The 13th Star: An Action Adventure Sci-F Apocalyptic Novel (14 page)

“A little warmth and love never hurt anyone,” said Berez, returning with the jewel. Within minutes the water soldiers melted
and the group rapidly returned to the Kaiser.

Rettoul climbed aboard thoughtfully. Two things were making it difficult to clear his mind regarding the next step. One was
what to do with the children, and who did they belong to? Second, since when did Mattoui know Cherka? Were there more secrets
between them?

At noontime, the shutters in Bergin’s room were still closed. No light entered from outside and dust particles were scattered
by the sun in the corners. A suffocating smell of a place not ventilated for days pervaded the room.

“If you don’t mind, Coldor, I want to discuss something more urgent. I’m fed up with this Rettoul, with David, and with all
the galactic battles. I want to finalize the details regarding the wedding.”

His son, Zoron, was supposed to be getting married. Preparations were underway.

Bergin was planning something big, while Coldor was trying to move it toward something much more modest. Coldor knew that
things were very
delicate,
especially now, after what happened. He tried to increase the security arrangements for himself.

“Rettoul,” called Zoi in horror, “do you have any idea what’s happened now?”

Rettoul tensed, as did the others. “What, Zoi?”

Zoi approached and asked him to step in to the cockpit. His face was pale and he blinked repeatedly, as he rarely did, although
always in response to pressure. Rettoul, who’d known Zoi for so long and so well knew he had something serious to say.

“What has happened?” he asked again quietly.

“You must come with me now to the cockpit. Someone armed it without my knowledge.”

Rettoul squinted in disbelief. “What? What do you mean, ‘armed it’?”

Zoi didn’t need to ask again. Rettoul hurried with him and Mattoui joined, running.

When Zoi opened the weapons container, everyone paled. Inside were some of the most destructive and largest nitrogen bombs.
All three knew the deadly power of each bomb. In all their fighting, they’d never used nitrogen bombs for only one reason—the
bomb’s disastrous capacity prevented future restoration—forever.

Because of that, nitrogen bombs were rare in the galaxy and few were allowed to learn and study their properties. To the best
of their knowledge, they didn’t know a single pilot who was approved to fly with such bombs, except for Coldor, perhaps. He’d
spoken about nitrogen bombs as a tool which would be the end of all wars. He just
neglected to mention that those who dispatched the nitrogen bombs would win the battle only because no one else would survive.
One bomb was enough to destroy an entire planet, no matter the size.

The cold vapor rising from the bombs made clear that they’d just been placed in the Kaiser. Zoi approached, as if looking
for something on the bombs themselves. Rettoul stopped him. “There’s no point in looking for fingerprints. Whoever left them
is stupid, but not that stupid.”

“But it makes me a suspect now,” said Zoi.

“What are you talking about?” Berez didn’t understand.

“Someone knew we would take Bar’s Kaiser. There’s no doubt it’s a signal for us.”

“We’ve been exposed,” muttered Rettoul.

A sentry entered the room and announced that everyone had returned. “If so, bring David here,” said Coldor.

“Why do we need him now?” Bergin got mad.

“It’s actually going to be interesting. I want to test the power of the scrolls.” Coldor laughed.

“How are you, old David?” He didn’t answer. “I hope you’re comfortable in your cell, although we don’t have good conditions
in prison.” David didn’t reply and Coldor became angry and thumped on the table.

“I’m talking to you, so even if you’re tired, hungry, or anything else, you will answer me!”

“What do you want?” David asked loudly.

Coldor smiled broadly as if he hadn’t raised his voice a moment ago. “The truth is, not much. And certainly not from you.
You’re just one of the masses now. There’s nothing special about you, no pedigree. Rettoul will soon join Sarah, and then
you’ll probably want to accompany them, won’t you?” He smiled broadly at David and continued. “In any case, you’ll be the
only one surviving on Levi, so you’d better be happy.”

David’s face fell.

Coldor took the scrolls and began to read from them in Cherka. David choked and his hair suddenly turned white. He had trouble
breathing and, within minutes, he lost consciousness. Coldor continued reading while saying to a guard, “Wake him up. A lot
of future things will happen now. He mustn’t miss them.”

“Did you feel that?” Berez asked Rettoul, but he didn’t have to answer as they all looked frightened. The ground shook beneath
their feet. The ice suddenly cracked and nearby buildings collapsed. Huge fissures opened in the ground, threatening their
lives. There was no one to yell for help to because they hadn’t found a single soul on the planet except for the two children,
but everyone’s panic was evident.

“Get on the Kaiser, quickly,” yelled Rettoul.

“But where to?” asked Zoi as the Kaiser took off from the ground, rising quickly.

“To Moran. It will be much easier there for all of us,” said Rettoul.

The Kaiser quickly rose to a great height. The skies of the galaxy raged and stormed as if they didn’t have a fixed path.
Brisker was fast approaching Levi and everyone knew nothing could be done to save any life at either planet.

“Brother!” Coldor laughed out loud when he noticed David recovering from his faint. “There’s no greater feast day. Levi, the
hapless life's at the planet, will no longer exist in a few more seconds. And Brisker? Oh, Brisker—that wonderful cold planet.
So cold that it will also be no longer. Best of all, the bunch of fools who follow your son will finally vanish from the galaxy.
And if I approve—only if I approve—miracles and wonders will still be told about them. I haven’t yet decided when they will
be bigger—in life or in death.”

David could hardly swallow. Coldor’s comments shocked him and he winced. In a short period of time he’d lost his wife and
his son, who was to have led the galaxy to its re-creation.

