Shadow Warrior: Destiny of a Mutant (5 page)

BOOK: Shadow Warrior: Destiny of a Mutant
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Judging by the density of the scrub surrounding the cave, it was obvious that no one had been in the cave for many years, if at all. He cut the heaviest of the foliage with the large knife he had used to kill the stag. Will then found a small branch on the ground in front of the cave’s entrance tore off a piece of his shirt and wrapped it around the top of the branch. He lit the makeshift torch by using a flint rock to ignite the tip of it, and then went through the entrance, leading with the torch.

At first glance the cave appeared to be only a few feet deep. However, intuition told Will that there was more to this grotto than met the eye, and although he had never seen this cave before, it looked familiar to him.

He used the light from the torch and began looking at the edges along the wall and after several seconds he noticed some symbols on the part of the wall near where the wall ended, which were covered in dust. Will brushed and blew away the dust and saw several symbols smoothly carved into the rocks, which were unknown to Will, yet somehow familiar. Will was startled as he recognized the symbols on the wall as being the same ones from his dreams!

Although he had never seen the symbols before and did not recognize any of them from the languages he could read and write, Will was nonetheless inexplicably able to translate the symbols, which simply read:
Enter By Placing Your Hand Over These Symbols.

As Will placed his hand over the symbols, nothing happened at first. As he was about to remove his hand, the wall suddenly began glowing a mixture of light-green and pale-blue. An opening the size of a door appeared in the wall.

Will stepped back, staring in amazement, as the door suddenly slid open, and an entrance appeared in the wall. Hesitating only momentarily, Will then stepped through the opening, led only by the torch, into a stone room that was approximately ten feet by ten feet square, with a ceiling that rose about fifteen feet in the air. The rock was smooth - too smooth to be a natural rock formation.

As soon as Will entered the opening, the doorway that had appeared in the stone wall suddenly closed behind him. Everything was thrown into the blackest darkness that anyone could imagine. Will’s torch lit no more than a foot or two in front of him. Then, without warning, the entire room came to life!

Planet Altrusia

Gamma Quadrant, Milky Way Galaxy

 

The instant that Will’s hand touched the symbols on the cave’s entrance a small light glowed on the console of a highly sophisticated virtual display console. One of the scientists monitoring the system looked up somewhat in shock, and said to Nek Nahpak, one of the more senior scientists in the room, “Sir, we have a verified contact! Readings are coming in now!”

“Location?” the senior scientist questioned at the revelation, his voice even and calm.

“Stand by. Information is being relayed now. It’s from the third planet from the Helios star in our star sector, approximately 10,000 light years from Altrusia.”

With a look of surprise on his long thin face, Nahpak replied, “That’s impossible! That planet is still in its early stages of agricultural and industrial development. A portal shouldn’t even be there! Are you positive your information is correct?”

“Yes, sir.” replied the younger scientist. “No doubt at all, sir.”

Nahpak blew out a sigh. “Notify the Elders immediately.”

“At once, sir.”

Chapter 8

Earth

1918 A.D.

 

During his term of office, President Woodrow Wilson had only one occasion to contact Will to assist with an alien threat. In September 1918, a few months before the Armistice Treaty was signed ending World War I, American, British and Australian troops defeated German troops in the Battles of Saint-Mihiel, Epéhy and Megiddo.

A small contingent of Protrakian battle cruisers had been patiently watching the conflict between the warring humans for some time. After watching these battles they decided to assist the German army by providing some alien firepower, regardless of the fact they knew nothing of Terran politics and who the aggressors were in the conflict.

The Protrakian battle cruisers had been spotted during the first few battles by no less than six veteran RAF and U.S. Army Air Corp pilots flying secret reconnaissance missions over German-occupied territory in France and England on three different occasions. The pilots were all
dissuaded
from believing they had actually seen alien spacecraft, even though they had taken several photographs - which were promptly seized by American Military Intelligence.

Nonetheless, word of the sightings, along with the photographs, made their way to President Wilson’s desk, after he had given explicit orders that any sightings of an unusual or inexplicable nature be brought to his attention immediately. After viewing the photographs, President Wilson contacted Will via the commlink device, and within minutes Will appeared in the president’s office. After viewing the photographs, Will recognized the Protrakian battle cruisers, and advised the president that he would take care of the matter immediately.

The Protrakians never were able to assist the German army as they had intended. As they were preparing to destroy several U.S. and British tanks and airplanes en route to fight the German army, a black clad Guardian appeared out of nowhere on the bridge of the Protrakian command vessel.

After Will “politely” explained that their interference in Terran affairs would not be tolerated, their commander was persuaded to leave Earth, never to return. Will also neutralized their vessel’s weapons system. Before he left, an overzealous crewman thought he could kill Will with a plasma weapon. He was wrong. The crewman shot Will with it at point blank range on the bridge of their battle cruiser. The weapon, which could have easily destroyed a tank or airplane, affected Will no more than a light breeze would affect an aircraft carrier.

Will, seizing the opportunity to send the Protrakians a message, melted the weapon to the crewman’s hand with a mild blast of his laser vision. The screaming crewman, as well as the rest of the crew got the message loud and clear. They left Earth and never returned.

Afterwards, things were quiet on Earth. Over the subsequent years, numerous scientific research vessels studied the Earth and its inhabitants - in some cases landing for soil, water or other samples. However, all of them were careful not to make contact with the Terrans. Occasionally, an alien spacecraft was spotted by pilots and even photographed at times. These sightings were usually written off as sunspots or weather balloons, secret military aircraft, or by some other suitable explanation, and the photographs were never seen again.

