NEBULAR Collection 6 - The Great Tremor: Episodes 27 - 30 Page 18

  Herimos raised his arms as a warning and went on his knees. Right before him, a wide, channel had opened.

  »Back! Be careful! I don’t trust this tear, the terrain is unsafe!« he yelled.

  »This world is close to collapse,« Maya remarked. She was pointing at all the newly created channels and deep grooves in the ground.

  »This sudden earthquake is strange,« Pi confessed. »I don’t think that the sun is responsible for it.«

  »The shock waves are running vertically through the tectonic plates,« Kuster~Laap explained. »Nood and Naad confirmed this. It’s a force from inside the planet, directed at the surface.«

  »Maybe it’s the gravitation of the nearby sun, that’s causing it,« Herimos suggested. »The tremors may be the result of strong tidal forces …«

  »… or we are above a thin crust section under which a magma lake has formed. Maybe we’re just before a volcanic outbreak,« Arkroid suggested an alternative.

  The replication paled after hearing Arkroid’s words. It seemed that she possessed more emotions then everybody had assumed.

  She is afraid! She wants to live! Arkroid thought. That almost makes her Human!

  »We are safer at the portal,« Kuster~Laap declared, but nobody listened to him.

  Instead, Arkroid commanded to walk around the channels and deep crevices and continue to look for Morgotradon’s ship.

  »What’s with your ZyClonians? Can they not detect the ship?« Arkroid inquired restlessly.

  »The ship is well hidden and secured,« Kuster~Laap apologized. »Morgotradon employs extra-galactic technology!«

  Pi shook his head while scanning the surroundings with a handheld scanner.

  »His disguise field must be damn good. I can’t detect the ship either!«

  Again, the ground shook and threw the replication off her feet. She fell hard on her shoulder; blood was running down her arm. With pain distorting her face she got up by herself and didn’t ask for help.

  »Herimos, make it easier for her and take of the hand ties!« Arkroid commanded. »Let’s give her a chance to survive this ordeal.«

  »Are you sure?« Herimos asked, grabbing her wrist ties. The plastic bands where not cutting her flesh. »Okay then!«

  He pulled out his knife and cut off the restrictive bands.

  »She’s unarmed, just keep an eye on her,« Arkroid told him.

  Herimos nodded and pushed her forward.

  »If that’s what you want then that’s what you get! I trust your intuition, my friend. There must be a reason why she’s coming with us all the way.«

  »There! We detected something!« Kuster~Laap announced aloud. »There’s an energy signature, five hundred meters behind that hill before us!«

  »Okay, let’s go!« Arkroid urged. He was worried as he looked at the horizon where a large protuberance had just detached from the sun, growing in size as it came closer to the planet. Even the spherical star cluster dwarfed in comparison.

  »Kuster~Laap!« Arkroid yelled, pointing with his thumb backward toward the sun.

  Kuster~Laap had understood and quickly conferenced with his guards. Seconds later, his whirling ears clearly indicated that something exciting was up.

  »The atmospheric shock wave is not the only problem,« he announced. »The protuberance will graze the planet! This time there’ll be no escape!«

  Arkroid clenched his teeth.

  »At least, we know now!« Pi remarked sarcastically.

  Maya looked into Arkroid’s eyes and saw … relief! She was irritated and could not explain his reaction.

  »He’s here, close by!« Paafnas shouted aloud and pointed in their walking direction.

  »Welcome!« Herimos yelled, ready to fight. He followed the indicated direction and fired a couple of plasma charges without actually aiming at anything else then the hot air.

  Herimos was watching the plasma impacts, as suddenly, farther to the side, a bright aura became visible. Morgotradon’s silhouette became apparent. His disguise shield must have had a malfunction or was interfered with.

  »I didn’t even hit that guy! Uh, it doesn’t matter, I see him now!« Herimos triumphed.

  Herimos raised his weapon again, but was interrupted.

  »Don’t, Herimos! Remember the combs! Look, the auras are bright, shining through his disguise field! They’re reacting to something!« Arkroid assumed.

