Shattered Destiny (21 page)

It took some time for the Chosen and their Guardians to shake off the effects of this latest journey through the portal. Traveling through it had felt
wrong
somehow, although none of the Chosen considered themselves experts on the contraptions by any stretch of the imagination. They all shared the same terrifying thought: they had barely escaped the portal with their lives.

“What do we do?” Gwen asked. She was disappointed to find that she was still a dwarf on this planet. Her heart wrenched painfully when she gazed at her same twisted legs and arms. Gwen thought the first order of business was to try to find some clothes.

“I don't know. Nothing like this has ever happened before.” Forka brushed a hand over his face.
How can I need to shave? I just got here.

“We must try again. Make sure we hit the right symbol.” Gerok insisted.

“We hit the correct one. Something happened to bring us here. To be honest with you, I am not sure I want to try again,” Robert said. His skin crawled as he looked at the portal.

Most of the others murmured their agreement. The thought of trying again terrified them.

“We can't stay here! We
must
reach the Masters,” Gerok snarled.

“The Kromins can tell them what has happened. Perhaps they will know why we're here. I would rather do that than try again. Who knows where we will end up?” Sloan suggested.

Gerok tried to argue but was silenced. The others were tired of his insistence that they return to Gentra. The Earth Chosen wanted to go to the Jhinn encampment. They hoped the people had fared well in their absence.

However long that might have been.

The Earth Chosen were well aware of the difference in time on the various planets. They knew the people might very well be gone, all dead, and turned to dust long ago.

--The Masters have never heard of anything like this. They seem unsure as to how to advise us.

The clones looked much the same on Earth as they did on Astra. They did not display any indication of whether they were male or female, they had no hair anywhere on their bodies, and their facial
features were neither masculine nor feminine. The three remaining telepaths stood silently with the same placid expression on their faces as they had on Astra. Nothing seemed to rattle these stoic beings.

“Then we must make our own decisions. Everyone agrees that they activated the correct symbol, so we had to have been brought here for a reason,” Sloan said.

“Why? Why did we have to be brought here for a
reason?
It might have been nothing more than an accident,” Gerok said.

“An accident? Really? If we had shown up on some random planet, I might be forced to agree with you. But an accident that we came out of the portal on a planet that is home to Chosen? I think not.” Sloan's voice was thick with sarcasm. He believed they had been brought here for a purpose. He wondered if something had happened to the Jhinn.

“I have to agree with Sloan. There is a reason we are here. I say we go to the encampment. It is the nearest settlement,” Forka suggested. He could not explain it, but he felt as though something were very wrong. There were so many people in the cave, and it was barely light enough to see the faces around him. The cave walls closed in on him. “Can we maybe get a little light?” he asked.

Jon quickly used the power to light a pink sphere. Keera followed suit. She looked around the cave and smiled a little when she caught sight of Sloan. Then the reality of being completely nude hit her and she looked away, trying to use her hands to cover herself.

“Where are the others?” Brok's voice silenced the voices in the cave.

The silence was broken by horrified gasps and cries of “Where is Mark?” “Where is Kyron?” “Martha isn't here either!”

This can't possibly be happening.
Brok wished someone would wake him from this unthinkable nightmare.

“Is it possible they didn't come through yet and are still on Astra?” Kaelin was willing to grasp at any hope, no matter how small.

--I do not sense any contact from those particular three.

Forka turned to Number 1. “What do you mean?”

--Their brain patterns are not detectable.

“Not detectable? You mean here? Or on Astra?” Robert asked, trying to keep a hold on his temper.

--If they were here, or on Astra, we would still be able to sense them. We have no contact. The clone merely stood with its arms at its sides, gazing placidly around the cave.

Somehow, the nonchalance with which the telepath delivered the blow made it all the more chilling. No one knew what to say.

“Do you still think we need to stay here and traipse off to some camp? We have lost three more of the Chosen.” Gerok could feel the presence of the Mekans coming closer and their weight was crushing him.
Am I the only one that remembers our greater duty?

