Atlantian Chronicles: FINAL PROPHECY

Chapter Thirty–EXODUS

Yu realized that Face hadn’t been leading the SICs further into her mind. He had sped to the edge of Yu’s memory matrix to yank her out of the meld before the SICs overtook it. Ashamed, she stopped swinging her arms, knowing she had wanted to smash Face’s skull into tiny fragments. Her anger instantly vanished, as she gained composure.

Ari’s voice startled the two. “That was quite a display of defensive weapons!”

The friends quickly gave thanks for Ari’s recovery and turned to the problem at hand. As Face and Yu simultaneously accessed the internal timekeeper, Ari read it aloud. “We’ve lost two days. It’s the morning of the second cycle of K’altun.”

None of them could speak of the annihilation that represented. They could no longer bear to count the hours. Too few remained.

Yu’s thought vein thinned with stress. “We should be flying in from Yutanius now to report to Nor. Instead, we are somewhere above the Red Planet.”

Ari’s orders were unusually swift and sure. A flood of command images poured directly from him to the ship’s SIC. “Gravitational shifts, apparent infinite zero, inertial mass zero, infinite rate, time delayed, gravitational gradient, outward acceleration, central point singularity zero, light speed, space time zero, spatial dimensions zero . . . ”

“Are you getting this?” Yu asked Face. “The only thing I could make out was something about emitters and radiation pressure. Then the string of commands, orders, decrees, and dictums exposed a radical change.”

“It doesn’t matter if we are getting it or not. The commands are directed toward the ships SIC, and it is. I sense it’s frequency-doubling under Ari’s control. This is very unusual for Ari. However, with the pictograms finally translated, I believe we’ve got a 99.3% accuracy”

Face continued, “The pictograms are just as clear to me and the rest of the SICs.

Face concluded, referring back to the icons. “The Fourth Fulfillment of Prophecy means, in the life time of the sacred chamber, this has happened three times before. Another icon reads, the dark worker could prevail. More state, initiation of the light worker at the Universal Garden to reunite and harmonize the Universe, to bridge the gaps between species across the cosmos, for all ages, for all time, it is the destiny. Is this what Ari has become? Destiny. I’m not sure but as you can see, presently, he’s migrating home - as naturally as whales do.”

“That’s what it meant! ‘Reawakening of the Cosmic Human.’ The Dark Heart marks the end and the two cycles of K'altun the beginning. He’s bringing us to the time when ancient and hidden knowledge reawakens.”

As if in recognition of this momentous pronouncement, under Ari’s command, the ship shimmered and warped. Everything had a purpose. Light and dark will meet again soon.

In little over four Atlantian minutes, they were on Celarius’ doorstep.

Although Ari laughed at his friends’ amazement over his new confidence, the shadow of his former self was equally astounded by his achievements and actions. It was a miracle that he could be of high spirts under these circumstances. “We had to return Celarius’ ship to him, didn’t we?”

Although the entire planet now knew of the approaching catastrophe, Yanna was steadfast in her will to remain in her home. A bubble waited for them to leave their beloved home. “This is not a martyr's cause. I am happiest staying here. You can’t dissuade me. My son may still be out there. Can you prove he won’t be disgorged by the same hungry mist that swallowed him?”

As a fellow Yutan, persuading her to join their evacuation had fallen to Yu. She continued to cajole her even though she knew the signal coming from Ari’s Vid-Com meant Nor was summoning him.

Ari stood in front of Yanna taking her hand. “Your son is gone but a new life is at your doorstep. I can tell you, you will embrace the joy that will come.”

Ari waved Face to his side. Together, they walked away and greeted the image of the Chief-Administrator.

Nor’s blue eyes were deep, shadowed by the inevitable. “The impact of the Dark Heart’s comets are certain.”

