Determinant -Guardians of Vesturon [3] (8 page)

My nagging doubt persisted though. Those men I saw in the corridor should not have been there. The video cameras had shut down at exactly the same time of their appearance. Coincidence? Doubtful…at least to me anyway.

And he
spoke directly to me…through his mind as though he expected me to answer. How did he know I could read his thoughts?

This troubled me for the next week and I couldn’t stop thinking of my encounter with him.

My internship finally ended, albeit on a sour note, and I was taking the weekend to rest up and pack before I headed back to Cullowhee.

On Saturday, I began feeling the beginnings of the illness. After working with the flu virus all summer, I knew I had contracted it. Hopefully, I would make it home before the worst of it hit.

By Sunday morning, my fever was raging. I didn’t have a thermometer to take my temperature, but I knew it was high. Every movement put me in torrent of aches and pains. The piercing pain in my head made my eyes water. I kept popping Advil, but it didn’t seem to help much. It seemed I couldn’t catch a break and that my life was destined to get back on its downward spiral.

Though I felt as ill as ever, I couldn’t delay heading back. I had to move out of my room here and I didn’t have the extra cash to stay anywhere else. My car was loaded up so I decided to drive back to Cullowhee. I made it up to North Georgia when my vision began to blur. The images on the side of the road took on a wavy appearance. I talked to myself out loud in the hopes of keeping my heavy lids from slamming shut. I pulled off the road to regroup. When I awakened, night had fallen.

My fever raged and I began seeing Tommy and Sarah. My thoughts turned to the fact that they were the only people I ever had loved. My life had been a total twisted mess of unhappiness and maybe if I could find a soft place to lie down, I could go to sleep and peacefully die in comfort. If I were honest with myself, that was what I wanted the most right now. I never would have the nerve to take my own life, but maybe this illness could do it for me. Maybe then I would find that peace and tranquility I had desperately prayed for my whole life.

I was on a narrow road in the forest somewhere. I was hopelessly lost so I pulled off to the side and struggled to open my car door. It was being testy and wasn’t cooperating. I gave it a shove and it finally swung open.

I walked a bit and the cool air felt so soothing on my cheeks. The pain in my head was constant and piercing, but it was quiet and somehow soothing out here. I wandered into the woods and reached the point where I couldn’t take another step. I was so thirsty…my mouth was as dry as a bone and parched.
There’s Tommy…and Sarah!
As I reached out for them, I tumbled to the ground, but found it to be as soft as my bed. Then my hallucinations began…

Rykerian

I am power. I am strength. I am the wind. I am speed. I am courage. I am faith. I am hope. I am fierce. I am loyal. I am steadfast. I am true. I am protection. I am honor. I am a Guardian of Vesturon.

Talasi, my human connection, had contacted me. Talasi was the Seer of the Nunne Hi, the Spirit People of the Cherokee Nation. They secretly guarded the Smoky Mountains, keeping humans safe. She possessed the ability to communicate with the living and the dead and often sensed when evil or danger was approaching. She was troubled by a disturbance she sensed in the area. She had the ability to feel a shift of power in the air, both negative and positive. This time she explained it was more of a distressful disturbance...similar to what she felt when someone had been injured. Yet somehow, it was different. She was worried that perhaps someone may be trapped somewhere so she intercepted my thoughts to seek my assistance.

I was in the Command Center of the Compound of The Guardians on Earth when I felt Talasi’s thoughts mingle with mine.

“What is it?” my brother Tesslar asked, noticing my momentary stillness.

I shook my head saying, “Not ‘what’ but ‘who,’” I replied. “It is Talasi. She needs my assistance.”

“What seems to be the problem?”

I explained her request of me and left the Center to prepare for my departure. As I headed up to my room I communicated with her through telepathy.

“I am sensing a disturbance but the scouts cannot find anything amiss.”

“No cause for alarm Talasi. I will be there in moments.”

Once in my room I grabbed my gear. I always traveled with the mending device, or the magic wand, as my sister-in-law Maddie liked to call it. It was a medical device that had the ability to heal many injuries.

