Reborn (The Cartographer Book 2) (8 page)

“Here we go again,” Kedge grumbled

I flipped the switch on my bracelet. The Universal Map sprang to life, bathing the interior of the shuttle in a pale green light.

“What are you doing?” Lianne asked. Her features cast an eerie green shadow which looked more demonic than feline.

“I have to see something.” I squinted my eyes as galaxies flashed on the screen. I batted them aside with the tip of my finger. There was only one planet I was interested in. When I found the familiar blue-green marble (it glowed more like a green-turquoise marble within the color of the map). I zoomed in further. When I saw the flashing box over the western coast of Africa, I zoomed in further. Kell had left an annotation over the region. It was a section of Mauritania, more specifically an area between Mali and the Western Sahara. When I read it I almost fell from my seat.

“I knew it!” I exclaimed triumphantly, my lips splitting into a smile.

“What is it?” Lianne asked.

“Ales Banda was wrong about the time hole on Earth,” I explained. “Kell knew it but didn't tell anyone. He did, however, mark it on the map. I think this may be why he locked it in the first place.”

Satou unstrapped himself and lumbered over to me. Kedge and Lianne leaned in closer, tussling with each other to get a better vantage point.

“What are you rambling about, Nathan?” Satou asked.

I took a deep breath to slow my heart before it beat its way out of my chest. My thoughts raced through my head. “When Meta told us that Corvus came from the future, I wondered how it was even possible. I only knew about time travel through phone booths and Deloreans. I read about time holes in your archives but most of your records show that they only travelled into the past, never the future. Using Meta's explanations I began to question the universal time line. I had to ask myself, 'What if
we
are someone's past'?”

Satou stroked his chin tentacles, deep in thought. Kedge scratched his head and focused his monocled eye on me. Lianne slipped back in her chair with a confused look on her face. Frustrated, I clenched my fists. If anyone should understand what I was saying it should have been the people around me.

“Look,” I directed them to the map, specifically at a caption hovering over the country of Mauritania.

This location houses a time hole unlike any I have ever encountered before. Preliminary tests concluded it does not lead to the past as originally thought. Science Officer Jharg passed through the hole completely with no adverse effects. The logical conclusion is that this is a receiver. We are standing in someone's past. This is a remarkable find. Someday, someone from the future may pass through this hole. How far in the future remains to be seen. Also, obviously this brings up concerns regarding any intentions this futuristic traveler may bring with them. Further studies must be conducted.–KELL

“That's an amazing find, Nathan,” Kedge said. “Good job!”

“The Richat Structure,” I muttered. “That's why Kell did what he did.”

“What?” Lianne blinked at me.

Startled, I shook my head and realized my words had been uttered out loud. “Oh, sorry. I was remembering the riddle I had to solve to unlock the map. It involved the Richat Structure and now I know why.”

“But what does all of it mean?” Lianne pressed.

I couldn't answer her question. Before I could admit as much, Kedge spoke up.

“It means Calypso lied to me when he recruited me,” he said solemnly. “He only desired the power of the Lumagom, and my men.” Kedge rubbed his chin. “I think I may know what Corvus is planning.”

“Well, don't keep us all in suspense,” I quipped.

“The only logical conclusion is he is using the time hole to bring technology from the future into the past. The Dominion Curse was only a sampling of that technology.”

We were jarred in our seats as Satou guided the shuttle out of the bay. He activated the auto pilot and turned toward us. “Why do this?” he asked. “It doesn't sound very logical to destroy your own planet's past.”

Kedge shrugged. “It must have something to do with the future. Unfortunately, without knowledge of the future, it may be difficult to determine their motives.”

“Well whatever it is, it can't be good.” I fumbled with my harness which took several tries to get hooked. “We have to complete our mission but we also need to go to the Richat Structure and stop Corvus.”

“Well, since we can't be in two places at one time I will notify Embeth and see what he can do,” Lianne offered. “Perhaps he can dispatch some of the Defense Fleet to that location.”

Lianne hurried to the back of the shuttle and accessed the communication panel. Satou returned his attention to the shuttle's guidance system and guided the craft around an incoming asteroid.

“We should be landing in New York shortly,” he stated. “In the meantime prepare yourselves.”

As everyone double-checked their weapons, the shuttle's cloaking technology covered our landing in the East River. The scanners reported a lack of boats in the area and we unhooked ourselves and prepared. Satou retrieved a large metal canister from the cabinet and strapped it to his back. A one inch diameter hose was attached to it which he fastened to his wrist.

“What is that?” I asked.

Satou tightened the strap and met my gaze. “This is an airborne version of the cure. All I need to do is spray this toward the victim and, if it works as intended, the antidote should enter through the sinuses and take effect.”

“Are there any side effects?”

Satou shook his head. “No side effects, but the cure is only effective if the subject inhales it. It will still take about a minute for it to work.”

“Which means we will need to disable them,” Kedge acknowledged. He slid his staff into its sling and looked at me with a grim expression. “That means there is a chance some may need to be killed if the cure does not work in that timeframe.”

Lianne burst into the cabin. “Embeth agreed to send a force to the Richat Structure. He still suffers from his wounds but Daranan will take the lead. He should be a reliable—,” her voice trailed off and her smile faded when she saw our faces. “What's wrong?”

“Nothing,” Kedge replied. “Just addressing a bit of unpleasantness.”

Satou stood up and his face hardened. “Nathan, I have to ask you to stay here.”

“What?” I asked incredulously. To say I was disappointed would have been an understatement.

Satou raised his hand to stop my protest. “Kedge is right, we may have to kill people in there.”