Oddly composed that his father was a miser with affection toward him, Ari was bold as never before. “A glance at the sky tells me that. Father, I know and understand! I forgive you! I know Mandate Four dictated how your father treated you and their fathers before. I understand the great plan of the Ancient Ones. How you and they were working towards the same goal? I see! This alliance was never in question. How certain Yutans chose the dark path masking their signatures with green vapor and greed for power? My life’s course is clear. A gift will come to me soon. I will have a son with Drom and I choose a different path without Mandate Four.”

For the first time, Nor conversed with paternal concern. “Son you understand. How I have waited to share these secrets with you? I do love you! Nor’s voice boomed. “I and my forefathers passed this test. Your child must do the same. He will think you distant. He will think you cold. He will think you judge him with the evil eye of justice. But one day, when he has passed the test in loneliness, you will do as I do now. I place the sword of my burden into your hands. I pass to you the shield of ages. Join, my Son, the Order of Sacred Light. I feel your birthright has awakened. Only now can I tell you how proud I am that you are my son. I wish we had more time but Atlantis has to be evacuated.”

A cold reserve instinctually returned to Nor. “However, a final task is needed. You, Face, and Yutana must pick up Dromeda at the cove and return with her to Atlantius. Next, ensure everyone is evacuated from Atlantius before the comets impact. Be aware, assassins are still underfoot.”

Ari had never before appreciated Nor as mush as he did at that moment. It was easy to share. “Farther, in my mind, I don’t see everything clearly and there’s only a few things I can foretell, the future is not that transparent. I do know the bond between us has grown and solidified but something unexpected is coming, I can not anticipate it.”

Nor’s voice was proudly luminous, “I feel your endowment is stronger than my mine was at your age. Nurture it, exercise it and wisely use it.” A fleet of Ancient Ones’ and Atlantian ships is ready to leave. Our capital city, Atlantius will be evacuated first. However, tell Yutana that Zelus and her mother Arrmuon are scheduled for the first launch. Her parents will be safe.”

Ari nodded, glad to know part of his foster family would survive.

“It has come upon us. I want you to witness this.” Nor activated a Vid-com frequency for all to see. His order was one of reluctant necessity. “This is Nor, Supreme Magistrate of Atlantis! Our new home awaits us! Launch Quanta-Dimensional travel.”

The evacuation of their home planet was underway. There was no turning back.

The trio quickly moved to complete Nor’s new task. As they walked into the lightship, they had no need to raise their eyes. The incendiary Dark Heart and its dominions were cruelly close. A second sun appeared and tore through the heavens.

The teardrop ship slipped through the blue skies above the secret cove. Ari gazed through the massive window, searching for Drom from an altitude of 4,000 meters. He had been surprised that his father knew about the cove and that Drom awaited him there. Nor had always seemed to avoid Dromeda.

“There! There they are!” Ari pointed beyond the expanse of reaching waves breaking just inside the reef.

“Where? Who? I don’t see them.” Yu’s thought vein pulsed evenly with concentration. “I think you are feeling them before we can see them. Half joking, maybe we should use the telepathic communications ear pieces again so we can keep pace with you.”

As the ship descended, Face became the gatekeeper of their minds. “It’s not a good time for that. We need time. After using it with the mind merge, we have undergone a kind of attrition. It weakened our separateness. We each need to keep our own senses about us.”

As she opened to that concept, Yu’s brown eyes widened. “You’re right. Even without telepathic aid, I can sense he is mentally with the whales now.”

Ari’s sparkling aquamarine eyes were still focused on Drom, invisible in the distance to his friends. “It is a brainwash of images. They have much to say and too little time to say it. Hover here and drop me.”

Face commanded the SES to create an opening in the base of the ship. Ari ran safely through the archway and in seconds was in the arms of Drom.

In those precious seconds the wind plummeted and entangled their hair of blond and black, Ari took in the grainy gold sweep of dunes and boulders. A ruffle of blue surge swept ceaselessly against them.

