Trapped in Time-Extinction (28 page)

Mat stared at her and after a moment said, “I told you that I wasn’t comfortable with anyone seeing my every thought.”

“And especially the thoughts about how you felt about me.” Harmony paused and said, “You shut me out but you used your talent to look at me through the minds of others.”

Mat sighed, “How do you know that?”

“Is it true?” Mat lowered his head and nodded. “Did you ever intend to let me in on how you feel?”

Mat looked up and shrugged, “Harmony, you’re Andy’s daughter. For God’s sake, you’re so far out of my league as to be unreachable. I saw no way you’d ever be interested in me. I’m sure every single warrior on the planet is hoping to get you to give them a chance.”

“That’s not true.”

“Of course it’s true.”

Harmony blew out a breath and shook her head, “Mat, I scare the crap out of almost everyone that knows me. They fear I’ll hear their innermost thoughts and that is a heavy load for anyone to bear. The only one that really cares about me for who I am, as well as what I am, is standing right here with me now. You’ve wasted three years where you and I could have gotten to know each other and see if we would make a good couple. Your insecurities prevented us from really finding happiness with each other. Now the aliens are about to arrive and all of us could end up dead. You’re an idiot!”

Mat stared at her with an open mouth and after a moment closed it. He tried to speak but didn’t know what to say. Harmony tilted her head and looked at him with one eyebrow raised. He shook his head and then smiled, “I am an idiot.”

“Yes you are.”

“Is it too late to start?”

“That depends.”

“On what?”

“How long you take to come over here and kiss me.”

Mat’s smile grew huge and he rushed over and took Harmony in his arms and kissed her. He opened his mind and felt her fill his consciousness. He broke the kiss and Harmony kept her eyes closed. “Is something wrong?”

“Yes, you’re not kissing me.” Mat laughed and kissed her again. This one lasted much longer.

Linnae sat on her bed and kept her eyes closed as she felt what Harmony was feeling; Boy! That guy could kiss.

A
ndy stood on the wall and looked up in the night sky. The tail on the comet was beautiful and it was getting larger and longer with each day that passed. Linnae and Melody reported that the aliens had not found intelligent life on the first two planets and were coming to Earth next. Andy looked at the Unit Commanders gathered at the wall and said, “Everyone knows their role. Linnae will let you know when the aliens use this new thought weapon and you should immediately grab your head and fall to the ground.”

“Won’t they be able to determine we’re still alive?”

Andy looked at Rory and nodded, “Yes, they have machines on their ship that will make that determination. That is what I’m hoping will cause them to land and investigate. Everyone will move to their positions in the morning and will stay in them until they arrive.” Andy looked at Linnae, “Do you have an idea on how long before they arrive?”

“The being I’ve been listening in on is doing some last minute scans and then they’ll be coming here. I suspect it will be either tomorrow or the next day.”

Andy looked around the eight warriors and said, “Do you have any questions?” Everyone looked around but no one had a question. Andy looked at Mat, “I’m depending on you to get to your position as quickly as possible.”

“They can only land in two possible locations. We’ll be ready to move as quickly as we determine which one they’ll be using.”

Gordon tilted his head, “Andy, won’t their machines see those in camouflage?”

Andy smiled, “I’m betting that the Time Takers made those uniforms to be invisible to what they call scanners. If I’m wrong…” Andy shrugged.

Maxius stepped off the wall and said, “Let’s go. This is what we were put here to do.”

The group all shook each other’s hands and Andy turned to Harvey and Melody, “The glider is waiting for you. You need to get moving and get things ready.”

Melody hugged Andy and whispered in his ear, “You will not die!”

“Yes Mam.”

“I mean it, Andy. Kill them all before you take that kind of risk.”

“Melody, you know that we’ll all die if that happens.”

“Even so.”

