The Children of Time (The Children of Time Trilogy Book 1) (8 page)

He knew he was somehow part of her life and that the pleasure they shared
was genuine and unconditional.

***

Nicolas also wanted to introduce the other beauties of our planet to
Zara.

“Zara, the people from your planet seem a little tense. They’re
always talking about environmental destruction and degradation of the hydro
resources of the Earth. Here on my planet there are many wonderful things to be
done and seen. From the past to the present, humans were born, genius or not, and
fought hard to turn people into what we are today. Freedom of opinion, the end
of prejudice in all its forms, the search for the cure of many diseases that
killed thousands of people were some of the reasons for these humans to fight so
much. Revolutions in thought with great men and women who had stood out in
history resulted in the achievement of equality rights and freedom of their
nations. Even today, there are still fights in countries because of democracy
and the basic rights of the human society. We still have many problems to solve,
but there are wonderful people willing to do their part to improve our systems.”
He paused for a moment, kissing her lightly on the lips and continued. “I would
like to enjoy these moments we have together and take you to see other places.

Then, he held Zara’s hand. They both pressed their watches and their
first was at the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The night was falling and
the lights began to be turned on. She was dazzled by the sight and said:

“What a beautiful thing, Nicolas. I didn’t know you were so
romantic.”

“Here in Paris we are behind the time of New York. We’ll have dinner
at a restaurant on top of the tower. The view is unbelievable.”

After a tasty dinner, the boy decided to make another surprise for his
lover.

“Honey, close your eyes, I’ll take you to another wonderful place.”

So they went to the Taj Mahal Palace, one of the most popular monuments
of India. The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum located in Agra, considered one of the
Seven Wonders of the modern world. With their walls full of with semi-precious
stones, the dome has gold strands, which impress the visitors. They say it was
built to house the body of the wife of a powerful sultan of the country in
which it is located.

“Nicolas, it looks a bit like the Palace of the King Zador II, on my
planet. It’s beautiful and magnificent, and the clothing of the people are very
different from those used in other countries.” Said the doctor.

“Here on Earth there are different traditions. So many races and
cultures are a great opportunity for the human being to live with differences
and develop their spirituality. That’s what makes our world so special.”

After that, they returned to U.S.A. to meet the other members of the
team.

Sivoc observed with attention that Nicolas and Zara wanted to be
together all the time and there was nothing more to do to prevent the
relationship of the two of them. He knew there were reports in his planet about
other encounters between humans of different ages and the result was
unpredictable. He imagined that it was actually possible to have hybrid
terrestrial beings living among children of humans and extraterrestrial beings
of the future. Although they transmuted themselves to accomplish their
missions, their new bodies provided a loving approximation for the people from Earth.
“When love dominates the mind and heart, anything is possible. Humans will
always fall in love, because this is the formula for the perpetuation of the
human race.”
Reflected the commander.

He remembered his wife Laiza and his kids. He thought about how hard
it was to conquer her because, at the time, her family didn’t allow their
marriage. Since he was a traveler scientist, her parents knew she would only be
able to stay with her family while her husband was on a mission. That wasn’t
what they wanted to Laiza. However, now she was his great love and everything
he did was for the sake of his family.

Therefore, he didn’t know if he had the right to interfere in the
love that was born between Zara and Nicolas.

While Merko rested in his ship, he began to remember his previous
mission with his friend Silion. At that time, they came to test the effects of
magnetic and gravitational fields over the people from planet Vida.

Besides, they were also experiencing the accuracy of time-space
travel.

When they were on the American desert in New Mexico, they were
attacked by the North American Air Force.

“Enable the anti-radars shield of the ship, Silion.” Merko ordered.

“Barrier enabled. Commander, a red light on the control panel is
showing a failure in the shell.” Silion said.

“Quick, turn on the force field.” Merko warned. “Let’s get out of
here fast and try to get to the Exosphere, put the ship at full speed.”

Before they could escape, two F-16 fighters were prepared for the
attack, and one of them managed to hit the ship.

In the moments that proceeded the fall of ship in the American
desert, Merko teleported himself away from the place. He tried to take Silion with
him, but his friend was seriously injured, so he couldn’t save him, although he
had done his best.

The Americans took the ship and a wounded Silion to an Army base in
Arizona. There, they began to make experiences. His friend, even wounded,
managed to communicate telepathically and was about to kill himself when Merko asked
for a chance to try to save him. The men of the Alpha-Omega secret team arrived
in their white overalls and injected a substance into the bloodstream of Silion.
They removed samples of his skin, bone marrow and one rare strain of hair. All
of this was sent to the lab.

