Nick didn’t know what he was expecting but this wasn’t it. It wasn’t like in the movies or on television where the ship dips and dives through all these curvy worm-like tubes, finally arriving at their destination. No it wasn’t like that all. The image of Earth was still fresh in his mind when he appeared in a different part of space. It was like he blinked and in that time someone changed the backdrop. All around there were stars, but not in the same patterns that he saw from Earth. They were closer and, if possible, more brilliant. Astounded he stared around at them, struggling to comprehend what had just happened to him. As he scanned the horizon he saw it, his destination, Nibiru. There could be no mistaking it. It was a big planet he supposed, his only frame of reference being Earth, and it was about ten times its size. What really stuck out for him was the color difference. Where Earth was a dazzling blue and white, Nibiru looked dark and desolate. There were three visible moons in orbit around the planet and on the planet’s surface Nick thought he could see faint traces of light. He wondered how far he was from the planet. He went back to admiring the vast reaches of this area of space while the ship cruised along, Nibiru steadily getting bigger in the window. “Incoming surface connection” echoed in his brain. Nick’s heart lurched in his chest. Here we go he thought. He quickly removed the headband that was connecting him to the computer, closed his eyes and really focused on shielding his being from the forthcoming scan. Through the lids of his closed eyes he could see a green light flare up at one side of the ship and move the other side, pausing momentarily as it passed over him. He concentrated harder than ever on not being there, not even daring to breathe, imagining that he was like smoke. The light continued on and then ceased. A moment after it stopped the ship changed its trajectory and speed and was now targeting the lower half of the planet. Nick was watching intently as the ship emerged from the atmosphere and descended rapidly toward the ground. As the ship drifted lower Nick could spy native architecture but he could not find words to describe it. It was beauty and function put into form. The houses were clean and shallow with rounded tops that draped down right into the soil and rock they were made from. Everything was laid out and designed with a precision that had to be borne of a higher intelligence. Nick’s ship drifted lower still and he could see magnificent cities spread out below him, spreading hundreds of miles. Like the housing they seemed to be designed to balance with and blend right into the native ecosphere. His shipped dropped even lower so he was about fifty feet above the planet’s surface. He could see people now. Annunaki going about their lives, walking down streets that looked as if they were made with the same technology as the buildings and ships of all different sizes zipping along here and there. His ship suddenly slowed to a stop and hovered above what looked like a large warehousing facility. Hundreds of ships were parked on the ground, close together like they were parked at the mall. His ship then descended right down to the ground amongst several other ships of the same design and then the control panel went dark along with the windows.
Nick sat for second in the silence, wondering, what now? Leskal said that their contact would come and collect him so Nick thought it best to sit tight right where he was, afraid to even peep out the window. How much time passed as he waited, Nick did not know. He did know that it was now dark outside and he could see the lights of the city coming up and still no one had shown up. He was starting to feel nervous. Something had to have gone wrong. He picked up the headband control to the ship in the hopes that he could glean some information from it. In response to his thoughts a part of the console briefly lit and he was able to find out that this ship was slated to be decontaminated. That in and of itself wasn’t a bad thing except he didn’t know how or when this procedure was supposed to take place. He took the headband off again and sat back trying to reason out what he should do. Where was his contact? How much longer would he have to wait? His next thought was interrupted as the ships console came on again and he could see through the window an oddly shaped ship coming down a long aisle of parked ships straight toward his. It must be something to do with the decontamination he thought. Quickly he put the headband back on and ordered the ship to open the door but not put out the landing ramp. Out the window he could see the other ship drifting slowly closer and he ripped off the headband and dived out the open door and rolled under the nearest next ship. Suddenly he felt lighter and he didn’t hit the ground as hard as he was expecting. As he regained his senses in his hiding spot he realized that the gravity here must be close to that of Earth but not quite the same. He watched as the ship neared and came to a stop close to his and a door opened. Nick held his breath, hoping against hope that he hadn’t been seen, focusing on using his abilities to become a part of the ship he was hiding under to avoid detection. Out of the ship's open door came two small robots with many arms. They looked like metal octopi, and they swooped around the ship, each arm emitting a different color beam of light onto the ships surface, and one of the arms physically scrubbing