...omnis vulnerat et ultima necat...
"The future influences the present just as much as the past."
Candlelight danced across the wicks of white and gold wax candles as the opening of the front doors to the tiny restaurant admitted a gentle springtime breeze to pass through and brush against the group of young adults sitting at a large table near the center of the room. They were finishing the last remnants of a delicious meal, prepared especially well by the cooks in the back who took pride in such tasty and well-presented dishes. A faint murmur of chatter surrounded them all, some originating from their table, the rest circulating from the men and women nearby who had also chosen to eat out this Friday night. One of the counters had been transformed into a makeshift bar, albeit there were very few alcoholic selections here, wine or beer would have to suffice, and a gentleman was seated on one of the two stools talking excitedly with one of the waiters. A young girl who was dining with the rest of her family had taken off her shoes and was swinging her legs to swipe them back and forth against a soft red carpet below her booth. There could not possibly be a more normal or more peaceful scene as this moment in time than right now.
"I'm sorry," said a diner who was at the cash register with a pen in his hand and a checkbook sprawled out across the surface of the glass counter, "what's today date?"
The owner, a man with warm dark eyes and a bristling moustache despite a head of mostly missing or thinning gray hair, smiled comfortingly. "Is April twenty-first," was his answer in a Mediterranean accent.
Near the corner of the restaurant, a married couple in their seventies, the man a very content soul with combed gray hair and clean-shaven, the woman with permed black hair and a warm glow around her, sat quietly, staring at one another as if they had not seen each other in ten years and happy to be together again after so long. In truth, though, they had been together every day since their marriage more than fifty years ago in a time and place far less complicated than ours.
"Son, today you are a man."
Cecil suddenly snapped awake, surprised that he had drifted off with his eyes still open, and smiled coyly when he realized everyone at the table had turned toward him. "What?" he asked, defensively. Without missing a beat, he turned his head down to his plate and began scraping together some of what was left of his chicken parmesan to form another bite.
This was Cecil Mercuric's favorite restaurant. It was not the best tasting, or the least expensive, or the trendiest locale to scope out on the Ivory Glade, Colorado, scene. For as long as he could remember, even since coming here as a boy with his mother, father, and big sister, this had been a place of comfort and tranquility for him. It was a spirit of community that seemed to seep away as the twenty-first century approached head-on. He made no secret about his love of this place, either, which was why his friends had decided to bring him here to celebrate his eighteenth birthday. Their care and friendship meant as much to him as this place did, a fact that until recently he had never known how true it was. After so much abandonment, they loved him so much, it broke his heart to have to do what he was about to do now.
Sitting directly to his left, Amber Donaldson took the last bite of her roll after scraping it through what remained of her spaghetti sauce. She swallowed, then said, "This is probably the best meal I've had since moving to college." With no afternoon classes on Fridays, Amber was able to leave school with plenty of time to make it home to attend Cecil's celebration. She was studying to get a degree in education with the intent to become a teacher someday here in Ivory Glade. Cecil had originally balked at the idea: who is their right minds would ever believe that the Black Ranger could also be a run-of-the-mill teacher? But she was still getting near-perfect scores on tests and her communication skills were above and beyond satisfactory, so maybe there was some hope for her yet. After all, even though she did not know this, her biological father was a teacher, Professor Abner Donaldson.
"I wish I was able to cook," Brittany Elliott sighed, dropping her fork alongside the last few uneaten morsels of her suppertime omelet. She had said before they arrived that she was hungry for eggs, and she happily followed through on that promise when it came time for the waitress to collect their orders. "I mean, I can cook, it just never tastes good. My dad and my brother never have the time to even try so we always end up eating takeout. This place is like heaven."
A noise from across the table caught Cecil's attention, and he instinctively turned toward it just in time to see Rachel Manus cover her mouth to hide her giggling as Bane, in his disguise as Henry Vaughan, whispered—or did something with his mouth—near her closest ear. Nobody else but him had caught the sound, so he graciously ignored the interruption and leaned back in his seat, watching as Alexander Revell was returning from the washroom, buttoning the cuffs of his forest green dress shirt.
"I wish I had a cellular phone," he said to Amber as he sat down on her opposite side.
Rebecca Spencer grinned as opportunity knocked and Alex allowed for a perfect opening jab. "Why?" she asked. "Was there a phone number for a good time written on the wall in lipstick?" Cecil smiled to himself, turning his head toward Rebecca so neither Amber nor Alex could see him laughing.
"No," he answered, unphased by the question. Amber, on the other hand, looked ready to reach across the table and put her fist in Rebecca's mouth. "I just remembered I told Rob and Josh I could practice with them if they stopped by, but now I won't be there to..."
"It's alright with me if you want to take off," Cecil offered.
Alex seemed offended by the suggestion and shook his head defiantly. "No way. You're one of my best friends, even above and beyond a friend. I would never skip out on you, Cece."