  Suddenly, the ground heaved by about one meter, throwing the team members in all directions. They lost eye contact with each other; also Morgotradon was no longer visible.

  Arkroid had to suppress his rising panic. The planetary forces were incalculable. Something was pushing from deep inside the planet to the surface, breaking the crust. Rocks, earth, and plates were pushed aside effortlessly, collecting around a mysterious object, which just penetrated the surface.

  Arkroid struggled to keep his balance, got up only to fall down again. With wide open eyes, he stared at the object that kept growing out of the ground toward the sky.

  He opened his mouth to shout, but only a silent scream of horror left his lips.

  His thoughts were racing.

  Oh my God! Anything else, but that!

  I have no idea

  Vasina and Tranos didn’t believe their eyes. All over the place, strange objects penetrated the ground through the hard rock and rugged surface, slowly growing into the sky. At first, Tranos counted the objects, but after a while he gave it up. The tall, pointy and sharp-edged objects where everywhere as far as his eyes could see.

  »I know these towers!« Vasina announced alarmed. She slowly got up from the ground. The medication, Tranos had injected, was working against the paralysis!

  »I’ve seen one of these objects on Earth on the Antarctica continent. It was an impenetrable fortress, which housed a Soulwalker!«

  Vasina began panting. What she saw smothered her hopes for rescue.

  »These are Temples of the Cysans! The Star luster in the sky must then be Bosnor!

  »You mean, that intelligent beings are living inside these objects?« Tranos asked irritated but otherwise with a calm voice. »Can we reason with them?«

  »I don’t know, Tranos,« Vasina admitted. »I’ve never encountered one of them. Legend has it, though, that the Cysans were the first who were taken over by the Dark Brotherhood. This was, however, a long time ago. I don’t know how the situation is today.«

  Tranos pointed at the fast growing protuberance at the horizon.

  »We need to find shelter quickly or we burn to death!« he warned. »Are these … uh … stingers … capable of withstanding the catastrophe?«

  »Humanity was almost wiped out by just one of these spikes. Something tells me that these Thorns of the Cysans, as they’re also called, have chosen just this moment to emerge!« Vasina assumed.

  A sharp crackling noise, followed by a deep rumble, heralded the breakthrough of another thorn about a hundred meters form where Vasina and Tranos were struggling against the tremors.

  »That one is pretty close!« she huffed and supported herself on Tranos’ shoulder.

  As before, rock and stone plates where pushed aside, forming a ring of rubble around the thorn’s base.

  Tranos threw Vasina over his shoulder and ran into the plain … away from these objects, as fast as possible! Although, he was in great pain due to his injuries, he toughed it out and carried her.

  He ran for a couple hundred meters and then stopped. He let Vasina down and looked back.

  Vasina massaged her arms and legs, observed Tranos and then looked at the thorn which was growing like a stiff finger into the sky, accompanied by molten rock and poisonous gases.

  The sight of these emerging thorns was something Vasina and Tranos would never forget. It was fascinating and scary!

  »An irrepressible force,« Tranos whispered mesmerized and observed the thorn, looking for doors or gates at the base.

  »I just want to know … are they friends or foes? Can we talk to them?«

  Vas
ina straightened and looked at the thorn.

  »I have no idea …«

  Wake up

  Toiber Arkroid and Lai Pi looked on horrified as the thorn broke through the ground, pushing rock and gravel aside, warping the landscape.

  »What in the name of the gruesome Wakni is that?« Herimos shouted, aiming his weapon at the object.

  »Don’t! Herimos! Don’t even think about it!« Arkroid yelled with a collapsing voice. »We know what they are! We had to fight against one of them on Earth! I don’t know what happens if you attack the Stinger. That’s what we called it that time!«

  Paafnas was holding on tight, croaking panic struck.

  »How’s that possible. In the name of the endless universe … it can’t be … this coincidence!« Pi wondered.