I strapped my shadars on my hands—the tools that allowed me to communicate, teleport, assess a person’s medical status and serve as my weaponry. I performed a quick calibration to ensure everything was working properly.

I tapped the screen and all my information appeared.

Name: Rykerian Tevva Yarrister, Guardian in Command

Location: Guardian Compound, Haywood County, North Carolina, planet Earth

Teleporter Status: Excellent

Communicator Status: Excellent

Locator Status: Excellent

Diagnostic Equipment Status: Excellent

Weaponry Status: Armed

“Please enter your mission,” a voice commanded.

“To seek out a reported disturbance in the mountains near Bryson City, North Carolina,” I replied.

“Affirmative.”

I wondered briefly if I would need food or water and decided on the water. I headed to the kitchen in search of supplies.

“My lord, may I assist you in something?”

Zanna was our housekeeper, cook and general caretaker of everything inside the home. The house sat above ground but below us was the Command Center for the Guardians of Vesturon on Earth. It was here where all of our plans, training, tactics and strategies took place. The Compound itself could house over a thousand Guardians if need be. Zanna only cared for the house above ground.

“I was just getting some water for my mission.”

“Will you be gone long?” she asked.

I glanced at her smiling, “I think not. I am running a check of an area Talasi is concerned over. Are you trying to spoil me Zanna?”

“Why my lord, you know I would never do that!” she exclaimed with a devilish look in her eye. I noticed her hand snaking toward a pile of cookies she must have baked earlier in the day. Before I could fill up my water container, she had placed a bag in my hand, filled with her delightful concoctions. She knew I loved chocolate chip cookies. It was an Earthly indulgence of mine.

“Zanna, you are the best and know how to make me happy,” I said, kissing her wrinkled cheek. Zanna was quite old but her age did not slow her down a bit. Her bouncy gray curls and elf-like appearance matched her spritely actions as she moved around the house with the speed and agility of someone quite young.

“I am only taking care of what I love!”

Zanna and her mate Peetar had been a part my family since before my birth. She had cared for me and my siblings our whole lives and we all adored her. Peetar matched Zanna in appearance and age defying speed. He took care of the outside grounds and kept everything in perfect order.

I winked at her, placed the bag in my pouch I carried and left the house.

I teleported to the general direction Talasi had provided me. She was convinced whatever I would find would be off the beaten path. Once there, I set off in search of anything that might have set off Talasi’s alarms. I skirted the area around Deep Creek in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, staying clear of any of the main trails.

My feet barely touched the softened earth as I sped along. Using my Power of Speed, I made my way around the dense rhododendron thickets and mountain laurel, as quickly as I could. My eyes darted over the wooded landscape before me, taking care not to miss even the smallest of details. I searched for any clue, whether it be a footprint or a torn piece of clothing, anything at all to indicate the presence of another.

It wasn’t long before I began to sense something was amiss, but like Talasi, I could not put my finger on it. As I moved along, my heightened senses were on red alert for anything unusual.

My otherworldly abilities were in overdrive, as I searched throughout the area. I finally noticed a subtle difference in the air around me...an odor that I was beginning to detect. My sense of smell was much keener than even any animal on earth, so I used that gift to hone in on my target. As I moved nearer to it, the odor became recognizable to me. It was the sweet, cloying odor of sickness. Whoever this was emanating from was severely ill. I quickly increased my pace until the scent became overpowering. This could only indicate one thing; whoever was suffering was in need of serious medical treatment.

I navigated around a rhododendron thicket and in the distance I could see a car parked on an old, unused forestry service road. I shook my head, trying to figure this out. Why would someone come all the way out here if they were seriously ill? Maybe they became ill after they arrived. It simply made no sense to me.

When I arrived at the car, I realized it was abandoned. The stench of impending death nearly overpowered me. Whoever the source, they were in pressing need of assistance. I called out to see if I would receive an answer, but there was no response initially. When I first heard the voice, it was so weakened, that even my acute sense of hearing could barely detect it. I followed the sound until I arrived at the source.

