Authors: Venessa Kimball
I sigh out of mental exhaustion and reach for the rubber band around my wrist to tie my hair into a bun. My hands work quickly. “All right, this is getting heavy.”
Ezra folds his hand together and leans his forearms on his knees. “Well, it gets heavier. Balthazar has found a world in the Andromeda galaxy. Balthazar saw the need for the stationary disc at point B just as Sebastian had. He also saw the need for other colleagues to be a part of the discoveries in this new world. This is where Balthazar’s lack of judgment and respect reared its ugly head. Balthazar lacked caution and respect for the nature of things. His team was a hodgepodge and rough around the edges group. Balthazar’s assortment of colleagues did not contain the strong morality of Sebastian’s team. Balthazar had inhabited a world quite different from Sebastian’s as well.
“Sonde was a sulfuric, volcanic environment. The surface was rocky with tall stalagmites emanating gases with high concentrations of acidity. The bubbling, liquid solvent that quick, eel-like life forms were darting through was infused with low levels of ammonia. But ammonia still. The liquid was murky and iridescent, purple swirls of chemical scattered over the surface. On the surface, this planet appeared uninhabitable by human life. Sulfur levels were significantly dominant in the sense that Balthazar and his team detected methane and ethane gases in the environment. Balthazar named the planet on the first visit, Sonde.
“Just as Sebastian had, Balthazar found signs of subterranean life.
“Balthazar encountered beings after his second expedition. By that point, he had already commissioned an astrobiologist, astrophysicist, and another physicist with whom he had a romantic involvement.”
I snicker. “Is this the part where you tell me the aliens…I mean beings, had three eyes, green skin, and spoke in an unrecognizable tongue?”
Ezra looks at me and says, with a snicker of sarcasm, “No. They barely resembled humans.”
I question him, “Barely resembled humans? How can you barely resemble something?”
Ezra looks more seriously at me. “They were able to shift into beings that would appear less threatening for the ‘visitors’.
“The first time Balthazar wrote of his encounter with a being that had not yet shifted…”
Ezra trails off. He blinks a few times and rubs his hand over his mouth and chin.
“The inhabitants were more demon-like in features. Sunken eyes that were blacker than deep space. Protruding forehead and chin. A gray coloration to their skin. And they were much larger than us in height and girth.”
I watch him as he explains the details slowly to me.
I ask before I realize what I am saying, “Have you seen one?”
Ezra stops and looks at me. “Yes. And so have you.”
I feel burning in the pit of my stomach, spreading to my brain. “What?”
Ezra says, “Let me correct myself. You have experienced the essence of a Sondian in your nightmares.”
I thought back over the past few weeks. Then, a specific event pops into my mind.
The kid that bumped into me on campus at the crosswalk?
Ezra responds without missing a beat. “Yes. That is why I had to get you and your parents out of there. They had made contact with you.”
Ezra continues, “They are more advanced than us. Sonde is hundreds of thousands of years older than Earth. However, Dobria is just a baby in comparison to both Earth and Sonde. They are both in the same galaxy, Andromeda, but are very different. The inhabitants’ adaptation to Sonde and its environment have spurred them to develop advancements much greater than ours.
“Speech was not necessary. They were able to share thoughts like a natural flow of speech. Balthazar was enamored by the transcendental concepts these beings possessed. He and his team saw these adaptations to the environment and language as gems to take back to our world, Earth. That is why Balthazar needed to have the stationary disc. He had plans that were beyond anything Sebastian would ever consider.”
My mouth is dry. I take a sip of my drink. “What did Balthazar’s team want to do?”
Ezra stands. “Now we are getting close to your purpose, Jesca.
“Balthazar’s team grew over the years, mere months in Sonde time. Time there moved similarly to Dobria’s. Cosmologists, astrophysicists, environmentalists, medical staff—Balthazar’s team encompassed about forty associates initially. All of the team members were young and eager to be a part of this historical endeavor. The collateral damage that could result was a distant fear that was overlooked by the amazing benefits they perceived for Earth.”
I ask, “Collateral damage?”
