Dark Solar Complete Trilogy: Oleander - Wolfsbane - Maikoa Page 13

  They caught up with the man quickly when he turned a corner, ran behind a church, and entered the church cemetery. The yellow-eyed man stopped and waited.

  Before he could utter a word, Ciaran said, “We don’t have time to play your cryptic game. Last time, you said you wanted me to convince Arik to help you. Now that he’s here, you can talk to him about whatever you want. But first things first—you have to help us.”

  The man smiled. “The legendary Ciaran LeBlanc, always wheeling and dealing for the multiverse. I am happy to be at your service.”

  “Do the packages being delivered all over the multiverse have anything to do with Xiilok rebels?” Ciaran asked.

  “I can’t speak for others. I only know these packages are not from my camp. We are peaceful.”

  Arik snorted. “He wanted me to help his camp liberate Xiilok, the land of the multiversal outlaws, and he hopes to do that by peaceful protests!”

  Ciaran shook his head. “You can’t control Xiilok with peace.”

  The man nodded. “I know, and I have learned my lesson. I’m here to release you from your duties to us, Arik.”

  “What? Why now?”

  “I am only the leader of a small branch in a camp. We operate by the light, as you might know, Arik.” He looked at Ciaran. “Our light is like energy in your universe.” Ciaran nodded, and the yellow-eyed man continued. “We owed the Red Eye’s tribe, and they have traded us.”

  “For whom?” Ciaran asked.

  “I don’t know. Maybe the Black Rock and other satellite universes from Xiilok, those that need labor.”

  “By labor, do you mean slavery?” Arik asked.

  “I don’t have a choice. I have already given my gift to you, Arik. If I can’t take care of my people, I have to let them go. I have only a day left.”

  “What about Xanthe?” Arik asked.

  The man looked at Ciaran. “Xanthe is our healer. She took care of him when he was injured.” He looked back at Arik. “Xanthe herself should be fine. She has skills. They wouldn’t use her as a slave. I can’t guarantee anything for her family, though.”

  “But they’re women and children. They’re trainees. They will have skills in the future!” Arik exclaimed.

  The yellow-eyed man raised an eyebrow. “I am a poor leader. I can’t negotiate that for them. It is very likely the Xanthe family will be traded to the Black Rock, where medical skills are needed most.”

  “Nobody can treat the Black Rock. They’re the cancer of the multiverse. They should be killed,” Arik snarled.

  Ciaran smiled. “I agree. You know about the multiverse more than I’d expect, Arik.”

  “I’m afraid you’re not in a position to say that, Arik. Our problem is not your concern anymore,” the man said.

  “Since when?”

  “Well, since now. I am here to release you from your position.”

  “But you said your gift, once given, can’t be taken back.”

  “That is right. But the position of leader is not a gift. It’s an honor from the tribe and a responsibility—one you didn’t want to take.” The man nodded his goodbye. “That is all for now.” He turned to leave.

  Arik said, “If I take the position, I won’t liberate Xiilok, even with peaceful protests. If that neck of the cosmos woods is uninhabitable, I’ll move my people elsewhere.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “I won’t put women and children at war, even if it’s a defensive war. Even if they call me a wussified piece of wet toast.”

  The man frowned. “Is that a promise?”

  “Only if you leave all the trainees out of the fight.”

  The man sighed. “All right.” He approached and reached out his hand for a handshake.

  “Are you sure, Arik?” Ciaran asked. “It doesn’t appear that you can take back whatever it is you’re about to agree to.”

  “Do I have a choice?” Arik asked and clasped the man’s hand. At the point of contact, he grunted. A light was exchanged between them, and their bodies glowed. After a moment, they let go of each other’s hands. The yellow-eyed man looked as if he had aged ten years in that brief moment. Arik’s skin glowed with a shade of yellow light which soon dissipated.

  “You’re now the leader of the Yellow Shield tribe, the Third Circle, Xiilok, effective tomorrow.”

