4 Terramezic Energy (15 page)

Chapter 18

Mark woke up with a start in a strange room he’d never seen before. He was sitting in an immense, comfortable bed with soft, gold-colored blankets. His clothes had been changed and he now wore a loose-fitting sky blue uniform with three gold, rune-like symbols etched on the upper right-hand side of the chest. The large bedroom contained several polished wood dressers, a master bathroom, and a walk-in closet. The walls were comprised of a translucent blue composite and there was no window. A computer console was built into the far wall near the door and a small camera with a red blinking light was aimed at him. Mark took stock of his surroundings and recognized the strange material that comprised the walls to be Ancient technology. He had a slight headache and fatigue settled deep in his body as he shoved himself off the bed and onto his feet. Someone knocked at the door and he knew it had to be whoever had been observing him through the camera. Questions swirled through his mind as he approached the door and opened it.

A tall, slender woman donning a uniform identical to Mark’s except it was purple offered a friendly smile from the other side of the doorway. She had curly blond hair styled in a chignon, a heart-shaped face, and cobalt-blue eyes. A large purple pendant suspended by a gold chain hung from her neck. She spoke in a melodious voice in a language that reminded him of Italian with a musical lilt. She stared at him with an expectant look and Mark realized she must have asked him a question.

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand.” He leveled an apologetic gaze at her.

She said something else in her mysterious language.

“I still don’t understand,” Mark said.

She gestured at herself. “Hermina.”

“My name is Mark.”

She spoke again and Mark listened carefully as he analyzed the language for similarities between languages he already knew.

“I wish I could understand you,” he said in a regretful tone.

“I wish I could understand you,” she repeated with a musical, Italian-like accent.

“Do you understand me?” he asked.

She tilted her head to the side. “Do you understand me?”

“I’m going to have to learn your language.” Mark wondered how long it would take him without the benefit of his photographic memory enchantment.

“There’s no need.” The woman flashed an amiable smile. “I was just trying to get you to talk long enough for the translator to kick in. It’s been many years since we’ve encountered someone with a new language to learn.”

“Where am I?” Mark asked.

“You’re on Adamas in the Mitos galaxy.” Hermina’s stunning blue eyes conveyed curiosity. “Where are you from?”

“I’m from Earth.”

She regarded him with stunned amazement. “Are you from the Titan galaxy?”

“No, it’s in the Milky Way.”

“I’ve never heard of it.” She frowned with puzzlement then made a sweeping gesture with her right hand. In the blink of an eye, their surroundings were replaced with a holographic representation of space and a number of galaxies. She pointed with her index finger at a nearby planet in a galaxy Mark had never seen before. “This is Adamas.” She made a sweeping gesture with her hand and the Milky Way galaxy materialized around them with the solar system and Earth stretched out between herself and Mark. She pointed at the familiar planet of his home. “Is this Earth and the Milky Way galaxy?”

“Yes, that’s my home,” Mark confirmed.

“Astonishing.” Hermina regarded him with awe. “You don’t realize how legendary your world is to us. We’ve been trying to contact you for a millennia to find out what happened. This is remarkable!” Her expression turned apologetic. “You must be starving. You’ve been unconscious for a couple of days. We can talk over lunch.”

The two of them walked down the spacious corridor which was comprised of the same blue, translucent material as the bedroom with a flickering luminescence shining through.

“This is amazing.” Mark regarded the walls with curiosity. “What’s it made from?”

“We call it wizard glass but there are many types. It’s infused with terramezic energy that powers the facility.”

“Does it have its own generator then?” Mark asked.

“Yes. Most of the major operations facilities do.”

“What kind of facility is this?” Mark shot her a curious look.

“It’s the home of the president of this world, President Hermina Draco.” Her lips curved in a wry smile. “I hope I’m not giving you too much shocking news all at once. You’re still weak from your episode.”

Mark halted as panic flooded through him. He hadn’t realized what was wrong until now – his connection to the magical network was gone. That meant Josephine, Helen, and Alice were dead.

Hermina turned to gaze at him with concern. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to rattle you. I’m just a public servant, there’s no reason to feel apprehensive.”

“It’s not that.” Mark couldn’t believe Josephine was dead. He’d failed to save her from APU 81. Sorrow cut through him like a knife and he found it difficult to think clearly as Hermina continued to watch him with a troubled frown on her face. “I just realized that my…that a loved one is dead. I was trying to get the courage to propose to her. I thought it was time but I wasn’t sure. I didn’t want to ruin our relationship but now it’s too late. I’ll never see her again.”

“I’m so sorry.” Hermina’s expression was sympathetic. “But how is it that you just became aware of this?”

“We were part of a magical network and now the connections are all gone.”

“How many of you were linked together?”

“There were four of us. Why does that matter?” Mark was mildly annoyed by the strange questions – especially after he’d just informed her his future wife had perished.

“That explains it then.” Hermina offered a hopeful smile. “She’s probably alive and well. Your network is too small to remain active when you’re on a different world like this. You’re still linked but it’s so weak you can’t feel it.”

“Are you sure?” Mark asked.

“That’s how it works with interplanetary travel. Of course, you’ve got the added burden of being a White Knight.”

Mark eyed her with stupefaction. “You know about White Knights?”

“Of course. They’re very rare so we don’t know much about them. Are there many on Earth?”

“No. They burn out within a year or two. I thought that our connection would prevent that from happening.”

“Who can say? White Knights are so few and far between that they’ve never tried linking with each other. They’ve never banded together. Before the World Wars, there were many White Knights but something happened to them. Unfortunately, our records don’t go back that far. There was so much destruction and chaos in those times.”

