Breeze Corinth (Book 1): Sky Shatter (60 page)

When he opened them his face was as white as a sheet. “How can it be?”

On the scout ship, Achilles shuddered and looked up at the cylindrical platform.

“What is it?” Ray asked.

“No need to be alarmed Raymond. My internal sensors are merely undergoing recalibration. Maintain your course and be aware of your surroundings. We are drifting too close to the platform.”

With Ray occupied at the helm, Achilles reached out with its own sensors and detected a presence sweeping the ship.

It cannot be
, Achilles thought to itself and probed harder, only to recoil at what it discovered.

A voice spoke to the robot from within.
It’s him. It’s Bram. We knew this day would arrive. Question: are we prepared?

Achilles shook its head.
If he is capable of sensing us, then the jammers are not functioning properly. Sally and Breeze are heading into a trap.

Sally glided up the elevator shaft as Breeze followed, passing through level after level; they did not see a living soul whenever they stopped briefly to inspect the corridors by poking their heads through the elevator doors. Each level had the same bland and sterile features, however the appearance of a particular level brought them to a sudden halt. The corridor was different. The lighting was dim, with dark gray walls as opposed to the bland white ones below. The muted din of distant machinery was replaced by a loud drone.

“Who is running this place?” Breeze wondered. “It’s like Ray said, somebody knows we’re coming.”

“Nothing can detect us. Achilles promised that the jammers would mask our presence, and besides we’re projecting, so we’re fine,” Sally said.

Breeze tried to hide his unease. “Well, we’ve ascended pretty far and this does look like the beginning of the detention level.” He pointed forward. “There’s a set of doors up ahead. Let’s see if Oslo’s there and hope there’s no one guarding him.”

Without hesitation, they slipped through the doors.

“Well, Oslo, would you like to view your team in action?” Bram asked with a smirk. He shifted from a translucent state to corporeal so he could type commands into the console.

A hologram hovered before Oslo displaying a vid-image of Sally and Breeze in the outer corridor. They both glowed with psychic energy.

“If they are projecting, how can we see them?” Oslo said.

Bram chuckled. “There is much I have learned over time. My ability to zero in on any energy source is one of them, especially if it is not shielded. Shame on you old boy, you should have taught the girl how to better conceal her astral image when projecting. This will be her undoing and her little boyfriend as well.”

Oslo writhed in his restraints. “Why are you doing this? What has happened to you? You are supposed to be my friend!”

Bram roared as he flew over and shoved his face into Oslo’s. “Friend? Yes, there was a time and place for our friendship, but that has all changed if it isn’t painfully obvious to you by now. Then again, change was never easy for you to accept. That can only explain your insanity in trying to oppose the Elephim with your pathetic band of paranormals. What are you trying to accomplish, Oslo?”

Oslo shook his head. “You’re avoiding the question. What has happened to you? Why do you work for them?”

Bram laughed. “Work for them? Come now, Oslo, think of it as a partnership.” He drifted back toward the console. “How were the Elephim able to eventually dominate us? The many excursions I made to their world of Helena taught me much. What I’ve learned is that patience is the answer. Helena was once a world with a restless and burgeoning population that was becoming unruly and uncontrollable. So they searched the heavens for other worlds to colonize and offload the more rebellious ones as attempts to cull the population through war led to global devastation. But when they discovered Earth, it was the most unique planet they had ever encountered. Earth was a planet devoid of any humans, but filled with strange creatures that roamed the lands, and it resonated with a powerful psychic energy unlike any world they had discovered and explored. It is this energy that fuels the paranormals of Earth. This was realized when settlers loyal to the governing council of Helena were sent to Earth to tame and colonize the planet but became rebellious themselves when it was discovered that many of their children were born with paranormal abilities. These children became a resource the Elephim had to control. Their ultimate goal was to control everything on Helena, as they would do on Earth. But civil strife on Helena, and a war for independence that erupted on Earth overwhelmed the resources of the Elephim, and the portal that led from Helena to Earth was severed during the war. They have spent millennia since trying to reestablish contact. They eventually succeeded, and this is why we lost to them. Earth may have forgotten about them over the sands of time, but they did not. They have come to take back what they see as rightfully theirs, for we are a resource for them to plunder and use as they wish.”