A weak smile was all Cecil could muster as a voice in the back of his head sadly taunted him about what he was about to do. Above and beyond friends.
The waitress returned briefly with the intention to take their orders for dessert, and one by one they passed around the list of selections they had been eyeing intently for the last hour. Finally, with Rebecca's last order for a hot fudge sundae, the young woman serving them smiled timidly and told them she would be right back. An uncomfortable silence began to enwrap the table of friends. Certainly, of all people, these seven should have something to talk about; in the course of fourteen months, they had toppled an extraterrestrial religious cult, journeyed to the actual center of the universe aboard a spacecraft, and had battled countless monsters to protect the sanctity of their beautiful Colorado city.
Amber started to break the silence by saying, "Maybe we can..."
"I have something to tell you," Cecil interrupted her, placing his left hand on her shoulder to wordlessly apologize for his rudeness. "All of you." Bane's face suddenly turned serious, and in a moment, realizing her new boyfriend was tensing up, Rachel followed suit. Rebecca wore a puzzled look, while Brittany merely sighed as she rested her arms on the table and leaned forward, expecting some longwinded, philosophical speech from the birthday boy. Of course, none of them realized the gravity of what he was about to spring on them.
Laughing, Alex prompted, "Well...what?"
Cecil swallowed before continuing. "We have been home for two months now, but something just doesn't feel right to me." He noticed Rebecca glance down to her arm, where the invisible Omni Morpher was forever equipped, and hurriedly kept talking. "Not something Ranger-related. The whole city just has a different pulse to it now. I think I'd be happier if I moved away."
The responses fell in line almost immediately. Alex asked, "What?" Rebecca muttered, "No way." Brittany snorted, "You can't do that." Amber was almost offended as she said, "Absurd." Only Rachel was conducive enough to truly ask, "How come?"
"My parents are always away, on business trips and flights," he explained, growing a little irritated now that the cat was out of the bag. "The rest of my family lives all the way across the country around New York." He decided to add, angrily, "And I've finally come to terms that Craig is dead. It's time for me to move away and start my own life."
They stood together in the pilot's quarters, a combination of a bedroom and office. A map showing the fastest route between Earth and New Omnis was pasted above the lamp over the desk, and several fake plants decorated the unused corners of the room, a touch of the late Professor Donaldson's love of nature reaching across time. The sheets of the bed were in disarray, an impression of someone's head still left in the feathered pillow. A shredded black shirt and red sweatpants torn off at the knees were the only things left. The question of what happened still singed the air.
"I think I know what happened," the mother told everyone with a heavy heart. "He was killed in the fight with Michael. But there was so much still happening—the Black Hole power, the stray energy of Meridian-Omega, the energy release from the Pseudo Morpher. I think, even after he died, his passion and force of will kept his body alive, just long enough to make sure his friends were safe. Then, because he loved Earth so much, he convinced you to agree to continue protecting it as Rangers. With that accomplished, his purpose was done, and he was able to pass on as he was meant to."
Cecil shook his head is disbelief. He touched the impression in the pillow and felt a pressing sensation in his temples. "Craig..."
"I'm moving to Los Angeles," he told them definitively.
"To start a career in Hollywood?" Rebecca joked, grinning. "You're not a very good actor, you know. I'm not buying this at all."
Cecil shook his head, avoiding looking directly at any of his friend, instead focusing on the empty glass resting on the tabletop. "I have my own reasons."
"So you want to go to this place," concluded Bane, "even though you still have responsibilities to handle and friends that care about you here."
"It's not noble," Cecil agreed with the implication.
Alex frowned, his eyes locking with curiosity onto Cecil's arm, clearly questioning in mind what to say next. "So, you're skipping out on us."
The time had come. Standing up, Cecil reached into his pocket, pulled out a one hundred dollar bill, and dropped it haphazardly onto the table to cover the cost of the entire dinner. Before anyone could object, he extended his right arm outward while simultaneously ordering the Omni Morpher to become visible. He detached the device, dropped it next to the money, and before he heard the heavy thump of metal against wood he was walking toward the exit. None of his friends stood up; not because they did not want to, but because five seconds ago he had used those filthy powers one last time, a technique he called Psychic Stream, to paralyze them just long enough for him to make it outside.
"Good-bye, everyone," he called out, with a final wave. "I'm sorry."
And standing in the middle of the uptown street on a dismal Friday night in the shadow of the sun setting between the mountains, he said good-bye permanently to his lifelong home of Ivory Glade.
"The entire building is operated by a supercomputer on the first floor called Cipher System. We compiled the data from every available source, including Alpha-S2's memory module, the Gemini Destiny archives, and even files salvaged from any technology that was in possession of any Twilight Legionnaires. In fact, Professor Donaldson was very resourceful, and left an enormous bank of information in a sub-basement at Eurren Underwater Research Center."