As they both walked back towards the light-ship, Ari felt the need of an conferring honor with which to greet the pod, even though they had been gone for days. “Extravagant prophets, enlightened tutors, revered elders . . .”

Then the need for words faded into a cascade of harmony, peace, and unity. Ari felt himself deep inside a symphony of symmetry and serenity. Gone was all thought of a world that would soon disintegrate. Harmonic convergence reverberated though the tranquility of the seas, focusing the mind and heart of the pod in these protected waters. Tranquility was the birthright of those whose family was the sea.

Their serenity gave them an invulnerability that transcended even the unthinkable crazed scourge that was descending upon them. Deep immunity was conferred to their kind by a water birth in a world filled with a wealth of relations, both flora and fauna. The whales’ overwhelming sense of oneness meant they could face even extinction with calm. The ocean’s offspring would eventually thrive and replenish the salty deep. Even if only the smallest progeny of plankton survived, they were protoplasmic kin. Relatives of the same single cell, all life shared forefathers and would birth again in myriad forms from Nature herself.

The vastness of their message reached him before he saw the visual forms of the whales. Suddenly he was within a protective bubble of air. He felt Drom at his side. She inhaled deeply at the realization of his presence, greeting him with a wild cetacean cry of welcome. Her chirring trill became a refrain sung by a chorus of his friends.

Although only a manifested vision, TwoRidge led the pod in close circles around the reunited pair. Behind her Finner, Finback, and Breach swirled along, following her encompassing rings. The four sea creatures orbited Ari and Drom like four stars. They knew of the newborn that was inside Drom, even before Ari. A birth without a birthing tube mother was something done in days gone past. The awakening will have many more interesting events was the pods message.

Ari tumbled through a drift of enigmatic images, as tangled as Dromeda’s sea-tossed hair. Ari intuited the meanings clearly. Though the sea was a different world, Ari felt at home. The pod was a family whose heart would somehow survive. They were once like the Ancient Ones, a comet eons ago carried their DNA from a distant world and from that moment transformed them. The metamorphosis was incomplete until Ari and the pod communicated. As a dark light approaches, they might vanish from the planet, but something of their nether spirit would remain. Even if in time their kind were forgotten and they became a lost order, a nameless race, their legacy would go on. That message repeated over and over again, as repetitive yet varied as the waves around the cove. Ari will make sure of that for he understood as no other did. He could no longer duck the meaning and the mantle of responsibility it conferred. He now knew that his legacy was his privilege and doing it his way was part of the awakening.

Drom was his mirror universe, there to witness Ari's ascent and her newborn growth within. Her green eyes were as verdant as the branches that were once the instrument of his broken fall. She had become the conservator of the cetacean lineage. She would carry the legacy of their lore to the stars. Her sea green eyes were filled with a constant reminder for Ari. “Those chosen to live exalted lives can not hide behind modesty when their world needs a savior.”

The pods gave a final tribute:

Grown beyond the limitations of the spirit,

Chosen for the renewal,

Creator of time,

Emissary of gods,

The ascended one brings us together.

We are his descendants,

He is our descendant

Give to all the final fragment.

The prophecy is coming to pass.

Death and sacrifice is the gateway

to the world of the gods.

The cryptic words were suddenly clear to Ari. A new wave of images washed through him, as the whales extended their last goodbye. Telling them not to worry, Ari transcended deeper in his renewal.

Ari was filled with conviction that buoyed his confidence and determination as never before. His ascent was mandated, powered and even hyper-blasted by a number circumstances including the ocean’s progeny. For his son, it would be different!

Although only a few minutes had past, Yu shouted with relief. “Hurry up!”

As Ari and Drom neared the ship, Face’s thoughts used the SES to reorganize the bottom of the craft to instantly form a loading platform.

In the first milliseconds of their flight, a circle of light and dark rippled around the light-ship. As the sun struck it, the crafts color shifted turning it to a vibration of golden concentric rings, then a brilliant halo.

Ari barely nodded a greeting to his crew. “We only have forty minutes to search the city.”