  »That’s not a coincidence,« Maya remarked. »It’s Morgotradon’s making! He made sure that we landed on the Cysan world. Vasina told us about these beings, although her memory was fragmented. This star cluster must then be M80!«

  »His plan was to let us die here,« Pi speculated. »Did he also know that these temples were about to rise from the deep just at this time? I doubt that!«

  Arkroid drew a deep breath, looked around and said, »Where is Morgotradon? He still is our biggest problem! Did somebody see him? He must have been as much surprised as us.«

  »The sight is difficult with all the dust and smoke in the air; the objects are also obstructing a clear view. He took this chance and disappeared,« remarked Herimos, throwing his arms in the air. »But he won’t escape my wrath!«

  »I can see him,« Pi whispered and pointed at a location about a hundred meters away from the nearest stinger. »The Jamal-Combs betray his whereabouts! He can no longer hide behind his disguise field!«

  »Huh … now I get it,« Arkroid admitted. »The Jamal-Combs are reacting to the mental emissions of the beings living inside these stingers! That’s how it happened on Earth with the Globuster Lord! The four combs are probably amplifying this process.«

  »That’s all nice and dandy, but it won’t save us from the protuberance which is hitting the planet as we speak!« Kuster~Laap announced with fear in his deep voice, causing pain to the team members.

  »Look!« Maya alerted the team. »The tips of the stingers begin to glow!«

  With mouths ajar, they watched together what began to unfold in the skies above. It didn’t make a difference anymore for unprotected life-forms if the protuberance was only grazing the planet or hit it dead on. The sky was burning and it seemed as if the end of the universe had come. The sun facing side of the planet would burn within seconds. The harsh radiations didn’t even play much of a role anymore in this case. Either burned to death or radioactive contamination. The outcome was the same – death for all!

  Arkroid’s thoughts were racing. Morgotradon, the galaxy or even the lost Jamal-Combs didn’t matter to him right now. The keys would probably not withstand the unleashed forces anyway. His thoughts were occupied with Earth, his family at home in Agua City, his family, his little daughter …

  Suddenly, a bright energy beam, brighter than the sun’s protuberances, jumped from one statue to the other, forming a honeycomb-like web of pure energy, closing above the team’s heads within seconds.

  Arkroid staggered as he saw the hot plasma racing toward his position. He closed his eyes in expectation of the soaring heat. He was relaxed and had made peace with himself and the universe. He had tried everything and … failed!

  I really thought for a moment that I could influence the future and save the galaxy, he pondered disappointed.

  A loud scream yanked him back to reality, into apocalyptic scenery on Cysan.

  It hadn’t been a scream of pain, however, rather a scream of relief and joy!

  Maya shook Pi at his shoulders and rejoiced. Pi was just standing there, stunned, stooped.

  »Wake up, you sad people!« she yelled as loud as she could. »The energy web is absorbing the plasma cloud! The stingers are protecting us! The energy is flowing along the webbing and can’t reach us! We’re saved!«

  Arkroid needed a couple of seconds to understand the gravity of her words. The Thorns of the Cysans absorbed the plasma energy like sponges!

  Have faith

  »What?« Arkroid looked at the web above his head, irritated. The plasma cloud crashed like a huge tsunami wave against the energy shield with full force. The wave’s fiery brightness diminished as it made contact with the web. Seconds later, it was all over, almost like a brief firework in the night sky.

  »Watch out for Morgotradon!« Arkroid warned. Arkroid expected a new attack from Morgotradon after the danger had passed while the other team members were still rejoicing.

  »Master! Come and get me!« the replication shouted and looked around.

  She’s sees him or knows that he’s here somewhere! Arkroid thought.

  »Pay attention, people, he’s close by!« he warned anew.

  He’d barely finished his sentence as he saw a shadow quickly approach him. Arkroid didn’t have time to react and received a strong jolt against his chest, which took his breath and then, like an electrical shock, stunned him. His knees became weak and he fell to the ground on his back, immobilized. Seconds later, Herimos also collapsed – he hadn’t had a chance.

  He knew what to do to compensate for the brightness effects of his disguise shield! Arkroid thought.

  Kuster~Laap watched the scene and suddenly shrieked, having lost control over his usually very deep voice. Moments later, however, bursts of low frequencies almost made Arkroid unconscious.

  Arkroid twitched, began heaving and then vomited.

