Izikiel (8 page)

Da’Amo would have been proud of him
then. Without thinking, Izikiel reached out to the Eternal Flame. One minute he was standing next to the pool of water surrounded by the dense jungle. The next, his ethereal form was looking down on the rock walls from high up in the sky. He could see that it was indeed a narrow canyon, walled in by sheer cliffs on either side. A substantial amount of the cliffs would erode over time but it was not difficult to visualise them as the twin rock formations of the future. Beyond the canyon was a lush green planet with dense vegetation and vast oceans of sparkling blue water.

Izikiel’s
gaze turned upwards. The single sun appeared to be just within reach as a golden tendril extended towards him. Izikiel stretched out his arm in a welcoming gesture. The blazing tendril of light touched him. Pain exploded in his mind as the heat of the Eternal Flame permeated his body. Then it cooled. He opened his eyes. The wall of water was about to engulf them. Lifting up both his arms, Izikiel spoke a single word.

‘
Aqua
’

The effect was instantaneous. The water stopped as if it had hit solid rock, hanging suspended above them and the pool of water.
Izikiel channelled the power of the Eternal Flame through him as he manipulated the individual water molecules. Reshaping them into two parts, he willed the water to flow slowly down into the pool at his feet. The heat within his body returned and he felt as if his skin were on fire.

Just as he felt
that he would be incinerated completely, the last of the water trickled into the now overflowing pool. Izikiel released his hold on the Eternal Flame. Staggering forward, he dropped to his knees in the soft, wet grass. He was vaguely aware of steam rising from the ground where his body touched the water. A faint hissing sound registered in his mind. After a moment, he felt a familiar hand on his shoulder.

‘
Are you alright?’ Te’Anne asked, her green eyes reflecting the blue of the water.

‘
Yes...give me...a moment. Always...drains me.’

Standing up with Te’Anne’s help, Izikiel saw Xavier looking at him with what surely bordered on reverence.

‘Are you both alright?’ Izikiel asked.

‘
Yes,’ Xavier replied. ‘Thanks to you, disciple.’

The
note of respect was unmistakable in Xavier’s voice as he tried not to look directly at him. Izikiel smiled as he straightened up. He was surprised to find that all of the silent children were kneeling. Even the little girl at the top was showing her respect. Then he heard it. It started as a soft whisper but grew in intensity. Soon, it was reverberating off the very rocks of the canyon. A single word, spoken in unison by the silent children.

‘
Disciple’

The little girl approached them
, her blonde hair sparkling in the full sunlight. The effect was magnified by the light reflecting from the water’s edge. Izikiel momentarily wondered how she had managed to climb down from the cliff top. Then he remembered the phenomenal wall of water that she had unleashed on them and stopped wondering. Looking closely at her, he was surprised to find that her eyes had lost some of their vapidness.

‘
Who are you?’ he asked.

The little girl stopped in front of him. The beginnings of a smile for
med on her face as she answered, ‘Silent ones.’

‘
But you can talk?’

‘
Limited,’ she replied. ‘Time past only.’

Izikiel considered what she had said. It made sense. If they were really true believers trapped in some form of temporal
flux, moving through time could allow them to free themselves to some extent. That was assuming that they were true believers and not some other life form unique to the planet
Vesta
. They certainly seemed human enough.

‘
Why did you bring us here?’ he asked.

‘
Not trust. Destroy.’

Izikiel was taken aback by the si
ngle mindedness of her response. His feelings of familiarity and comfort evaporated. Despite the heat and humidity of the jungle, he felt a cold chill rise up within him as he asked, ‘And now?’

The little girl
’s smile grew more pronounced as she replied, ‘Respect. Disciple.’

‘
Ask her how we get back to our own time,’ Te’Anne said.

‘
Yes, can you help us return to our own time?’ Izikiel asked the silent one.

Without answering
, she walked past him, her feet sinking almost to her knees in the soft grass. Pausing on the edge of the jungle thicket, she turned back towards them.

‘
Follow’

Izikiel motioned
to Te’Anne and Xavier. As they made their way towards the thicket, the other children knelt at his passing. Izikiel felt strange. He had never asked to be shown such respect or devotion. Something told him that he had never experienced anything like this before.