Ari rushed to put together the pieces of whale images, what Nor had told him, a distant memory, and the SICs analysis. “I knew I had seen that scarf before. Ariana, Nor’s secretary was wearing it the day that Nor sent us to Yutanius.”

Yu’s thought vein pulsed. “You mean Nor’s aide was working with the traitors. They were the green mist, not the Ancient Ones?”

Ari’s headband shimmered as he shook his head. “Right. The Ancient Ones were working in secret with Nor. They were making benign appearances as the green mist to flush out the traitors. Remember on our school boy trip to the North Continent, we heard those cries? It was the traitors. They captured and removed the brain from that baby whale we found. They were stealing the DNA in masquerade.”

“Now you know why the Chromosmatic Accord was violated. The traitors also manufactured DNA from the brains of thirty Atlantian citizens. They planned to continue to do so and provide it to the Ancient Ones if they would overthrow and enslave the Atlantians.”

A grim realization made Yu’s wide eyes brim with tears. “Then they also removed the brains from Yoris and Marana.”

Face rushed through the latest data from the SICs. “This matches. I’ve recorded the frequencies from all parties involved and run them against scans of everything that has happened to us. We have proof at last. It was the traitors and not the Ancient Ones.”

Ari continued, “the Ancient Ones and the Atlantians are on the same evolutionary track but at different times. Eventually all life will evolve into star matter.”

Images of the head on the Red Planet filled Ari’s mind. The twisted sculptures of DNA strands were as clear to him as if he was standing next to them. “The number four also represents the four chemicals that make up our DNA – Guanine, Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine – GATC -- the structure of a molecule relates intimately to its biological function.” He flicked his hair back as he concentrated on the image of the three-dimensional structure. “Two strands of DNA are arranged to form a right-handed helix. That’s basic biochemistry. But they rearranged them in a way more complex than the life forms we know.

As it became clear, Ari unfolded more thoughts. “The Ancient Ones have accepted their fate. They’ve reached the end of their evolution. A small group of Ancient Ones have chosen a new destiny. They will materialize deep within the Sentinel’s comet and timelessly quest into deep space. They will multiply an endless journey foretold by clan around the known and unknown universe.”

Ari discovered another hardened secret. “Our genealogical home planet is in the four star solar system galaxies away. We traveled for adventure to the blue planet ages ago. When we came here, the Atlantians who stayed on our hereditary home planet evolved into the Ancient Ones.”

Yu cut in, “So more secrets are revealed.”

“Yes. It is the secret of our Great Grandfathers. The Ancient Ones know that all life will eventually evolve into what they are about to become -- star matter. This secret their felt must be kept for enduring renewals in the future.”

As the crystal spires of his home appeared on the edge of the city, Ari wrapped up all his feelings into a single heartfelt word -- “Father. “

Nor’s imposing visage vanished. He was already too far into space for even the most advanced communications system to reach his son.

Ari boomed as they neared the city. “The traitors know about our discovery. They must eliminate us.”

As Face set the ship down, Drom tried to understand all that has happened. She turned to Ari, “when this is over, we have to talk?”

Drom reached out and placed a consoling hand on his shoulder and without speaking he on hers.

The ship was finally on the ground. They were all glad to have a concrete task to absorb their concentration.

The four friends leapt from the ship at the nearest edge of the city. Sharp, maddening winds whipped through deserted thoroughfares and sprawling parks, howling a dying wail. Desolate in the vast echo chamber of emptiness, the wail from beyond made them shiver.

“A little cooler than usual for summer, isn’t it?” Ari joked, acknowledging the chill that swept their spirits.

“The temperature is five degrees below average,” Face predicted.

Face’s mundane weather forecast brought a renewed realization that they were walking sorrow's path. The partly cloudy skies would become a firestorm. By afternoon their city would be ash or molten rock. Any remnants would instantly become relics in an abandoned ancient tomb.