“This is weird, their blood is red, just like ours!” said Ronald,
the chief of staff that accompanied everything from a control room. The same
man who would command, in the future, the investigation about Nicolas and Zara.

“Let’s decipher the mysteries of these extraterrestrial beings and,
who knows, maybe later they may reveal their technology. The department wants
to know how they manage to travel through universe.”

“We need to know their technologies. They must own very powerful
weapons that will be able to subdue our enemies. So we’ll be several steps
ahead of the other governments of the Earth.” Spoke Keith, one of the
scientists from Alpha-Omega group, who was standing next to Ronald.

“Be very careful with our specimen. I want four men on guard, 24
hours a day, taking turns.” Said the chief.

“But, sir, we are in the Base 51 of U.S. Army. It is the most secure
place on the planet! It was designed to protect the president and his family
even against attacks with nuclear bombs. There’s no risk with the alien here
inside, we don’t need to take extra measures of protection.” Keith said.

“Never underestimate the enemy. That’s how we lose battles and even
wars.” agent Ronald replied. “As soon as the medication kicks in, let’s start
the interrogation. Take care of the injuries and try to recover his
consciousness.” Ordered one of the team’s doctors.

Silion, still hostage, pondered how those people were ignorant.
“If
the primates had red blood, like Australopithecus, why would my blood be
different? Instead of trying an approximation, they just want my people’s
technology and our weapons to subjugate other nations. How underdeveloped they
are! I must do something to set me free.”
He thought at last.

“Please, Silion don’t give up now! I believe I found a way to get
there
.” Merko communicated telepathically with his close
friend.

“My friend, we were instructed to end up our own lives in case of
being captured. We know that our contacts can cause fatal consequences for the
evolution of the human race.”
Silion replied.

“
Please hold on a little longer, I need only one more day. Please
give me a chance to execute my plan.”

Merko always sought a solution to the unexpected problems and used
to accomplish his missions, no matter how difficult they were. So, he teleported
himself, touching the blue watch he had on his wrist, to reach the base 51, put
on his glasses, turned himself up and watched the movement of everyone who
entered there.

“
How’s the situation in there
?” He asked anxiously,
telepathically.

“
There are many men in white clothes, preparing to examine me.
However, they seem to be waiting for someone.”
Silion said.

In fact, the agents were waiting for someone, agent Ronald and agent
Keith, who were preparing them for the interrogation. Although the Alpha-Omega
staff belonged to the government, they had to work secretly; in the case of
peaceful contact with extraterrestrials from other nations the government wouldn’t
be politically harmed.

The capture and incarceration mission was executed by the military,
which had well prepared basis and good logistics, while team members of the
Alpha-Omega group, who were subordinated to the Pentagon, performed the part of
researches, communication and intelligence.

So, Merko saw a major, who had entered the place with an army
vehicle and, for fifteen minutes, remained in the background. When he came out,
he started to follow him. He kept teleported himself to the places where the
soldier was heading, and was planning to take his place.

Quietly, he arrived at the soldier’s house. Still in the garden of
the residence, he approached the man with a laser gun he was carrying.

The major passed out, and Merko scraped some cells from the inner
portion of his cheeks and sent his genetic information to a chip adapted to their
glasses of genetic transmutation. Immediately, he became a perfect copy of the
major and decided to disintegrate him with his laser gun, so there wouldn’t be
any evidence of his death.

Someone in the window called him suddenly, and he could see it was a
beautiful woman.

“Hi, John. I thought you wouldn’t leave that damned base. The
government is crazy to build these places underground. Besides, if some
catastrophe happens they are the only ones who’ll be saved. And what they will
do in an empty world? Come on, please, I made a delicious dinner.”

Merko walked around the room admiring the neat place, with a roaring
fireplace in the background. The place seemed comfortable with dim lights and
candles.
“It’s a very nice place”
, he thought.

There were pictures of the major with Lorena, his wife. She had
curly golden hair, smooth white skin like peach and a beauty worthy of a
goddess.

“Come on, baby, take a hot bath. Everything is already prepared
upstairs, but hurry, because the dinner is ready and I found that red wine that
you love in the cellar.” Lorena said.

Merko, without saying a word, went upstairs as a servant and took
his hot bath. He quickly returned and soon realized that the sound he emitted
was the perfect voice of the major. He thought how much the genetic engineering
and nanotechnology worked well.

“Let’s have dinner, honey. Today you’re so quiet. Did anything
happen?” She asked.

“No, I’m just tired.” He answered.

“Wait until after dinner that I will give you that massage you love.”
Said the beautiful woman.

