The Dark Rift: The Supernatural Grail Quest Zombie Apocalypse (The Last Artifact Trilogy Book 1) (24 page)

Gabriel and Natasha did as they were told, wading past countless stars and nebulas to arrive at an inconspicuous location within one of the galaxy’s many arms.

“I see nothing unusual about its position,” said Gabriel. “Are you sure you got your information right?”

“You must lower your line of vision until it aligns with the galactic plane,” said the gypsy.

“Galactic plane?” asked Natasha.

Gabriel looked back at the old woman before answering Natasha’s question.

“The galactic plane lies along the galaxy’s equator,” he explained. “As a result of their overwhelming mass, super-massive black holes spin at unbelievably high rates. Because of this, their projected gravitational field isn’t spherical anymore. Instead, it gets flattened out and forms a massive spinning disc; kind of like a pancake. Ours is a hundred-thousand light years in diameter, but only a few centimeters thick.”

Gabriel bent his knees until his line of vision had aligned with the galaxy’s equator. Natasha followed his example. To their utter surprise, the hologram’s light vanished completely as their eyes passed through the thin disc of the galactic plane, only to return to its original splendor as their line of vision emerged from its underside.

“Why is this happening?” asked Natasha, lowering and raising her line of vision above and below the galactic plane.

“The gravitational field is just like the black hole,” said Gabriel, doing the same. “It sucks up all the light that comes into contact with it.”

“To the ancients it was known as the
Dark Rift
,” said the old gypsy. “Our solar system will soon pass into it.”

Gabriel and Natasha could see that the old woman was not mistaken. In the holographic projection, the magnified section that contained the earth’s solar system was clearly moving closer and closer to the galactic plane.

“But what does this mean?” asked Natasha, looking at the old woman.

“It means the end of an age, my child,” she said, walking towards them.

“You said that the ancients feared this,” asked Natasha, “Why?”

Gabriel was the first to answer.

“Because every time our solar system passes through the galactic plane, the sun and the planets are exposed to massive magnetic and gravitational fields. Getting close to it would be devastating. Crossing it would be catastrophic.”

Natasha considered the implications.

“So all the strange weather we have been experiencing for the last decade; all the earthquakes and tsunamis and tornados and hurricanes, they are all being caused by our proximity to this gravitational field?”

“Yes,” said Gabriel with a shrug. “If this hologram is accurate. According to astronomers, our solar system travels in a kind of wave pattern as it moves along its orbit. It dips up and down through the galactic plane every fifty-million years or so. Every time this happens, our north and south poles shift in position.”

“And how do they know this?”

“Core samples, mostly,” said Gabriel. “They take them in Antarctica, and use them to study the magnetic alignment of the molecules frozen into the ice. Every fifty-million years they see massive and sudden changes recorded there. But that’s not the only evidence. They also know that many of the places that are now arctic were once tropical, and vice versa. It would appear that the earth has not always spun on the same poles that it spins on now.”

“The end of each age is marked by a great cataclysm,” said the old woman, nodding in acceptance.

“But why all the destruction?” asked Natasha in horror. “What causes it?”

“The earth isn’t a hard ball of rock like everybody thinks,” said Gabriel. “It’s a ball of liquefied magma covered in a thin crust of stone. It’s so malleable that when it spins, it actually bulges at the equator. Shift the locations of the poles and it’ll bulge in different places.”

“And the oceans and tectonic plates will shift to fill in the gaps,” whispered Natasha.

“A natural occurrence for the planet,” said Gabriel, “but one that’s pretty devastating for all us insects living on its surface.”

Gabriel and Natasha watched as the old gypsy removed the Cube from the astrolabe, the hologram vanishing as suddenly as it had appeared.

“We pass through the Dark Rift on the twenty-first day of this month,” she said, relighting the candelabra. “The cataclysm is unavoidable, but its catastrophic effects on both the earth and humanity can be mitigated, if you fulfill your purpose.”

“What purpose do we have to fulfill?” asked Gabriel, drawing closer to the old woman.

“You must awaken humanity to a true knowledge of itself.”

“How are we supposed to do that?” snapped Gabriel, frustrated.

The gypsy woman scowled back at him.

“You must return the Cube to the great
Labyrinth of Sarras
.”

Gabriel moved to say something, but the old gypsy silenced him with an upraised hand.

“You must pass through the
Seven Portals
, and open the
Seven Seals of Gnosis
to the world. In doing these things, you will save us from perpetual darkness.”

Gabriel exchanged a look with Natasha. If it were not for what they had just seen, they would have thought this old woman a lunatic, but given the oddity of everything that was coming to pass around them, her words seemed impossibly valid.

“But how can you expect us to accomplish any of this?” asked Gabriel. “The labyrinth could be anywhere in those mountains, and besides, what possible difference could our efforts make? This is a geological
phenomenon. It’s unstoppable.”

“The passing of our planet through the Dark Rift will affect changes on both physical and metaphysical levels. It will affect matter, but it will also affect consciousness.”

“How so?
”
asked Gabriel.

“Every mind will be cast into darkness and confusion,” said the gypsy with a frown. “Humanity’s collective consciousness will come under great duress. We are in dire circumstances, my children. Over countless millennia we have unwittingly allowed the forces of darkness to penetrate into our souls. These forces have twisted and distorted the truth about life and death. They have isolated us from one another, and more importantly, from ourselves.”

The old gypsy woman looked into the flames of the candelabra.

“This coming age will mark the passing of yet another galactic year. It will be the first anniversary of the complete annihilation of our distant ancestors. If you fail in your mission, humanity will follow in their footsteps. Our souls will be drawn into the lower spheres of Hades, and reside there for aeons to come.”