“What point is there to a sunny afternoon?” Drom lamented. They knew it would bless a devastated and abandoned world, plunged into darkness by dust-filled skies. The Dark Heart would erase everything they had known.

Ari adjusted his red vest as if donning a new mantle of authority. As commander of the mission, Ari knew he could not let their morale slip. They’d quickly slide into a nether void of despondency and be immobilized.

Ari seized power before the entropic specter of despair stole it. He spoke as if reading a light scroll. “We must consecrate the life that has thrived on this land. I decree that any living creature found within this city will escape with us. Our mission is to transplant the roots of life and find new opportunity in leaving the past behind.”

A sustaining spirit filled them with hope. They were inspired by the change in Ari. He had taken on an aura of indestructibility aura.

Drom was filled with pride. “Negative energy from what we are facing could have crushed you.”

“Let’s stay focused on the task at hand.”

They scanned the empty thoroughfares for any life form that had dared remain. Nothing showed on their Vid-com screens.

Their minds tugged at time until it ripped open. Each minute hemorrhaged into the other. Each minute was crushed and compressed down to a fracture of a millisecond.

“Look over there!” Ari pointed, jubilant.

“Behind the waterfall?” Yu and Face both turned and scanned through the cascade.

Yu was shocked. “It can’t be!”

Face stretched the teeth of his translucent smile wide. “It is! Smilodon Fatalis -- clearly named for its toothy grin.”

“A saber-toothed tiger!” Drom laughed at the doting affection it could bring. “An abandoned pet?”

Ari kept them on track. “We’ve no time to figure out how it got here. Let’s get it out and go.”

“We haven’t scanned the last quadrant,” Yu objected.

Ari knew that if he was separated from them, Face’s chances of reaching the ship alone would be better. He swiftly gave his command. “Face, finish the scan and meet us at the ship. Regardless of what you find, meet us there five minutes prior to departure. We can’t hold for you. We have to launch in 19 minutes. You have my full reliance.”

As Ari spoke, Face anticipated his orders. He morphed his silicon form into an aerodynamic shape and sped away a few meters from the ground toward the final quadrant. His lightning speed promised success.

Knowing they had not an instant to waste, Yu swallowed a metric ton of facts and tried to cut to the quick of the relevant ones. “I can use my headset to create a sort of electronic leash to guide him to the ship with us. I’m assuming this is a pet. But in the wild, saber-toothed cats killed beasts larger than themselves. They have powerful front legs and use stealth and ambush to capture their prey. They use their seven-inch canines to rip open the soft belly.”

Ari cut him short. “Let’s get close enough to see if it has teeth. If it does, we’ll back off and figure out a plan. If the teeth are genetically marked, we’ll know it is a pet.”

“Just don’t get too close, in case.”

Ari regarded Drom. His instinct to protect her was overridden by awareness that she was best suited to this task. She had a way with animals. “Drom, this one’s all yours. Yu, have your shield ready.”

Surefooted, Drom climbed the rocks leading to the back of the falls. Ari and Yu shadowed her.

She sat and started to sing a soft, soothing tune. The position placed her at the cat’s mercy. Its muscles tensed beneath its striped skin. Its jaws widened and unleashed a growl that shook them to the core, even though it could be genetically altered.

Drom’s melody calmed the beast and filled all of them with faith in her ability. Drom had learned the ways of the whales so well that their innate sense of hope was part of her now. Her song communicated the prospect of survival and a desire that was Nature’s way to assure continuance. Within heartbeats, the carnivorous cat carefully cuddled his massive head in Drom’s lap.

Ari’s decision was firm. “We won’t be able to use our anti-gravity suits. That would panic him. We have to walk him back to the ship. Yu, I want you to fly back ahead of us.”

Drom agreed. “Your electronic leash will frighten him. He’s responding well to me.”

Yu nodded. “Just one suggestion. Don’t walk, run.”