He could not fight it anymore. With an accompanying stretch and eyes closed tightly to drown the bright lights surrounding them, Patrick Manus yawned widely, exposing the internal contents of his mouth intimately to everyone else. Amber smiled, wanting to do the same thing, but her manners would not allow her the courtesy of doing the same. Blushing, Patrick realized he had become the center of attention and slapped his hands over his mouth, saying, "I'm sorry," in a muffled voice.
Whether intentionally or just because it was contagious, Rebecca started yawning as well, and when it had passed she giggled at the humor of the situation. Alexander shook his head in exasperation. The only inattentive member of the group, however, was Brittany, as her attention was devoted wholly to the younger of their two tour guides. He was rather handsome, Amber had to admit, and there was a spark of deep thought and intelligence in his complex gray eyes. Standing with both hands in his pockets, he acted as though he was paying attention to the older guide, but every now and then he would steal a glance back at Brittany, making her smile happily. And anything that made Brittany smile was a miracle.
His name was Gabriel Kaisa, and when he talked there was a hint of something very leader-like in his speech. "There are three remaining floors above us," he told them. "Directly above us is surveillance and communications. The sixth floor is strictly off-limits to visitors, not because of anything maleficent, because it is the residential area for those of us who live here." Gabriel smiled, but nobody else seemed to get the joke.
The first, older tour guide, a man in his fifties with close-cut grey hair and a permanent scowl, the kind of distrustful look that old war veterans sometimes had, began to speak again. "The seventh and top floor is still under construction. When it is completed, the Abner Donaldson Memorial Research Center will be truly finished, and will serve as a permanent home for the Earth-Omnis Network." His name was Victor Wilson and, according to Oriquin, a very dedicated man. He had been involved in their affairs since back in the days of the Orion Five Projects when, as a liaison to the U.S. Department of Defense, he lent his expertise and loyalty to Professor Donaldson. After Arcanza escaped and began organizing the Twilight Legion, it was Wilson who, after the Professor himself, was the main driving force behind stopping its spread.
"This place is incredible," Alex admitted, touching the screen displaying a map of the Rocky Mountain region of America, the area around Ivory Glade lit up in green colors indicating no abnormal activity was occurring. "Why did you choose to build it so far away from us?"
"Mount Attaviros," answered Gabriel, referring to the location they were at right now, in Rhodes, Greece, "provides us access to virtually every location on Earth. We have a Cipher System access point on the top of the mountain because, as you know, it needs a route composed of light to transmit data. Plus, we needed ideal coordinates because one of our future plans is to establish an inter-planetary communication relay with the New Omnians." As the youth rambled on with all the technological terms and explained things Amber could not care less about, Brittany looked like she was going to faint from the excitement.
Patrick stared at his surrounding like a fish out of water. The poor kid had been even more surprised than the rest of them when they were contacted a week ago by Wilson, who practically begged them to catch the next flight out for a tour of this new building. Now, here they were, in the heart of the ADMRC, code-named "Omega Complex," the headquarters of EON, a worldwide agency founded to prevent any other evil forces from enacting their plans on Earth.
A quick look passed between Wilson and Gabriel, and the older man nodded, igniting Gabriel to take his hand out of his pockets and motion to a group of chairs around a long table and say to them all, "Please sit down."
Amber shared a confused look with Patrick, Brittany, Alexander, and Rebecca, but finally, resigned, agreed to sit down. "What's going to happen now?" asked Rebecca. "Are you going to ask us to live here and join EON?"
"If you want to," Gabriel answered, which made Wilson cough and clear his throat with a clearly intended meaning. "I mean, you probably shouldn't, but nobody would argue with you if that were your decision." He turned over a sheet of paper that was laying on the table with a whole page of typing except for empty space on the bottom. "The reason we called you here was because we need something."
"Huh?" asked Alex.
Patrick was even more perplexed. "What do you need from me?"
Wilson was still standing but, surprisingly, his persistent sour face did not make him look the least bit uncomfortable. "It's difficult for us to ask this, especially since this is the first time we've met, but please see the wisdom in it before outright dismissing the idea. This decision was not come to lightly, and we waited for weeks to get a reply from Oriquin before contacting you."
"The EON committee," Gabriel explained, "thinks it would be best to keep the OmniTech Ability Bands here, at Omega Complex, to safeguard them." He noticed their expressions of offense and insult, and hurriedly pushed the document on the table forward. "This contract maintains that the Ability Bands are still solely your property, and only you will have access to them whenever you request it. That is, until Tuesday, January 16, 2024, the twenty-five year point."
Nodding intently, Wilson added, "The committee is terrified about the OmniTech powers effect on your sanity, especially after what happened with Mr. Revell, and it took every persuasive technique known to man to convince them to handle it this way."