Andy nodded and kissed her. He took her hand and walked her out to the glider. She stepped on board behind Harvey and his final team of priests. She turned around and looked at Andy as the door was closed and he saw her fear. He shook his head and blew out a breath. He felt his own fear as well but ran back to the wall as the glider rushed down the landing strip and rose into the night sky. It would arrive at daybreak at the Hole. He looked up at the sky and prayed he would meet be able to meet her there.

• • •

Mat and his group remained in the trees that grew next to the river flowing through the Community. He waited and hoped for advance notification on the Alien’s arrival. He thought about Harmony and worried about her safety. She was one remarkable young woman. She was right about him being an idiot; he had wasted so many years not communicating with her. Once he felt her enter his mind completely, he had no doubt she was the one destined for him. He took a deep breath and looked at the sun rising over the distant plains. He saw his warriors sitting against the trunks of trees waiting for the signal. Would it come today?

• • •

Harmony and Linnae focused on the sky and waited for what they knew was coming. Linnae had found the Alien’s ship first and Harmony had locked in on one of the beings on board. She listened and saw Linnae was listening to another Alien. “What do you mean this planet is going to be destroyed?”

“There is a comet coming in at an incredible speed that is going to impact it. The devastation will be beyond what you can imagine.”

“Is there intelligent life on the planet?”

“We’ve found structures on the surface and there are beings located at one location.”

“What about the others?”

“The others appear to be deserted.”

There was a long pause and Harmony heard, “The Regent wants to know when the comet is going to hit?”

“It will hit on the side of the planet that settlement is located during late afternoon two days from now.”

There was another pause and she heard, “The Regent has ordered the ship to the location of that settlement. How long will it take us to arrive?”

“We should be there in four hours.”

• • •

Harmony contacted Andy immediately, “They’ll be here in four hours!”

Andy nodded, “What do you know about this weapon?”

“One of the beings on board their ship said that the ones they killed in three starships appeared to have grabbed their heads and fallen dead.”

“Tell all the warriors here about that and see if you can tell us the moment that weapon is used.”

“Dad, are you certain that weapon won’t affect us?”

“No, but the Time Takers were certain. We’re going to have to trust what they know.” Harmony nodded and sent a warning to Mat.

Andy looked up at the sky and saw that a layer of clouds was moving in from the east. He smiled and was glad they were coming. If the warriors out in the open had to lay on the ground for an extended time under a blazing sun… He shook his head and hoped the clouds would arrive in time. He heard the roars of a Carnivore in the distance and knew those roars were going to end shortly and he knew he was going to miss them; they were part of a world that was all he had ever known. He sighed and moved to the cliff wall. He prayed his plan was going to work and that the coming aliens did not see the camouflage uniforms. He waited and thought about all that had happened since he was exiled and was surprised to hear Linnae say, “They’re overhead now.”

Andy yelled and a single drum began beating. All of the warriors out in the fields began walking toward the holy cave as forty others stirred boiling pots. He used Linnae to tell all the warriors hidden in camouflage to remain hidden. Harmony ran out from the central clearing to join Mat’s warriors.

• • •

“Regent, it appears all the beings in that settlement are gathering in one place.”

“What?”

“There are hundreds of them out in planted fields that are now moving toward the main settlement.”

The Regent looked over the navigator’s shoulder and saw hundreds of infrared images moving toward the center of the settlement. He looked at his Warrior’s Commander and said, “I’m going to wait for them to gather in one place before I attempt to use the mind weapon.” The Commander nodded and looked over the Navigator’s other shoulder. After an hour, every being on the scanner was gathered around a source of heat between the walls surrounding the settlement. The Regent looked at those on the bridge and put his hands on his head and closed his eyes as he focused his mind. After a few moments he opened them and moved his head forward toward the planet beneath him.

Linnae sent a thought, “NOW!!”

