
In time…
Then the voice left him, and his sleeping mind was assaulted by images of destruction. Fire blazed intensely and the screams of the dying sent him fleeing to consciousness. He woke in a cold sweat.
“Shit,” he croaked, his pulse racing. Gradually it slowed and his breathing returned to normal. He sighed heavily and ran his fingers through his dank hair. “Why do I keep having these dreams?” he asked himself aloud, trying to reassure himself with the sound of his own voice.
“In time…”
Brian froze, his anxiety a sudden knot in the pit of his stomach. The dream voice had answered him, and he was awake!
Quietly, he slipped from his bed. Reaching the wall switch he flipped on the light, noting vaguely that the power was back on. He stood alone in the room. He checked the rest of the small apartment. Empty. Yet he had heard a voice.
Uneasily he returned to bed. This time, he slept undisturbed.
The repeated smack of a rubber ball on the pavement below his apartment slowly brought Brian from his slumber. He opened his eyes and regretted it as the light brought him more fully awake.
Smack!
He squinted at the clock, noting with a scowl that it was not even close to when he had planned to wake up.
Smack!
He rolled to a sitting position.
Smack!
That was going to drive him crazy.
Smack!
He went to the stereo and queued up an old Gypsy Kings album to help him wake up and to drown out the sound of that damned ball.
He had hoped to get more sleep. He did feel somewhat rested, but the dream had left him disquieted. He shaved and showered quickly, feeling better once he had scraped the previous day’s grime from his body.
He dressed and, answering a vague pang in his stomach, went to the kitchen only to stare glumly at the meager contents of his bare refrigerator. Then he recalled that he was out of coffee as well. Disgusted, he turned off the stereo and left the apartment.
Without thinking, he found himself heading to the used bookstore on the other side of the nearby park. In a lot of ways, e-books were more convenient, but Brian liked the feel of a good book in his hands. After making a side trip to the coffee shop next door to get a large mocha, he entered the store and went toward the paperback fiction section. The mousy clerk behind the counter was the only other person in the small store and she flashed him a shy smile as he walked by. He browsed the shelves, thinking that a Philip K. Dick story might suit his mood. Ah! There we go, he thought, spying a collection of short stories by the author. He reached for the book.
Smack!
Brian’s head jerked around at the sound. A book lay in the middle of the aisle several feet from him.
He picked it up and glanced at the title. “The History of Valikara.” Valikara?
Echoes of a dream… your destiny.
Brian looked around uncomfortably; no one was nearby. He wanted to throw the book down and run. Something was happening that he did not understand; something that did not fit into his clear-cut, black and white view of reality. It left a sickly feeling in his stomach.
Just a coincidence, he thought, trying to convince himself. I’ll read the book and find out it’s just coincidence.
Holding onto that thought and feeling better, he took the book to the counter and handed it to the clerk.
“That’s odd,” she said as she rang it up.
“What is?”
“Oh.” She looked embarrassed. “You were in the fiction section, right?”
“Yeah.”
She shrugged, her face red. “It must have been moved by a customer. That actually happens a lot.”
“What do you mean?” Brian asked, confused.
“Well, this is non-fiction,” she paused, looking up at him. “You still want it, though, right?”
“Uh… yeah.” The sick feeling had returned. “Yeah, I want it.” He gave her a twenty and pocketed the change.
Brian tried to organize his thoughts as he exited the bookstore and headed back through the park. Valikara? He was sure he had never heard of the place before his dreams. No, he thought. I must have heard of it. And someone moved it in the bookstore… they set it down on top of a stack and it slid off… I just happened to be there when it finally fell. Simple. The feeling in his stomach began to dissipate as he clutched at this explanation.
Smack!
Brian started at the sound. He looked and saw two men standing near a couple of trees. Smack! Smack! One of the men packed his cigarettes, striking the butt of the hard-pack into the palm of his left hand.