None of them could find the proper words to answer, despite the fact Amber was certainly what was going through her mind at the moment was the exact same thing going through theirs. Under the table, Alex's foot nervously dangled near hers, and she could tell he was seriously considering the offer. She did not blame him. It happened more than an entire year ago now, but those few days of havoc caused by the berserker Green Ranger still weighed heavy on his young heart. In fact, Brittany looked to be judging the pros and cons, also. Maybe they all were not in agreement, after all.
"We made an oath two and a half years ago," Rebecca told them. Certainly the two men already knew what had transpired; she must merely be talking through her thought process out loud. "To never use the power for personal benefit, selfishness, or acts of revenge. To never reveal our identities under normal circumstances. And to adhere to our individual roles as Omni Rangers, but still remember above everything else that we are a team."
There was obviously empathy in his stormy gaze as Gabriel acknowledged, "The Omnians certainly designed that oath as a measure of safety for yourselves. However, your identities have been exposed. Your team was essentially dissolved when Mr. Mercuric abandoned you last April. OmniTech belongs to Earth, now, and it is time to establish our own new oath."
"What if there was a compromise?" asked Patrick. Everyone turned to look at him, sitting at the far end of the table, looking lonely and bewildered. Sunlight poured in through the glass windows, the sun directly behind him, framing him in a halo that hurt Amber's eyes. He made his Morpher visible and held it up for them all to see. "I've never even had the chance to morph once since Bane passed this device on to me, but I took the same oath all of you did. However, what little I've learned about how it works, is that each of them has a power source." He detached the Morpher from his forearm and opened a tiny hatch on its back side, then dumped three glowing coins onto the table and arranged them in a straight row with his other hand. "The Hypercoin here," he said, holding up the coin made from the same silver material the Ability Bands were made from, "is what actually gives us Ranger powers. What if we keep these, and allow EON to protect the Morphers?"
Apparently, that fact was new to Gabriel, who leaned forward, interesting, asking, "What are the other two coins used for?" Wilson still stood motionless, taking the information in stride, obviously aware but displeased with the suggestion.
Brittany pointed to the gold coin and explained, "The Zord Summon coin enables us to power the OmniZords and CrusaderZords." Then she pointed to the white coin. "The Arsenal Upgrade coin lets us use stronger weapons that what Rangers in the past have had access to."
"Come to think of it," Alex was musing, looking around at each of his companions, "we wouldn't even have our Hypercoins if Amber hadn't stolen them back from Sir Vesper during the siege. I think we should let her make this decision. She's earned the right."
With an affirmative nod, Rebecca said, "I agree. Amber, what should we do?"
Taken aback by the sudden proclamation of so profound a responsibility, Amber could only shrug and hope her eyes had not widened as much as they felt they had. Without a word of warning, the others had sentenced her to decide the fate of their lives as protectors of Earth, and she was not prepared to answer in the slightest. "I...I..." she helplessly stuttered.
Victor Wilson pulled a movable computer screen from the nearest workstation to the table and used the touchscreen to bring up a visual image of satellite footage over Ivory Glade, with the date "2000.02.14" displayed in the lower lefthand corner. A massive ball of energy, clearly visible on the grayscale image because it was entirely black in color, was colliding with the ground, throwing up earth all around as it burrowed into the defenseless planet. Amber suddenly felt ashamed, because she knew exactly what it was, and as realization dawned she turned to Rebecca and Brittany. "You told me nothing had happened, but I knew better. Was this what I did?"
"Cecil made us promise not to tell you," Rebecca tried defending herself. "Devus had just sent Alex into the abyss, when all of sudden you were there, more powerful than any of us have ever been. You used an Eclipse Surge that big—" She tilted her head in the direction of the screen. "—and when you woke up, Devus was dead and you didn't remember a thing. We were afraid that Alex was gone forever now and didn't want you to feel guilty. I'm sorry."
"I understand." Amber knew that Cecil had made the right decision not telling her, because guilty is exactly how she would have felt, probably for the rest of her life. Taking a deep breath, she raised both her hands and deactivated the invisibility cloak around each Morpher. First she detached her own, and then she detached Cecil's, before breaking into them both and removing the coins from inside. She noticed absently that the Hypercoin that supplied ShadowTech's power was black and dull. "We have to let EON keep these, and hopefully we will never see them again."
Wilson indicated the black Hypercoin and began speaking in a recollective voice. "Take good care of that thing. I spent a hell of a lot of time designing that little piece of shit alongside Professor Donaldson. The material came from the fragments of Meridian-Omega after its initial explosion. It doesn't have any power of its own, but rather draws the energy the other Rangers expend and reforms it."
"Once these are in your possession," Amber told him as her friends followed her example and began dissecting their own devices and pushing them down the table toward Wilson and Kaisa, "we intend to carry on with our lives."