Every warrior gathered around the boiling pots grabbed their heads and fell to the ground. Andy felt a pressure in his mind that was similar to putting his hands on the sides of his head and pushing them toward each other. It wasn’t enough to cause pain, but it was incredibly annoying. After a few seconds, it disappeared. He stared at the more than eight hundred warriors scattered around the clearing and nodded. They had fallen to the ground and really appeared to be dead. The warriors chosen to pull off the subterfuge had practiced falling for months and they really had it down to a science. He recalled them playing a game where one of them would sneak up behind another and say, “BOOM!” If the one being surprised didn’t fall immediately, they had to fall twenty times afterwards. He eventually had to stop the game because the warriors were falling anytime someone raised their voice. But their practice paid off, they really did look like they were dead and they had all fallen together. He looked at Linnae beside him and saw her staring at the sky. She saw him looking at her and she put her hand on his arm and shook her head. Andy took a breath and remained silent; he didn’t want to distract her.

• • •

“Regent, all of the beings have fallen but my scanners still show physical activity.”

“What do you mean, physical activity?”

“Their bodies are still alive.”

The Regent looked at the red images on the monitor and said, “I want to see them. Take us down close enough to get a visual.”

The Navigator looked at the Commander, who nodded, and began pressing buttons on his panel. He gripped the steering wheel on his panel and pushed it forward as he turned the wheel to the right. The large starship began spiraling toward the planet’s surface. Linnae looked at Andy, “They’re moving to take a better look but they haven’t decided to land the ship.” Linnae watched the view of the monitor in the Navigator’s mind and as it moved toward the community she quickly sent a thought to Harmony, “They’ll be coming from the north. If they’re going to land, it will be south of the community.”

Harmony looked at Mat and said, “South.” Mat nodded and raised his arms. He began running with Harmony following him, and his Warrior Group came out of the trees and ran along the sandy clearing south of the community. They spread out in the tree line and waited. Harmony took his hand in hers and squeezed it. Mat looked at her and quickly kissed her on the cheek. His warriors watched the community and prepared to move. They knew the most dangerous part of their mission was getting under the alien starship just before it landed. Harmony had learned about force fields while listening to the alien’s thoughts and the Stealth Warriors were going to have to be under the ship so as to be inside the force field when it landed. They waited and watched the sky. Soon, they saw a shape that was growing in size by the moment. Mat shook his head; that thing was huge.

• • •

The Navigator moved the ship below the cloud level and activated the external cameras. He manipulated his controls and the view of hundreds of bodies lying on the ground moved in closer. The Regent stared at the bodies and looked at the Navigator, “You say they’re not dead?”

“Their bodies are still functioning.”

The Regent shook his head and the Commander said, “It could be that only their higher thought processes are destroyed.”

“The Jemli were all dead when we examined them.”

The Commander shrugged, “Perhaps the mind weapon affects different species differently.”

“Could they be stunned and not damaged?” The Navigator and Commander looked at each other and they both shrugged at the same moment. The Regent shook his head and looked back at the monitor. “I have to be certain. Take us down and Grandel, take your warriors and collect some of the bodies for study. Make sure you’re armed in the event they’re just stunned. We can take some of them with us and I’ll practice on them later.”

Grandel was going to suggest blasting the bodies but the Regent made a good point. Finding an intelligent species to use the weapon on wasn’t easy. He left the bridge and sent a message over the intercom for his warriors to meet him in the landing bay. The Navigator looked at the Regent, “Do you want to land the ship or break out one of the landers?”

“There’s a comet coming this way and I want to be out of here with time to spare. Getting a lander ready isn’t worth the time. We’ll land, collect some of the bodies, and get out.” The Navigator nodded and moved the ship over the wall and began moving the ship down close to it. He lowered the landing legs five hundred feet above the ground; it had been a very long time since he had landed a starship on a planet’s surface. His caution was going to cost him; when the landing legs dropped, the force field under the ship was deactivated. It took him thirty minutes to slowly maneuver the ship to the surface. The Regent watched the slow careful landing and closed his eyes. He was going to have the Navigator practice landings when they left this planet. But he didn’t say anything critical to him while he was landing. That would come later. He looked at the scanner and saw it had gone back to electronic. The bodies were still lying on the ground. The antenna that had been extended a hundred feet above the landed starship sent red images to the monitor.