“Team members believed that they could create a cosmic link between Earth and Sonde indefinitely, allowing constant passage between the worlds. It was common in the 90’s for theoretical physicists to consider our universe to be expanding at an accelerated rate. Both Sebastian and Balthazar were neck and neck on their findings and research at this point. Sebastian was trying to halt what he had put into motion with Dobria and now with Sonde. Balthazar was pursuing his obsession with creating an indefinite cosmic link between two worlds. As both worked in two different directions, pulling against each other, another theory was uncovered. Because of Sebastian’s and Balthazar’s discovery of travel to another galaxy, and Balthazar’s obsession with creating a constant cosmic link, something never considered before had been put into motion: a collision of two galaxies.”
I add, “A collision? Many scientists believe that type of collision could be destructive to either or both galaxies.” I quickly stop and correct myself. “Well, that is so far off in the future. Billions of years, right?”
Ezra sighs. It is painful for me to hear that sigh. Ezra looks at me.
“Jesca. It is upon us.”
My nervousness intensifies.
Ezra walks to the window and stretches his arms above his head. “Remember Caleb Onoch? Sebastian’s eldest son? He ran with many of the same friends that Balthazar did back in London through university activities. Caleb had been seeing less and less of his brother and his growing group of rogue scientists. Caleb caught on to Balthazar’s periodic disappearing act that resembled his father’s from years before.
“Well, out of concern for his brother, Caleb called on his father. Caleb told Sebastian about Balthazar and his team’s traveling, discovering life forms in uninhabitable atmospheric conditions. Sebastian played along, knowing that Caleb would unknowingly talk with Balthazar about his and Sebastian conversations. Sebastian pretended to be aloof about the outrageous rumors that Caleb had heard about his brother behind closed doors. Sebastian reassured Caleb that Balthazar would never be a part of such an endeavor. That he was smarter than that.
“Sebastian knew that this conversation would only hold Caleb at bay for so long, though.
“Sebastian immediately put two trusted cohorts on a mission to pose as scientists interested in joining Balthazar’s team in London. Within days, Sebastian’s two associates confirmed the rumors. Sebastian knew that Balthazar’s team would speed the universe’s imbalance by attempting to create a permanent wormhole between Earth and Sonde. Two worlds open to each other, allowing passage for other beings to mingle in our world and vice versa. It is not like leaving borders to countries unguarded and open. We are talking about other species with different physiological make-ups and physical appearances through adaptation to their atmosphere.”
Ezra pauses, realizing he is getting too deep for me again. “Okay. Sebastian sends in infiltrators. Ariel and Alice Sera.”
“My adopted grandparents?”
Ezra nods his head, confirming my words. “And they quickly became accepted onto Balthazar’s team due to their strong background as astrophysicists. They were granted passage onto Sonde. It took weeks for Ariel and Alice to get the level of trust needed to complete their mission.
“They were to disassemble the stationary disc on Sonde and destroy it along with the station and lab that housed all of Balthazar’s team’s work. They were then to initiate their Copulas and link directly from Sonde to Earth after the link from Earth to Sonde had been severed. When they succeeded in their mission, Balthazar was incapacitated and unable to recreate and access the copper disc materials. And unable to return to Earth.”
I am on edge.
Ezra says, “But Balthazar is his father’s son. He and his team rebuilt what was destroyed quickly. The superior Sondians found it to be advantageous to generously provide materials comparable to the ones Balthazar blueprinted for the disc.”
I ask cautiously, “Advantageous?”
“I think you know the answer to that, Jesca, passage to our world. Was it to co-exist? Or to take over?”
Ezra comes to sit next to me. “This is where you come in, my dear.
“Sebastian could no longer protect Earth with his team of trusted colleagues since they were dedicating all of their time to discovering vast amounts of information on Dobria. He had to have guards to protect Earth.
“Coincidentally, Balthazar discovered he could not protect the link between the two worlds, Earth and Sonde, without guardians on both planets. They both began to build a following through their colleagues. It became like a fellowship. Sebastian referred to us as Dobrians since we were supporters of humanity for Earth, further discoveries on Dobria, and protectors from the Sondian fellowship bringing about an imbalance to our world, Earth. Balthazar referred to his fellowship as Sondians: supporters of linking the Earth and Sonde and merging co-existence on both worlds.”
