SHIAM Conspiracy- Book 1 (26 page)

For her part, Megan seemed perfectly fine
with his sudden disinterest. She turned her full attention to
Mashkkha. “Li’Era is the source of all that exists. It actually
means
One Source
in your language. The Elvish Teleria Tribes
in the North prefer to call it Li’Ente, which means
One
Mind
. Some Humans refer to this as Universal Mind, although
most of their theories deviate from Elvish beliefs. In any case,
both your religious leaders and your scientists tend to reject the
concept.”

“That’s because it’s a half-baked notion that
there’s some non-local, eternal hive mind that only Elves know how
to access,” Zak blurted out, unable to resist the dig. He was now
logged onto the warehouse network. As he began running diagnostics
on the virtual space, he said to Mashkkha, “The idea is that
reality doesn’t exist without the all-knowing Elves around to
interpret it.”

“That is
not
what it is at all!” Megan
snapped at him. “You would know about Li’Era if you had bothered to
study the paranormal sciences.”

“That’s true,” Harry suddenly spoke up. “The
Laws of Li’Era are as fundamental to paranormal science as the
scientific laws are to tradition science. Every sorcerer must learn
about Li’Era and its laws governing T’eh. It is the foundation of
sorcery.”

“It is the foundation of all that exists,”
Megan corrected.

“Give me a break!” Zak mumbled as he
continued to work.

“Harris!” Mashkkha said. “Would you keep
quiet?”

Zak snickered, but said nothing more.

“The Laws of Li’Era are fundamental to all
existence,” Megan continued. “Scientific law, the laws of physics,
mathematics...everything else is dependent upon the Laws of Li’Era.
They are what govern T’eh. They are also sometimes referred to as
the Laws of T’eh.”

“T’eh. I’ve heard of that before,” Mashkkha
said. “It’s some kind of subatomic particle that the Elves
discovered, right?”

“T’eh is the most basic building block of
existence,” Megan said. “T’eh, itself, does not exist in the
physical universe. It is what Elves call
mind-energy
.
Without Li’Era, the one mind, it exists in a latent state of being.
It is the potential of physical existence. Through the one mind,
that potential is realized as what we perceive as reality. Our
minds are a part of Li’Era, and so we all play a part in creating
the real world. Reality is as much subjective as it is objective.
It is not something that I can explain in a few short minutes.

“So, what does that have to do with
virtuality and what’s going on here?”

“Communication between Li’Era and T’eh is
transmitted over the Transcendental Transference Frequency in order
to create the universe as we perceive it,” Megan continued.
“Science has learned to use that frequency to manipulate our minds
into creating a virtual world through the use of computer generated
code. The line between that computer code and the natural code used
by the mind to communicate with T’eh is very thin. It is
theoretically possible to combine the two in order to create an
entirely new reality.”

“And you’re saying that’s what happened
here?”

“I am saying it is a possibility.”

“It’s still only theory!”

“Shut up, Harris!” Mashkkha barked. His
expression softened again as he looked back to Megan. “Hasn’t
science already combined the two? What about computer magic?”

“It is not exactly the same,” Megan provided
Zak with another of her killer looks, as she said to Mashkkha,
“Sorcery generated by computer is nothing more than simulated
thought patterns reproduced by artificial intelligence. It is
limited to very basic sorcery. Manipulating T’eh in order to
actually combine reality with virtuality is way beyond any
technology that currently exists. But, in spite of what Mr.
Know-it-all thinks, that does not mean that it is not
possible.”

“Look, I’m getting just a little bit tired
of...”

They ran out of time and they were off
again.

T
he sweet scent of Elvish Pine teased
Zak’s senses even before his visual world came back into focus. As
he regained more of his awareness, he detected the subtly sour odor
of decayed leaves wafting just beneath the sweetness of the
Pine.

Insects suddenly buzzed about him as his
vision returned and the trees that had initially provided him with
their pleasant aroma gradually came into focus. As his surroundings
continued to take shape, he could see that the Elvish Pine shared
the forest with Red Oak and several other species of trees.
Scatterings of young saplings and lush green undergrowth filled in
the empty spaces between their boles and the forest floor was
covered in a thick damp carpet of mildewed leaves.