"Of course," agreed Gabriel. "In fact, I hear the New Omnian is getting married next month..."
Suddenly, a wide smile overtook Rebecca's constant mask of distrust, and as she handed over her empty Omni Morpher she gushed, "Yes, and thank you for helping establish Bane's permanent cover. We know you had to pull some strings to make that happen, but everyone—especially Rachel—appreciates that." Then, absent-mindedly, as only Rebecca could do in such an adorable voice, she added, "I'm going to be the maid of honor."
Time passes by in the blink of an eye, and Amber could only laugh with her friends as they handed over the last Morpher and officially began the next phase of their lives.
Through the binoculars, she could see through the window of the seventh and top floor of the building, enough to see no moving shadows or anything that would indicate a moving body. The sixth floor windows all had curtains or blinders, so there was no telling how many people were there or if they were still awake. All of the other floors, except the ground floor, had tinted windows, but she knew there were guards stationed somewhere on each of them. It did not matter, though, because what she was after was right there.
She leaned against a large boulder and took a deep breath to clear her mind of any troubled thoughts or emotions that might impede her progress. Then, after she was certain, she pulled out a small, flat, round device from her back pocket and flung it toward the wall of the building. It stuck to the vertical surface and began blinking with red and blue lights.
A few seconds later, a voice began speaking in her ear via the tiny transmitter linked to a workstation far away. "Security system is responding as expected. I can disable it for a thirty second window before it triggers."
Uncertainty began seeping into that fragile calm state of mind, but she was so close now it would be more than detrimental to stop now. "Do it," she ordered.
"Done," the voice replied immediately. The blinking lights on the round device turned all red.
With all the speed she could generate, she flung herself forward toward the first floor window of the Abner Donaldson Memorial Research Center. Twirling a razor sharp projectile in her left hand, she pierced the glass and cut through it like a steak knife cutting through a bowl of jello. It was sloppy but quick, and a blindingly fast kick gave her access to the inside. No alarms yet, which meant that device had really worked. Without any more hesitation, she proceeded to run down the hall to the first door she came to, where two EON security guards spotted her. The razor was flying through the air in the exact same second, implanting firmly in the first man's Adam's apple. Before his blood hits the floor, the other guard's crotch is being kicked and, seizing his head in both arms, she twists it perfectly, severing anymore contact between his head and spinal cord, and his life is over as well.
The sign on the sliding metal door is "Cipher System Mainframe." Without any additional time to waste murdering people, she puts all her strength into pulling it open and slipping inside as soon as there is enough room for her slender body to work its way through. She flips the light switch, confident that her gloved hands with leave no fingerprints to identify her.
The computer system was incredible. There must have been somewhere in the realm of fifty monitors stationed all around the relatively small room, and only one keyboard prominently displayed in the center of them all. A stool sat near the keyboard, but there were no chairs, and no semblance of anything comfortable or soothing. This was technology, pure and hardcore. She found a drive, slipped a compact disc out from a secret pocket in her leather boot, and popped it in quickly. Tapping out her directions on the input device, she smiled behind her pitch black mask, sure now that she would escape unharmed.
All around, the monitors sprang to life, and one single, long file appeared, starting on the first monitor and continuing all the way to the fiftieth monitor and beyond. It was all gibberish to her, just a bunch of letters, A and G and C and T, repeating over and over in a never-ending cycle. With the correct keystrokes she downloaded the nonsensical information to the CD then, as soon as it was done, she forcefully yanked the disc out from the drive and tore the keyboard out from its base, smashing it against some of the monitors and shattering them into fragments.
She had taken one step back into the hall when the alarm system ignited the entire building into a frenzy. Blue light flooded every place, and a cold feminine computerized voice began proclaiming, "Code blue. Intruder confirmed. Location Cipher System mainframe. Security, please respond immediately. Civilians, remain calm where you are. Repeating: code blue. Intruder confirmed."
By the time more guards arrived, she was jumping out through the broken window and running straight ahead into the cold and dark night. She glanced back occasionally until she saw shadows of men examining her escape route, then pressed down on a trigger in her hand. The small device she had placed early instantly exploded, hopefully injuring several of them and throwing up enough smoke and debris to completely erase her trail.
"I have it," she reported through the transmitter. "Be waiting for me on the ship; I'll meet you there to begin reconstruction."
Reconstruction. Resurrection. Rapture. It would not be long now. Time passes by in the blink of an eye, and the Thief could only laugh to herself as she thought of how great it would be to move on to the next phase of her plan to revive the Eternal Demon.
"Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name..."
Brittany lifted her head and was taken aback instantly by her surroundings. A mere minute ago, she had been in total darkness, fumbling through some manner of tunnel, with nothing but a lonely star blinking feverishly in the distant void. Then she felt a heavy slamming sensation, a feeling she could only describe as her soul rejoining her body, and found herself standing here amidst a crowd.