On rare occasions when they could not be explained away, the pilots were advised that they had observed the flights of highly classified experimental aircraft, and if they did not forget what they had seen, they would enjoy the inside of a military prison until they were old men. Most of them forgot the sightings as soon as they happened.

After Warren G. Harding took office, former President Wilson did as Will had instructed and did his best to explain how, when and why to contact the mysterious Colonel Clark if the need ever arose. President Harding, needless to say, had a difficult time believing the former president until President Wilson showed him the commlink device and how it worked - which included a holographic image of Earth being displayed in the Oval Office.

Fortunately, President Harding never had a need to contact Colonel Clark, nor did his successors, Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover.

However, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was not quite as lucky.

Chapter 9

Helvellyn Mountain, England

1475 A.D.

 

A holographic image of the Milky Way galaxy lit up the room with images of planets and stars; nebulae and comets; asteroids and moons. The room, which Will knew measured no more than ten feet square, seemed to have disappeared, and Will appeared to be standing in outer space. He could no longer feel the ground beneath his feet, but he did not have the sensation that he was falling. Will looked at the spectacle in awe and astonishment but with no fear.

Suddenly, multiple images began flooding into Will’s brain. In his mind he could see different species of sentient beings, mathematical and scientific formulae, symbols, and indecipherable writing. All of the beings were speaking unknown languages. The images at first were too much for Will, and he dropped to his knees, covered his ears and shut his eyes in an attempt to stop what was happening. After a few seconds, he understood that one of the images was attempting to communicate with him.

Will managed to slow his breathing and gain control of himself. He concentrated on shutting out the extraneous images in order to try and understand what one of the beings was trying to communicate to him. Once he was able to do this, images of several gray skinned beings flooded his mind and came into sharp focus. All of them were tall, thin and had slightly pointed noses and chins, long thin fingers, and each wore a long, dark robe of some type.

The being in the center of the group, who appeared older than most of the others, seemed to be the one trying to communicate with Will. Will opened his mind and was able to understand what the unknown being was attempting to communicate with him.

“Greetings, Terran.” said the older being.

“Who are you?” said Will.

“We are the Elders.”

“What do you want with me?”

“To help you fulfill your destiny, young one.”

“My destiny? What is my destiny, and how will you help me fulfill it?” Will asked.

“Your questions will be answered in time. For now you will return to your life. When it is time, I will contact you through your dreams. At that time you will make your way to these coordinates and elevation.” An array of coordinates, along with an exact elevation and detailed map of Earth, appeared in front of Will. He memorized the location and coordinates.

“What happens when I arrive at that location?” Will asked.

“A test to determine your skills and knowledge,” replied the Elder. “But for now it is time for you to take your leave of this place.”

As soon as the Elder said this, the room immediately returned to normal and the doorway reappeared and opened behind Will. After leaving the cave and the doorway shut behind him, the portal disappeared and the cave returned to normal. Will looked for the symbols where the doorway had been, but they were no longer there either.

Will made his way back down the mountain and returned to his campsite. He was unable to sleep the rest of the night. All he could think about was the miraculous event that had happened in the cave.

 

Chapter
10

 

Roosevelt

 

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected President of the United States in November 1932 at the height of the Great Depression, after serving as a New York State Senator, Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President Woodrow Wilson, the Democratic nominee for Vice-President in 1920, and the Governor of New York, a post he served from 1928 until he was elected president.

Roosevelt had a privileged, aristocratic upbringing along the Hudson River in Hyde Park, New York. However, instead of going into business like his father, Roosevelt decided to emulate his fifth cousin, President Theodore Roosevelt, and enter politics. Roosevelt even married Theodore’s niece, Eleanor, who was his fifth cousin, once removed.

After his election to the presidency, he was advised of the
commlink
device and its purpose, and as expected, he was completely skeptical until President Hoover demonstrated the device to him. He was intrigued and was tempted to contact the mysterious Colonel Clark to see what would happen. However, he had been admonished by President Hoover that the colonel was to only be contacted in case of unauthorized alien contact.

Even after observing the commlink device in operation, President Roosevelt was unwilling to believe the tale of the existence of alien civilizations, and that they had been studying the Earth for many years. President Hoover then related the story of the Protrakian battle cruisers and showed President Roosevelt the photographs of the sightings and other documents which were classified as TOP SECRET: EYES ONLY POTUS. President Roosevelt was still skeptical, but he was more inclined to believe at this point.

During the first few years of his presidency, Roosevelt was trying to help bring America out of the Great Depression with his social and jobs creation programs. Even after Hitler’s Nazi horde invaded Poland in 1939, President Roosevelt did his best to keep the U.S. neutral and out of the war, despite the British government’s numerous requests that the U.S. become involved before Hitler’s army seized control of Europe and crushed it under the boot of fascism.

However, after the horrific events of December 7, 1941, America became embroiled in the conflict, and, in addition to fighting the Japanese in the Pacific, began helping its European allies by sending troops, planes, ships and submarines to help fight the Nazis and their Axis cohorts.

The tide was turning in the war in 1942, as Hitler lost battle after battle. The effort spent keeping up several different battle fronts had begun to take its toll on Hitler and had severely weakened the German army.

All of that was about to change.

BOOK: Shadow Warrior: Destiny of a Mutant
3.45Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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