Brian sighed, I’m getting way too jumpy.
He sat on a nearby bench and tried to quiet his nerves. The warm sun felt good on his face, and he thumbed through the beginning of the book. What he read there made him look back at the “non-fiction” designation on the cover. Incredibly, the book claimed that Valikara was a continent on the world of Sélanados, and that this world had been created by a man from Earth!
Skeptically, Brian read on. The book said that the man, Arlown, had lived during the Earth’s final years, in the time of its Armageddon.
Okay, Brian thought. The cover was marked wrong. This is fiction after all.
The text further informed him that Arlown had died and gone to the heaven of his beliefs. Arlown had eventually found this to be boring and decided to create a world of his own to alleviate his boredom, he just needed to find out how.
Brian paused in his reading. Regardless of whether the book was fact or fiction, it would be interesting to be able to create a world from scratch. What would I do? he mused. How would he create the perfect world? What stories and myths would he draw from? What cultures would he recreate?
Not far from where Brian sat, the man with the cigarettes lit another one, leaning against one of a pair of trees. His companion stood near the other, only a few feet from the first. A third man walked toward them. Deep in thought, Brian absently followed the man with his eyes. His mind snapped to attention as the man stepped between the two trees and vanished!
Brian looked closer. The first two men had not moved. He glanced around to see if anyone else appeared to have seen anything, but the park seemed deserted. The air between the trees was slightly hazy. He shook his head, dismissing the disappearing man as a trick of the sun and returned to the book. He skipped ahead, looking for the details of what had been created for the world. Specific information was hard to find in the text, it just did not seem to flow right. One strange passage caught his attention and he read from the page.
Arlown walked upon the world of his creation and looked into the hearts of men and saw that humans have in them both good and bad impulses. He wished to free himself of all that was not good, so he removed from himself that aspect from which negative thoughts and ideas are born.
Yet discarding such does not cause it to dissipate, and over time these discarded impulses coalesced into a being, and that being formed itself opposite in all ways to Arlown, hating him for casting it aside. Where he was good, it was evil. Where he was male, it was female. Where he wished to build, it wished to destroy. Where he wished to give his world enlightenment, it would bring only darkness.
When Arlown saw what had been created by his action, he mourned for his world and the peril he had placed upon it. Then he knew that to overcome his negative aspects he must accept them, not cast them aside or succumb to them; in knowing them completely they would lose all power over him. He then determined that he must somehow draw the evil back into himself without being overcome in the process.
What the hell is that about? Brian wondered. Best to go back to where I left off at the beginning.
Glancing up from the book, he noticed that the two men still stood as if rooted to the ground next to the trees. Out of the corner of his eye he picked up movement. He turned his head curiously and saw two more men, one several yards ahead of the other, walking across the grass. His eyes narrowed when he saw that they were heading straight for the two trees.
As the first man drew near, he exchanged nods with the waiting men. Without slowing he stepped between the two trees and was gone.
Brian’s curiosity peaked. He rose, shoved the book into his back pocket, and started for the trees. As he closed on his objective from the side, the second walking man stepped between the trees and disappeared.
One of the leaning men turned to the other. “That was the last one. Now our turn.”
With that, the two men turned to step between the trees. Brian quickened his pace and stepped through, barely a breath behind them.
Briefest blackness—Brian stood in a corridor that branched out in several directions.
“—urn off the portal,” one of the men stood speaking into a device on his wrist. “Field test successful.” He glanced over his shoulder and jumped when he saw Brian. “Shit!”
“What was that, Roberts?” a voice came from his wrist.
“Just a moment, sir.”
Both men drew instruments that appeared to be some sort of high-tech weapons from beneath their coats.
“What are you doing here?” Roberts demanded.
Brian had been too caught up in the moment to even ask himself that question. He fumbled for an answer, “I saw those men disappear. I was curious.” He shrugged.