As they swiftly galloped toward the ship, the great cat seemed to think it was a game. It ran in leaps and bounds at Drom’s side, content in the sunlight and her purring presence. Catching sight of another lightship, their hearts leapt with fear.

“Faster!” Ari grabbed Drom’s hand and jerked her forward with renewed force.

A flaming chaosphere hurtled down, exploding at their heels in fortified wrath. The air burned as if seared by solar plasma. At first Drom thought a fragment of the asteroid had struck. Then she saw a craft bearing down on them in a frantic barreling attack.

There was no time for words. Drom felt Ari’s thoughts. “It’s the traitors. They want to eliminate us.”

Flash fire balls rained down and shot explosive balls at their heels again, just missing. Fleeing the flames, the Smilodon leaped and bared her teeth in a feral growl that deepened into a roar.

From the flight deck, Face was startled to see the huge smilodon striding between Drom and Ari. As they fled toward the ship, Drom somehow managed to stroke the great cat’s head in an effort to calm him.

As she watched them approach, Yu’s words filled a brief painful gap. “I’m glad this cat will make it. In the wild, they were social animals. They lived and hunted in packs and even provided food for old and sick members. He seems to have bonded to Drom as if she were a member of his pride. Looking at the three of them, you’d never guess we are at ground zero.”

Face measured their exact need for speed. “The comets will hit us in 101 seconds.”

A blistering barrier of explosions barred them from the ship. Plunging blindly through the orange barrage, the three fled straight into the wall of their ship without slowing. Face instantly thought a portal open for them. It materialized just as they would have smashed headlong into the ship.

As another blast from the traitors rocked the ship, Face anticipated Ari’s command. “Deflection shields are up full force. They’ll reflect back most of the blast for a while, as long as it isn’t a direct hit.”

Ari created seats for them and lashed their safety straps with a single thought. Drom simultaneously used the SES to form a gentle custom restraint around the Smilodon.

Ari felt newly born power rise within him. “I’ve never been clearer in thought. I must know precisely when the first piece of the comet will hit.”

Ari masterfully announced his order. “Verbal countdown to comet strike!”

Face responded instantly. “99 seconds.”

“Can we make it?”

The words no sooner formed in Ari’s mind, than his newfound powers squelched any doubt. “Whatever happens is meant to happen.”

The ship shook under an indirect hit, shuddering along with the roar of the smilodon.

“They’re coming in for another pass, fast.” It amazed Face that they were trying to finish their deed. “At their speed, the logistics are mind-boggling. The chances of a hit are reduced.”

His words of reassurance were punctuated by a staggering explosion.

”Reduced, but possible.” Yu quipped, defying her emotions.

Enslaved by horror, they could only watch as the shuddering ship flung the iridium crystal out of its mount. It cracked against the mirrored metal floor.

“44 seconds. Dark Matter drives malfunctioning.”

Ari knew that meant that it will take over 30 extra seconds for the reserve antigravity drives to activate. The traitors violently hit the ship with a blast that raddled everyone’s teeth.

“14 seconds.”

The crew braced for impact. Through the wide view screen they saw a massive plasma blast coming in on target.

“13 seconds. 12.”

Yu’s words focused to their technology. “antigravity drive, work! WORK!”

“Brace for plasma impact!” Drom yelled.

Yu looked at her command visuals floating in front of her, hoping against hope giving one life to save many. “I’m setting my shield to unrestricted power; it’s going to be close.”

“Yu don’t! O-Holy, Holy -- Hold on! This is it!” Ari shouted again. “Antigravity power activated to full.”

The drive kicked in just as the plasma ball had a direct hit. The last image they saw was the traitor’s ship materialize. At the same time the Dark Heart’s comet engulfed them with a lightning blow.

Ari lost any doubts about his own ability. His instinctual leadership skills prevailed. “Launch!”

The Smilodon roared as the ship lifted. It rose through a shower of flame, shuddered, then intermitenly materialized.