A tense moment of silence passed between us. I attempted several times to respond but the words escaped me.
He is right
. I refused to admit it out loud, but my brain knew otherwise. I slumped into a nearby chair and dropped my face in my hands.

A hand fell on my shoulder. I looked up to see Kedge scrutinizing me with his bionic eye.

“If I was in your position I would feel the same way,” he said. Sorrow crossed his face and I thought I spied a tear in his good eye but it could have been my imagination. “We will handle this and I'll do everything I can to make sure the casualties are minimal.” He turned toward the exit but stopped with his head down. “Humans were my people too…at one time.” Before I could say anything he exited the shuttle.

Satou grabbed a neutralizer and followed him out the door. Lianne tossed me a look of regret before she walked out as well. I watched the communication panel while the airlock disengaged outside. A feeling of uselessness filled me.
A lot of good I will do in here
. I moved to the pilot's chair and fingered some of the buttons and knobs that dominated the control panel. I removed my hand when I realized I might accidentally hit the wrong button and launch the shuttle into the side of the United Nations.

“Please God, let everything be alright.”

Solomon Corvus

The time hole shimmered. To an untrained eye it was nothing more than heat rising from the sun-scorched desert. Occasionally, desert nomads would wander past the location seeing nothing more than strangers staring into empty space. They wisely chose to put a lot of distance between them. Solomon Corvus was no desert nomad nor was he some stranger who had wandered into the desert. He
felt
the power of the portal. He saw a portcullis, draped in bluish energy. As he watched, the color of the door became darker than usual and shapes formed in the background. Someone, or something, was ready to step through.

Calypso and Natronix exchanged nervous glances, expecting the worst. They hadn't travelled through the time hole and weren't sure what would come through. Not Calypso. He had been waiting patiently for visitors.

“What is it?” Calypso asked.

Corvus chuckled when two of the Lumagom guards raised their weapons and trained them on the portal. They put on a brave face, but couldn't hide the fear in their eyes.

Corvus smiled warmly. “Reinforcements.”

Calypso visibly relaxed. “It's about time. The untapped potential of your technology will be useful against the Consortium.”

Untapped potential
. Calypso said the most amusing things sometimes, Corvus thought. He bit his tongue and continued to stare at the portal. The darkened swirls formed small blobs before splitting into one large blob soon followed by another, much smaller one. Eventually the mists came into focus and the blobs took shape. One male, one animal. They exited the portal and Corvus' smile widened when he recognized them.

“Sam Wells!” Corvus beamed. “You are a most welcome sight.”

The male, a human in his fifties, was completely bald with thick rimmed glasses and a six inch brown goatee, mottled with gray. Thick, golden hoop earrings dangled from each ear and he clutched a large black case in one hand. The animal next to him was a wolf as white as snow. He fixed his pale blue eyes on them and growled.

Corvus cocked his head. “And you too I guess?”

“What the hell is this?” Natronix growled. “A man and his dog are our weapons against the Consortium?”

“If you are referring to Claw, then I must clarify that he is actually a wolf, not a dog.” Sam frowned and reached down to stroke the animal's fur. The animal closed its eyes and let out a soft purr, almost like a cat. Natronix curled his lip.

“Dog…wolf, it makes no difference. We need an army, not animals,” he grumbled.

Sam glanced at Corvus and ceased petting the wolf. “I would have thought you would have one by now. You seem to be slacking.”

Corvus laughed and looked around. Ten Lumagom soldiers had escorted them to the Richat Structure. Most of them circled the portal with weapons raised, unsure of Sam and his pet. He rubbed his temple and knew that if so commanded, Sam's wolf would tear them to pieces before they could even fire a shot.

“This is just a contingent. The rest are up there.” He raised a single finger toward the sky.

Sam looked up and scanned the skies. “The only thing I see there are clouds. What exactly do we have 'up there'?”

“Four Scarlet Moon warships, seven Lumagom battle cruisers and one science vessel Calypso managed to steal from the Consortium,” Corvus replied.

“We would have also had one Explorer's League vessel if you hadn't abandoned it,” Natronix grumbled.

Corvus ignored him. “We have a mix of roughly two hundred soldiers, science officers, and medical staff.”

Sam scowled. “Not nearly enough to achieve our goal.”

“That's why I need your assistance.” Corvus nodded toward the case.

Sam shrugged and dropped the case. The soldiers took a defensive step backward. They focused their weapons on Sam with an air of uncertainty. He stepped away from the case and Corvus moved in to inspect his new gift.

“So this is the Richat Structure,” Sam commented as he surveyed the desolate landscape around them. Countless desert hills and valleys surrounded them. They were a staple of the barren wasteland which comprised this particular section of Mauritania.

“Lovely, isn't it?” Corvus grunted.

Sam's eyes fell on the rifles that were pointed at him. “If you plan on using those, I suggest you get it over with.”

Claw growled and the soldiers seemed unsure of the situation. They looked toward Calypso for guidance but before he could issue an order something growled behind them. They spun their weapons toward the sound. From behind a nearby acacia bush an African lion emerged. Its golden mane was caked with dried mud from recent rains. It swayed gently from the dry desert wind. When it turned its hungry eyes spotted their group. To him their group must have appeared like a buffet.

“Wait!” Sam's voice interrupted the soldiers before they could fire on the animal. He pushed his way past Calypso and Natronix.

Corvus looked up from the case and smiled. He knew Sam enjoyed “showing off” for an audience. It was one of his quirks for as long as they have known each other. The wolf trailed behind Sam with its head low to the ground and growled. It was his low, guttural growl that caused goose bumps to break out on Corvus' arms. He didn't know much about the animal but he
did
know Sam's skills. Their group was about to be treated to a show.