“I saw him in the park,” the second man said. “He was sitting on a bench. Reading.”
“Roberts,” the voice came again, “respond immediately!”
Roberts looked at his companion. The man shook his head. “Jefferson’s gonna have our ass for this one.”
Roberts nodded and spoke into his wrist device, “It seems we have an uninvited guest, sir.”
After a moment, the voice came again, “I think you better clarify that, Roberts.”
Roberts turned away from Brian and began speaking in lower tones into his communicator.
“What is this place?” Brian asked the second man. The man glared at him but said nothing.
His report evidently concluded, Roberts turned back to Brian. “It looks like you’ll be the first person to try out our jail.”
“Hey.” Brian stepped back. “Why don’t I—”
“This way.” Roberts indicated one of the corridors with his weapon.
The grim looks on the two men’s faces convinced Brian that he had no other choice. They led him through a maze of corridors and down stairwells. Finally, they came to a section that had small rooms lining both sides of the hall. The rooms appeared to have wide doorways with no doors.
“Welcome to the detainment sector,” Roberts said. “In there.” He motioned Brian toward the first room on the right.
Brian stepped into the room. The furnishings were not lavish. A table and chair of wood, and a bed that was a square wood frame with slats and a mattress that looked incredibly uncomfortable.
“Stand back,” the second man called out. “If you’ve got anything metal on you, I’d keep it well away from the doorway. And metal or not, you won’t want to get too close to it yourself.” He turned a key in a panel on the wall outside Brian's cell. As he removed the key, a crackling, followed by a steady hum, came from the entryway. Taking the key, the two men started down the hall, leaving Brian alone in the chamber.
“Wait!” he called. “How long am I supposed to stay in here?”
“No telling,” Roberts answered him. “You've really kicked up a hornet's nest. The big boys here are pretty paranoid about security, and this is the first breach we've had. They're gonna nail my hide to the wall over it unless I can do some fast talking. As for you…” he shrugged.
“Don't I get a phone call or something?”
Roberts emitted a short bark that may have been a laugh. “No.” Both men turned and left.
Brian looked glumly around the cell. The clock on the wall said 12:30.
“Well, Brian,” he said to himself, “you're late for lunch.”
CHAPTERTHREE
Riley returned to his quarters at the end of his duty shift. He had begun to feel restless at Astral-One. The initial curiosity that had drawn him to the place had faded.
It had been quite a while since Riley had taken a job even remotely close to mercenary work. Boredom and curiosity were about the only things that drove him anymore. That was what had prompted him to take this job.
Time to see about moving on, he thought. His new bosses would not be very happy about that, though. That was one of the rules; once you hired on, you were in for the duration. Security. Paranoia. Whatever.
None of the other mercenaries hired by Astral-One were experienced professionals. The professionals would not touch this job. After the pre-hiring briefing, they all avoided the “crazies” at Astral-One. Riley only stuck around to see what would happen when they actually tried to take him to “another world.”
That part had not been so crazy after all. He spent most of his off-duty time on the computers. He had managed to hack into restricted files and was learning everything he could about the theories and mechanics that made this place possible. At this point, Riley could work the equipment as competently as any of the technicians and could probably assemble one of the machines that created the portals if he had the parts, but he only grasped the basics of the actual theory.
Due to his previous experience, what little he had seen fit to share with them, they had made him a captain with promises of a promotion once he had been on board with the “team” for a while. The only benefits to this so far had been personal quarters with a private shower. The room was nothing fancy, but definitely better than bunking in the barracks with the rank and file.
Riley took off his uniform and turned on the tap for the shower. He would have liked to be able to follow up the shower with a hot bath. He had grown fond of the custom while in Japan.
I’ll find a way out of here, he thought. Watch and wait. I’ll have to be ready when an opportunity shows itself.
He stepped into the shower as the steam started to rise.