“Wait a minute,” said Gabriel, turning to face the old woman. “It takes two-hundred and fifty-million years to complete a galactic year. Are you suggesting that there were people on the earth back then?”

“The beings that existed then were not like us,” she said, “but their society was as fully developed as our own.”

“And what happened to them?” asked Natasha.

“They passed through the Rift in a state of spiritual darkness, and the Great Cataclysm ensued.”

Natasha looked at Gabriel to find that he was shaking his head incredulously.

“What is wrong?” she asked. “What are you thinking?”

“Only that two-hundred and fifty-million years ago was when the Permian–Triassic extinction event occurred. It’s also referred to by geologists as P-Tr, or
The Great Dying
.”

Gabriel began to pace back and forth.

“P-Tr was the mother of all extinction events,” he continued. “It makes the one that wiped out the dinosaurs sixty-five million years ago look like a terrestrial hiccup. When P-Tr occurred, ninety-six percent of all marine life was completely decimated, along with eighty percent of all the terrestrial vertebrate species. Even most of the insects were wiped out, and that never happens. It never occurred to me before, but P-Tr occurred around the time of our galaxy’s nineteenth birthday.”

Natasha frowned and bit her lip.

“And this galactic year we turn twenty?”

“Astrophysicists would say, yes, give or take a few thousand years,” said Gabriel. “But if what Señora Blavatsky says is true, we’ll turn twenty when we pass through the galactic plane, five days from now.”

“This is our last chance to turn the direction of the spiritual spheres,” said the old gypsy. “The Great Cataclysm is once again upon us. Succeed in returning the Cube to its original resting place before the crossing is made, and humanity will be preserved. Pass through the
Seals of Gnosis,
and the knowledge held within them will be released unto mankind. Only then will the balance of our universe be tipped in favour of the Light. Our collective mind will then manifest itself in a new world of peace and societal evolution. If you fail, all will be lost.”

“Release the Gnosis from the Seals?” asked Gabriel, perplexed. “How are we supposed to do that? You must forgive us, Señora, but we don’t know anything about this artifact.”

“And even if we did know,” said Natasha, “how could it be done? The world cannot change in less than one week.”

The gypsy sat down in one the leather wingchairs.

“To transcend the Cube is to see it in all things.”

Gabriel and Natasha looked down at her, their eyes filled with confusion.

“You must be in Truth,” she explained, nodding slowly, “but you must also be in Love. Once you have fully merged, the exact location of the lost Book of Khalifah will be revealed to you. It is imperative that you find this codex. Within it are the six translations needed to unlock the Cube’s mysteries.”

“You said
fully merged
, Señora,” said Gabriel, looking over at Natasha. “What does that mean?”

“You were both demonically possessed when you were infants. Did you know this?”

Gabriel and Natasha nodded slowly.

“And do you know the origin of your scars?”

“Yes, we do,” said Gabriel uncomfortably.

The gypsy woman smiled darkly and continued.

“Before they were exorcised, the fourteen Emissaries infected both of you with demonic parasites,” she said. “They infect you still. They work to keep you apart. Find these entities. Bring them into the light of awareness. They will dissolve, and you will merge.”

“How do we find them?” asked Natasha, her eyes glassy with concern.

“You must look within, my child,” she said with a smile. “They will be hiding where you least want to look. They will be shrouded in your fear.”

The gypsy rose to her feet.

“You must begin your search for the Book of Khalifah at once. You must find the Labyrinth and complete your mission.”

Natasha sat down in a chair next to where the old woman had been sitting. Gabriel remained standing. He had packed away the Cube and was examining the astrolabe again.

“We will do this,” he said solemnly. “But not before I fix the damage I’ve done.”

“What are you saying, child?” said the old woman, turning to face him. “Of what damage do you speak?”

“Because of my efforts to retrieve the Cube, innocent people are being held prisoner by a very bad man. Their lives are in danger. I’m not doing anything until they’re safe.”

The old gypsy came up to him, a sense of urgency filling her.

“Gabriel Parker,” she said firmly. “You will leave all else aside and fulfill your destiny! You know very well there is not enough time!”

Gabriel turned to look at the old woman just in time to feel her grasp his wrist. Her green eyes seemed to him like churning waters, and he was instantly drawn into their emerald depths. The room around him was suddenly transforming, a cataclysmic wasteland of oblivion and destruction materializing before his eyes. Stumbling amongst the devastation could be seen throngs of twisted, corpse-like figures. Their eyes were lifeless, their mutilated bodies riddled with festering wounds. By some unknown power the gypsy woman had filled his mind with a vision of the despair that would befall humanity should he and Natasha fail. Gabriel tried desperately to break from the enchantment. He had somehow been carried into the depths of hell.

“There will be time for everything, Señora,” came Natasha’s voice, and Gabriel was immediately released from the vision, opening his eyes to see Natasha smiling up at him.

She had gently taken hold of the old woman’s hands.

“But the Dark Rift approaches…” pleaded the gypsy, only to grow suddenly calm.

She took a deep breath and smiled, seating herself next to Natasha.

“Of course, my child,” she said, patting her hand. “Your wisdom is true.”

Gabriel looked gratefully at Natasha. She had pulled him from a horrible place, but it had nonetheless left its mark on him. The gypsy’s dark future would need to be avoided at all costs, and an almost desperate sense of urgency filled him now. Perhaps there would be time for everything, but they certainly had no time to waste. Gibraltar was still hours away, and they had yet to make their way to Nasrallah’s castle, and free the prisoners.