A Paradox in Retrograde (49 page)

The young cadets who served as sailors for this makeshift flotilla
were ordered to keep the other boats back until it was deemed
safe. "Ibsen, I order you to transfer yourself to one of the other
boats." This time he did not offer a fight, for he knew he would
make his way back to that boat one way or another. With the motor engaged the lone ship drifted slowly away from the others.
What Grunhuf could not have known was that as the preparations
were being made, Ibsen had quietly slipped into the water and
tied himself to the boat. The boat drew in close and oriented port
side to the shore. Those aboard shifted to that side to observe
what could be seen. Just then Ibsen recognizing the opportunity
pulled himself from the water onto the shallow deck of the boat.
Cold and wet, Ibsen shivered as he looked toward the citadel. Just
then, the thick blanket of smoke and fog that had obscured their
view had begun to lift from the water. What they saw there
shocked them as the skeleton of the citadel came into view.

There within the smoldering wreckage of Breideblic only those
most ancient stone monuments had survived the inferno. Grunhuf
turned and gave an order to the cadet. "Prepare this ship for a
landing. Were going in to find out what has happened." The cadets quickly fell in line and the boat was again moving. So intent
were they on their task that none had noticed Ibsen's presence
among them. As the boat drew nearer to the land therain and fog
had finally ceased. By the time the small boat slideasily into the
landing the sky had cleared. The cadets hurriedly secured the
boat to its moorings, Grunhuf, Xora and a handful of guards,
wasted no time and immediately began to disembark. With weapons ready, carefully they exited the craft and made their way up
the stairs from the landing. Soon they were up onto ground overlooking the beach. Ibsen watched and waited for them all to reach
the top, before he made his break for it. Just as he stepped onto
the pier one of the cadets spied him. He called out. "Hey, how did
you, where do you think your going?" By then it was too late for
Ibsen being swift of foot had made short work of the stairs, and
was off running.

Ibsen soon verified with his eyes what he already believed to be
true. The battle was over. There on the field he witnessed the
wounded survivors of the battle making their way home toward
what was left of their once formidable fortress. There in their
midst he saw his father walking closely behind Ananda He ran
through the crowd in a straight line toward his father. Landaus
still somewhat dazed by what had happened had not seen him approach. When he reached him Ibsen had nearly knocked him from
his feet. "Father you made it." He squeezed him in a tight embrace. Landaus let out a wail of happiness as tears began to roll
down his face mixing with the blood and dust that had accumulated there. With a voice raw and weary he spoke, "Oh son, we have
taken the day. This great tyranny to which we havebeen subject
to has been erased once and for all."

Soon Grunhuf and Xora also had caught up with Landaus. They
were shocked to find young Ibsen was there with him. Grunhuf
felt he had somehow let Landaus down began to offer apologies.
"Landaus I am sorry I don't know he managed it but he slipped
through my fingers. I am sorry that I failed you."

"There is no apology necessary; we are all here safe that's what
counts."

Together they walked on in through the main gate of the citadel
stepping carefully to avoid the evidence of carnage that marked
their every step. At the head of the procession Ananda carried the
body of his brother Amida. Soon they came through to the main
gate of Breideblic. It was evident by the pillar of smoke that still
rose into the sky that the fires were still burning. The mass of
people stopped before the gate, for they could pass no further.
Ananda turned toward the crowd that was now assembling there
and spoke. "I wish things could have worked more smoothly between us. It was not my intention to cause harm or mislead but
rather to gain this final victory. Long have my brother and I
fought this battle. But now the time of war has come to an end
and we must leave forever. If I may I would ask one thing of you.
No longer will the shadow of Nibaru darken your world. And so
you are free. Remember this day and its horrors and turn your
back on the violence you saw here and rebuild your civilization.
Build it not on memories of heroes but rather on the merits of
love and sacrifice. For you shall not again see the likes of me."
With that he turned and walked with Amida in his arms in
through burning gate.