A variety of bird song descended from the
branches above, individual melodies blending into a uniquely
pleasing chorus. Somewhere high above those branches was a glowing
sun, heating the still air to an uncomfortable degree in spite of
being denied direct access to the forest floor. A thin veil of what
Zak at first took to be fog stretched out into the distant corners
of the forest. He soon realized that this was not normal woodland
mist. It was the same reddish haze that had tainted everything
since they had entered virtuality. The others stood next to him,
appearing just as disoriented as he felt.

“Is this the same forest we were in before?”
Mashkkha asked.

“That’s hard to say,” said Zak.

“Shouldn’t we be in the same place we were
before we left?” Harry asked. “I mean, how can we be somewhere
else?”

“In case you haven’t noticed, virtuality
doesn’t follow the same rules of space and time as the real world,”
Zak told him. He really wasn’t in the mood for any further
discussions about what was possible and what wasn’t, and so he kept
his comments neutral and open-ended. “And that’s under normal
circumstances. We really have no idea what’s going on here.”

Megan seemed no more interested in continuing
their argument than he was. She was busy investigating their new
surroundings. Zak couldn’t resist the distraction of watching her,
as she stepped carefully between the tall trees in an ever
expanding circle, her head cocked to the side as though she were
listening for some unheard sound. When she finished she said, “No,
I cannot tell if it is the same forest. The trees are different,
though.”

“Can you tell if this is real or not?”

“No, I told you Harry, I am unable to tell
the difference.”

“Of course it’s virtual!” Zak’s irritation
rose again.

Megan gave him a harsh look, but said
nothing.

He decided to do something more productive
than poking another verbal stick at Megan and so began searching
for a network access point. After several minutes of futile
searching, he told the group, “Well, whatever is causing this
shifting, there is nothing we can do here. There doesn’t seem to be
an access point in this location.”

“You mean we’re trapped?” Once again, Harry
looked horrified.

“We will be fine, Harry,” Megan assured him
without looking over at him. She cocked her head and listened
again. Pointing off to her left she said, “There is some sort of
disturbance in that direction. There is a path going in the same
general direction.”

Zak attempted to look down the narrow path,
which trailed off into the trees where Megan indicated. It appeared
to be nothing more than a dear trail and was quickly swallowed up
by the forest as it veered off to the left not far from where they
stood.

He didn’t like the feel of it. “Everyone stay
here. I’ll go check it out...”

Megan beat him off the mark and was heading
down the trail before he could stop her. “I will check it, you wait
here. Be back in a flash.”

“Damn that woman!” Zak’s anger came to a boil
again as he watched her disappear around the bend in the trail. He
rationalized his sudden rush of concern for her safety as being
part of his normal sense of responsibility for all the members of
his team. It would have been a good argument if not for the fact
that it had sparked within him a sense of panic beyond any normal
concern. Why could she not just follow his orders!

“How can she tell there’s a disturbance?”
Mashkkha asked. “I don’t feel or hear anything.”

“Are you kidding...she’s a bloody Elf, isn’t
she?” Zak answered, starting after her. “Stay here.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to split up
with all this shifting locations going on,” Mashkkha said. “We’ll
just come along with you, save you from coming back for us.”

Zak mumbled several curses. Why could no one
follow his orders? In his frustration, he increased his pace,
trying to regain sight of Megan. But she was too far ahead for him
to catch any glimpse of her through the dense trees. He let loose
another string of curses as he picked up his pace.

As he chased after Megan, a sudden
apprehension came over him. The path seemed to grow darker, the
forest quieter. The air itself became heavier, a growing pressure
making his ears ring. Then he sensed it...a malevolence that seemed
to contaminate the very air around him. It was the same malignant
sensation he’d picked up on the previous night in Tanner’s
Warehouse. He cursed Megan’s independent stubbornness again, as he
became even more concerned for her safety and he attempted to find
more speed within himself.