They caught up to the little girl a few moments later. As she turned away to lead them, Izikiel
saw her smiling at him. A strange emotion emerged within him. It was almost as if the little girl was revelling in the adoration he was receiving. As if she was proud of him.

They emerged into darkness.
The twin rock formations, ancient remains of the lush jungle canyon, stood exactly as they had for millennia. The transition through time had been seamless. One minute, Izikiel had been sweating profusely in the dense jungle thicket of the ancient planet
Vesta
. The next, he felt the cool night breeze on his face. Looking around, he realised that he was still able to make out the landscape despite the darkness. Te’Anne stood next to him. She was trembling slightly as her polyformic clothing rippled across her shapely figure. Beside her, Xavier stood quietly scanning the horizon. His arms rested on the weapons at his sides.

‘Thank you for bringing us back,’ Izikiel said.

The little girl looked up at him. Her eyes were clouded over again and Izikiel knew with certainty that she would be unable to speak.

‘
We’ve lost a lot of time. It will be daylight in a few hours,’ Te’Anne said.

‘Alright, let’s get going,’ Izikiel said. Turning to the little girl, he said, ‘Goodbye.’

He walked towards Te’Anne, his thoughts filled with the time travel that they had recently experienced. Da’Amo had told him that the true believers could manipulate the very fabric of time. He had accepted it when he had heard it but experiencing it for real was a different matter. His mind still struggled to comprehend how it was possible.

‘Izikiel,’ Te’Anne said. ‘Look behind you.’

Turning around, he was surprised to find that the little girl was following them. He stopped.

‘I think she wants to come with us,’ he said.

‘I still do not trust her,’ Xavier said.

‘I know, but we have returned from a journey across time unharmed. I am inclined to think that she wants to help us.’

‘I tend to agree with you,’ Te’Anne said.

Xavier inclined his head but remained silent.

‘We need to get to the star port before daybreak,’ Izikiel said. ‘Will you be alright?’

Izikiel looked at the little girl
as he said it. Slowly, almost painfully, she nodded her head in acknowledgement.

‘
Good. Ok, Te’Anne, lead the way. Xavier, cover our rear.’

‘
Yes, disciple,’ Xavier and Te’Anne nodded in unison.

Izikiel found it slightly strange how he had suddenly been promoted to the position of leader of the small
group. A few days ago he had no idea where he was or even who he was. Now, he was desperately trying to get to a place he had never been in order to escape a terrifying enemy from beyond their Universe. Letting out a slow breath, Izikiel set off after Te’Anne across the red sands.

They walked in silence
for several hours. Izikiel occasionally looked over to check on the little girl. Her face remained expressionless as she stared straight ahead. Her feet moved mechanically one after the other. Izikiel noticed that she was dragging her feet more and more as exhaustion set in. Despite being caught in a strange temporal field, her body clearly registered physical activity as any other would.

‘
Look!’ Te’Anne called out as they reached the top of a sand dune. The New Babylon star port dome glowed like a crown nebula on the horizon. Casting its ambience across the sand in every direction, it was a welcome sight.

‘
Come on. We’re almost there,’ Izikiel said.

As they set off again, he felt something was wrong. He turned around just in time to
watch the little girl falter. Her diminutive form wavered for a moment. Then she collapsed into the sand. As Izikiel moved towards her, something unusual happened. The hulking figure of Xavier knelt down beside the silent child. Picking her up, he cradled her exhausted body in his arms.

‘
I will carry her,’ he said.

‘
Thank you,’ Izikiel said as they set off again.

They reached the edge of the New Babylon
star port dome just as the first rays of the twin suns began to creep across the desert. Shimmering tendrils of intense heat stretched out towards them as they sheltered next to the dome. Izikiel saw what appeared to be a gigantic lake surrounding the star port in every direction.

‘
What is that?’ he asked.

‘
Solar fields,’ Te’Anne replied. ‘They are gigantic solar panels used to collect and store the energy of the twin suns. They power the dome by day and night.’

‘
Incredible. I have heard of solar power but this...’ Izikiel’s voice trailed off as he took in the glowing fields of solar panels stretching out as far as his eyes could see. As the twin suns’ light grew brighter so did the solar panels.