Though his body was protected by his armor the intense heat was
burning his lungs more with each breath he took. Carefully he
stepped avoiding the burning debris that formed obstacles in the
path before him. With each step that he took the heat penetrated
deeper into his being, sapping his strength and will. He would not
stop however, not until he reached the sanctum of the crystal
room. By the time the sanctum had came into view his hands and
face were blistered and contorted. From his head, his long locks
had been scorched. He moved now out of shear will,and with
one final step, he fell through the threshold of the crystal room.
There the crystal matrix within began to glow and hum in an increasing signal of rhythmic intensity. To what was left of his
senses the space within seemed to glow white and expand exponentially. There appeared before him from this light the avatar of
his brother, alive within the pulsating patterns. From the ground
where he lay he reached his hand up toward the ghost like figure.
In response its mouth moved mocking speech. Though no sound
emanated from it, its message rang within the chambers in his
mind, "Ananda finally at great length and sacrifice your war is
over. It's time now to come home."

To those outside who were witnesses to what happened next, few
could believe what their senses told them. The whole of the old
tower complex began to glow and throb with all of the intensity of
a white hot star that pulsated with a rhythm not unlike that of a
beating heart. The outline of its structure cast against the grey
blue sky began then to vibrate with a resonance that seemed to
phase in an out of existence. These pulses of light then grew so
dense as to force them to shield their eyes. Some including Landaus and Ibsen could not avert theirs for such a sight of wonderment they had never before been seen. They watched as the event
began to swell into the form of a heaving elastic sphere of plasma.
Glowing as an azure sun its brightness intensified Soon there after
as if caught within the waves of gravitational tides, it at once
stretched and contracted from some unseen central point. Suddenly with a blinding flash of light the event collapsed in on itself
taking the Stone Age stronghold along with it. The earth below
their feet shook violently and the air around the structure rushed
in to fill the void created by its absence, generating a thunderous
sonic boom in the process.

Lost in a swirl of dust, the air was thick with sound. All then went
eerily quiet save for the noise made by a gentle rain of debris. Xora starring out into the void strained to see whathad been, but
there was nothing. She called out "The crystal roomwas in there,
where has it gone?" Without heed to the danger and despite several calls for her to return, she took off running in the direction of
the event. Ibsen was off quickly on her heals. Landaus had not
immediately seen Ibsen run off. There was no time to call out to
him. So he too was soon after them. A moment later Xora and Ibsen stopped abruptly just short of a sudden drop in the earth.
Carefully they stood before the spot at which the tower of Breideblic had once stood. Standing now on the lip of a yawning crater
the air had begun to clear. Xora was amazed at what she now saw
there. By some strange unknown power the event had extracted a
perfectly hemispherical gouge from the earth. It was just gone, no
burn marks or strewn debris; it was if it had been surgically extracted from existence. By now Landaus had caught up to them.
He too looked down at what the event had wrought and was
dumb founded. Xora asked in a trembling voice, "What is to become of us Landaus now that the crystal room can no longer
guide us?" He put his arm around them. Answering quite soberly
he said, "Though we cannot replace the crystal room, we do have
each other. We have been given a second chance here. The way I
see it that thing was more of a curse than a savior. It may take us
some time but together we will move forward with out it."

He had no sure way of knowing how prophetic his words truly
were, but with their fortunes now untied from those of Nibaru,
their futures truly were bright. Fairer skies were now on the horizon for the intruding planet of their enemies would no longer
affect the climate. Within a generation as the religion that was
linked to the crystal room no longer served any purpose either did
the government that drew from it its power. In Baldur the days of
kings were numbered and in time from that set of islands a new
order would spread across the world.

Jamison thought privately that perhaps they had underestimated
the dangerous nature of the experiment. It had been a miracle that
he had somehow managed to survive the explosion. For this he
was glad, but he was also troubled by the part he had played in the
tragedy. However for the moment no measure of blame had yet
been ascribed to him. Though this surprised him he was unlikely
to step forward and take responsibility of his own accord. It was
true that despite the state that they found themselves in, the manner in which this situation had unfolded had been wholly unforeseen. So therefore he felt secure in the idea that for him there may
ultimately be no recriminations. These would best be left for the
historians to sort out. For Jamison there would be little point to
grapple with the how and why; for as far as he was concerned the
only person who might have been able to explain it had been consumed along with the experiment. To look backward would serve
little purpose; now his attention like that of many others had
turned from the disaster to these new problems that had been
forced on them.
Throughout the remainder of the day and night monitoring stations had continued their surveillance. Though early results were
disheartening, later measurements were more hopeful.

