Cincinnati, Ohio
Planet: Earth
Jake waited in the airport for the man to get off the plane. Jake was still shocked the man from Italy had indeed remembered his phone number and address. It was as if the man had a pristine memory.
The description William had written of the man on the piece of paper was all Jake needed to spot him in the crowded airport. The man wore all white. Even his hair and cane were white. So the man’s appearance didn’t startle him. What startled him was the fact that the man looked like he was in his late twenties. Jake had expected an old man, or at least someone in his sixties.
The man smiled and walked over to him. “You resemble your father,” the man said as they shook hands.
Jake grimaced at the comment.
“I take it that my statement bothers you,” the man noted.
“I never saw my father. He wasn’t exactly happy to have a child.”
The man nodded. “You don’t need to explain. It is your business.”
“Do you have a name? You know mine.”
“You’re Jake Stafford. That’s a good name. As for mine, I think Pallid works best.”
“Pallid?” Where did he ever come up with such an unusual name?
“It was the name someone special called me years ago. I use it in memory of her.”
“Oh.”
“I suppose I look younger than you expected,” he said as they walked to the luggage claim area. “You probably expected me to be the age your father would have been if he had lived.”
He blinked. It was as if the man could read his mind. “Actually, yes.”
“I’m immortal,” he whispered so no one would overhear. “I don’t expect you to believe me. Not right away. But you will once we have a chance to talk in private.”
Jake closed his mouth, determined to wait until they were in his hotel before he asked for details. The man who called himself Pallid was slightly intimidating. He seemed to know more than he should for someone so young. It wasn’t so much in the things he said as it was in the way he held himself, talked, and moved. Everything about him was perfected, as if he’d had centuries to master his motions.
They quietly rode in the cab to Jake’s hotel. Now that Pallid was here, he didn’t know where to begin or what to do. He couldn’t escape the overwhelming feeling in the pit of his stomach that this was going to change his entire life.
When they stepped into the hotel, Jake made arrangements for Pallid’s room. “It’s the least I can do for having you fly across the world to see me,” he quickly explained before Pallid could argue. “Besides, my dad had more money than anyone could imagine. It’s time it went to something useful.”
“Ah, yes. He did have a hefty bank account.” They turned from the counter and entered the elevator. “That is how he could afford to bring Atlantis back from the ocean.”
Jake studied him. “Is that what his big goal in life was, to resurrect Atlantis?”
“Yes. He wanted to rule it. I wanted to resurrect Atlantis, too. That is how we met.”
“I take it the plan didn’t work.”
“No, it did not. And it may have been a blessing in disguise.”
The elevator door opened, and they entered the hallway.
“This is my room. Yours will be down there.” Jake motioned down the corridor.
“I would like to see the contents of your father’s box before retiring for the night, if that is alright with you.”
“I’m anxious to hear what you think about it. Come in.”
Pallid sat in one of the two chairs in the room.
“I’ll order something to eat. Does pizza sound too boring?” Jake asked.
“Pizza is fine.”
Jake set the box in front of him so he could examine its contents before he picked up the phone. He briefly noted Pallid’s joy as he read the papers in the box. After Jake made his order, he sat across from him. “What do you think?”
“I told you I was immortal,” Pallid reminded him. “I have a stone in my cane, right here at the top. This stone is responsible for that immortality. Technically, I am thousands of years old, but with this stone, I am 28. That’s the age I was when I found the stone.”
Jake remained silent, unsure of what to say.
“Brace yourself. There’s more,” Pallid warned. “I was born on Atlantis. It did exist, and it was the most beautiful and technologically advanced city that ever existed on Earth. It still exists under the ocean, just waiting for someone to bring it back up.”
Finally, Jake laughed. “This is all a joke. Okay. I get it. Now I know I’ve wasted my time in talking to you.”
“No, Jake. This is real. I have proof.”
Jake started to shake his head, wondering how far the man was going to take this when the man took a small mirror out of the pocket of his suit jacket. The sides of the mirror were silver with sapphire buttons on the side of the frame. His smile faded into a look of shock when he saw the picture of him and Clark sitting in the lawyer’s office.
“What is this? Did you record me?” he demanded.
“No. It’s not a video recorder. It’s a life recorder. I can look up anyone or anything on this mirror and see whatever I wish to. This not only reveals the past, but it also reveals the future and the mysterious ‘what ifs’ in life. This button here will play the scenario for you.”
Jake pressed the button. His heart pounded fiercely in his chest as he watched Clark read the letter to him. “How do I stop this?” he asked.
“This button does that.”
He immediately pressed it. Glancing up at Pallid, he asked, “How do I know this really does what you say? For all I know, the lawyer had a video recorder in the room and gave this to you.”
“I’ll show you a part of your future then.” Pallid took the mirror from him and pressed a button. The scene on the mirror showed Jake in a large library looking out of the window at an impressive city whose buildings seemed to change color despite the thunderstorm raging outside.
“How did you get this?” Jake asked. “I’ve never been there. I don’t even know where that place is.”
“It’s Atlantis. You will be there.”
“I don’t understand. How did you get that image on the screen?”
“I held it and simply thought the question in my mind. This device can pick up on human thought. Here, you try it. Hold it firmly in your hands and make your request. You can ask it to look into your past or into your future. You can even ask it what would have happened if Nichols raised you.”
