The Crystal's Curse

Prologue

Stargazer Space Station orbiting earth -1968

Lrence rubbed his sweaty palms on the sides of his pants. He swallowed, trying to ease the tightness in his chest.
He studied the others. They seemed just as nervous. They were all standing outside the vault waiting for Cnoc to input the access code. Lrence peered into the shadows of the dimly lit hallway and listened. The eerie quiet, which should have been reassuring, pressed in on him, straining already taut nerves. He felt Kafra shiver. He put his arm around her and leaned in close to whisper in her ear. “You don’t have to do this. It’s not too late to go back.”

She bit her lip and shook her head.

He glanced over at Demitri leaning against the wall feigning nonchalance, wearing a big smile like this was all a game. His fingers steadily drumming the wall behind him gave him away. Always up for a challenge, he’d been the most enthusiastic about the plan. Maybe because he had the least to lose since he had no family to embarrass or to leave behind.

Remnr wasn’t even trying to pretend. Running his hand through his dark blond hair, he stood close behind Cnoc, leaning forward as if by his very presence he could make Cnoc go faster.

Cnoc wiped the sweat from his brow, flicking his long black hair out of his eyes. He elbowed Remnr. “Stop breathing down my neck.”

Remnr grunted softly, moving back only a fraction of an inch.

Kubal stood rigidly next to Lrence, his hands in his pockets. Even though he’d assured them he’d taken care of the alarm system and redirected the surveillance cameras so they couldn‘t be seen, he kept glancing up and down the corridor. Ex-army and head of security, Kubal’s willingness to join this group still surprised Lrence. Even now, Lrence couldn’t help wondering if he’d set them up. If anything went wrong, there would be no way to explain their presence in this top security hallway.

Finally, the lock clicked and the vault door swung open. One by one, they followed Cnoc into the vault. The crystals lay in individual boxes on a raised platform in the center of the vault. Cnoc carefully lifted the lid of the first box. Lrence held his breath, waiting for an alarm. There was only silence. Quickly, Cnoc opened the next two boxes handing Lrence three power crystals. Lrence tucked the crystals inside a leather pouch. Cnoc opened the remaining boxes and passed three crystals to each of them, retaining the last three for himself.

As they turned to leave, a red light over the vault door began blinking.

“What’s that?” Remnr whispered nervously.

“Our cue to leave,” replied Kubal. “We have exactly thirty seconds before that door locks.” He grabbed each of them and shoved them through the door. As the last one out, he managed to slip through just before it clanged shut and triggered a cacophony of alarms throughout the complex.

“I thought you said you disabled all the alarms,” grumbled Demitri.

Kubal rolled his eyes. “If you’d listened to my briefing, you’d know there remained a chance removing the crystals would trigger an alarm I couldn’t disarm. Follow me and shut up, we only have about three minutes to get out of here.”

He led them single file through carefully programmed gaps between the corridor cameras, often holding up a hand to stop them until a camera swiveled away. Timing was the key. As the last one in line, Lrence waited nervously
, shifting from one foot to the other and watching for Kubal’s signal to move forward. He found it hard to stand quietly and walk slowly between cameras with alarms ringing and the sound of running guards coming closer, the urge to run almost overpowering. Finally, outside the secured area, they ran to the transporter and beamed to the surface. They still had to hurry. It wouldn’t take long for the authorities to find the beam-out signature.

Lrence, as the leader of the group, looked at each of his five comrades. This was it then. There was no going back. By stealing the crystals, they’d be labeled as traitors and hunted down. Standing in front of the portal, they had no time for goodbyes, having said all that earlier. They would only be safe once they stepped through the portal.
Safe but marooned on an alien planet,
thought Lrence. After tonight, they could never again return home. They had sacrificed everything, for what? Were they saviors or traitors? Even after all these months of planning and debate, Lrence still didn’t know the answer. He just knew that he could not stand by while his planet plotted to enslave the entire inhabitants of another system.

One by one they stepped into the portal and disappeared into earth’s past.

Chapter One

Present day – Guatemala

“Joshua, hand me that brush,” Samuel Carson said, pointing without looking at his son as he  knelt to examine some carvings on the cave wall.

Scowling
, Joshua laid down the shovel he’d been using, and handed the brush to his dad. Joshua’s mouth felt as dry and dusty as the earth he shoveled. He could taste the grit on his teeth. When he tried to wipe the sweat out of his eyes, it combined with the dust to burn, only one of the reasons he hated being on a dig. He looked over at his father, who was every bit as filthy. It never seemed to bother him. His father called it “manly dirt” and seemed to enjoy the experience. Over six feet tall, Joshua couldn‘t even stand up without bumping his head on the ceiling. Bent partially over, he brushed debris from his hair and resumed shoveling.

