Savior Part 2: Son of Eden (The Savior Series) (20 page)

“Come on, Howie, you know that stuff’s fake,” I offered.

“Is it?” Howie asked curiously.

I was just about to reply when I suddenly realized that he actually had a point. What if all the UFO and abduction stories that I had always heard about growing up were actually true? The U.S. government had benefited so much from the Equillian gifts that I suddenly had to wonder if they would be willing to turn a blind eye to the extraterrestrial, extracurricular activity in exchange for the technological advances that made us by far the most formidable superpower in the world. That would certainly explain the eerily consistent description of little grey men that were always blamed for perpetrating the myriads of abductions around the globe. It also explained the drastic reduction in contemporary UFO sightings in that the master wormhole generator on the moon base had been disabled 18 years ago, which meant the Equillians would no longer be able to instantly travel from their galaxy to ours.

It felt like my head was about to explode as I stood there in silence contemplating Howie’s words. He had effectively pulled back the proverbial curtain and suddenly introduced me to two ideas that were absolutely horrifying—What if we had been working for the wrong side this entire time? And most of all, what if, at the end of the day, there was no right side to begin with? I shuddered as I thought of what would become of our planet if it turned out that what Howie was implying was true.

“Reaper, are you okay?” Howie asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

“You’ve been standing there staring into space for almost five minutes,” Howie continued.

“Sorry, it’s just a lot to take in,” I said still gripping the two 1000-pound bats in my hands.

“Yeah, I know. I probably shouldn’t have said anything,” Howie admitted. “So what do you think?” he continued, obviously trying to lighten the mood.

“They’re gonna take some getting used to but I think I like them. I
definitely
love the logo. Can I get that on my armor?” I asked as I looked at the
skull and crossed bats
logo on the bats.

“I already have that covered,” Howie grinned.

“Sweet!” I cheered as I turned and placed the bats back in the brief case and closed it. “Why bats?” I asked Howie, as I took my seat on the couch.

“I know you’ve gotten a lot better at hand to hand combat through your training with Jason but I just thought you could also use a few weapons as well. I initially considered a sword but—no offense of course, but I don’t think your style is suited for a blade. Can you imagine what kind of damage you can do if you Reaper Raged out with one of these babies in your hands?”

Just the thought of tearing into a hoard of Anokian soldiers with two 1000-pound bats in hand was enough to bring an extra wide smile to my face. As always, Howie was absolutely right. I was already incredibly strong to begin with but once my adrenaline really got going my strength was off the charts. I could only imagine how devastating my attacks would be if you threw an extra 2000 pounds of metal into the mix.

“So do you guys wanna play some video games or what? It’s been a while since I mopped the floor with you two noobs,” Howie boasted as he flopped down into the recliner once more and picked up a controller from one of the nearby game consoles.

“Ha! Whatever! You’re the noob,
noob!”
I smirked. “But seriously, I actually had plans tonight. I was supposed to meet up with Audrey at 10:30.”

“You guys have been hanging out almost every day, Reap! Looks like it’s getting pretty serious,” Ace said as he returned to his seat and picked up a video game controller.

“Yeah, I guess you can say that. It kind of feels sort of weird now though, you know? With Monica being back in the picture and all.” Ace and Howie remained silent rather than commenting on Monica because they probably knew it was still a touchy subject for me.

“Well, power up the magic door, Howie. I need to get back to L.A.,” I finally said.

“Yeah… about that…” Howie said, sheepishly.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, troubled by the guilty expression on his face.

“Well, we don’t have a wormhole generator in L.A.” he replied.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.

“The only way to send you to L.A. using a wormhole would be if there was a wormhole generator in L.A. to connect to the beacon. I can get you to Nevada with the generator in Area 51 but even with your speed you’d never make it to L.A. by 10:30.”

“Well that
sucks
. Guess I’ll have to reschedule,” I groaned.

“Wow, you must
really
like this girl, Reap. I haven’t seen you like this in a long time.”