An enormous, breathtaking, praying crowd. She gaped at all of them, slowly reciting the Lord's Prayer, astonished at not only their numbers but also their presentation. All of them were dressed in white robes; no, white was an inaccurate description, but some beautiful color beyond. They were pure white, radiating with an inner light of their own. There was no area where a shadow existed, but there was also no area where somebody was not standing. Brittany craned her neck around to stare under the hood of one member of the multitude. He was a very ordinary looking young man, a little bit familiar, with greasy black hair, a misshapen nose as if he had been in more than one fistfight in his life, and yet his brown eyes gleamed with something she could not describe short of happiness.
And then it came all at once. "Dominic?" she gasped.
Dominic Larson was a boy Brittany had known years ago. He was in the grade above her, and she remembered he was always rough around the edges, a kid who grew up with only his non-committal father. According to her memory, he was chronically getting into trouble, and none so much as when he signed up to become a member of Twilight Legion.
"Hey, Dominic?" she repeated, struggling to wave her hand in front of his face to try and trigger his attention.
Dominic had hooked up with Sarah Collins, a girl whom Craig once upon a time had a crush upon, until Arcanza put out the order for Twilight Legionnaires to go into hiding. He had tried convincing Sarah to run away with him but she had refused. When he came back to claim her, Brittany, Craig, and Alexander had been there to confront him. In the end, he transformed into a monster they referred to as "Dom Coyote" and Alexander fatally wounded him in the consequential battle.
Realizing she was not going to rouse him, she turned away to see what else was happening around her. Everyone had their head pointed downward, staring at the golden grass and rainbow-colored flowers growing beneath them. Still they were reciting prayers, but now it was a different language, once Brittany could hardly identify let alone understand. In front of them all was a waterfall, a powerful rush of thousands of gallons rolling down from so high she could identify where the falls started. It was impossible to see anything except the flowing water against smooth earth-toned rocks.
Unable to move forward because of how tightly packed everyone was, Brittany slowly gathered enough courage to reach forward and pull back the hoods of two of the worshippers in front of her. They were not angered, but they did respond, turning around to look at her as if to inquire what was happening. She did not know why she did not faint right there on the spot.
"Mister and Missus," she said in a voice so quiet it went unheard, "Hopwood."
Joyce Hopwood smiled politely, placing her hand on Leonard Hopwood's shoulder, tilting her head without emotion toward Brittany.
"This can't be," stuttered Brittany, bumping into the person behind her as she tried to back away from them. They had to be ghosts, or she was hallucinating, or...
She fell backward onto her butt, a sharp seething pain traveling simultaneously up her spine and down through the backs of her legs. Could she feel pain if this were a hallucination? she wondered absently. The voices had suddenly stopped. Something must be happened somewhere, and Brittany reluctantly admitted she was getting excited at whatever it could be. The person behind her kneeled down and picked her up, setting her gently back on her feet without making a single sound.
"Thank you," she turned around to say. A familiar face nodded firmly at her, bright blue eyes shining behind a pair of spectacles. So very, very familiar. "Professor Donaldson!" she exclaimed. "You too?"
The Professor said nothing. In fact, she expected him to say nothing, because for all the peacefulness and bliss permeating the air itself around her, none of the people seemed to want to cooperate with her in the search for truth. Just when she was about to give up all hope, Donaldson lifted his hand and pointed behind her. Brittany turned around quickly and completely unprepared for what happened next.
Everyone had fallen to their knees, kneeling obediently, and she looked around aghast at Dominic, Craig's parents, the Professor, all of them had assumed a pose of worship. She was about to start screaming at them, ready to ask them to let her leave, when suddenly something small but vastly immense caught her attention. One of the robed people out of her reach had dropped their hood down far enough to start at Brittany and, realizing they were caught, quickly rehooded themselves.
But for just that one second, Brittany was certain...
"Mom!" she screamed out. She frantically pushed the people in front of her, stumbling and tripping, desperately trying to reach that one figure. With all of her concentration she kept track of where she had seen her, but physically getting there took such a long time. At last she reached the robed woman she thought was her mother, but when Brittany pulled the hood away, a different woman was staring at her. This woman had long blond hair down the length of her back, sort of like Brittany's mother, but that was where the similarities ended. What was even more strange, however, was that this woman's robe was not pure white; it had red and yellow lacing all up and down, as well as some variety of strange symbols and pictures written along the hems. Her eyes were unlike any human's Brittany had ever seen before, as they sparkled silver with just a tinge of light blue. Unlike any human's, but exactly like Seraide's. "Are you an Omnian?" she asked, now inexplicably excited.
"I am," she answered. Then, placing a very gentle hand on Brittany's shoulder, she whispered, "Your mother saw you."
