Nick’s heart almost stopped. He wanted desperately to look to Zhengil for guidance but didn’t dare move in case his concentration slipped and he revealed who he really was. So he stared, wide eyed and straight ahead, not even wanting to make eye contact as the person eyed them momentarily and then climbed on the elevator. As the doors slid shut, Nick concentrated with everything he could muster on maintaining his disguise. It seemed like an eternity as the elevator descended in a stony silence.
Either the new person wasn’t familiar with them or didn’t want to talk as he didn’t try to strike up any sort of conversation. They stopped again and the doors opened and the stranger walked briskly off of the elevator. As the doors started to close Nick silently breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed.
The doors were almost shut when the stranger turned and looked back at them and cocked his head slightly in confusion. With the doors firmly shut and their downward journey continuing they looked at each other. Zhengil was first to speak “Why did he look back” he demanded “did you maintain your disguise?”
“Yes. I was using all the effort I could find to keep it intact. Maybe he found it odd that neither of us spoke to him or something”
“Yes, yes. It must have been a coincidence or something” Zhengil said, but the look on his face betrayed the fact that he was beyond concerned. They reached the bottom of the elevators path and disembarked when the elevator doors opened. “Stay close to me” Zhengil hissed, “And keep your thoughts focused on who you are pretending to be.” The floor they were on was long and lavish with lots of art decorating the walls and painted in a color he couldn’t quite describe. It seemed to shimmer and change hues ever so slightly as you passed by different works of art. They did see some more people but not many and not closely either as people went about their work. Some looked in their direction and others just plodded along happily going about their business. Nick felt a pang of remorse for what he was about to do. Then he wondered if they would feel the same pity for him when they were taking control of Earth. He followed Zhengil as they twisted and turned through hallway after hallway, corridor after corridor. Just when Nick was starting to wonder if they were lost Zhengil stopped suddenly near a door and excitedly reported to Nick “This is it. This is where we go down” He paused for a second and then the door slid open and revealed a long catwalk. As they entered the room Nick could feel a strange sensation in his arm and looking down at it, he could see that it looked almost like there were small lumps under his skin moving in slow lines and up and down his arm. They followed the catwalk exclusively, bypassing several sets of stairs that led downwards to other catwalk levels. Far below, Nick could see the machine they were targeting. It was massive and glowed with the same organic purplish glow that led him to believe it was more alive than machine. They went almost to the end of the catwalk to one of the last sets of stairs that branched off from the catwalk and led down. There didn’t appear to be anybody around but Nick couldn’t shake the fear he was feeling. Like something was following him, haunting his thoughts. They made it down to the next level and stayed on it as the followed the walkway along the wall to yet another set of steps that led down to a third level. This time they immediately took the next flight of steps that took then down to the bottom level. This close the machine was so immense; Nick couldn’t even comprehend such a large device on Earth. For the first time Nick felt some real trepidation for what he was about to do. The responsibility of causing the downfall of an entire civilization is just not something that is easy to deal with, on any level. Zhengil looked back and noticed that Nick had stopped walking and urged him to follow. They circled around to the side of the machine, Zhengil scanning the machine intently. Nick didn’t see how he could find what he was looking for as there were hundreds of pipes branching away from it and going in all directions. As they continued around the monstrous device the pipes cleared away and there was the control panel. It was standing alone at the end of a long walkway and surrounded by strange liquid, separate from the main machine, but connected to it by a beam of light that was pulsating and throbbing as if it had a life of its own.
“Good, good. This is it.” Zhengil’s excitement filling Nick’s head. Licking his lips expectantly Zhengil told Nick to stay put and went out on the walkway to the control panel. He stroked the console in an almost loving way then began using it with a complex process of keystrokes. Nick watched as his hands moved gingerly across the panel and then he abruptly turned and came back to Nick. “OK I have ordered the machine to open access to the filtration system. It should be coming up right about there” and he pointed to a spot in the liquid in between the command console and the machine itself. Slow circles formed in the strange liquid, like someone had dropped a rock in there. The circles grew in frequency until, inch by inch, the filtration system protruded from the pool. The strange liquid was falling off the device in thick, oozing sheets. The device itself looked to Nick like a large set of solar panels, with rows of dark, quivering, organic looking substances arranged in neat squares on a large flat base.
Zhengil produced a small knife from his body suit and passed it swiftly to Nick and then took a few steps back.