“Yeah, she’s… she’s okay, I guess,” I lied. In truth she was a heck of a lot more than
okay
but I didn’t feel like discussing it because of the guilt I felt about hanging out with her. A part of me wanted to end our relationship and devote all my time and energy to finding Monica, but another part of me felt so attached to Audrey—so much so that I didn’t know if I could simply cut her off even if I truly wanted to. It wasn’t just her supermodel quality good looks and phenomenal sense of humor that intrigued me so much. I appreciated her the most because of the fact that she had actually managed to somewhat fill the void in my heart that was left after I decided to walk away from Monica.

Rescuing Monica was still my primary mission in life at that point but despite my devotion to bringing her back, something within me still would not allow me to simply cast Audrey aside. I was confident that once we found Monica’s location we would be able to rescue her but I didn’t know exactly where we would stand at that point. I still loved her more than anything in the world; however I had also developed a powerful attachment to Audrey that couldn’t be ignored. I had no idea of what I was going to do once we found Monica but something told me that whatever I ultimately decided would end up making me feel like the worst guy in the world.

As Howie and Ace powered up the video game console I decided to bury my worrisome thoughts and focus on enjoying the bit of precious down time that I had with my two best friends. Our lives had become so complicated that opportunities to simply kick back and relax almost never seemed to occur. That’s what made those moments so precious and that’s exactly why we continued to force ourselves to momentarily forget about the danger that was barreling toward Earth in hopes of being able to have a sliver of fun for the night.

And we did have fun. We laughed. We joked. We played video games. It was just like the old days—as if Howie’s wormhole had somehow catapulted us back into a time where reaching the next level of our game was much more important than the impending destruction of our planet. Still, I wish we had had more time and I wish I could have somehow known what was about to happen in the days and weeks to come. Perhaps then I would have known not to take a single second of that day for granted. I didn’t know it at the time, but unfortunately that night would be the last night the three of us would ever hang out like that again.

“WHAT TROUBLES YOU, FATHER?” I ASKED AS I STOOD behind The Righteous watching as he solemnly stared down at the vessel who lay unconscious in front of him in a small translucent pod that stood at the center of the dimly lit, circular room in which we stood.

“The Goddess has gone silent yet again,” he replied without taking his eyes away from the vessel.

“Perhaps she communes with the vessel,” I suggested as I took my place by his side and stared down at the small human girl who lay peacefully in the center of the chamber before us.

“Perhaps,” The Righteous considered as he stroked his pale gray beard with his right hand.

As I gazed upon her breathtaking beauty, I couldn’t help but wonder if her physical appearance had anything to do with the Goddess’ selection of her. Then again, the more I stared at her the more I realized that there was much more to her than meets the eye. Something told me that her destiny as the vessel of Eden was rooted in much more than mere beauty alone.

I glanced over at my father and watched him as he continued to study the vessel. It was as if he was attempting to read her thoughts or perhaps establish some sort of psychic connection in order to determine what was going on inside of her head. The hints of doubt that registered in his eyes as he watched her saddened me. My father had always been the strongest man I knew; therefore, seeing him in those moments of weakness were sometimes a bit more than I could bear. I certainly appreciated that he trusted me enough to show his true emotion in front of me but in the back of my mind I sometimes longed for the perspective of the others. To them, he was still just as undeniably strong and unrelenting as the day he united the four crowns and became the High King of Eden. To them he was still invincible—because they never saw the tears that he had shed when Eden and the Goddess were lost. They never saw the agony that tormented him when he wondered if we would ever be able to reclaim our home. All they saw were the grandiose speeches and all they knew of was the crown—only I knew the man who stood behind it.

“Thank you, Son,” The Righteous suddenly whispered as if he had read my mind.

“For what, Father?” I asked.

“For everything. Your presence is what gives me hope even when all hope seems to be lost,” he replied.

“Thank you, Father,” I said, not completely understanding what he meant.

“When your mother came to me all those years ago she spoke of this very day,” he continued.

“And what did she say?” I asked.