"It was her," sighed Brittany. "Where did she go?"
"You cannot meet her," the beautiful Omnian woman answered, "not yet. Now, please watch." She lifted her arm, and pointed forward, to the same area the Professor had pointed earlier. Sighing deeply, Brittany wiped away the tears that were streaking down her cheeks and looked forward.
The waterfall had stopped. It had not stopped as in dried up, but stopped as in frozen in place, frozen in time, the water hanging suspended in the air. Nobody made a sound, not even a gasp or exclamation, almost as if they expected something like this to happen. And that dead silence made her frightened. Suddenly, she knew what had happened. She was dead and this had to be the afterlife, hopefully Heaven, but definitely she was no longer on Earth. It explained why all those people she knew who were deceased were present here. Brittany felt herself crying quietly again, wishing she could have said goodbye to her friends, her brother, and her father.
He materialized through the waterfall, walking in mid-air, standing several meters up over the ground all of the worshippers were kneeling on. None of the white-robed people were looking up at him, they were all staring at the ground, until the sounds of singing birds filled the air and they simultaneously lifted their eyes to behold him. Brittany was at an utter loss for words or thought.
Craig Hopwood hovered in the sky. He was wearing a robe similar to his worshippers, only his was beautiful gold as opposed to stainless white. His hair blew in every direction from a wind behind him. In his left hand, he was holding a single candle, the flame small and flickering, ready to be extinguished at a moment's notice. His right hand contained a crown, inlaid with gemstones of so many colors and shapes and sizes it was impossible to tell how they had all been fit onto such a small item.
A pair of eyes as blue as the ocean locked directly onto Brittany, who was the only one still standing. Craig wore a look on his face as if he wanted to smile and scream at the same time. He opened his mouth and his voice carried everywhere.
"I am what will be."
There was another slamming sensation. Brittany sat straight up, unable to slow down her respiratory rate or her heart rate, both of which were out of control. Her cream yellow nightgown clung to her skin, perspiration lining her entire body. The bed underneath her legs felt hard and uninviting. Outside her window, the first one or two rays of sunlight were filtering from the eastern horizon past the house next door. A continuous thump, thump, thump sound beat against her eardrums. She fell backward and felt her hair was all sticky and soaked with sweat against her pillow.
It had to have been the most intense dream of her life. "Mom," she whined, remembering how vivid and lifelike it all had been.
But it was not her mother, it was Craig's voice that echoed over and over in her mind the rest of the day.
The ship's name was Advent, a large vessel normally used for cruises and entertaining, but now against this backdrop there was no sign of fun or fancy. No young woman laying out on the deck in swimsuits, tanning themselves in warm sunlight. No couples in the ballroom dancing to music. No lovers trying to recreate scenes from the movie "Titanic" in the cargo area in a dusty old-fashioned automobile. This evening, the Advent was the manmade deliverer of pure evil.
Thunder rolled against the night sky and another flash of lightning provided ample illumination for Gabriel Kaisa to see his partner staring intensely back at him, that permanent frown unrevealing of any thought or emotion that Victor Wilson might be having. They stood together, alone, on the deck underneath a sloppy makeshift canopy that was supposed to stop the raindrops from splashing on their heads. It failed, though, so both of them wore yellow raincoats with hoods to filter out as much of the water as possible. Far beneath them, the waves of the waters near St. Vincent thrashed against the side of the boat, causing it to rock violently just a little bit more.
The storm had not let up for the entire three days Kaisa and Wilson had spent here. They arrived in St. Vincent on December 31, 2003, just in time to commandeer Advent under EON's worldwide authority. The former passengers, who paid a significant amount of money to celebrate New Year's on a luxury cruise ship, had been severely pissed off. Their looks of utter hatred were still fresh in Gabriel's mind. If they knew what he held right now, however, utter hatred would not be enough.
Gabriel was quiet as he clutched tightly to a simple metal box covered with a dark cloth, with a five-diamond design stitched into the fabric. This design had quite a long and interesting history, but it was most recently used as an insignia for EON. It could have weighed no more than a couple pounds, but it felt massively heavy in his arms, so much so he had to struggle to concentrate lest he drop it. If its contents were lost or damaged in the slightest, it would make this storm seem like a blessing from God.
"What do you think of the new Executive Director?" Wilson called out to his companion, hoping to pass the time with some idle conversation. "The committee was unanimous in their nominations."
Gabriel fought the rain smacking against his face and shout back over another thunderous crash, "He certainly was obsessed with getting us here in a hurry. Guess he doesn't like to waste time. I don't think I even know his name yet."
"Me neither," Wilson replied. "They promoted him on the morning of New Year's Eve and by the afternoon I had my orders to accompany you here."