He then experienced the taste of that delicious wine with a delicious
dinner and soon began to yawn, showing fatigue. They went up to the bedroom,
and Lorena began to kiss him, and they made love, making Merko forget his
friend and everything around him.

When they woke up, he put on the uniform of the soldier and was on
his way to the base, only thinking about saving his friend.

“
Where have you been, Merko? For a moment I thought you had left.
I’m in trouble, and it seems that experience is imminent. The movement here is
big.”
Silion said telepathically.

“
Wait, I’m coming
.” Promptly, Merko replied.

With the insignia of the soldier, he entered the camp and he had to calibrate
the coordinates of teleportation to get to his friend and then escape.

He knew his laser gun was very powerful, but he also knew it would
be difficult to fight with all the soldiers, so he needed a good strategy.
Already infiltrated on the base, he decided to take one of the men in white that
would examine Silion. He immobilized and took him to a room. He disintegrated him
along with the clothes of the major and continued walking, now transfigured in that
new figure, following his purpose.

He knew he could become any person and still could, if necessary use
a power that few in his planet possessed or knew how to use, the telekinesis,
the ability to move objects with psychic force. This ability always made him
weak and he would only use it in extreme situations.

He approached a room covered by glass on all sides. He could see
four men around a table where a being was laid. He soon realized that he was in
the right place. They were about to inject a substance into Silion’s arm, when
Merko teleported himself into the room and, with four blows in fatal regions,
he shoot down all opponents.

“
How do you feel
?” He asked to Silion.

“
Very weak and wounded. I think you’d better go alone.”

Meanwhile, in a room nearby, a general and his staff were following
the procedure. The agents Ronald and Keith were preparing the equipment for the
experiments with the specimen but at that moment were in another room next to the
general.

“General, there’s something wrong. A man is freeing our specimen and
appears to be running.” Said the captain of the operation.

“Ring the alarm. It looks like we’ve got luck. Probably we’ll catch
two fish with one bait.” Said the general with a smile.

A large operation soldiers invaded the research room. All escape
routes were closed.

Merko placed Silion over his shoulders when he said:

“
My friend, my life cycle is almost over. Please save your life.
Use the laser on me and teleport yourself to the ship. They didn’t manage to
get any information from me, you arrived just in time. They took my transmutation
recognition infrared glasses, but it won’t make any difference if you escape. Go
to Challenge I fast. It’s already programmed to take you back. At this point,
the ship was already ready; it was repaired by self-healing robots.”

With tearful eyes, Merko disintegrated his friend. When he was
preparing himself to press the button of his watch, he noticed that there was someone
behind him, ready to attack. It was a Ranger Sergeant. And then two more
soldiers appeared.

Merko decided to face them because he wanted to avenge the death of
his best friend.

“Where is your friend? Did he escape or is hiding?” The sergeant
asked with irony.

Soon they realized that the aliens had the ability to turn into
humans. While Merko prepared himself for the attack, someone hit him from
behind and he got a bit stunned. But the struggle was just the beginning. With
his great skill, he struck deadly blows at everyone, one after another.

Suddenly, there came many others and he had to use the telekinesis,
moving all the objects of the place against its rivals, including pointing
their weapons to each other. They all stood still for a moment with the guns in
the air, pointing at them. When the general arrived at the main entrance,
holding a grenade, he said:

“You’d better surrender, or I’ll throw this grenade and kill us all.”

“This is for my friend Silion, who you have imprisoned and murdered.”
Merko replied.

With the power of his mind, he removed the lock pin of the grenade.
The general looked terrified and said:

“You’re totally crazy! We’ll all die together.”

In the experiences room of the Army Base, everything was blown. Only
the agents Ronald and Keith managed to escape unharmed from the explosion,
because they were on the command room, which was isolated and protected by
armored walls. From their refuge, they observed the damage that the alien had
made in the military base. They observed everything being destroyed, his
friends losing their lives, and they couldn’t do anything at that time besides
watching, submissive, to all the destruction caused by the alien.

Immediately after removing the pin from the grenade, and even before
the big explosion that destroyed part of the military complex, Merko pressed
the button of his watch and reached his ship. He knew that, unlike the
military, he wasn’t bound to that room and wasn’t taking any risk with the
grenade. Now his friend was avenged. He prepared himself to return to space.

He checked all the controls of the ship and went up with an
unbelievable speed. He left behind his great friend Silion and the beautiful
Lorena, who briefly was the best thing that happened in his whole life.

While he reflected on the mission, though about how Silion was
always ready to protect him and willing to go anywhere with his friend. Several
times he had saved his life and he wasn’t able to repay. His eyes watered with
sadness.