  Maya, also struggling with the low frequencies, crawled over to Arkroid and turned him from his back onto his side to prevent him from choking.

  »No … please, Kuster~Laap!« Arkroid coughed between short breaths, still spilling his guts.

  Nood and Naad reacted and established an absorption field by means of their nanopods, which enveloped the three extra-terrestrials.

  Maya cursed at their self-regard for not having included the rest of the team. She hastily looked around with her weapon drawn.

  Unexpectedly, she was grabbed and pulled inside Morgotradon’s disguise field.

  Arkroid, who was lying on his side in an awkward position, barely capable of moving his head, had the impression as if Maya had just vanished into thin air.

  Morgotradon had kidnapped her in the same way he had done it before with Vasina.

  Paafnas, who seemed to be able to detect Morgotradon, hadn’t had a chance to warn her in time. Paafnas followed Morgotradon with his eyes as suddenly a bright energy beam left the disguise field.

  »Paaaaaf!« Pi yelled and pushed Paafnas to the ground, pulling him to the side.

  The beam was, however, not meant for the Pleunatan but had hit the replication.

  The replication screamed, now realizing that her life wasn’t worth anything to her master.

  The energy blast had penetrated her shield at her chest. Since she had not been outfitted with the same defense shield, Morgotradon’s shot easily penetrated her weaker shield.

  Surprise, sadness, disappointment and pain reflected in her face and eyes. She plummeted to the ground and struggled to sit up. Moments later, her chin fell on her chest. She remained in this position, motionless.

  This dog! He killed her, just like that! Arkroid thought. He discarded her like an object.

  »He kidnapped Maya!« Pi shouted. »We need to go after them and get her back!«

  »Morgotradon has a vision,« Arkroid moaned and tried to overcome the paralysis. »He still believes that Maya is the only one in his life, predestined by fate to rule over the galaxy with him. This insane man can no longer distinguish between reality, fate, vision and deception. The infected Kokradian must have brainwashed him.«

  »He no longer has a brain or at least something that can be replicated,« Paafnas objected who was attending Herimos who was panting, helplessly laying on his back.


  »He shot us with a stun-gun!« Herimos stated unusually calm while glancing at Kuster~Laap and his ZyClonians. »You can come out of your snale house. Morgotradon is gone! You really helped us a lot.« Coughing interrupted Herimos. »The replication! She’s still alive?«

  Pi went over to her and assessed her injuries. A deep and ugly-looking, singed hole gaped in her chest.

  »How can that be?« Pi whispered astounded. »She should be dead! No Human would survive this!«

  »Thanks … Pi … for calling me … Human,« she said to him slowly. Her eyes opened little by little as she continued, »I’m … I’m still alive …«

  »Damnit!« Pi cursed. He hadn’t wished for such a painful death, not even to her! »I’m afraid that’s the end of the line. We can’t do much for you,« he whispered to her softly.

  »Yes … you can … snakeman …,« she wheezed under waves of pain. »Help me … please …«

  Pi assisted her as she tried to get up, she was staggering. Pi felt sorry for her as he saw her slowly walking in the direction her former master had disappeared to. She didn’t look back.

  »Let her go,« Arkroid pleaded with a weak voice.

  Pi crouched down at his side and pulled out the emergency First Aid kit from Arkroid’s backpack.

  »We screwed up, Toiber,« Pi remarked depressed. »Morgotradon has all our keys and kidnapped Maya. Herimos is paralyzed like you, our Progonaut friends are probably dead and the Chiropter is cowering behind his shield. Morgotradon will leave this world and we are in the hands of his allies, who are watching us, possibly already discussing how they’re going to deal with us.«

  Pi was surprised to see that, despite his miserable situation and condition, Arkroid produced a warm smile.

  »Everything is going the way it’s supposed to go. Have a bit of faith, Pi.«

  Help me! Please

  They were many-fold, came quickly, but approached cautiously …

  A large gate had opened in front of one of the stingers and released groups of them.

  Vasina’s inner voice told her to just let it happen and not take any actions. She didn’t think of any danger in this situation.