Nick took the knife and turned, holding his arm out over the strange liquid. From his position it looked like mercury. Thick and opaque, it moved in slow, undulating waves as drips landed bluntly from the device that was now sitting mere inches from the surface of the pool. The liquid was silvery and thick and its surface seemed so solid that Nick felt like he could walk across it. Time seemed to slow down, like he was in slow motion, everything surreal. He watched, as if from another body, as his hand holding the knife came across his plane of vision and with agonizing slowness made its way toward his other arm where the nanobots could sense they were close to their target and were swarming under the skin of his arm. Closer the knife drifted and as it touched his arm he closed his eyes, unable to watch what he was about to do. He could feel the knife bite into his skin and tug slightly as it dragged through his flesh. Strangely he didn’t feel any pain. Maybe the nanobots were providing some sort of anesthetic effect that dulled the pain. He opened his eyes to make sure that he had actually performed the deed and yes, he could see his blood inching out the cut with agonizing slowness, like molasses oozing out of a jar. Blood didn’t flow like that he thought to himself and as he watched blood slowly ooze out of his veins he heard a noise behind him. Whipping around he saw Zhengil standing behind him, his arm raised and in his hand, a strange looking weapon. No bigger than a cell phone, he held it rigidly in his hand, pointed right at the middle of Nick’s back.
“What are you doing?” Nick screamed out and as he looked at Zhengil’s face he could see the confusion in his eyes. A noise on the catwalk above attracted his attention and looking up he could see dozens of people running down the stairs toward them.
Zhengil could only stand there, a horrified look on his face, staring at Nick’s arm, where his blood hadn’t even moved an inch out of his open wound. His attention diverted, it was in that moment that Nick was able to see into his mind. To see right through all the lies and cover-ups and realize that he was a pawn in this plan, an expendable pawn. And as soon as his blood had hit the surface of the liquid Zhengil was going to blast him. Obliterate him all together and leave no trace that he even existed.
Nick knew that what he was about to do was wrong and in response he threw the knife down onto the floor and pulled his arm away from above the mysterious pool of liquid covering the open wound with his other hand.
“Nooooooooo” Zhengil screamed, his full attention drawn back to the here and now as soon as Nick pulled his arm away from the surface. He stared for a moment, anger and rage etched in his face.
“You are going to die useless human. You and all of your pitiful race” he spat, the words forced his way into Nick’s mind with stabbing brute force, making Nick fall to the ground, clutching his head in agony and hold it tightly as if it were going to split apart. He loo
ked up helplessly at Zhengil, feelings of despair and betrayal slashing through his mind with crushing intensity. Zhengil raised his arm once more and with one final glare at Nick made to push the button that would put an end to him.
Nick winced as it happened, waiting for everything to disappear, for his life to be taken away but nothing seemed to happen. Is this what death is like? He thought to himself. He opened one eye just a crack and through it he could see dozens of pairs of feet surrounding him and Zhengil on his stomach flat on the floor a few feet away, his face contorted in the same rage filled glare he had just given Nick, grunting as his one hand struggled toward the device on the wrist of his other arm. A violet flash went off and suddenly Zhengil was as still as a statue, like he was stuck in time and then he was gone, like someone erased him from the scene. Nick opened his eyes fully and looked around him. He was surrounded by dozens of Annunaki and at their head was the one they had seen on the elevator. Nick couldn’t think of what to say or do so he just lay there, wondering what would happen to him. The one in the lead took aim with a device similar to the one that Zhengil had and pointed it at Nick and less than a second later everything disappeared.
Nick awoke and slowly opened his eyes. His head was pounding and it took a moment for his eyes to focus properly. When they did, he found that he was on a bed in what seemed to be a medical room. There were a few machines at the head of his bed soundlessly monitoring him. A shimmering glow surrounded his immediate bed area, like an iridescent igloo covering his bed. At the moment he was alone and looking out the window he could see two of the moons of Nibiru, yet it wasn’t dark outside. Looking at the rest of the room he noted a table and chairs in one corner and two closed doors, one likely to lead outside and the other hopefully to a bathroom. He remembered his arm and looked down to where there should surely be a cut, but found that there was no mark whatsoever there. Puzzled, he almost wondered if he was in the afterlife and dreaming everything. Nick’s eyes started to feel heavy again. Blinking against the wave of fatigue now washing over him, Nick couldn’t resist and he closed his eyes and put his head back down and was asleep in seconds. He awoke again to find someone standing at his bedside looking at the machines above him. Startled momentarily he fumbled about for something to say.
“Where am I?” he asked
“You are our guest.” She replied
“Do you treat all your guests like this?” Nick asked as he eyed the force field around his bed
“We have to quarantine you until we can determine that you are not carrying anything else that could be dangerous to us” the stranger replied flashing Nick a smile
“I’m sorry, I am being rude. My name is Nick, what is your name?”
She took a moment to tap a hand held device she was using then looked at him, her green eyes piercing and brilliant “I am Sekjol” and she went back to her work.