CHAPTERFOUR
The minutes ticked slowly by, and Brian’s anxiety mounted. He rose from the chair and began pacing back and forth in the cell. How long am I going to have to wait here? He wondered.
I need to calm down. He thought. This is just a misunderstanding. They’ll come back any minute and let me go home. Just relax.
Brian sat back in the chair, forcing himself to appear calm. When the chair grew too uncomfortable, he moved to the bed. He turned his attention to the entrance of the cell. It did not look as though anything actually barred his exit. He stood and walked toward the door. As he neared, he heard it crackle a bit and backed away.
He picked up the wooden chair and went back to the door. Cautiously he pushed the chair into the doorway. Immediately, the door crackled, and electricity shot from the perimeter of the doorframe to the chair in its midst. Brian pulled the chair back and examined the charring.
Thinking he might escape if he jumped through quick enough, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a penny. He flipped it through the door and watched. Electricity shot like a bolt of lightning and the penny landed in a molten lump on the floor of the hallway.
“And where would you go even if you could get out, eh Brian?” he asked himself.
He began pacing again and stopped himself. I need something to focus on, he thought. This waiting is going to drive me crazy.
Then he remembered the book. He pulled the book from his back pocket and decided to read it a bit more thoroughly.
What was happening? He leafed through the pages. Oh yeah, Arlown was going to talk to God. Whatever. This should be interesting.
God appeared before Arlown as a young and beautiful woman.
“Father?” Arlown asked uncertainly.
She smiled, amusement showing in her eyes. “I am called that. Yet, as a spiritual being, I have no physical form or sex. I appear as I choose at the time. What is your question?”
“I ask that You grant me the power to create a world.”
“Why do you ask for what you already have?” she asked.
“What do you mean?” Arlown asked, not understanding.
She smiled again. “What is written concerning what is and is not possible?”
“The Bible says that all things are possible with faith.”
“True.” She nodded. “If you truly believe, it is possible. But what is it that you must believe?”
“In You.”
“A popular misconception,” she conceded. “Do you remember hearing of faith healers when you were on Earth?” Arlown nodded to this. “Most were charlatans, but some were genuine and did accomplish healing. What caused the healing?”
“The healer's faith in You?”
“No. Many people with very strong faith in Me were unable to accomplish such healing. Many of the healers did not believe in Me at all, but their faith, their certainty that they could and would heal is what caused the healing. The certainty of the subject that they will be healed can be a determining factor as well. Jesus did say ‘woman, your faith has healed you,’ did he not?”
“Yes,” he answered. “You’re saying He spoke literally, her belief that even His unknowing touch would heal her is what healed her, not her faith in Him. So, was it her power or His that healed her?”
“Hers, but she believed that she had to touch Jesus for anything to occur; that her only route to the power was via something else. As with most people she could not accept that the power was her own directly, so she devised an acceptable ‘via’ for herself.”
“I thought that You were the only one with real power.”
“All beings that are sentient, whose essence lies in a soul or spirit rather than a physical form, have an infinite amount of power, whether they know how to use it or not. You already have all the power you could ever require; therefore, your request to me is superfluous.”
Brian paused in his reading for a moment. His mind reeled from the onslaught of information, which conflicted with everything he had ever been taught. Turning back to the book, he found that Arlown evidently shared his confusion.
“But the Bible says that all power derives from either You or Satan and—”
“As far as that goes the Bible also says that I created Satan, so ultimately all power whether good or evil would derive from me. None of that is true.”
“Not true? Then why is it in the Bible?”
“You'll have to check with the authors and editors on that. I didn't write your Bible. Men wrote it.”
“But why did you allow them to preach untruths?”
“It wasn’t my job to allow or disallow anything. Besides, it was mostly before my time.”
I can’t buy this, Brian thought. This is just a story—or somebody’s idea of a bad joke. He closed the book in irritation, determined to do something else; anything but read its nonsense. He looked around the cell. Nothing had changed, and the room provided no distraction to his helpless waiting. Eventually, his frustration got the better of him and he relented. He turned to the next line of the book when a flicker of movement caught his eye. He looked toward the doorway and saw a cowled figure standing beyond.