  Arik squared his shoulders in an attempt to rid himself of the tingling sensation. He said nothing.

  The man turned toward Ciaran. “I’ll get more men and merge with the Sixth Circle as you suggested. If I could get the ex-Eudaizians to join, they would be the majority of the tribe, and we could be under your protection. Do I have your word?”

  “What?” Arik exclaimed.

  “I’m trying to get us under the protection of a Eudaizian troop. This collaboration is the last good thing I can do for the tribe.”

  “What the hell? Will I be consulted on this?” Arik asked and pointed at Ciaran. “He’s violent! He pro-war!”

  Ciaran raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think you know me that well, Arik.” He turned toward the man. “Yes, you have my word.”

  “Thank you for your help. Now we have both a leader and protection from your troops. We have never done this well for so long. It is worth the sacrifice. Thank you again!”

  Ciaran reached out his hand to shake. “It’s my pleasure. You’re a brave man.”

  “What the fuck does that mean?” Arik asked.

  The yellow-eyed man nodded a goodbye to Ciaran and smiled at Arik. “I have things to take care of. If I die before tomorrow, you might have to start a day earlier.” He turned and then vanished through a dimensional gateway.

  Arik was about to shove Ciaran’s shoulder, but Ciaran raised a finger to stop him. “I don’t care for being pushed. So don’t do it, Arik.”

  “Did you plot all this?”

  “Not at all. But the man needed my help, didn’t he?” Ciaran shrugged and walked away.

  32

  When Arik and Ciaran came back to the house, Arik thought the air felt heavy as lead. His mother and sister looked at him, saying nothing.

  Arik turned to Jenny. “All right, it looks as though there’s something you think you should tell me, but you won’t because it will put me in danger,” Arik said.

  Nobody spoke.

  “If this is about Grace, I need to know.”

  Silence.

  “Oh come on, he has the right to know!” Dinah exclaimed.

  Arik zeroed in on Dinah. “Please, Dinah. Whatever it is, I can take it.”

  “We got a message asking you to meet them or they’ll kill Grace.”

  “Who…” Arik and Ciaran asked at the same time. Ciaran stopped, gesturing Arik to go ahead with the question.

  “Who are they, and when and where do I meet them?”

  “We’ve been asking the same questions,” Cooper said.

  “How did they leave the message?” Ciaran asked.

  Cooper showed Ciaran the picture he had taken on his wrist unit—a puff of purple powder stuck on a door with the etched words, Meet now, or she will die.

  “We heard a thunk at the door. After Dinah confirmed the power wasn’t toxic, I took the picture, and the text vanished.”

  Jenny pointed. “Your nose is bleeding, Arik.”

  Arik wiped the blood away and winced at his pounding headache. The lyrics and beats of “Crossroads” echoed in his mind again. He sat down and grabbed his head. If he wasn’t careful, he might heat up and begin to time travel at this critical point. Maybe he shouldn’t think right now. He’d wait until it passed.

  “He hears ‘Crossroads’ in his head, Ciaran. Does that mean anything to you?” Madeline asked.

  Ciaran paced around the room, then back and forth. He turned his wrist unit on to do some research then gave up the idea. There wouldn’t be enough time. “Is there anything nearby—a church, a temple, or another place of worship—that’s called Crossroads, Arik?” Ciaran asked.

  Arik shook his head,
which was still buried in his hands.

  “Cooper, can I have a list of those places, please?” Ciaran asked.

  “You got it,” Cooper said and dove into the task using his wrist unit. In about ten seconds, he said, “I’ve got a full list of churches, temples, places of worship, and anything else that only the god of the multiverse knows the purpose of.”

  Ciaran pointed his wrist unit toward Cooper. There was a quick flash. “Thank you,” Ciaran said.

  Cooper stared down at his wrist unit and mumbled, “Did he just cop the data out of my unit? I have a passcode.”