Not very forthcoming with the details Nick thought to himself. “What happened to me? The last thing I remember is being surrounded by people and a weapon aimed at me”
“You were lucky that the weapon had been dialed down. Even at the setting it was on you were more damaged than anticipated. You were moved here and have been under my care ever since”
“Am I going to be OK?” he asked, finding it hard to mask the rising panic he was feeling.
“I have never treated a human being before, but I think that you should be fine. Your system is not that unlike ours”
Feeling significantly relieved to hear that he next wondered “What is going to happen to me?”
Sekjol was now looking in examining him physically but answered his question in the same detached manner “Our high chancellor wants to speak with you. He has many questions as you can imagine.”
“What about Zhengil?”
She pursed her lips and stopped examining him for a second “He didn’t make it. He fought hard to escape and was killed at the scene”
Nick didn’t know what to feel. He had trusted Zhengil, trusted all of them, only to be betrayed at the end. He had many questions as well but mostly he wondered how he was going to get home. Sekjol finished her exam and told Nick to try and rest, then left, walking right through the force field. Left alone with his thoughts he assessed his situation. He was on a planet, how far from home he didn’t even know, in a medical facility. What were his options? He thought about trying to escape but quickly realized that even if he could get out of the building, where would he go? What would he do? He was alone. There was nobody to help him. He sighed, resigned to the fact that his fate hinged on what this high chancellor decided. With that thought still swirling around his brain, he went back to sleep.
He was already awake when Sekjol next returned to his room. She asked him a few perfunctory questions about how he was feeling, made some checks on the equipment monitoring him and then left him with some food and drink, but not before informing him that some guards would be escorting him to see the chancellor later. Nick relished his food. He didn’t know how long it had been since he had last eaten but he was famished and he savored every piece of food he ate. It wasn’t long after that, that two men turned up in his room and explained that they were taking him to see the high chancellor. They were big, even by the standard of other Annunaki he had encountered, probably eight feet tall or more with broad shoulders and arms and legs knotted with muscle, visible even through their form fitting uniforms. They didn’t appear to be armed but Nick supposed that they probably didn’t need any arming to deal with him. They waited patiently, flanking the door while he climbed out of bed and used the bathroom. Upon informing them that he was ready to go, one of them went out the door and the other motioned for Nick to follow and fell in step behind him. They walked down a long hallway with several doors on either side and made their way to the very end where there was what Nick thought were elevator doors, but they opened into an empty round room with identical large circular pads on the floor and the ceiling. Following the guards onto the pad, Nick stood and waited; the hair on his neck and arms prickly with fear. The guard on his left punched some keys on a device attached to his wrist and then relaxed. Nick didn’t think anything had happened because they seemed to be in the same room. Looking at the guards they stopped standing at attention and motioned for him to leave the room via the door. Hesitantly he walked toward the door, wondering what, if anything had just happened. Was it a scan of some sort? He didn’t know but he left the room anyway as indicated and then he stopped, shocked and in awe. This wasn’t the hallway at the hospital. He was in a medium sized ante-chamber, moderately decorated with a few chairs here and there and a pair of doors on one side and a large pair of double doors directly across the room from him. The guards shoved him aside roughly as they came out of the room behind him. One of them directed him to a chair and told him gruffly to “Wait here” and then they took up posts on either side of the double door. Nick waited, trying to act casually, which was nearly impossible in the situation that he was in. The doors opened and the guards snapped to attention as a tall handsome man came from the room on the other side. To say he was a politician would be an understatement. Everything about him screamed politician; from his impeccable clothes to his perfectly trimmed brown hair to his swagger as he walked. As he approached, Nick stood up.
“I am Maknil” he said, looking Nick up and down, taking his measure “I am the high chancellor of Nibiru”
“I am Nick” he said, his response sounding like he had a mouthful of marbles.
“Well Nick, if you could follow me into my office, I have some questions that I would like answered” and he turned sharply on his heel and entered his office without even looking to see if Nick was following. Not that Nick had any choice in the matter, the guards were looking at him menacingly and he wanted to get away from them. Once inside Maknil’s office he took a seat opposite him across the width of the desk. A rather small one Nick thought considering the power he seemed to command. They sat through a few strained minutes of silence, Mak
nil looking at him, gathering his thoughts. Then he smiled. “Are you feeling better? The blaster used on you was at a low setting” he said with a soft and reassuring tone in his voice that Nick knew he was using as a means of getting him to drop his guard.
“Much better, thank you”
“Would you care for a beverage? You must be thirsty”
“Yes a drink would be fine”
With that Maknil went to a side counter and returned with two glasses of a pale green liquid that shimmered ever so slightly in the light, handed one to Nick then sat down in the chair beside him.