I think out loud. “So I am a guardian. I am to defend Earth and our universe from merging with another, which could result in pure chaos or possible destruction of everything?”
Ezra puts his head in his hands. He looks up. “Well, it is not just you. There is a battle, and you are undeniably involved.”
I slowly rise and begin to pace.
Ezra continues, “Your recent abilities. The vibrations you feel and humming you hear before an attack. How can I know about these things unless I have experienced them myself and know why they happen?”
I look at Ezra as I pace. This can’t be real. A guardian? Wormholes? Worlds? Galaxies colliding? I go to grab my coat and purse.
Ezra raises his voice. “The abilities will only intensify, Jes. I am…”
Ezra stops himself and restarts in a more calm manner. “I was sent to train you and prepare you to be what you are, a Dobrian guardian.”
I reach for the door. “I can’t.” I am tongue tied. I can’t breathe. “I have to go.”
Ezra steps in front of the doorway, blocking it with his body.
“Jesca, I know this is overwhelming. Just…just know that I will not leave you vulnerable. I will be here to guide you from now until the end.”
I am wringing my fingers together. I feel claustrophobic all of a sudden. “Can I go now?” I figure if I can be flippant enough about the download of information I just received, that it would all dissipate into the ethereal.
Ezra moves out of the doorway, leaving it clear for me to escape.
I hardly remember the walk home from campus. I keep replaying the details of the story Ezra just told. It seems like a dream that I have just woken from, unreal like a dream. Who am I to say that dreams aren’t real? My track record lately doesn’t separate dream from reality too well. I walk more quickly. As I do, my mind works just as quickly. Rapidly all the connections between my life and Ezra’s story take hold in my mind, like a puzzle being put together. I start to cry at the undeniable realization that he may be right about it all.
I’m almost home when the humming begins. I sense being followed, a dark and heavy presence. Very familiar. My heart begins to pound in my chest and throat. I run.
Two more blocks and I’m home.
I feel the tracker closing in. It approaches from behind and is soon beside me. I stop dead in my tracks. I am radiating a vibration; humming is reverberating from my body into the atmosphere. I can almost see it, like a wave of visible air. The lamplight above me is dimming and brightening in rhythm with the vibration within me. I can feel the heavy presence immediately halt and retreat far enough away from the barrier I have created for myself. It remains there, waiting.
My life force is my protection.
“Please protect me,” I whisper with hope. I remember the reoccurring nightmare, the feeling of empowering energy. That energy finally has relevance in my reality.
I move my hand out slowly toward the dark, heavy entity. The darkness shifts away from my reach, from the electrical current radiating from within me. The vibration continues to pulse energy farther and farther out from my body with every beat of my heart. I take my arms into my chest, and then thrust my hands outward toward the dark force. A wave of pure, bright, white energy rolls from my body into the darkness. The dark predator shrinks away as the wave hits it with force. Within seconds, it is surrounding me again, trying to suffocate the white energy around me. My mood shifts from fear to anger, then determination to escape, to get out of this situation as quickly as I can.
I send one more surge of pure energy into the darkness, attempting to distract the tracker and get away. It works. I turn and run. It is the kind of run I experienced in the woods a few days ago. The speed is fantastical.
I am at my door within seconds. Behind a dead-bolted door within a second more. My pulse is still raised, but I am not winded. I stand staring at the door, then shift my eyes to the windows. I back into the kitchen and lean against the refrigerator. Minutes pass. Nothing. A half hour passes. I close my eyes and let my mind take over. I no longer sense the dark entity. Another half hour passes, I am now sitting on the sofa, legs crossed and eyes shut. I feel warmth on the left side of my face. I open my eyes to see the dawn light coming in through the window. I take my cell phone out of my pocket and dial.
“Hey, Mom, I’m on my way over. We need to talk.” I wait for a response; it never comes. I shower quickly, dress, and walk out the door into the morning light.