“Since we are already here, we may as well try to figure out why we were brought here. It is possible the encampment we protected could be in danger. Our friends and family live there. We can't simply leave without making sure they are all okay,” Robert said. His anxiety was growing. He was afraid that something horrible had happened at the encampment.

Brad and Sloan agreed vehemently. The two men were shaken at the disappearance of their comrades. Kaelin moved closer to Brad, wanting to offer the distraught man what comfort she could. She tried to imagine how she would feel if her friends had been lost to the void.
What if it had been Saemus?
Her brain shut down at the thought. She could not imagine life without her twin. Keera had moved closer to Sloan, not touching him, just standing quietly nearby.

“So are they just
lost
? Dear Spirits….” Bile rose in Gwen's throat. The thought of spending eternity in the horrific pain of the portal terrified her more than the coming Mekans.

“Could they be on some other world? I mean, we were brought here, and we activated the portal for Gentra. Maybe they are just on some other world,” Keera suggested, gazing hopefully at the Kromin standing next to her.

--That is unlikely.

“How unlikely?” Brok wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.

--Our telepathic range is substantial. There is a one in three quadrillion chance that the three exited a portal on some world that
is far outside the known universe, or perhaps in another dimension all together.

“I have no idea what those numbers even mean!” Robert snarled, finally losing his hold on his temper. He had the urge to hit something.
Hard.

“If they did exit a portal elsewhere, then they would be able to use it to come back to a familiar world, presumably Gentra, since that was the plan. So they may be all right,” Sloan said, trying his best to sound hopeful.

--We will let you know if their contact reappears.

The group stood awkwardly, each lost in his or her own thoughts.

“It won't take long to check on the camp. If everything is fine, we can come back here and try to return to Gentra,” Forka said, breaking the silence.

The other Chosen did not want to go running off into possible danger, but they didn't want to go through the portal again either. The Astrans realized that their comrades from Earth had backed their plan to rescue Brok and to help destroy Fa’ Vel's hold on the people. They could do no less.

“I suppose we should have the Astrans make everyone invisible. We can get clothing at the encampment,” Robert said.

“We can't just go waltzing up to the encampment as if nothing had happened. We don't know how long we have been gone. How are we going to explain our absence?” Forka was the voice of reason. “We need to stay hidden until we assess the situation at the camp. Only then will we make any further decisions.”

The others were more than willing to let Forka take charge. The other Guardians thought it only fair that they defer to the Guardian of this planet. Forka led the others out of the cave after he and the others from Earth dressed in the clothes they had left behind.

Based on the position of the sun, Forka guessed the time to be about mid-morning. He set a quick pace, wishing to make the journey to the encampment as swiftly as possible. The fact that most of the others lacked shoes forced him to slow down, which made him grind his teeth in frustration.

Unlike on Astra, there was no need for silence to avoid
suspicion. There were no people except for those living in the encampment. If they did come across anyone, they would more than likely be the enemy. And the extra noise might help to confuse the enemy and give the Chosen and their Guardians the advantage.

There was no one on the Eastern Plains of Colorado except the Chosen and their Guardians. Forka kept to the game trails criss-crossing the grassy plains. The dirt had been ground to soft powder by the many antlered hoofs of the deer and elk that roamed the plains, and Forka thought those traveling in bare feet might find the going a bit easier.

--Your planet has changed.

The communication from Number 4 stopped the group in their tracks.

“Changed?” Robert asked.

--We have visited your planet many times in the past.

Robert pinched the bridge of his nose. The telepath's unwillingness to elaborate was frustrating. “I don't understand. Did you come here through the portal?”

--No. We came in travel pods.

Robert ground his teeth. “You came in travel pods? And…? What did you do? Why did you come? How long ago did you visit?” He hoped the multiple questions would prompt the clone to be a little more verbose.