"I heard he specializes in military tactics, game theory, and psychology, and scores so well on proficiency exams it's almost inhuman," the younger man answered back. "Like he's from another planet or something." Of course, when it was the Earth-Omnis Network involved, such an idea was far from farfetched. In fact it would surprise him if someone from New Omnis was selected as Executive Director.
"There are rumors he was involved with the Illuminati, too," added the older man, unconvinced.
One of the crewmen of the Advent, a man whom they had seen in discussion with the captain earlier, came running along the deck, holding a blanket to protect himself from the wind and water aggressively blowing him back. "Excuse me," he called out in a South American accent, "Captain wants me to inform you she cannot handle this strong a storm much more. We are turning back."
"You can't," Wilson growled, grabbing ahold of the crewman's blanket and pulling him in close to stare into terrified brown eyes. "Our chopper is going to meet us at this position."
Almost on cue, a new sound cut through the next thunder shake, a whipping noise that caused both of them to look directly up. The ship's mate seized the opportunity to break free of Wilson's hold and take off running back where he had come from. They let him go. A helicopter was descending from the air, directly on top of them if the spotlight shining down was any indication, and they rushed off to the side at a conservative running pace. Wilson kept his head up, watching the helicopter, while Gabriel kept his own eyes dedicated to watching the covered metal box in his arms. He suddenly felt sick, about to vomit, and fought the urge.
When the air transport touch down on the deck, it kept it propellers moving, and a man dressed in camouflage waved them over to the hatch. He pushed it down, creating stairs into the cabin, and jumped out to help them make it inside.
Once both of them were safely inside the helicopter, the camouflaged man informed them, "I am to stay and settle things with the ship's captain. You guys are going straight back to Florida and proceeding directly to Omega Complex via private jet. Please be careful." With that information, he closed the open hatch and sealed them within the protective bird.
They sat face-to-face, soaking wet, in silence as their new mode of transportation lifted up into the night sky and carried them at high speed over the waters of the Caribbean Sea. Finally, Wilson broke the muted calm and remarked, "This is where it began, you know. Galaxy Hunter, the spaceship that brought Omnians to Earth for the first time, crash-landed in these waters."
"I've heard it began long before that," Gabriel countered. His arms wrapped around the metal box, so tightly, he remembered when his parents had bought him a puppy dog twenty years ago that he hugged so hard and so often out of unconditional love. This time, though, it was unconditional hate. He hated the item contained inside this box and was starting to hate the jackass who sent him here to retrieve it.
"Yes, but it started here for us." Fishing a pack of cigarettes and a lighter out from a pocket inside his raincoat, Wilson lit up and took a long puff coupled with an immense sigh. "I can't believe that thing has spent twenty-five years at the bottom of the sea without being touched." He motioned to the box with his cigarette, spilling some ashes onto the floor of the helicopter.
Gabriel turned his nose up. "I can," he said quietly. "What man or animal in the right mind would want to touch the Seal of Meridian-Omega? It is the last thing prevent the devil himself from conquering the world."
"The third and final Seal of Hell," Wilson muttered in disgust. "At least it's under our protection now. No need to worry about it falling into the wrong hands." He leaned back against the cabin wall, and his eyes suddenly went hazy and distant, as if remember something that happened long ago. "I just hope this new director knows what he's doing. I hope his hands are the 'right hands.'"
A vein of lightning ripped across the stormy skies.
The Nexus was gone.
No more boundary of blackness to cross to gain admittance, or artificial air created by humans so they were able to survive her, no cathedral built by the alien lifeform longing for enough peace to sleep eternally, and no megastar collecting the universe's stray energy after going supernova them imploding so many years ago. All of that mess was completely gone now, consumed by something new.
It was a cloud of smoke, a thick and dense cloud that absorbed all matter as it continued to grow and grow the longer it existed. Deep within the cloud, there was a fiery glow, red hot heat and light reflecting malevolently at this cloud's heart where once the brilliant Meridian-Omega once inhabited. This was the geographic center of the universe, the point from which the Big Band originated, the focal point of all life and birth, and now also the focal point of its destruction and death.
Light and darkness swirled amidst the tendrils of smoke and energy. It could still feel those two beings, wielding the untapped power of the cosmos, irresponsible and unconcerned with the consequences they would bring about.
This cloud is called the Ethercell. It is the physical form of the barrier that keeps this universe separate from all other parallel and perpendicular universes. The Ethercell alone prevents the creature called the Eternal Demon from crossing over from its universe, a dreadful place referred to by no name more accurate than Hell, to ours.
The Ethercell was completely invisible and long forgotten for the last three thousand years. But when the Trinity Seal was broken at last, it regained its ethereal energy. When the Spirit Seal was broken, it regained its corporeal presence.
All it does now is struggle against the unimaginable evil, restraining it for just another second longer, waiting for the day it opens and plunges a now peaceful existence into the depths of chaos.
Original Publication Date: 20 November 2004