Oslo shook his head in dismay. “So what is it that made you turn against your own world? What did you find on Helena?”

Bram’s eyes lit up. “What they showed me is that decay is the natural order of the universe, and that all things come to an end. Earth has reached its peak, yet they showed me a way to live forever with power beyond my wildest imagination. All I have to do is feed off the energy of others.” He stared at Oslo with glassy eyes. “It is time for Earth to enter into darkness. You can only prevent the inevitable for so long.”

Oslo shook his head. “But the light will shine again.”

“Yes, but not for quite some time.”

Oslo persisted. “Why the betrayal?”

Bram’s eyes flickered. “What I learned is that I was so much more powerful on their world as opposed to Earth. For the first time I felt like I found a home. Helena, for all of its darkness and decay, become a world where I could be a god with unlimited power.”

He then clutched his chest and his body shimmered. “It is also where I met the woman I love, as power is nothing if you have no one to share it with, and she accepted me for who I am. She saw my dark side, yet wasn’t repelled by it. She became my wife, and for a time, I was truly happy. Helena became my kingdom where I ruled as I saw fit. It did not matter to me that it was the source of Earth’s troubles, nor did learning the truth that the regime that ruled Helena were intent on controlling Earth and corrupting our people. I didn’t care. They saw me as a divine being. They did not see me as a traitor to my world, but as a king that would revitalize theirs. They eventually abdicated their power to me and I became their lord and savior. All was well in my life and that is why I never returned. Yes, I did possess vital information that could have prevented Earth’s demise, but it no longer concerned me. The rising and falling tides of the universe would take its course as it always has. This is the cycle of life and Earth was due for a downfall, so let it be, I said. I found my happiness and that was all that mattered, until my wife betrayed me and disappeared with our child. I am here now to find and reclaim the heir to my empire.”

“What was her name?” Oslo asked.

Bram spun around to face him. He hovered silently for a moment until he finally answered. “Kera.”

Oslo nodded as he put on his best poker face so as not to reveal his recognition of the name. “I would like to meet her.”

Bram responded with a low and menacing voice. “I will find her and make her mine again. Along with my son.”

“Son?”

“Yes, that is what I’ve been told. I discovered her pregnancy after she disappeared. My council informed me of her betrayal and how she absconded to Earth in a ship. She was originally from Earth, you see, but was abducted from her family by the Elephim long ago. A wealthy and prosperous foster family with connections to the regime raised her and she rose through the ranks to become one of their most prominent paranormals. Understand that over the past several centuries, most of the children born on Helena were sickly, and the odds of any of them becoming paranormal are rare to nonexistent. The energy that surrounds Earth and creates the environment for paranormal children to be conceived is not found on Helena. That is why they take the children of Earth, so they may find a way for Hellenic children to be like them. But their experiments created hideous results as these hybrid children were born twisted and demented. The union of Kera and I would have created a new breed of paranormal children for the Elephim, as opposed to the black clad monsters that have plagued the Earth, who are nothing more than hideous laboratory creations from the splicing of Earth and Hellenic genetic material together. What the Hellenic Council desires more than anything is to have natural born children without having to graft the essence of Earth children onto theirs. The children of Earth that are abducted and brought to Helena die within a matter of days for unknown reasons. How Kera managed to survive while other abducted children perished, I do not know. Nor do I know why she betrayed me and left with my unborn child to return to Earth. What I do know is that my son will follow in my footsteps. I must find him. But first, I need to retrieve my body.” Bram pointed to a suit of armor that was docked inside a pod. “I need an exoskeleton and whatever energy I can scavenge to stay corporeal, as I’ve lost contact with my body after being away from it for so long. But you have placed some sort of a fog over Perihelion with electro-magnetic properties that I cannot penetrate. I must become whole again Oslo, if I am to do to Earth what I have done on Helena. You will help me re-unite with my body.” Bram’s face contorted into a wicked smile. “But as a consolation, I believe you may have inadvertently brought my son to me.”