“On Earth, they refer to it as the Great Wizard Wars.”

Hermina cocked her head with curiosity. “Wizard? What is this?”

“You know. People who can utilize magic,” Mark explained.

“There are people who don’t have magical ability on Earth?” Hermina regarded him with astonishment. “How did this come about?”

“We’re not sure. Much of our technology was lost after the war and only a small percentage were wizards until a category six created an enchantment that caused a terrible catastrophe. Millions of people died but most of the survivors became wizards.”

“That’s extraordinary. Nothing like that occurred for us on Adamas or any of the other colony worlds we’re still in contact with. Everyone is what you would call a wizard,” Hermina said. “Some sort of worldwide enchantment must have stripped people of their powers during the war. I can’t imagine such a thing.” Her eyes drifted off into space for a moment then focused back on him. “I notice you’re starting to burn out. Have you been a White Knight for long?”

“For about a year.”

“I’m sorry to say that we won’t be able to help you connect with other White Knights as there are currently none available at the moment.”

“Are you sure? If I can link with just one, it might delay burnout,” Mark suggested.

“I’m afraid there are currently none around. You see, we require all White Knights to register with the government so I would know. One of our goals is to reestablish the White Court. If there is any truth at all to the legends, the White Knights could do amazing things. Currently, there are no active practitioners, I’m afraid.” She cast a commiserating gaze at him. “I wish I had better news but at least you’ll still be able to do mainstream magic and I’ll do everything I can to help you return to your home.”

Mark dreaded the burnout but was immensely relieved to know Josephine was alive and well. He and Hermina entered a large room with three dark, wood tables situated by a large window that spanned the entire far wall and overlooked the city. There were many pyramid-shaped buildings made of the same blue wizard glass as the walls of this structure in addition to a few forest-green colored pyramid buildings. The buildings contained a subtle glow from within their debts and glistened in the sun like precious jewels. Blue spruce trees grew in clusters as far as the eye could see. The sky was clear and a breathtaking azure. Mark stared out the window, awestruck by the beauty of the city. There were occasional city dwellers walking on winding concrete paths that led to each of the buildings and into a nearby park with a lake.

“We’re in the capital, Virgos,” Hermina informed him.

“This is incredible,” Mark said.

Hermina turned to a group of three recessed compartments in the wall next to a computer console dominated with rune-like symbols marking touch keys. She typed in a sequence and there was a pleasant chime of acknowledgement.

“I think you’ll enjoy this.” Hermina’s eyes twinkled with pleasure as she glanced at him then turned back to the compartments.

Several seconds later, the doors of two of the compartments slid up to reveal two decorative silver platters containing plates of what looked like glazed cinnamon rolls with a side of dressing, and two silver mugs with a steaming beverage. Hermina and Mark each took a tray and chose one of the tables beside the window. Mark found himself staring outside again with a sense of wonder. He hadn’t imagined such a place existed and to think these people came from the same ancestors. The only difference is that they hadn’t lost their technology and magic. It was almost like traveling back in time and meeting the ancients. Mark had so many questions but they were all jumbled in his mind in a chaotic knot.

“So everyone has always been a wizard here,” he finally said.

“That’s correct.” Hermina’s striking blue eyes conveyed compassion. “This must be  overwhelming for you.”

“Do you have cars here?” Mark asked.

Hermina tilted her head to the side with puzzlement. “Cars?”

“Vehicles that have wheels that allow people to travel large distances that would take too long to walk,” Mark explained.

“We have gliders. They are floating devices that can carry between six to twelve people depending on the model. They’re saucer-shaped and made of wizard glass. You won’t see very many here because we’re in a glider restricted area. To preserve the natural beauty of our world, they are confined to designated commuter areas. There are parking garages on the outskirts of every city. There are transport stations strategically positioned throughout the area that allow for travel from one city to another and from one part of the city to another. Everything is within walking distance so gliders are mainly used as recreational devices,” Hermina explained.

“It must take enormous amounts of power to keep those transport stations running.”

“We have power stations that provide wireless energy to these facilities,” she explained. “In fact, you came flying out of one of our Interplanetary Transit Centers. Your identity wasn’t registered in our database for any of our colony worlds and the light energy from your body prevented us from reading you or scanning for injuries. We had to rely on a physical examination and found only minor bruising.”

Mark wasn’t sure what was the proper way to eat a cinnamon roll with the President of a world. He reached for his fork and was able to easily tear off a piece with it. Hermina took this opportunity to take a bite of her own roll. Mark was surprised by the taste which wasn’t cinnamon at all. It was a variety of subtle spices he’d never encountered before and the dominant flavors of butter and honey reminded him of baklava.

“This is a typical lunch on Adamas? Are you sure it isn’t dessert or breakfast?” Mark’s lips curved in a teasing grin.

“It’s actually very healthy. The sweetener is from a type of shrubbery that contains almost no calories and has a lot of trace nutrients. The lunch bread is packed with antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. It’s considered a staple.”

“Interesting.” Mark refrained from further teasing even though she reminded him of a dietician rather than a government leader at the moment. He took a bite of the food that looked like dressing which turned out to taste exactly the same. Coincidentally, that was his favorite food for Thanksgiving and Christmas. He thought it was pretty cool to be able to eat this dish year round instead of just for the holidays.

“You seem pleased about something.” Hermina leveled an inquisitive gaze at him.

“The food is delicious,” Mark told her.