The Chalice (2 page)
Title Page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two Chapter Twenty-Three Chapter Twenty-Four Chapter Twenty-Five Chapter Twenty-Six Chapter Twenty-Seven Chapter Twenty-Eight
THE CHALICE
By
P. L. Parker
(C) Copyright P.L. Parker, March 2012
Cover Art by Eliza Black, Copyright March 2012
ISBN 978-1-60394-685-8
Published by New Concepts Publishing
Smashwords Edition
Lake Park, GA 31636
www.newconceptspublishing.com
This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author’s
imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons
or events is merely coincidence.
Chapter One
Consciousness roared to the surface. Panic-stricken, her eyes popped open. A
scream lodged in her throat, silenced by the device embedded in her larynx. Heart rate accelerated, thum ping at near-stroke levels. Breathing came in constricted gasps, blunted by the apparatus covering her face. Floating in a cage of opaque gelatinous liquid, she thrashed helpless, flailing at the tubes and wires encasing her in this nightmarish hell. Frenzied, uncontrollable, her hands impacted a solid wall of glass or clear plastic. Fingers clawed at the seam less shell. In slow m otion, she pounded against the barrier, scratching at the oily partition. Useless! She was trapped—a captive! But why? How?
Beyond the walls of her prison, bizarre images wavered, dream like and
indeterminate. Alien. Fantastic! Terrifying!
Her fear level rose to new heights. A pressing band of pain squeezed her chest. Heart attack! She was having a heart attack! She was going to die, locked foreverin this surreal coffin.
A m uffled rum ble, m uch like the sound of a flushing toilet, reverberatedthrough the walls of the pod. A hole in the floor materialized, draining the fluid ina loud whoosh. The air tube was wrenched from her throat. The cage popped openand she was thrown to the floor, landing face down in a freezing puddle of slimygoo. Naked and defenseless, she huddled in a knot of m indless misery.
Her stom ach lurched. Bile rose in her throat and she retched, gagging at thefoul taste. She wiped her lips with the back of her hand, suppressing the urge to
scream hysterically. Around her on all sides, other naked forms were likewise expelled, the bodies flopping to the ground with loud, juicy smacks like so many netted fish. Female voices wailed or cursed, adding impetus to her unrestrained terror. Curling into a ball, she wept.
****
Tegan staggered from the life-pod and lurched across the wide hall. Aching inevery bone, queasy and disoriented, he wanted nothing more than to lie downand rest. T’would not do for the breeders to see him thus! He was their leader—the Chosen One. He forced him self to keep m oving, relying on the strength ofpurpose ingrained in his very being.
Red-hued marks of rust and spots of black m old dotted the interior of thecleansing room, attesting to lengthy neglect, but after several minutes pressingthe various knobs, warm water cascaded from the corroded dispensers overhead. He braced himself against the wall, steadying himself while the heated streamrinsed away every trace of the viscous nutrient. Blasts of hot air followed, andthen the mechanism slowed and shut off. He stretched, groaning as muscles longunused cram ped, marveling that they still could after so much time. Two hundredrevolutions or more the protectors had said!
A dusty reflecting orb confirmed he was still in one piece and m uch the sam eas he’d been before the great sleep. He reached into a cabinet and found a briefloincloth, the only raiment worn by members of the Warrior caste. Donning theitem, he sat on a bench, collecting his thoughts while he waited for the others toappear.
Shagal stum bled into the room, pale and visibly trem bling, marks of distresslining his ashen face. Shorter than Tegan and m ore delicate in build, his castetattoos and cloth drape were those worn by artisans and scholars. Tegan countedhimself fortunate to call him friend.
“Are there others?” he rasped, dropping down.
“You’re the first to follow,” Tegan said. “The others should be awakening soon.”
“Prayers to the Gods we never have to undertake such an ordeal again.”
Shagal’s voice quavered. “I’ve no doubt I’d not survive the next.”
Tegan agreed, worried as to just how many of the thousand brave souls did. Not all would be as fortunate as they. Perhaps not so fortunate! Maybe this wasjust another chapter in the savage road to annihilation. Only time would tell.