  Dinah chuckled. “That’s called scanning, Cooper. And your passcode is your last name and your birthday. Everyone in the cosmos knows that secret! The only thing Ciaran can’t scan is your mind.” Then she looked at Madeline. “Without the help of his walking talking mind scanner, that is.”

  “They’re at Carfax Tower,” Ciaran said.

  Arik’s head popped up from his hands. “Carfax means crossroads. Why the heck didn’t I think of that?” Ciaran and Arik charged out the door.

  Everyone followed, but Cooper lingered behind, glancing at the door where the message had been left before.

  “Cooper, aren’t you coming with us?” Dinah called.

  “Yes, but give me a moment.”

  Dinah returned to him. “What’s wrong with the door?”

  “The message didn’t specifically mention Arik or Grace, or the place to meet.” He turned toward Dinah. “I think they don’t know. I think they’re as confused as we are, and they’re probably relying on us to get the clues.”

  “You’re right…and…” Dinah trailed off, pulling Cooper behind the door with her.

  Across the road, a man strode quickly along, trailing the group heading toward the Carfax Tower. “There’s our tail,” Cooper said.

  Dinah waited until the man walked beyond the door where they were hiding then stepped out and pumped a sedative needle. He turned around to see what had happened, but it took only two seconds for the sedative to work. He flopped to the ground.

  “All right, you go. I’ll take care of this,” Cooper said and darted over to pull the man into the yard. Dinah hurried in the direction the group had just gone.

  33

  Running along the road, Arik and Ciaran heard a sound like someone had dropped a sack of potatoes on the ground. They both looked to one side of them then the other. There were no potatoes, but on a brick wall, there was a large circle of purple powder on the wall that looked exactly like the picture Cooper had shown them. Text appeared like someone was writing in the powder. Meet at Crossroads, Arik.

  “Didn’t we just see this message?” Arik said.

  “Yes, except the location and your name weren’t mentioned in the other one,” Ciaran said.

  “Is it a trap?” Arik asked.

  Ciaran shook his head. “No, I think whoever is playing this head game with us is solving the puzzle, one step at a time. They might keep pace with us, or they might even be a step ahead, but I think someone or something is still figuring out something that we might have the answers to.”

  “But we don’t even know the questions!” Arik exclaimed.

  “We do. We need to know what you have to do with this. I think you hold the key to this multiverse killing frenzy. You have to figure this out—both the questions and the answers.”

  “So let’s go,” Arik muttered and strode ahead.

  Carfax Tower, an imposing tower that provided the highest vantage point of Oxford City, was located at the center of the city.

  “It’s a tourist attraction,” Diana said with a sigh.

  “A disaster attraction,” Madeline said.

  They closed the distance and could see the tower clearer. It was a square thirteenth-century stone tower. The majority of the church that had existed around it had been destroyed, leaving it standing isolated and alone. There was one small door that served as the entrance, where tourists purchased tickets and then headed up several sets of stone stairs which led to the top of the tower.

  The only exit was at the top. Tourists exited the staircase one person at a time and followed a narrow stone-railed balcony that wrapped around the tower roof. There, the one-way lane of tourists could look out over the city. They then had to loop around and exit the roof via the same door, heading down the stairs this time.

  At the corner of the roof, there was a light flash—once, twice, and then a third time. At the third flash, a creature of human size and shape with a lizard-like head stood up. Grace was held captive by the sight of it. Her hair was tangled, her face soaked with tears, her eyes filled with fear. She clutched the package to her chest.

  A line of three tourists had made it out to the rooftop. The creature pointed a gun at the man in the front and fired. The two women standing behind the man screamed and retreated back through the doorway. The dead man toppled over the stone rail of the balcony and fell to the ground.

  People on the ground screamed. A swarm of men and women flowed out from inside the tower onto the street.

  Arik hurried toward the entrance.

  Jenny and Diana followed, but Ciaran pulled them back. “Look at the tower. It’s going to be small and confined inside. You’ll only block his way coming out.”

