Chapter 3 Captive State
Joanna
July 23rd, 2017
10:45 AM
Meridian Prime, Meridian Prime
High Rent District
I ride on a 4x4 with Elias in the middle of the High Rent District of Meridian Prime. Or what's left of it. With Alex and Colonel Dhaled from Beirut in our capture and Max presumed dead from the fall, our troops were setting up an outpost in the ruined colony on the island. The driver drove us into the colony now being used for our home base. Elias and I were lucky to have Ares's mercy capturing Alex for questioning. We had our men take her away somewhere in the outpost with Dhaled to be imprisoned.
The driver stopped near the front checkpoint of the staging ground our men were setting up in the colony and we were granted access inside. Elias and I had a few words before we got off our vehicle.
"I can't believe we allowed Max to give us the slip once more," said Elias. "We're so lucky we get to keep our heads intact thanks to holding Alex and the colonel prisoner."
"And we know have the Dark Order with us," I said. "Just what the doctor ordered."
"Just what the god ordered."
Then we hear Ares's dragon fly above us patrolling the skies over the ConDef settlement with Ares himself mounted on. Ares himself glance down at me riding on his dragon as I turn my head up and glance back at him. Then Ares flees away and rides off elsewhere.
The driver stops the 4x4 near a ruined administration building where we see the new faces Ares brought from Beirut. Apollo, Nemesis, Thanatos, and Hephaestus. Elias and I hop out of the vehicle and are greeted by Apollo.
"Greetings, Ms. Prescott," said Apollo. "Greetings, General Alkaline. We've never properly introduced each other when we first arrived. I'm Apollo. God of prophecies. And these are my counterparts Nemesis, goddess of vengeance. Thanatos, the god of death. And Hephaestus, the god of masonry. Ares has spoken highly of the lady of the Herd of Whales as well as the general of the Continuum Defense Front we were told about. Which must be you."
Apollo takes my head and kisses it. An inviting god he was.
"And you're the Dark Order we were told about," I said. "I assume you're counterparts will be in our favor?"
"The Dark Order will provide you with any succor necessary in our mission to the great journey," said Apollo. "Nemesis is a cunning warrior at best. Furious with her skill but patient with her strong will. Thanatos can strike annoying with a quick death. Hephaestus is a brutish stooge but succeeds at every task assigned to him. I, on one hand, shall be your advisor continuing your quest to the Ark of Genesis."
"Where's Alex Caulfield and Fehr Dhaled?" Elias asked.
"Your prisoners are being held in a brig your troops found for us," replied Apollo. "If you wish to speak with them, follow us."
Alex
July 23rd, 2017
10:49 AM
Meridian Prime, Meridian Prime
High Rent District
ConDef soldiers threw me in an old cell that was once the brig of the building. The men tossed my body against the floor and immediately locked the cell door shut. I get and come at the door holding the bars of the cell as Alkaline's people leave the brig.
"Hey, assholes!" I yelled. Rattling the cell bars. "You hurt cousin and you're all dead men! You hear me! Dead!"
I kick the bars in anger and frustration. Then I yelp.
"I couldn't have said that better myself," said a voice behind me.
Turns out I had a cellmate with me. A man in military gear who wasn't ConDef but had an Arabian accent when first hearing his voice.
"And who the hell are you?" I asked. "You certainly don't look like some disorderly ConDef who drank on the job."
"That's because I'm not," replied the man. "My name's Dhaled. What of yours?"
"Alex. So, how did a non-ConDef end up in this hellhole?"
"I was with the Lebanese Resistance movement fighting against ConDef in Beirut until those animals captured me here. May I ask the story behind your imprisonment?"
"I was with my cousin traveling here on a boat in the middle of the storm and then a ConDef boat rammed us over and crashed our ride on the shore. Max and I got split up by those gangsters and now here I am. At least I'm not the only one in a captive state. You said you were with what resistance?"
"Lebanese. My men did all they could in Beirut. Threw everything they had those monstrosities until they were none but me."
"Beirut, huh? Interesting."
Then I remembered an Eternity Shard was located somewhere in Beirut according to the cartographer Max and I found back in Vancouver. Could this Dhaled guy know anything about that?
"You said you were in Beirut, right?" I wondered. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about an Eternity Shard, would you? A Space Shard?"
"What do you know that?" Dhaled wondered.
"I asked you first, buddy."
"You ask a lot, buddy. All knew is what Commander Madsen learned about it when I brought him to Project Tesseract. What's your business on it?"
"Long story short, Max and I have been looking for Eternity Shards as well. We found one in Greece. Another one in Rome. We recently found another on a smaller island off the coast of Meridian. Our reason for being here was to get to the Ark of Genesis."
"What's an Ark of Genesis?"
"Are they in here?" A voice said coming inside the brig. One that I recognize.