When he did finally catch her, it was only
because she had stopped. Megan stood just off the small path,
crouched into the brush behind a tall Elvish Pine. As he approached
her, she gave him an exaggerated signal to remain silent. A cold
shiver ran down his spine as he caught her expression. Fear
reflected in her eyes, turning the deep green to a duller shade and
nearly extinguishing the bright flecks of gold. There was a sense
of panic reflected in her actions as Megan silently motioned toward
the clearing just beyond where they stood.

Zak followed her direction and as he looked
out past the trees, he realized that the area beyond was not really
a clearing at all. Not in the natural sense of the word anyway.
While devoid of the tall living trees that made up the surrounding
forest, this was a circle of destruction, the aftermath of some
powerfully devastating force. Proud old Elvish Pine and Red Oak had
stood here together not so long ago, but now all had been stripped
away. In their place, large jagged stumps rose up from the ground,
their trunks lying dead and broken around them like casualties of
some great battle. Some of the dead trees appeared to have been
scorched by fire, while others were splintered and cracked as
though snapped from their roots by a giant hand.

The air within the circle was a swirling
blood red, but remained translucent somehow. In the center of the
destruction a darker black-red vortex rose up from the ground and
into a blackened sky. The swirling column pulsed with a steady
rhythm, very much like the energy stream that rose up and out of
the roof of Tanner’s Warehouse. But the column here was much larger
than that coming from the small shipping office, at least several
meters in circumference.

“Do you see it?” Megan’s voice was unsteady
as she whispered to him. A shiver rippled through her as she looked
out over the vast circle of destruction.

Zak intuitively knew she wasn’t referring to
the obvious destruction. He strained his vision in an attempt to
see what Megan wanted him to see. It was difficult to look, as his
eyes immediately began to ache when he tried to see into the
turbulent red air. No sunlight touched this area of ruination.
Heavy dark clouds pressed down from above as jagged spears of
lightning, stained red in the contaminated air, slashed through the
blackness. Thunderous rumbles vibrated from the churning red vortex
in the center of it all, echoing over the destruction like a cry of
victory.

As Zak stared ahead in disbelief, he wondered
how he had not seen the jagged spears of lightning, had not heard
the angry rolls of thunder until now.

“
Do you see it!”
Megan’s voice turned
harsh, but still no louder than a whisper.

Before Zak could answer, Captain Mashkkha and
Harry Mathers came trotting down the path. When the two reached
them, Mashkkha bent over, grasping his legs for support, breathing
in deep gasps from the exertion of chasing after them.

“It would be nice if the two of you would
keep in mind that we are not Elves,” he managed between breaths.
“Did you pick up on that spooky feeling...”

“Sshh, not so loud.” Megan quickly put a
finger to her lips to indicate silence. Her movements were
exaggerated, almost frantic. She was clearly having difficulty
controlling her fear.

“What the...” Mashkkha mumbled, looking up
and past her, staring out into the reddish air.

“Oh my,” Harry whispered. Panting less
heavily than Mashkkha, he stepped closer to where the trail opened
into the clearing.

“No!” was all Megan had time to call out.

Time suddenly became paradoxical as events
unfolded in painfully slow motion, yet happening so fast that they
were impossible to prevent.

As Harry approached the perimeter of the
clearing, a black shadow moved within the dark stream of energy in
the center of the clearing. Zak suddenly felt the full weight of
the malignant power there, watched as the shadow seemed to grow
larger.

Instinct screamed danger to him. “Get
back!”

But it was too late. A sudden explosion
erupted from the dark vortex and a catastrophic wall of blood red
energy came rushing towards. It moved with tremendous velocity,
further consuming the dead logs and tree stumps that lay in its
path, splintering them into tiny shards of wooden shrapnel.

Zak acted purely on instinct, diving toward
Megan and knocking her to the ground with a solid jolt just as the
deadly shockwave swept over them. He protected her with his own
body, his adrenalin rush wiping all thoughts from his mind. Pain
streaked down his left arm as something heavy impacted with his
shoulder. His vision blurred as another unseen object hit him in
the back of his head.