the ship. With that task done they entered the ship through the open door and Nick could see the same color lights flashing on and off through the opening. Moments later they re-emerged and went back to the ship they came from and it drifted away toward a different ship. As the decontamination ship drifted off to work in another area, Nick was transfixed and stared in horror as the door to his own transport closed. He didn’t have anywhere to go now, no safe haven, no idea what to do next. He lay in his hiding spot for what seemed like eternity racking his brain to formulate a plan of some sort. This wasn’t even something that he had thought to ask Leskal about. Realizing it would probably be best if he moved from where he was hiding while it was still dark out, he crawled slowly out from under the craft and looked around. He couldn’t see any other activity or movement so he made his way slowly toward the large building occupying one end of the maintenance yard he was in. It felt strange. He wasn’t bounding like he would have in the moon's low gravity but it felt like he had springs in the bottom of his shoes, each step accompanied with a little bounce, his strides longer. Making sure to keep his presence concealed he approached the main building and took refuge behind a derelict craft that allowed him to survey the building and figure out a way to get inside. He could see the door open and close, machines of varying design going in and out, but he knew that would be a bad choice of entry point. Scanning the building wall slowly he saw what he was looking for, an exhaust vent and it looked big enough for him to squeeze into. He didn’t really have a plan but he knew that he needed to get inside the building and find a good place to hide until he could formulate a proper plan. He slipped quietly from his hiding spot and made his way to the vent. It took some work but he managed to get the cover off and climbed inside and placed the cover back in its spot. It was big enough for him to crawl through quite easily and wasn’t dirty or soaking wet as he had feared. Just as he started to crawl farther in he heard a voice coming from outside and he went still and looked back in time to see a pair of legs go by his hiding spot, their owner, Nick could sense, was tense and walked with purpose. That was close he thought. Was he seen in some way? Nothing he could do about it now but continue forward. He worked his way farther down the corridor, passing by many branches but opting to continue in a straight line. Finally he came to another grate and looking out he could see it opened into a room that housed several large machines. Nick could not even guess what their function might be, he was just happy that the room appeared to be deserted. Slowly he pried the grate open and slipped into the room. He breathed a sigh of relief that no alarms went off and went about putting the cover back in place. Once it was in place he looked around the room. It was a large room with two machines and a complicated network of tubes that went right up to the ceiling. Nick made his way around the room and found a single door leading out. The door didn’t have any method for opening it that was visible. Stumped he stared at the door momentarily, pondering how to open it. Then it hit him, he needed to use his new mind powers. Bracing himself, he closed
his eyes and opened his mind and visualized that he was connecting with the door, straining his mind, he was about to give up when it happened. “Please enter function” entered his mind. ‘Open’ he thought quickly in return, afraid that if hesitated he would miss his chance. In response the door slid open with a whisper. Leaning out, Nick looked tentatively up and down the hallway the door opened into. His luck held, and there was nobody around. Stepping out into the hallway, he could see that it ended to his left and on the right continued to where it came to a tee ending. As stealthily as he could he made his way toward the tee junction. Once at the junction he leaned up against one wall and slowly peered out in both directions. Both hallways seemed to continue on for quite a ways, with each having several doors and more branches coming off of them. Nick opted to continue down the left hallway. It seemed more inviting to him for some reason. Around the corner he went, his nerves on tenterhooks, his skin tingling in excitement. He kept swiveling his head back and forth, almost not daring to breathe, expecting a door to open or an Annunaki come around a corner but nothing of that sort happened. He got the end of the hallway at another junction. There appeared to be an elevator to his right so he made for it. He didn’t know where he was going, but knew he had to get out of this building. Standing in front of the elevator, he closed his eyes again and visualized connecting with the elevator. This time the elevator responded immediately and he discovered that the car was actually on this floor. That unnerved him as it meant that someone brought it down here. He ordered the doors to open and just as he was stepping into it, the small door beside him flew open and from the darkness a pair of hands reached out and grabbed him and dragged him into the darkness.
Nick struggled against their grip; his fists flying in defense, but the hands were stronger than him and held him firmly. “Nick, it’s me Zhengil.” Cut through the fear and struggle going on in his brain and Nick stopped fighting.
“What happened?” he replied as forceful as he could.