I gasped and my heart did a free fall to my knees when I saw who it was. Curled up and lying on the ground was the beautiful young female I had saved from a car collision several months before. She was the one who had captivated me...the one who I had thought of constantly ever since I had laid eyes on her. And here she was...struggling to breathe and fighting for her life. My gut clenched and revolted against what I was seeing. Her ghostly pale skin was covered with deep purple and black splotches everywhere. Her silvery gold hair was tangled and matted and her cracked lips were caked with dried blood. I placed my hand on her forehead and her skin was on fire with fever.

The coolness of my hand on her skin must have awakened her because her eyes fluttered open, only to close again. I aimed my shadar toward her and the holographs appeared. She was indeed extremely ill, but I was certain my shadar was malfunctioning by the reading I was getting. I quickly tapped the communicator and called Julian, our healer on Vesturon, my home planet that was located in a distant galaxy.

“My lord, what can I assist you with today?” he asked.

“Julian, I may have a malfunctioning shadar. I need a diagnosis confirmed on a gravely ill human female. Can you lock in on my location and we can proceed from there?”

“One moment… I have you in my zone now. Hmm, this cannot be correct.”

“Julian, what is your reading?” I asked desperately.

“My lord, my scanner is diagnosing her with hemorrhagic small pox.”

“Oh no! Then my shadar was not malfunctioning after all. That is the same reading I had.”

“My lord, small pox was eradicated from Earth over 30 years ago. And the type she has was uncommon even then. It is a very virulent form of the virus called
variola major
. What is her appearance?”

“As you are aware, her body temperature is 104 degrees. She is dehydrated and has black and purplish blotches all over her skin and the whites of her eyes are deep red. Give me a moment and I will have her hologram available for you.”

The image was up and I heard the words I had been dreading.

“I do not have to tell you Rykerian that she may have very limited time,” Julian said with hesitancy. “She needs immediate medical treatment if she is to survive this.”

“I cannot take her to Talasi because of the risk of spreading this disease.”

“You are correct, my lord. You must take her to the Compound.”

“Julian, I know not how to treat this. I know it is normally not allowed for you to intervene, but this could have major consequences for the entire human population. I will contact my father so you can gain permission to come to Earth to assist me.”

My lord, there is no need for that. “‘Under extreme situations, including the threat of disease epidemic, the healer shall be allowed interplanetary travel without first seeking approval by the Council,’ and I quote,” Julian said. “I shall teleport there and bring the supplies you will need to treat her,” he informed me.

I sighed in relief, as I was not completely sure of what I would need to do.

“Bloody hell, I had forgotten about that. Thank you Julian. How can I stop the spread of this virus at the Compound? I do not want to endanger anyone there.”

“No need to worry. Vesturions are immune to small pox. My lord, where are Maddie and Rayn?” Julian asked.

I thought for a moment before answering. “I believe they are on Vesturon at the Universal Leadership Conference. Can you confirm that before I take the female to the Compound?”

“Yes, I must. Since Maddie is part human, she could be at risk. She must stay clear of Earth until we find the source of this outbreak.”

“Julian, contact my father and Rayn. I need to move the human as quickly as possible.”

“I will do that and I shall see you shortly.”

I gathered her into my arms and lifted her. Her lifeless eyes fluttered open again and she began murmuring.

“You are so beautiful. Surely you must be my guardian angel. Are you here to help me die?” She whispered so quietly that if I didn’t have such acute hearing, I doubt I would have heard her. She tried to raise her hand but it limply fell into her lap.

“I am here to help you. I am taking you somewhere so you can be healed.”

“No...you must stop angel. Please…I want to die,” she pleaded.

“You are terribly ill; you cannot mean that.”

“Oh, but I do. I cannot take my own life and I cannot go on like this. Please angel, stop for just one minute.”

Against my better judgment, I did as she asked. She kept staring at me with her unusual soulful eyes.