Oslo arched an eyebrow.

“Don’t play the fool, Oslo. I know he is close by. If fact, he is aboard the scout ship, is he not?”

“Breeze?” Oslo said

Bram snorted. “No, not that useless whelp.”

“Raymond?”

“Yes, I suspect it is him as I cannot shake the feeling. I must secure the boy and ascertain his origins by testing him for the divine essence that will tell me if he is my son or not. But first, I must take the scout ship.”

Oslo chuckled. “How? Your body is locked away within the bowels of Perihelion while you are merely a ghost of a man. You are projecting right now, though I cannot fathom how you are doing it. Regardless, you’ve mastered the ability to be seen and interact with the material world. And besides, with what army are you going to fight with? I don’t see any of your Elephim friends here to help you.”

Bram threw back his head and laughed raucously. “Do you not remember what I just told you? How did the Elephim get the best of us? They did more than build an army to fight us. They also built the machinery needed to observe, counteract, and eventually control us. It’s like any natural resource; you speculate and explore until you discover. Then you put together a plan to efficiently extract, refine and exploit it for your own needs. You must understand Oslo, the Elephim conquered us by encouraging the people of Earth to loathe and disdain the very resource that made us powerful: paranormals. Earth and her colonies were once the glittering jewels of the galaxy and a beacon of light for all the oppressed masses of the outer worlds. The downtrodden of the surrounding systems once risked everything to come to Earth. But the Elephim would not tolerate this. How could they have control over the worlds they wished to dominate when the subjugated chose to leave? So the Elephim put a plan in motion long ago to snuff out the last flame of hope. They infiltrated and took over our sacred institutions and our most valuable resource, our people. They turned them against one another which distracted us. The ones that they favored were placed in positions of power. Those who opposed were banished or killed.”

Bram turned his gaze toward a darkened corner of the room. “And this is the result of harnessing a resource and exploiting it.” He made a beckoning gesture, and a black clad figure stepped out into the light and stood next to him with a face that was nothing more than pinpoints of light against an infinite blackness.

“Oslo, I would like you to meet Enoch. Think of him as my assistant. Quite the helper this particular Elephim is, I must confess.”

Enoch nodded at Oslo.

“And now,” Bram said as he looked up at the holographic image that displayed a live feed from the outer corridor and the astral images of Breeze and Sally could be seen approaching the entrance to the detention chamber, “we will see this resource put to use.”

Breeze and Sally entered the detention chamber where they saw a floor to ceiling window that stretched across the length of the room. The radiance of the Earth seeped through it and weakly penetrated the shadowy gloom of the chamber when a lone figure stepped into view.

“Him again,” Breeze muttered.

“Do you know this Elephim?” Sally said as she hovered next to Breeze.

Enoch stood motionless with clenched fists as pinpoints of light streamed across his face.

“I suppose I do. He looks like the one that helped me when my transport crash—” Breeze was cut off as a hand grabbed his neck from behind. He struggled to break free, but couldn’t. He twisted violently to look at Sally. She too had been captured as she writhed and squirmed, but couldn’t escape.

“Don’t fight. Don’t resist. You’ll only make matters worse.” A deep, but familiar voice resonated as they were spun around to confront their assailant.

“Hello, I believe introductions are in order. My name is Bram.”

Ray swiveled to look back into the passenger compartment at Sally and Breeze, and became alarmed as their unconscious bodies convulsed.

“Achilles, look!” Ray said.

Achilles was motionless while silently staring at the platform.

Ray loosened his harness and leaned over to rap the robot hard on its head.

Achilles’ eyes lit up as it grabbed Ray’s hand. “What is the meaning of this?”

“Ow, watch your grip!” He grimaced at the pain. “Something is the matter with Breeze and Sally while you’re busy staring off into space!”

“My apologies, master.” Achilles released Ray and turned to look back into the passenger compartment. It had removed Sally and Ray from the cockpit and placed them there after they projected into the platform. “We have been discovered,” it said. “Begin maneuvering the ship to the hangar bay of the platform.”