  “You expect us to stand here and watch?” Jenny said.

  Madeline wrapped her arms around the two women to hold them back and clear the way for Ciaran. “At critical times like this, listening to Ciaran is always the best option. Trust me. You’ll thank me later,” Madeline said.

  Ciaran left the women, rushed toward Arik, and grabbed his elbow as he made his way through the stream of panicked tourists pouring out from the tower. “I can take that creature from the ground. You just need to buy me some time. But shooting from such a distance in these chaotic conditions might not turn out the way we want. Whatever the result is, I need you to remember that you’re now the leader of the Yellow Shield tribe in Xiilok. Every decision you make—including your life and death—has consequences and affects many others. You don’t have to be a hero, but don’t be an idiot.”

  “Understood.” Arik shrugged off Ciaran’s hand.

  “No, I don’t think you understand. Let me sum it up for you—if you have to choose between your life and another’s, you have to protect your own. Your life is important to a lot of people.”

  “I agree,” Dinah said.

  She was so tiny they hadn’t noticed that she had been keeping pace at Arik’s side the whole time.

  “Are you going to give me a gun to protect myself?” Arik asked.

  “No. With that narrow balcony, you can only go head on, and you’ll lose to the space creature.”

  “Thanks for the fucking vote of confidence.”

  “Dinah will have a gun, but she’ll be behind you.” Ciaran pulled out one of his guns and handed it to her. “This is a real gun, Dinah—”

  “Yes, it can shoot nine simultaneous beams at ninety-one angles and automatically recharge at ninety percent of ammunition and with optional insertion of natural energy.”

  Ciaran smiled.

  Dinah grinned. “I don’t have access, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know Eudaizian guns.” She winked at him then made some adjustments to the gun and tucked it inside her jacket. Arik rolled his eyes.

  As Dinah and Arik entered the tower, Ciaran went back to Diana, Jenny, and Madeline. He looked into Diana’s eyes. “I’ll shoot at the creature when Arik gets up there. I’m a very good shot, but—”

  She placed a finger to his lips to stop him from talking. “Do what you have to do, son.”

  Ciaran nodded and moved toward the tower.

  34

  The staircase inside the tower was extremely steep and narrow. It could only accommodate one-way traffic for average-sized people. While Dinah had no trouble, Arik almost hit his head against the stone arches a few times. At the top of the staircase, they exited through a tiny door and stepped out onto the balcony. It was bright, col
d, and windy. Upon walking through the doorway, Arik could see the creature and Grace standing to his right at the very end of the narrow balcony.

  He glanced down to the ground and saw a crowd of people looking up to the rooftop in panic. They had called the police, he figured, but earthly law enforcement would be too late and too slow for this. Plus, he didn’t think combating space creatures would have been something covered in the standard police training manual.

  Ciaran prowled among the people on the ground like a hungry leopard. Arik knew he was looking for one clear shot to take the creature down without killing Grace. But Arik knew Ciaran well enough—if push came to shove, he would take down both the creature and Grace if they posed any danger to Arik.

  That was Ciaran’s philosophy and what he had been talking about before Arik had climbed the stairs of the tower. He took pity on Ciaran sometimes. He’d had some heavy duties heaped on his shoulders at a very young age and was always on important missions. There was always the bigger picture in Ciaran’s life. Important matters to consider. Hard decisions to make. Well, he knew the time had come for him to do what Ciaran did, and that time was beginning now.

  Grace was shaking in the wind.

  “I’m here. I guess you want to see me,” Arik said to the creature. “I speak English, and I know only two French words well—yes and no. Other than that, I’m afraid you’ll have to use body language.”

  “Come here!” the creature croaked.

  “It’s too narrow for me to go over there. We’ll kind of lump together in that corner, and I’m really not in the mood for romance. So why don’t you let Grace come over here, and then I’ll head over to your side. She’s skinny. She can squeeze past me.”