They had been in Guatemala for the last three months. His father was an archeologist researching ancient Mayan ruins. His mother, Maria, was an expert in Egyptian and Mayan hieroglyphics as well as a gifted artist. This expedition started out by following an ancient waterway, which led to the ruins of a rural Mayan village in Guatemala. While excavating the foundations of the village, they found a large cave nearby
that had been used for religious ceremonies. Once the team finished excavating the cave, Joshua had hoped his parents would return to civilization. However, last week at the back of the cave, they uncovered a doorway and steps. Today they’d broken through to this room partially filled with rubble. Everyone had been overjoyed at this new discovery, throwing their hats in the air and slapping each other on the back.

All except for Joshua, for whom it simply meant more back breaking work and continued isolation from anyone his age. He knew from experience that he now faced even more weeks of digging, scraping, and sifting to recover even more artifacts. Those artifacts wouldn’t be any different from the hundreds of other Mayan artifacts housed in museums around the world. Joshua couldn’t see the point.

“Hmm, this looks interesting. Josh, ask your mother to come here for a minute.” Samuel, engrossed in studying the carvings on the wall, sounded puzzled and excited. As usual, caught up in the excitement of this new discovery, he seemed oblivious to his son’s mood.

Joshua ducked back through to where his mom sat sketching the opening and foundation of the steps. “Mom, Dad wants you,” he said, trying to get outside before she noticed him leaving.

Maria sighed as she watched her son slip away. He was getting so tall, the same black hair and square jaw as his father, his blue eyes her only contribution to his classic good looks. Every day, as his muscles filled out, he looked more like Sam had when she first met him, and less like her little boy.

Watching Joshua’s slumped shoulders, kicking rocks out of the way and muttering under his breath as he exited the cave, she realized his recent bad temper and discontent were more than merely teenage angst. Archeology had never fascinated him the way it did them.

Up until a year ago, he had been a delightful child, fun and easy to be around. An only child, growing up around adults, he’d learned to be charming with impeccable manners. Lately he’d been withdrawn and sullen. Before they left for this trip, he’d begged them to leave him behind. She’d refused, unable to bring herself to be thousands of miles away from him or to leave him with people she barely knew. Of course, he’d insisted he was perfectly capable of taking care of himself. It hadn’t helped that Sam thought so too. She sighed again as she rose and brushed the dirt off the back of her shorts. It was only one more year and then she would
have
to let him go off to college. Surely, he could stand it until then.

***

It was only slightly less humid outside, but at least Joshua could breathe fresh air. The thick canopy, which filtered the sunlight, also held in the heat and prevented breezes from cooling the air at ground level. Water dripped off leaves still moist from a recent rain shower. Sweat ran down his face as he lifted the canteen for a drink. In irritation, he swatted away the ever-present insects buzzing around his face.

“Great, just great,” he mumbled in disgust as his iPod ran out. With no electricity and the generator turned on only from dusk until bedtime, Joshua found it almost impossible to get a full charge on any of his electronics. He jerked out the ear buds and stuffed them in his pocket.

“I’m not only physically isolated, but electronically handicapped.” When other teens phoned, texted and played on the Wii, he considered himself lucky if his laptop had enough juice to finish his homework. He could talk at length on Mayan history and the methodology of conducting a dig (which surprisingly enough didn’t come up in the conversation with other teenagers), but he didn’t know the first thing about the latest video games or TV programs, having very little exposure to either in the jungle. Consequently, even when he did have the chance to be with kids his own age, he came off either retarded or nerdy.

He not only hated the digs, he hated his family’s nomadic lifestyle. At one time or another, he’d lived all over the world, never staying in one spot for more than a couple of years. If not in some jungle on a dig, he and his mom followed his father on his lecture circuit. The only place he could remotely call home was the condominium in Washington D.C. where his parents spent a few months a year writing up the previous dig. Joshua knew his parents loved the excitement of travel, seeing new places, and exploring ancient sites. He longed to set down roots, have real friends, and maybe even date. Joshua sighed. Unless something drastic happened, he’d be stuck here w
ithout a life until he turned eighteen.

How can I make them understand that I can’t do this anymore
? The frustration made him even angrier. His jaw ached from gritting his teeth together to keep from yelling. Yesterday, in the midst of their excitement over the new discovery, he’d sworn and stomped off into the jungle trying to walk off the disappointment. The dense vegetation made it difficult to get very far without a machete, so he walked around and around the campsite until it began to get dark, and he had no choice but to go back.

Seeing his parents sitting close with their heads together laughing and planning
, only made his loneliness more acute. They’d looked up when they heard him, and he’d seen his misery mirrored in their eyes
. They have each other
.
They don’t need me. Why can’t they just let me go so I can live my life my way?
He’d stomped off to his own tent, and avoided them for the rest of the evening. He tried to be better today, but so far, it wasn’t working.

Even though he hated it, Joshua knew that he should go back and help his dad. They would come looking for him soon. Maybe if he pretended to work on this week’s calculus lesson, he could buy a few more minutes away. Not that any of his homework really had to be done. Home schooled and tutored by some of the most noted professors, who were colleagues and friends of his parents, he’d graduated from high school last year. Although these were college level classes for credit, he considered it busy work his mom put together to keep him occupied during this trip. She had been very determined to keep him by her side until he turned eighteen.