"Right this way," another voice said that I didn't recognize.
Then I see Joanna and Alkaline approaching the cell with another strange individual I didn't recognize who didn't look like anyone from this century. The individual himself almost looked like a mix between Virgil from the Devil May Cry series and Ebony Maw from the Marvel universe. A man wearing a trench coat and featured with a wrinkled face and pale hair.
The three of them pause by the cell door and stare at the two of us on the inside with a detestable frown. I give them the stink eye as well.
"And to believe Fernando was my greatest disappointment," said Joanna. "Now it's you with even colder feet, Alex. I'm not even sure what to with you at this point."
"How 'bout we skip all the pleasantries and get to the part where you kill us both right now," I said.
"Unfortunately, it's not up to me what happens to you next. It's not up to Alkaline either. It's why I needed you more than Max alive back up on that cliffside. Our new best friend Apollo here will be responsible for you now."
"Apollo?"
"Is the cousin in here?" A deeper voice said approaching the cell.
The voice had belonged to none other than the mighty Ares. Joanna, Alkaline, and Apollo took a bow as Ares stopped his feet by the cell door next to them. I was now seeing Ares without a helmet and some of his armor pieces removed. Ares had extra long mullet hair with a braided beard under his chin. He was still wearing his gauntlet now carrying five Eternity Shards including the Space Shard. We haven't seen eye to eye before but the last time I saw him was with Fernando before he jumped.
"Where's you're cousin?" Ares asked.
"I don't know," I answered. "All I know is that you look less scary without your helmet on. That's for sure. And you now have five shards this time including the Space Shard, I assume?"
"He has the shard?" Dhaled wondered.
"It is I who asks the question," reminded Ares. "In fact, I will now leave you with my closest acolyte Apollo. He will interrogate you on more…extreme manner. And if you don't answer his questions correctly, the consequences will be more extreme than the interrogation itself."
"What about Colonel Dhaled?" Alkaline asked. "What do we do with him?"
"We'll deal with him later."
Max
July 23rd, 2017
10:24 AM
Meridian Prime
Meridian Rainforest
"So…we're headed to the northern side of the island?" Chloe asked.
"Yeah, New Exodus," I said. "It's home to the founders of Meridian Prime."
"And that's where Joanna is taking your cousin."
"The ark is probably there. Just need to save Alex before they find it."
Chloe and I walked across the shallow river to start our crusade to New Exodus and rescue Alex. I was still torn over Alex's secret which Bryan had been protecting from me as well. For what it was worth, I just hoped he was keeping Rachel and Frank safe up there on the plane.
I turned my head to my right to see a small waterfall at the end of the river. The current was definitely drifting to where the water was falling. I'm glad I didn't fall through there.
"Holy crap," I said. "Good thing I didn't go over."
"Max, hey, it's this way," said Chloe.
"Yeah, I know. I was just ah…checking the waterfall."
The two of us resumed our path and up a hill away from the river. We come over to a mudslide to where we see a 4x4 at the far top. Had to be Chloe's ride she drove to get here. We weren't going to get to it from a steep mudslide but there's always another way around.
"Look, up there," said Chloe. "I borrowed it from your ConDef friends."
"You slid all the way down from here?" I asked.
"Yeah, it was the quickest way to get down to you. Now we just gotta figure out another way back up."
Then we see an old wooden ladder we could use to get around. Had a latch to it us to lock it down and raise it. One of us can boost up there and unlock it to lower it.
"Max, boost me up this ladder?" Chloe asked.
"Yeah, here," I said.
I boost Chloe upward and she gripped herself on a ledge to reach for the latch and lower the ladder for me. I climb the ladder and we both continue our way to the vehicle on higher ground.
"So…have you been here long?" I asked.
"On the island?" Chloe thought. "Almost an hour now."
"Did you see the colony?"
"I did. From the air."
"Pretty incredible, right?"
"I didn't get the full tour. I was a little preoccupied with finding you."
"Right. So, did ah, Bryan fill you in on the deal with this place?"
"Yep. Ezra Prescott. Herd of Whales leader, twelve founders, hundreds of colonists. Something like that?"
"Yeah, that just about covers it."
"Had some time to kill on the flight over."
Chloe and I come across a piece of ancient machinery on the island. It appeared to be an elevator built out of the woodwork with a watermill built under it. The elevator itself was built over another waterfall and I'd assume the water itself somehow pours over the watermill.
"Wow, is that an elevator?" Chloe asked.
"Sure looks like it," I said. "I swear, Ezra recruited the best engineers of his time."
"He must've used it to move supplies upriver."
"Yeah, that's a fair bet."
We climb up farther up the hillside past the elevator to get a better view of Chloe's stolen jeep. Looked easy enough to hop right in and hit the gas.