“She asked for my help in stopping the growing threat of the Equillian Federation. They had not yet invaded our galaxy at the time but the Goddess had foretold of their coming. She said that in exchange for my help she would give me everything. And I laid with her that night and in seven days she delivered you unto me. A child that I saw as no more than a weapon to aide in my pursuit of absolute power. I had asked her how I would know when I had obtained what she had promised and she said that one day I would simply realize it. When I ascended to the four thrones and united them all as High King I thought that she had finally delivered her promise of giving me everything, but only now do I realize that she had done so the moment she placed you in my arms.”

“Thank you, Father,” I said and we nodded at each other then continued to stare down at the vessel in silence. I had lived for nearly two-hundred Earth years by that point, which was barely middle-aged by Anokian standards, but in my lifetime my father had never displayed much affection toward me. He had always shown appreciation for my power and dedication to his cause but never had he shown genuine appreciation for simply having me as a son—until that moment. To be completely honest, it felt a bit awkward at first but in the back of my mind I appreciated finally having confirmation that he regarded me as more than merely an impenetrable wall between him and the would-be challengers for the Broken Crown.

“How close are we to obtaining the deep space communicator?” The Righteous asked, finally breaking the silence.

“Close. I have a team of Knights in place and our Stranger assets are working on getting us access to Area 51. Alias has assured me that their plan is proceeding as expected.”

“Is it absolutely necessary to involve the Strangers with this operation?” The Righteous questioned.

“Unfortunately, it is, Father,” I admitted.

“And you’re confident that the rumors have not swayed their allegiance?”

“I do not wish to speak out of turn, Father, but are you certain that there is no place for them in our society considering how instrumental they have been to our operations in the Americas?” I asked.

“There was only one human on this planet worth saving, my son—and she is but a memory now. The rest of them are animals and they will have no place among us,” The Righteous said firmly.

“Understood. There are still grumblings and we have not yet located the source of the rumors, but as far as I can tell the Stranger leadership still believes that they will have a place at our side once our fleet arrives. At least for now we shouldn’t have any issues with their compliance,” I assured.

“Very well then. Keep me updated on your progress,” The Righteous instructed before turning and heading toward the exit of the observatory.

“I will not fail you, Father… and we will reclaim our home,” I called after him.

“I know my son… I know,” he said, glancing over his shoulder at me as he paused in the doorway with his long white cloak fluttering in the air behind him.

I nodded then turned back to the sleeping vessel as my father exited the room. There was no emotion in her flawlessly beautiful face as she lay there as still as a photograph—no indication of what was going on inside her mind. To think that the fate of our entire universe ultimately rested on the whims of such a small human girl was enough to even cast a sliver of doubt unto me. But it was far too late within the eleventh hour for me to give in to doubt.

The Equillian Federation had to be stopped. For millennia, their rhetoric of peace and prosperity for all sentient beings had done well to mask the true nature of the insidious threat they posed to the universe. Their unusually long life spans and rapid reproductive cycles coupled with their secret ultranationalist beliefs made them truly the most dangerous threat imaginable. Simply put, they were invaders—a plague of grey scum that had spread to the Andromeda galaxy and conquered entire worlds in less than a century without having fired a single weapon. Instead of conquering through war the Equillians did so through trade and manipulative diplomacy. One by one they used their advanced technology to trade in exchange for citizenship and real-estate in different solar systems within our galaxy. Once they established a firm foothold within a system their 2500 year life spans and rapid reproductive cycles would ultimately lead to them quickly overrunning the population of the indigenous inhabitants and gaining control of the system’s resources as well as their governments. Entire civilizations, conned out of their very way of life, were forced to give up their home worlds and retreat to the barren planets in the Third Quadrant near Eden, our home world. My father was the first to bring the grievances of the refugees before the galactic counsel but the other counsel members were either too oblivious to the Equillian threat or too corrupted by Equillian bribes to agree to take action.

Now that they had ceased control of Eden and gained access to our Anokian-Steel reserves their threat had grown exponentially. The foolish earthlings had no idea of what they were involved in. They feared us because of our physical might, but they did not realize that the true threat was the so-called ally that they were helping to oppose us. Their methods were always the same—an initial alliance followed by technological gifts and favors. And the one thing the conquered races never realized until it was too late was that an alliance with the Equillian Federation always ended in conquest.