“Quickly,” it was a man's voice. “You must escape!” Beneath the hood of the loose robe, a gauzelike cloth covered the man’s face.
“What’s wrong with your face?” Brian asked.
“We do not have time for irrelevant questions,” the man answered. “You must leave this place at once.”
“Unless you have a key there's no way out of this cell,” Brian explained to him uncomfortably. “Besides, I'm sure they'll let me go home as soon as this is all cleared up.”
“They'll never let you leave.” There was something strangely familiar about the man's voice. “They think you are a spy. Generally speaking, spies are executed. Sometimes they are worked over first, for information. Sometimes not.”
“But I'm not a spy,” Brian pointed out, “so there's no reason not to let me go.”
“Oh, well then,” the man's tone turned mocking, “if you're not a spy you have nothing to worry about. I'm sure they'll accept your explanation and send you on your way, apologizing all the while for the terrible inconvenience you suffered over this simple misunderstanding of your breach of their very secret facility.”
Brian thought for a moment. “Okay, I get the picture,” he conceded, “but there's still no way out of the cell. Unless…” he looked at the man carefully, then indicated the doorway. “Do you have some way to turn this thing off?”
“There is a way.”
Brian listened and did as the man instructed. He removed the mattress and slats from the wood bed frame and stood it on end in front of the door. Dubiously, and with extreme caution, Brian pushed the frame into the wide doorway with two of the slats.
As the frame entered the deadly field, electricity sprang into action. Brian was amazed at the genius of his rescuer. The electricity went from the doorway to the bed frame, but not within the bed frame. The way out lay open, and he stepped safely through.
He reached out to shake the man’s hand, but his benefactor quickly jumped back out of reach. “No! You must never attempt to touch me,” the man ordered. “Everything I have done would be for nothing. I would be destroyed. It is not yet time for that.”
Before Brian could ask him what he was talking about, the man turned and started down the corridor. “This way!” he called.
Brian followed as they raced madly up and down corridors. He tried asking questions but was silenced. He followed on in exasperation. Finally, when it seemed the running would never stop, they came to a halt.
“There,” the man pointed, “before you is a doorway similar to the one you came through to come here. You must hurry; it is not a natural doorway and will not remain open much longer.”
Brian looked. He saw a shimmering in the air several feet in front of him.
Obstinately, he turned back to the man who had led him. “First, I want some answers.”
“There is no time. You must seek your answers in the book.”
“We’ll just have to make time,” Brian insisted. “Who the hell are you, and where does that go?” Brian jerked his thumb at the shimmering air. He would go no further without answers.
Evidently the man sensed this. He sighed.
“I am Arlown. That way leads to Valikara. There you will be safe from those who mean you harm. But the way is about to close. If you are not through in time you will be trapped.”
“You're Arlown?” Brian looked from the man to the shimmering air. “Hold on, I don't want to go to Valikara. I want to stay on Earth.”
“You are not presently on Earth, and that is the only way out of here.”
“And just where is here?” Brian demanded.
“These people are from your world. They are a technological society that foresaw that the Earth will soon face its Armageddon. To escape destruction they created this place, which they call Astral-One. They hired technicians to make it work and mercenaries to protect and police it.”
“How come no one knows about it? Someone must have seen it.”
“Because it lies in an alternate universe. No one else has the technology. These answers only lead to more questions and there is no more time.”
“This doesn’t make any sense. Why are you here? Why are you helping me?”
“My goal is the destruction of evil.”
“Bullshit!” Brian snapped. “Evil is just some abstract idea, not something that can be physically destroyed. That’s fantasy. In the real world, there’s no such thing as evil. What does all this have to do with me, anyway?”
“Is there no evil in your heart?”
