Lines Crossed Chapter Twenty
GRID Traveler Trinity: Lines Crossed
Author: J Carrell Jones
Table of Content
Chapter 20
Chapter 20
The great doors closed behind Sean. The chamber was smaller than the massive doors would indicate. A small table in the center had a clear decanter of iridescent blue liquid placed in the middle. It was surrounded by three plates. On each plate lay one of the three pieces of dufuka fruit The Elder had taken earlier.
The Elder motioned for Sean to sit. “The Captain, I know you understand our tongue.”
Sean smiled, “You found me out. I do understand.”
The Senior Elder sat at a place. She lifted her heavy robe enough to get comfortable. “Do I hear deception?”
Sean answered, “No intentional deception Senior Elder.” He looked at The Elder, “Please accept my apologies for not being forthright. I decided to let our Goddess speak for us. She after all really is the head of our religious group.”
The Elder nodded. “Accepted The Captain,” he said as he sat behind a plate.
Sean took his place.
“You are your people’s protector?” The Senior Elder asked.
“One of many. I am the leader of this quest to find places the First Elders visited. To form an alliance and allegiance.”
The Elder said, “To fight the Metal ones?”
Sean nodded. “But I see you won’t need our help.”
The Senior Elder replied, “The First Elders left us with the Liquid of Magick. They knew one day we would need it.”
“How many Elders are on your world?”
“There are one thousand regions spread from the north to south and from east to west. The top and bottom of our world we leave for the First Elders.”
“The First Elders are here? Now?”
“They come and go. Sometimes one will visit to see how our liquid is doing. They’ve shown us how to increase our supply, but sometimes it’s not enough. The canter you see before you is for a special occasion.”
“I am honored.”
“The honor is ours The Captain.” The Elder said. He poured the blue liquid into the glasses in front of each plate.
The Senior spoke, “May The First Elders watch over us and guide us through times that are good and times that are bad. May we display courage when needed, humility when called for, and the guiding thought to know the difference.”
Sean took a drink of the glowing blue liquid. It felt surprisingly warm as it made its way to his stomach. It left a bitter aftertaste and suddenly his mouth felt dry. He started to sweat.
The Senior Elder and The Elder had just finished their glasses. They popped the dufuka piece into their mouths and chewed slowly.
Sean did the same thing. The dufuka took the bitter edge away, but he continued to sweat. He felt hot and his vision started to blur. “I feel strange,” he heard himself say but hadn’t realized he said anything.
“The Captain,” The Elder started, “are you okay?”
Sean heard himself say, “No, I’m not feeling well. Please get our Doctor.”
Then blackness.
Collins heard the massive doors opening before she saw them. The Elder hurried over to Loggar and herself.
“Please follow me. The Captain seems ill.”
Collins followed The Elder and found Sean lying on the floor. He was drenched and started shaking uncontrollably. She pulled out her scanner. His body temperature over 105. She pulled a HYPspray from her Medical pouch and slid a small bottle into the hand grip. A moment later Adriana appeared. “What can I do to help?”
Collins pressed the tip of the HYPspray against Sean’s neck. “Hold him still please.”
Adriana placed a hand on each shoulder and pressed down.
Collins pushed the trigger release and a stream of fluid flowed into his neck. Seconds later Sean stopped shaking and his temperature dropped to 99. His normal was 97.1.
Adriana ran her scanner across Sean’s body.
Collins stood up and faced The Elder and the Senior Elder. “What happened?”
The Elder bowed deeply. We didn’t know this would happen.
“Didn’t know what would happen?”
Tears welled up in The Elder’s eyes. “He drank the water of Magick.”
“Pardon?”
Loggar had lingered by the door out of the way. She watched everything and heard The Elder mention “ . . . the water of Magick.”
The Elder gestured to the clear decanter.
Collins ran her Scanner over the decanter. She reviewed the readers and her eyes grew wide. “Adriana? You have to see this.”
Adriana stood up and walked over to Collins. Loggar was close.
“Take a reading.”
Adriana did so. The tiny display screen flowed numbers and symbols. The flow stopped on a wireframe image of an organic version of the Necronian nanobot.
Collins said, “nanobots?”
Adriana answered, “Organic bacteria with a similar structure as the nanobots.”
Loggar approached The Elder and Senior Elder. “The Captain will be okay.”
The Elder looked at Loggar, “But how could this happen?”
Loggar answered, “Even though we may look the same there may be some differences. The First Elders visited many places and may have made us all a little different.”
The Elder was mournful.
“The Captain’s power was given to him by a First Elder named Adruqu, he . . .”
“Directly?!” Replied The Elder.
The Senior Elder came in close, “By the Holy Supreme Elder?”
Loggar nodded, “As I was.“
Both Elders dropped to their knees. ”Forgive us, Goddess.” Both said in unison.
“ . . . I am alright.” Sean said behind The Elders.
Both stood up and bowed deeply. “The Captain, please forgive us. We are deeply . . . “
Sean interrupted, “Forgiven.”
The Senior Elder fainted.
Collins rushed to her side and ran a scanner over her. “She’ll be fine, from what I can tell. As a people we are very similar, with some slight differences.”
Adriana stepped up next to Sean. “Sir, how are you feeling?” She ran the scanner along the length of his body.
“I feel surprisingly well.”
Collins ran a scan. She looked at Adriana who nodded. Collins turned to face The Elder. “The Elder, may I move this object across your body. It will not hurt and you will not feel a thing.”
The Elder looked at Sean and Loggar.
Sean said, “Please.”
The Elder bowed deeply and tears welled up in his eyes.
Collins and Adriana both started taking readings. After a few minutes Collins said, “Sir, I’d like to get back to the shuttle and input this data into the computer.”
Loggar turned to The Elder, “Elder, may we have a small amount of the liquid?”
The Elder was torn emotionally from saying yes and holding onto the sacred liquid. After a moment he nodded. He went to a small closet and pulled down a medium jar. The liquid glowed blue. He handed it to Loggar ceremoniously.
Loggar said, “Thank you and don’t worry. We will protect it.”
The Elder warily smiled.