***

On Levi, cries of pain and fear filled the air. The predators themselves were now terrified. The planet shook and swayed heavily—no
one felt stable and there was nowhere to run. A flood began to swamp the country. There weren’t many people left,
and the few who remained didn’t know what to dread more—the animals howling in fear, or the ground filling with water.

at the streets ran Ben, a young, tall, and athletic youth holding tight to his little sister’s hand. He was headed to the
deserts of the planet. An inner voice told him not to remain where he was. He could only save his little sister.

The predators hadn’t yet reached the deserts. They’d found plenty of prey in the populated areas, and now they all ran away
together—animals fleeting the shaking planet and humans fleeing from the animals’ starving mouths.

Ben ran, leaving the screams behind. Occasionally water dams opened up from the ground and he stumbled, but he still held
his little sister’s hand. He knew where he was going, hoping the place would afford shelter from the disaster that was befalling
the planet. He didn’t know what to run from or what to be careful of—the predators or the terrific shaking causing buildings
to collapse, trees to be uprooted, and the earth to open up.

They reached the vast mountain range. The ground was solid under their feet and they stopped for a moment.

“Soon, not a lot more,” said Ben, stroking his sister’s hair. She didn’t answer him, but her eyes said she trusted him.

“You’ll see. Everything will be like something we dreamed.” He smiled at her and continued running. They came to alittle tree
behind arock and Ben walked quickly and cautiously to one of the trees. He stopped and looked back. Nearby, the opening to
a
cave he’d located a few years earlier was visible. Since then he’d equipped it with everything he thought he might ever need.
And the time had come.

He put his sister down. “You go in alone. Don’t be scared. Everything you need is there, but I can’t come with you. But you’ve
been saved. Remember that you’re my lovely sister and that you’ve been saved. Do you hear me?” She nodded.

“I love you more than anything in the world. Never forget that. Promise?” She smiled and nodded again.

“Come, give me a kiss, my lovely girl.” With tears in his eyes he gave her a big hug. The cave could only be sealed from outside.
Her life had been better to her than his. He sent her in and closed the entrance. “I miss you already and want to see you
again,” he whispered, tears rolling down his cheeks.

David knew the light in the galaxy stemmed from the tremendous explosion of two planets colliding. He closed his eyes and
hoped that no greater disaster occurred in the galaxy. For who knew what was to come? As long the scrolls were in impure hands,
the disaster was not over.

“Well, sir…” Zoi smiled at Rettoul. “…you set the arrival time.”

“We’ll cruise for a few days,” replied Rettoul, exhausted.

“I’d love to because I want to get some sleep. We have enough fuel for twenty days of cruising.”

“You can’t really sleep, Zoi,” Mattoui said. “We’ll take shifts. We can’t use autopilot because the galaxy isn’t stable at
the moment.”

“He’s right,” agreed Rettoul. “Go to sleep, both you and Berez. The children are already sleeping, go and join them. The subject
should be resolved before we get to Moran.” He meant the children. “Mattoui will take the controls and I’ll follow his shift.
You have a few good hours to sleep.”

Mattoui and Rettoul were left alone on the deck of the Kaiser. They were both tired, yet knew they couldn’t go to sleep.

“There isn’t a day goes by that I’m not happy and grateful that you’re by my side,” said Rettoul.

“I know. I feel the same.”

Rettoul sighed and continued. “There are moments like this when I’m sorry you’re with me. I would be so happy to know you’re
with Tamar, building your home and not fighting battles with me that aren’t yours.” He wanted to develop a conversation to
touch on what had been bothering him for hours: Why and when did Mattoui learn the Cherka language, as he’d proven the previous
day at the Briskerian palace? The total surprise gave him no rest. He’d been sure, until then, that he knew Mattoui inside
out—that his soulmate knew him as he knew his soulmate. And then yesterday his world turned upside down.

Mattoui didn’t respond. There was a deafening silence and he moved away from Rettoul. Suddenly, he let out a stream of words
without stopping for a breath.

“Your name is Rettoul and you’re putty in the hands of the Creator. You have two scars on your body, both made by man. The
world knows only one scar, and you and those who know you also know the second, hidden scar. There’s no Jorash that can
beat you
, and you’re
the one
who will lead us to the birth of the thirteenth planet.”

Mattoui suddenly fell silent
and Rettoul paled. “H-h-how do you know all this?” he stammered for the first time in his life.

“You’re not only one whose destiny has been determined by others. There are two other people in the galaxy who have to bear
up under a prophetic order,” Mattoui replied angrily.

“What? What are you talking about?”

Mattoui took a deep breath and looked at him for the first time since they began to speak. Rettoul was shaking. He felt sorry
for his good friend, but he couldn’t bear the burden. Yesterday, with the revelation of his language skills, he’d known that
this moment would come much sooner than he’d believed.

“Coldor has the scrolls, but they’re not intact,” he said quietly, still looking at Rettoul, whose clothes barely absorbed
his cold sweat. “Three pieces are missing from the scrolls he has. You have one piece…”

Rettoul shrank and didn’t say a word.

“I have another piece,” continued Mattoui, “and a third piece is missing, and neither of us knows the location of it.” Finished,
he leaned closer to Rettoul. From his shirt pocket he removed a scrap of the scroll and offered it to him. Rettoul tensed.

“Koffee, Bucha’s military leader, replaced my father as leader of the planet,” Mattoui started his story. “My father ruled
Bucha for eighty-four years and was considered a fair ruler, sensitive to the needs of the planet.” Rettoul didn’t know Mattoui’s
glorious lineage and still didn’t understand the connection between the scrolls and Mattoui.

Mattoui carried on with his story:

In the eightieth year of my father’s
leadership, there was a big party on the planet and many people
came to greet my father on the occasion. Among the guests was an
old man named Adam who wanted to talk to my father alone. Like the
other military leaders, my father was not used to remaining in one
room with any of his subjects, and certainly not with someone he
didn’t know. So he declined.