“When your ship was scanned it detected something. The computer didn’t know what it was but classified it as an organic agent that needed to be cleaned. As a result your ship was routed to a facility different from the one I work at. It took me some time to find out where exactly you had landed and get over here”
“But I used my telepathic powers just like I was trained”
“Your attention and focus must have slipped for that one brief moment and there was a faint residue of you that was detected. That’s why it didn’t classify you properly, not enough information to go on so it assumed you were some sort of organic material that could be cleansed. A sign of how the Annunaki feel about your kind.”
Zhengil let Nick’s hands go and Nick slumped to the floor, physically and emotionally exhausted. The lights came up a little and Zenghil crouched down beside him. “I am impressed with your skills Nick. To have made it this far is quite an achievement” Nick glanced up at him. He was close to what he expected: handsome to a fault, with dark eyes and hair to match. He was taller though. Taller than Leskal and taller than Grolen, Nick wondered if it had something to do with Nibiru's gravity compared to Earths. “Where are we?” he asked
“This is a sub-basement of one of our ship storage facilities. Fortunately for you, it isn’t widely used so there is minimal staff.”
“So where do we go from here?”
“We need to get you out of the building. Wait here and I will go get something to help us.”
Zhengil stood up and left Nick alone in the room. It seemed that he was gone for quite a while which gave Nick time to relax and analyze the situation. He had gotten this far, which was incredible, but really he wanted to finish this job and return to Earth. The glamor and intrigue of everything was starting to wane. The door opened again and this time Zhengil came in pushing a cart. “OK, the plan is straight forward. We load you in here and get you up to the parking area. From there we make our way to my ship and we fly out of here.”
Hesitantly, Nick climbed into the cart and Zhengil pulled the cover over the top and wheeled it out of the room.
Nick could tell that they were on the elevator by the slight movement he could feel. How far they went up he didn’t know. The cart started moving again which told Nick that they were on the move. Nick could sense people passing by them, sometimes faintly picking up conversation with Zhengil. The cart stopped and the top opened and Zhengil helped Nick out of the cart. “Don’t stop using your telepathic abilities yet” he warned as Nick clambered out stiffly.
Nick focused on concealing himself from any sensory detection as Zhengil directed him stiffly by the arm to where his ship was. As they approached it a door opened and they went inside without stopping. Zhengil pushed Nick into a chair and sat in the one next to it and started frantically working at the controls, obviously in a hurry to get out of here. In short order the ship lifted off and drifted out from the parking area. Once free of obstruction, it took off and merged easily with a line of ships all moving in the same direction.
“Where are we going?” Nick asked
“I am going to take you to where I live for the time being. It’s the safest place for you to be.”
Nick sat contentedly and watched everything he could lay eyes on. From the ships around him flying in unison; to the buildings passing by below him; to the moons in the sky; everything was surreal. He couldn’t believe that he was on another planet, and to see the technology that was in place was just incredible. He wondered how long the Annunaki had been a species. If they had started the same way as human beings and kept working and striving until they achieved the place they were at now. The buildings slowly thinned out and became farther and fewer in-between as they flew on. Without warning the ship dropped out of the line they were traveling in and flew toward ground level, leveling out and stopping about one hundred feet off the ground. Below was a solitary three story structure and they descended right to the top of it and landed. Zhengil took his hands off the controls and leaned back, the relief of getting to safety without getting caught etched on his face. “You will be safe here Nick. This is a building that I own. You will have all the comforts you could need as far as food and drink”. Nick was grateful. At the mention of food he realized it had been some time since he actually ate last. They left the ship and walked across the landing area to a flight of stairs and descending them, brought them to a door. They had to stop momentarily for Zhengil to access the door, which opened into a large, cluttered room, a makeshift sleeping area in one corner. “It’s pretty cluttered I know” Zhengil offered “but we needed somewhere more secluded to house you until it is time to initiate the plan.” And he went into another room and returned with some food. Sitting down at a small table Nick and Zhengil both started eating. Nick paused “What happens now? How do we attack the plant?”
Zhengil smiled a broad, smug smile “We are just going to walk in, right past security, right under their noses and make our way to the machine we need to compromise and before they know what happened, the planet will be under our control.”
This startled Nick. He was hoping that the plan would be grander and more intricate. Looking at Zhengil he continued eating his food but he couldn’t help but feel that on some of the finer points of the plan, he was being left in the dark.
Chapter 12