--Our kind has been to many worlds. We observe and sometimes take life forms back to Kromin for study. The last time anyone came to this world was about eight hundred years ago.

“You took people from here?” Sloan asked.

--It was necessary. We erased the memories of those we took. But sometimes the erasure did not work, and the subject would remember things about their journey. It made it difficult for us to continue the surveillance of this planet.

“Perhaps we can continue this conversation while we walk?” Impatience drove Forka to snarl the question at his comrades. He strode off without bothering to see if anyone followed.

“So what was the planet like when you visited? Have
you
ever been here?” Brad frowned at the clones.

--We are much too young to have actually traveled to this world.
Number 5 said.

“Do you know what we were like before all
this
?” Brad gestured toward the ruins of Denver. In the distance, he could barely make out the tall concrete tower; its purpose, no one could guess.

--Humans lived much differently. You lived and worked in large buildings made of steel and stone. Humans would drive cars on the ground. That is a piece of what was once an elevated highway. Number 5 pointed to the concrete pillar growing larger the nearer they got to the Jhinn encampment. --For long distance travel, humans would fly in airplanes. Very inefficient. Travel pods are much better for long distances.

Brad shook his head at the strange terms the clone used. None of the Chosen of Earth had ever heard of the things the Kromin was speaking of. The pictures and symbols that flashed through his mind as the clone communicated only added to the confusion. He couldn't put a name to any of the strange things the clone was showing him, and words like computers, trains, cell phones, and satellites meant nothing.

Robert felt a flash of jealousy that these aliens knew more of Earth's history than its own people did. “Why didn't we write stuff down? Hearing you speak of how we lived before doesn't even seem real,” he said.

--I can tell you more if you like.

“Why did you stop visiting?” Forka asked. He had noted that the time the aliens had stopped was about the same time that the downfall of the human race had begun. He had learned some of the details while training on Gentra, but he wanted to know more.

--Your species was no longer interesting. My kind had visited this planet for many thousands of years. We kept hoping that with each leap of technology you would change. But humans will never change. It is boring to watch a species do nothing but fight.

Robert wanted to deny it, wanted to defend his people. His shoulders sagged as the truth of the telepath's words weighed him down. He had spent most of his life fighting the two enemies that plagued the Jhinn, and one look at Forka's face confirmed that what the telepath had said was the truth. Robert wondered why he felt so guilty at hearing how humans had behaved so long ago.
I'm not
responsible for what they did. So why do I feel so bad?

“We must be quiet. We are nearing the river,” Forka whispered harshly. He had been so caught up in what the telepath was saying that he had allowed them to come too close to the watchtowers.

Forka signaled the group to stay put and moved forward slowly. His skin prickled.

They should have seen me.

Forka had spent enough time in the watchtowers to know that even though he was behind a screen of cottonwoods, the sharp eyes of the guards could have spotted him. The alarm bells should have been ringing.

All he heard was the sound of the river and the birds. This mundane noise terrified him. He quickly made his way back to the group.
Why are the towers not manned?

“General, we need to get to the encampment.” Sloan's voice was low and tense.

Forka nodded. “Let's hope the ferry is on this side of the river. Or you will have a long swim across.”

Sloan snorted. “You know Martha is the strongest….” His voice broke off.

“It's okay. Let's get going.” Forka hated how fast things were moving. They had been hit with the deaths on Astra and had been hit again with three more. None had had time to properly grieve for their lost friends.

Forka motioned the group to follow. He and Sloan jogged to the river, their fear lending their tired limbs new speed. Forka breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the ferry still tied to the bank. He calculated quickly.

“We will have to go in two groups. We need to move in slow and easy. Once it is safe, those that are invisible need to find clothing quickly. The Jhinn may have been taken captive.” Forka jumped aboard. It was strange to feel the ferry move and sway as the invisible Chosen stepped onto the wooden platform. Forka and Sloan went with the first group. They pulled the ferry across as quickly as they could. By the time they reached the far bank, both men were covered in sweat and panting from the exertion.