The question stunned Brian in a way he could not understand.
“Behind you lies only death. That way,” Arlown pointed at the shimmering air, “leads to Valikara and a chance for life. It also leads to great danger. The Dark One will attempt to destroy you, and she may very well succeed.”
“Dark One? What—”
“I have said too much already,” Arlown stopped him. “By now your escape is known and they are searching for you. They may have the ability to track the anomalous energy fluctuations of the doorway to its destination. They may even be able to shut it down. Go through the door now!”
Brian's objections subsided when the sound of approaching feet grew loud in the corridor. He spun around as a dozen men in uniform turned the corner at a jog.
“Quickly Brian, before it fades!” Arlown shouted as a laser gun fired brimstone into the narrow passage.
Brian needed no more urgings. He turned and leapt through the shimmering air. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Arlown fade and disappear. Briefest blackness and he was through.
He looked behind him in time to see a shimmering in the air fade to nothing.
“Arlown!” he called.
No answer. He was alone.
CHAPTERFIVE
Riley Stuart stepped out of the shower and dried himself off. He wrapped the towel around his waist wishing for a kimono when the alarms sounded. Security breach? What the hell? He had become convinced the elaborate security precautions taken by Astral-One were complete paranoia. Maybe they were right after all. It was hard to believe.
He pulled a fresh blue uniform from his closet. He dressed quickly and headed toward his general quarters post. The shortest route to his post took him past the situation room.
“Stuart!” He heard Jefferson, the operations manager, call his name through the open doorway and turned back to enter the room. He glanced at the screen on the main terminal and his eyes widened at what he saw there.
“Stuart, you’ve got more field experience than most of our men. I want you to go with Braithewaite and his team to catch this guy.”
“Yes, sir.” This should be fun, Riley thought. The major’s hatred for him since their practice match had become intense.
Braithewaite obviously was not pleased. “There shouldn’t be a problem, sir. It might be better if Captain Stuart stayed on his post.”
“Don’t argue, major. Just take him along.”
CHAPTERSIX
Brian stood in a green meadow beneath an opalescent sun. Two moons, one red and the other blue, looked down at him through a lavender afternoon sky.
Brian took a step forward and stopped, uncertain how to proceed. Here he stood in a world unlike anything he had ever seen, but he had no idea where in it he was or where to go.
He remembered what Arlown had said; seek your answers in the book. He pulled out “The History of Valikara,” hoping to find a map of some sort so he could get an idea of what kind of mess he had gotten himself into. He kept his mind from Kris and what he could possibly say to her that would explain what had happened.
Finding a map listed in the table of contents he turned to the indicated page. There between the pages, he found a folded piece of paper. He opened it and was surprised to discover that it was a note to him.
Brian,
On this map is an X. That is the meadow you are in now. The dotted line is the path you must follow. At the end of that path lies safety from any who pursue. You will notice a second, smaller X, not far from the first along the dotted line. I have left something there for you. You should know it when you see it. It will give you an edge in this world.
You should remember that this world operates on slightly different principles than Earth. Something else, the days here are thirty hours long, with twenty-four days to the month, except for February (28 days). Years are the same length in hours as Earth, but only 292 days long. The sun rises in the west here—don’t let that throw you.
That's all for now,
Arlown.
Brian's mind began working fast, like wheels spinning helplessly in the mud. Slowly, he got a grip on himself, though understanding still escaped him.
At this point, he could safely assume that his finding of the book and his roundabout arrival on this new world had not been a coincidence. Neither fate nor chance had directed his path. Arlown, or whoever the faceless man really was, had somehow engineered it. Manipulated it. If they met again, Brian intended to find out why.
Just then, Brian heard a sharp crackle that subsided into a faint hum. He looked toward the sound and saw a shimmering spot in the air. Recognizing that it was a portal, Brian decided to conceal himself in the bushes at the edge of the meadow to see who came through.