"There's your car," I said. "Just need to get up there."
"Well, what do you think?" Chloe asked. "Which way?"
"Well, let's take a look."
It was probably easier to get to the car from higher ground. When climbing our feet to higher ground, we were able to view the elevator built from scratch higher and higher as we escalated ourselves to the 4x4.
"This whole thing is powered by the water wheel down there," said Chloe. "That's quite a feat for a bunch of HOWs."
"You should've seen the stuff King Arthur built in Greece," I said. "I mean there was this-"
"Hold up. You went to Greece too?"
"Yeah, yeah…I…mean, you see, the last place Ezra was uh-"
"Relax. Bryan already filled me in."
"Ah, right. At least I didn't…well see…I…at least I didn't lie again."
"Mmm-hmm."
Once we've reached the top of the hillside, we hear voices yelling around the 4x4. ConDef troops finding their stolen vehicle but not their stealer. The two of us remain hidden in a bush of tall leaves.
"Look," said Chloe. "ConDef."
"They found your car," I said.
"Technically it's their car."
"So, let's get it back. I think it's time I showed you a trick of mine."
"What is it?"
I still had the Time Shard with me that was still worn around my neck. I activate it and then time is in my essence again. Soldiers are frozen in time and I have my partner in crime to walk through this stutter undetected. I let the power of the shard touch Chloe and she's freed from the stutter so she can walk through the stutter with me.
"Say hello to the Time Shard," I said to Chloe not stuttered.
"Whoa, Max," said Chloe. "That's hella wicked. You actually have a shard with you?"
"That's right. I've been using this with Alex to get through a bunch of these guys. Let's use it to get to that car."
Chloe and I stroll through the stutter past frozen ConDef and make it over to the car itself. I was going to have to stop the stutter so we could drive the thing. I do so once we're close enough to the car and there aren't many guards around us. Time resumes continuum and it's time to commence grand theft auto.
"You think we can just hop in and drive out of here?" Chloe thought.
"It's worth a shot," I said.
I take the driver seat and Chloe takes shotgun. It was like escaping Blackwell security on our truck the night of our midnight swim only more extreme. I start the 4x4 and immediately hit the gas once we're in. The surrounding ConDef troops detect our presence and free their weapons on us. I speed our way out of the post while avoiding bullets that cling to the metal and nearly hit our heads. We just barely drive out of there alive and freedom is ours.
David
July 23rd, 2017
12:20 PM
USCC Oregon
Mediterranean Sea
Cayce, Kristine, and I gear up and start boarding Lynch's chopper. Lynch herself takes another minute or two to get the helicopter ready. My friends and I stock up and arm ourselves in the hanger while we wait. The sooner Lynch got our heli ready, the better chance I'm to save Chloe and Max from that island.
"The bird's almost ready, Madsen," said Lynch. "Just need some refueling and then we're out of here."
"Take your time, Lynch," I said. "But not too much time."
"So, you really think Chloe and Max are out there on some island no one knows about?" Cayce asked. "What if Ares was just fucking with us back on that building?"
"Right now, I know Ares is doing many things. Fucking with us can't be one of them."
"Hey, David," said Kristine.
"What?"
"I never meant to get this team involved in my personal indictment and I'm sorry I did. I just wanted to be honest with somebody and that somebody was you. I'm just lucky it didn't get any worse from there and that Penske was let me off the hook."
"Your apology is noted and excepted, Kris. Just don't make Penske or any one of us regret that. You're still being watched for a worst-case scenario."
"He won't regret, David. Neither will you, Cage, or whoever else."
"David is that you over there?!" A voice shouted.
It was Ryan and Joyce coming after me in the hanger for a quick word before I left.
"Ryan? Joyce? What are you doing here?" I wondered.
"Well I'm glad I caught you," said Ryan. "So, you really are going after Max, aren't you? Joyce already filled me in."
"Yeah, I am. If I'm lucky, Chloe will be with her."
"Sorry to hear Chloe got involved in this mess too. But hey, whatever you do, you bring them back both safely. Do you hear? I'd hate to see Vanessa have to go through worse."
"If I can save a bunch of former Blackwell kids I used to hassle, I can bring Max and Chloe out of the woods too. You know me."
Ryan patted me on the back and left. Then it was Joyce's turn to say her farewells.
"Hey there," she said. "Bring back my baby girl alive too."
Then we kissed each other on the lip and smiled.
"I will Joyce," I said. "Those girls may be strong, but they're anything but invincible."
As soon as Joyce left, my closest troops and I board Lynch's bird once it finished refueling, the propellers switched on, and we were off the ship once again. Setting course for Meridian Prime with the coordinates I had given Lynch to fly to.
I'm coming for you, Chloe. And I won't let that son of a bitch hurt you or you're beloved either.