Jake took it from him and held it. He had to select something Pallid could not possibly know about him. It had to be something no one could know. Finally, he came up with a part of his past that was his special secret. Taking a deep breath, he silently asked his question, Where did I go when I felt sad as a child? He opened his eyes and gasped when he saw his favorite tree that stood by a lake.
“Now do you believe me?” Pallid asked.
“I don’t have any choice but to,” he finally admitted.
Pallid nodded in satisfaction. “Do you know the details of your father’s death?”
“Does it matter?”
“Only in the intergalactic sense.”
He furrowed his eyebrows. What could that mean?
“There is life on other planets. Many planets outside of our galaxy have abundant life on them,” Pallid said. “Your father died in a battle with the queen from the planet called Raz, which is located in the Enchanted Galaxy. Shortly before his death, I learned that the queen’s daughter, Amanda, will come to Earth and destroy Atlantis. Atlantis will come up from the ocean again, and when it does, Amanda will finish the destruction that began long ago. You may encounter people from other planets while you are on Atlantis.”
Jake laughed in disbelief. “I have no plans on going there.”
“The mirror doesn’t lie. You will go.”
“Why?”
“Perhaps the mirror will give you the answer.” He motioned to the new image on the screen.
Jake blinked, not realizing the mirror had changed scenes. More than that, the scene was playing in front of him. He saw himself standing before a silver spaceship as Atlantis was consumed in a blazing fire. “Now I know what my purpose is,” he said. “I can let go of the past and move on.”
In the mirror, he turned to face the person standing next to him, but the video stopped before he could see who he talked to. He only knew it was a woman.
“Why won’t it keep playing?” Jake asked.
“It doesn’t answer our questions to the point where it takes all of the guesswork out of the future. If it did that, then there would be no surprises.”
“So I have to go to Atlantis? I have no choice because this mirror told me I was going there?”
“No. You have freewill. You can decide not to go.”
“And what will happen if I don’t?”
“I believe your answer lies in your grasp.”
Jake glanced at the mirror. Sure enough, the image in front of him was different than the one before. He shook his head but pressed the play button, just to see what would happen.
This time, he saw himself twenty years in the future, and he sat in a large chair in his luxurious house with servants running around to do his bidding. For all the grandeur surrounding him, though, he was miserable and lonely.
He wore a black suit, indicating he was ready to go to a funeral.
“I hate my father,” he mumbled. “He robbed me of everything that ever mattered.”
“Mr. Stafford,” his butler began, “the car is ready for you.”
“I’ll be right there.”
The butler nodded and left the room.
Jake picked up the obituary in the paper and reread it. It was Clark’s obituary. He shook his head in disgust. “You should have been my real father. All the time I wasted in trying to find out about William Nichols…” He sighed. “I should have spent it with you instead.” He put the paper on the desk next to him and stood up. “I will never forgive my father. I hope he rots in Hell for all the pain he put me through.”
The video stopped.
Jake handed it to Pallid before it could answer another one of his many questions. The more he found out, the more depressed he got.
“Obviously, if you go to Atlantis, then you will be happier,” Pallid commented thoughtfully. “And it appears you have no desire to rule there.”
“No, I don’t. I don’t have a desire to be a leader.”
“What of the riches and fame that come with it? What about the people who look up to you and adore you?”
“What I just saw in that mirror, as a wealthy man, was a depressing scene. All the prestige in the world can’t buy happiness.”
“And what of the technology that can produce such things as this mirror?”
“Personally, I’m beginning to think the world would be better off without that kind of thing. I don’t care for any kind of fortune telling device.”
“What about the ability to create clones? What about the ability to modify your appearance so that you look perfect?”
“You’re talking about creating the perfect society where no one has any flaws. That’s dangerous thinking. Is that what Atlantis was all about? Perfectionism at the expense of individuality?”
Pallid raised an eyebrow in interest. “I never thought about it that way. I am such a creation. I’m not a clone, but I was created in a test tube environment. My purpose is to retain memories, and I never forget anything.”
“I wish I could forget William Nichols is my father.”
“It’s not the process of remembering things that is painful. It’s the inability to forgive that creates the torment.”
He shook his head. Pallid didn’t understand, nor could he be expected to. Only someone in a similar situation could appreciate the emotional storm raging inside of him.
“You certainly don’t sound like your father,” Pallid finally commented.
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“As you should.”
The more he was discovering about his father, the more he was becoming aware of the fact that his father wasn’t well-liked by anyone, and that didn’t surprise him considering it took a man of little character to abandon the mother of his child.
“Shall we make arrangements to go to Atlantis?” Pallid asked, breaking Jake out of his bitter thoughts.
Jake snapped his head up. “Atlantis? It’s under the ocean.”
“Not for long. I viewed this mirror earlier and discovered it is due to rise out of the ocean in two days. We don’t have long to act.”
“You’re kidding.”
Pallid shot him a serious look.
“Fine. You’re serious,” Jake admitted. “I suppose since I have nothing better to do, I might as well tag along with you.”
“From what I could see of your future there, it seems like it’s the best course of action for you to take.”
Jake knew he was right. It looked much better than his other possible future. He reluctantly spread out his father’s plans for Atlantis. It was time to start looking into how they were going to get there.