Within twenty four hours the site was deemed stable enough to
begin a rescue effort. As a medical doctor he had been charged
with the responsibility of tending to the injured. He would take
this responsibility a step further by volunteering as a medical officer on a first response crew. He was not alone, had been one of
many who had volunteered to don a hazmat suit in search of
those who might remain trapped within the wreckage. As the relief effort got underway a plan was devised in which these teams
generally consisting of one trained medical professional with two
others were to be deployed. The ranks of these others consisted
primarily of military, police and fire rescue.

As the rescue effort got underway there was a palpable sense of
urgency among those stationed at the command zone. So as soon
as they were able these teams began to take their tentative steps
into the danger zone. Within his bulky suit Jamison walked
among the rubble. He had been paired with another two volunteers to work as a team. Together they had been amongst the first
to venture forth into the midst of what had been named ground
zero. Hyperventilating as he walked he breathed deeply the recycled air. This they thought was a necessary precaution for they
could not be sure to what extent the air within those building
remnants had been contaminated. This made his labors more difficult but he like the others was determined to dowhat needed to
be done. Onward they walked past and through wallsthat were
broken and unrecognizable. Eventually his team had made it
close to the epicenter. There the ball of azure light continued to
spin with a mercurial fluidity. For a moment they stood mesmerized as the glowing orb seemed to beckon them closer. As they
drew nearer they observed how the crystal structure that had
grown around the epicenter of the event had since ceased to
grow. Despite thiswithin itscrystalline structure they couldfeel
an energy coursing within whose resonance was not unlike a
beating heart. They could only wonder as to what purpose had
spawned its growth. Jamison speaking to Sergeant Kelly, and officer Richards over the communications device asked, "What do
you guys make of all this?"

Officer Richards responded, "They do not pay me to ponder such
questions, I am here to rescue survivors. I suggest you keep you're
actions on task as well. Haven't you egg heads done enough damage for one day?" Jamison did not respond as he knew the young
officer was right. They had done enough damage though there
were questions that had been left unanswered, questions that he
knew could not remain so forever. He was determined he would
return to this spot and he would find a way to have his questions
answered.

Several hours and five rescues later his shift had ended. As the
team began to make their way back to the command center,
Jamison made up an excuse to double back. "Hey guys I left my
tool pack a ways back. You two go on ahead I'll be back shortly."
By now they were all too exhausted to argue. He merely got a
wave in response from his other team members. Making sure to
stay clear of the other teams he doubled back to the epicenter of
the blast. After several minutes he came again upon the furiously
spinning azure light. He was alone this time and hedid not hesitate to walk straight up to the anomaly. Again he sensed what he
could only fathom to be a life force resonating within the space of
the crystal chamber. So drawn to it was he that he removed the
protective glove and reached his hand into the brilliant blue flame.
Though there was intensity to the sensation, it did not burn him.
Time seemed to stop as a swirling storm of plasma moved gently
over his arm and cascaded over his entire body. Upon every nerve
surface within his body a physiological connection between himself and what he now inexplicably suspected to be a sentient being
had been opened. Seemingly his awareness was now guided by
this being and his senses portrayed for him an image far more real
than the one he had previously known. He opened his eyes to see
before him a world unlike he had known previously. Before him
the crystalline structure had transformed from a dome into an intricately designed structure reminiscent of a style from some
wholly unknown bygone era. There too a tower stood beside the
crystalline form, reaching high into the sky. Though this structure
had never existed here before now, its appearance was seemingly
ancient. There then at its base a wooden door that he had not previously seen, materialized before his eyes. He then registered a
sensation he had never before known. He recognized it almost
immediately that through this portal had passed two ethereal consciousness's’ seemingly in tune with his own. Upon this realization he found himself inexplicably within the sanctum of the
crystal structure. He was not alone there for within the chamber
there now appeared two men as if they materialized straight from
the ether. Though their identities were unknown to him, both men
possessed qualities that were vaguely familiar. Startled by their
sudden appearance there, he stepped back in fright. With a puzzled expression on his face He called out. "Who are you? Stay
back." In the grip of fright he summoned the courage to stand his
ground. One of themysterious figures came forward and
stood within two feet directly before him and began to
speak."Frederick, do not be afraid, it is I Robert Amida."