“Thank you” Nick said as he accepted the drink and took a small sip. It was delicious. If Nick could describe the taste he would have to say it tasted like spring. It was virtually flavorless but so refreshing. He felt revived and like he was on cloud nine. He looked at the glass suspiciously, wondering if it was some sort of truth serum or something. Maknil either read his mind or he figured out from the look on Nick’s face because he suddenly said “Don’t worry Nick, it is not poisoned”
“I’m sorry, I just. You must understand the position I am in”
“I understand why you think that the drink may be poisoned yes.” And his tone changed slightly before he added “What I don’t understand is how it is that I have come to find a human being on my planet just seconds away from unleashing a toxin that would render my planet helpless to attackers. Maybe you could explain that for me Nick” Nick faltered, his brain scrabbling around for details. Everything that had happened to him had been so unbelievable he found it hard to believe himself. Maknil remained silent, watching Nick squirm. Finally Nick found the words he was looking for and he recounted the whole story to Maknil. Everything, from his abduction in Nevada and his subsequent escape, to his training with unknown telepathic powers, both in Dulce base and on the moon base, and finally to his trip here by himself, his narrow escape from capture at the ship docking facility and his continued training with Zhengil. He continued on right up to where Zhengil’s full intention was revealed and they were captured. Maknil was a good audience. He listened attentively, nodding in places and revealing his shock in other places but mostly made sure to let Nick get through it all without getting sidetracked with questions. Strangely, as he was recalling his adventure, Nick could feel a slight tingle in his brain where he had become used to receiving messages telepathically. When he was done Nick felt so relieved, like the weight of the world was off his chest. He sat back in his chair and sipped his drink. Maknil took his time before he responded.
“There is some truth to what you have been told Nick, but it has been skewed to benefit the people that sent you here.” And he got up and paced back and forth a bit, his face lined with concern and sat back down again on the other side of his desk.
“We came across your planet many, many years ago. Man was very primitive then and it was decided that it was worth keeping our eye on. We set up some space ports on your planet in places that we thought were out of the way where we wouldn’t interfere with your species" development. As we explored your planet we found abundant resources that our planet had either consumed or were on the verge of consuming. So we started to take some. We were responsible at first but as with most things, greed started to overcome some people on our council and they wanted to take more and more and were not concerned with how it would affect your planet. It was at that point a rift started to develop among our council. One side didn’t care about what was happening to your planet and the other was very concerned.” Maknil paused, the pain written plainly on his face.
Nick was still confused. Even though he knew he had been betrayed by Zhengil, Nick had difficulty letting go of what he had learned. Most of all his trust level was extremely low. How did he know that what Maknil was telling him was the truth? “So the people who were onside with Earth were left behind?” Nick questioned.
“If only it were that simple” Maknil said “The faction that was for taking what they wanted developed a friendship with another species on Earth that was intent on bringing about the end of mankind and they aligned themselves with them.”
“Another species on Earth” Nick said, racking his mind for anything he could think of that corroborated what Maknil said but nothing came to mind.
“They are called Draconians. They were on Earth long before mankind only they didn’t live above ground”
“You mean they lived underground?” Nick said, incredulously
“That’s right. They are a vicious race of beings that is out to rape the Earth of all they can and move on. They were all for the destruction of mankind and with the addition of our technology they seemed all but unstoppable.”
“How come we weren’t wiped out then?”
“Somebody realized that if they were to wipe you out they would have to do the work at getting the resources they wanted. Why not get someone else to do it for them”
“You mean slaves”
“Yes. It was then that the first bio engineering experiments were carried out. They took the existing primitive man on Earth and combined their DNA with that of the Annunaki and modern man as you know it was born. Primitive man went extinct and the Draconians and renegades from this planet had all the help they needed.”
“Nobody tried to stop them?” Nick wondered aloud
Maknil sighed heavily “There were attempts. Wars were fought, both on planet Earth and here on our own soil. It looked like we were going to regain control and then the tide turned. More and more Annunaki started to be on the side of taking what we needed from your planet. It all culminated as our planet was leaving your solar system. The wars on our planet were devastating. Those of us in control used a last resort tactic and issued a self-destruct signal to as any ships in the signal range so that no more support could come for the bad side and we focused on our planet.”
“You left us to our fate then” said Nick
“You don’t understand the state our planet was in Nick. The war here raged on and on. When we were finally able to quell the radicals and regain control, our planet was devastated, the government in tatters, people were scattered all over the planet. There were barely enough of us left to rebuild. We thought of planet Earth but in all honesty we thought that given how destructive the war was on our planet there was no way that mankind could have survived. As I can see, since you are here, man is alive and well. It will intrigue me to learn more about your planet, but I think we should end on that note for the time being. I need time to reflect on what you've told me and to decide your fate.” As he said the last word a chill settled in Nick’s heart and he swallowed hard. Hopefully he had made a friend and not an enemy.
Chapter 14