Izikiel turned his attention back to the domed star port.
The dome appeared to be an impenetrable wall of metal punctuated by glowing conduits and circuits which flowed seamlessly into a transparent force field. Tilting his head upwards, Izikiel scanned the dome from left to right. There appeared to be no way in.

‘
How do we get through?’ he asked.

‘
Leave this to Xavier,’ Te’Anne replied. Her voice was tense and her face was tightly drawn as if she were bracing for something.

Xavier
bent down and gently lowered the little girl to her feet. After making sure that she could stand, he walked over to a part of the metallic dome which was particularly dense with circuitry. Placing his hand on the metallic surface, he closed his eyes. Moments later, a section of the dome wall retracted inwards with a soft hiss of air. Xavier turned towards them. The silver tattoos on his face and neck were pulsing with a steady ambience.

‘
The way is open. Follow me,’ Xavier said.

Izikiel felt cool air wash over him as he walked through the metal opening in the dome wall. The inside of the
passage glowed with complex circuitry. Marvelling at the advanced technology, Izikiel was even more amazed when he stepped out into the dome proper.

The
air was crisp and fresh. The ground was covered with a hard, black substance with various markings on it which he recognised as a road. A number of thorny plants grew in fenced off areas in-between low lying grey metallic structures. None of the buildings appeared to be more than two storeys high, with flat, featureless roofs. They looked almost identical and surrounded them in all directions. The monotony of the buildings was interrupted only by the roads leading between them.

In the distance
, he could just make out an elevated platform which seemed to be the focal point of the dome. Not far above it, the dome’s force field shimmered like an ethereal veil. As Izikiel watched, the force field wavered for a moment and then a portion peeled back to reveal the open sky. Moments later, a squat metallic object lifted off the platform and moved into the opening. As it cleared the force field, a line of fire ignited behind it and the object disappeared into the clear sky. The force field sealed flawlessly behind it. Izikiel’s eyes opened wide in amazement.

‘
That’s the star port. What you just saw was a ship taking off through the protective shield,’ Te’Anne explained.

Izikiel barely heard her as he continued to stare at the force field where the ship had passed through. For the first time he knew with certainty
that the Eternal Flame had brought him far into the future. A sense of wonder overwhelmed him as he watched another ship take off from the elevated platform.

‘
We’ll need to find a pilot and buy passage off the planet,’ Te’Anne said.

‘
How will we pay?’ Izikiel asked as he watched the second ship disappear into the sky.

Te’Anne smiled as she held out her hand towards him.
A large diamond sparkled in the light of the twin suns.

Izikiel shook his head.

‘I cannot ask you to give up your livelihood for me.’

Te’Anne took a deep brea
th as she looked into his eyes.

‘
There is nothing left here for us now. We will come with you.’

Izikiel looked at Xavier. The big man nodded his head.

‘Thank you,’ Izikiel said.

‘
No thanks are needed,’ Te’Anne said. ‘Now come on, we need to move quickly. What Xavier just did was not exactly legal and we don’t want to risk a run in with the security forces.’

Izikiel nodded his understanding. Te’Anne turned to Xavier and spoke to him in a hushed whisper. Unable to hear what they were saying, Izikiel turned his attention to the little girl. She appeared to have recovered from her collapse in the desert. Standing with her arms hanging by her side, she stared at the distant
space platform. Her eyes moved slightly. Then she blinked. Before Izikiel could react, she took off. Running past them, she disappeared between two low lying grey buildings.

‘
Wait!’ Izikiel called out franticly. But the little girl did not stop. Turning to Te’Anne and Xavier, he said, ‘We need to find her before something happens.’

‘
Let Xavier go first. He knows these streets better than anyone.’

Izikiel
stepped aside as the towering figure of Xavier moved smoothly past him. Scanning the street, Xavier said, ‘She’s heading for the barracks.’

‘So much for avoiding a run in with the security forces,’ Te’Anne stated drily.
Her lips trembled slightly as she said it.

‘
If we hurry we can cut her off at the next intersection,’ Xavier said.

‘
Lead the way,’ Izikiel said.

They set off at a dead run. As they moved between
two grey metallic buildings, Izikiel wondered about this latest turn of events. He still could not shake the feeling that he knew who the little girl was. A distant memory, buried so deep that he was unable to retrieve it. But he knew it was there. If only he could remember.