Clarity's Doom (Ancient Origins Book 1) Page 21

  Catching air instead of its intended victim, the hybrid started to run but a mad rush of racing rocks smashed into it at waist height. The hybrid stopped the flow of many, some rolling up and over his head, before he dragged his body and battered form over the tunnel’s edge, muscles rippling with effort. The numerous tiny rolling stones and slick dirt under her ass and hip ached as Clarity raced faster around a wide corner, slightly rolling to a hip. Clarity screamed as she flew under the legs of another hybrid that pounced last second and missed. She sucked in her breath as she gazed behind her. Clarity wondered if her clothing was similar to what protected a motorcyclist skidding on pavement.

  Holy fucking sledding. Leather, who knew?

  The hybrid jumped too late and the cascade of rocks had a similar effect, crashing into him, slamming him at his knees then thighs before he could escape. Clarity spied a bigger threat. Nowhere left to run, or slide. Clarity saw the dead end wall; the tumbling rocks a hairsbreadth behind. Her body wouldn’t be able to bear the brunt of so many. Screaming, she planted her feet hard, rolled up, and jumped as high as she could trying to reach the surface. A hand and arm lowered over the edge followed by a face, and Doom was there, reaching down last second to grab her hand. Just as the rocks hit and smashed. They both went flying. Shards of rocks exploded, casting small stones over them. Doom pulled her under him.

  “Holy hell.” Clarity gasped.

  “I can’t leave you alone for five minutes.”

  “Where’s DaV-nin?”

  “Wounded and regrouping. So are we.”

  Doom yanked Clarity to her feet. She looked at her clothes. “Damn, I bet the people on bikes would love this material. I’m not shredded, but my ass and thighs throb, my entire body is killing me.”

  “It’ll have to kill you later.”

  Gripping her hand they ran. Everywhere, humans and hybrids were fighting within the forest.

  “So much for regrouping,” Clarity said as they came to a halt.

  Mass anarchy everywhere she looked, Clarity winced when she saw a human hit the ground. Not only were the hybrids attacking humans, but they were fending off other dinosaurs. The war had turned into a free-for-all. Death assaulted each corner, blood smeared trees, rocks, humans, and animals. Muffin ripped into a hybrid downed by Luke and an arrow under its nose.

  “Don’t kill the dead ones, you dummy,” Luke yelled.

  “Damn, if Muffin is out here, the younger children might be, too. Oh my God, there’s the dog,” Clarity cried out filling with horror.

  Kiki was behind Luke watching her brother’s back. Bubble-gum grabbed the ankle of a hybrid and would have been slashed if Muffin hadn’t leaped to bite the wrist of the swinging claw. Rex hid behind Luke peeking around the boy as he fired arrow after arrow. Clarity could see the arrows he shot had brilliantly blue-topped heads under the glass shining in the high sun. Clarity wanted to panic. Night would soon be on them. The kids had reloaded. From the corner of her eye, she watched Nina pitch a bomb. Three hybrids were dispatched, limbs flying. The girl was too close, a twig sliced across her arm and she went down to crawl across the ground, trying to get away.

  Solace and Menace stood back to back. Terrified, Clarity watched as the youngest children from the village spilled into the midst of the battleground. Solace and Menace raced to them, tossing the twins high into the air at a tree base and yelling for them to climb. Em followed but Flight shook loose from everyone. The boy held a small wooden sword in his hands. Clarity could see his terror.

  “Run,” she screamed when a hybrid went for Flight.

  Solace was the first to reach the boy. Menace attacked while she grabbed Flight to run. There was nowhere safe. Without further aid, the twins could climb no higher. When Cole fell to the ground his brother jumped after him. Solace pulled the boys along with her and Flight. Everything was out in the open as they spilled into the grassed area. Raptors slunk in and grabbed the fallen. DaV-nin and Doom faced off once again. Bombs exploded while the two males engaged in heated battle. Clarity could tell there would be no regrouping. The fight would be to the bitter end.

  Nina, arm bloodied slipped into Clarity’s line of vision. The girl was done fighting. Weaponless she looked for shelter. Clarity took her by her good arm and raced them both to a hollowed out trunk. Nina pressed as far back against the trunk as possible.

  “What do we do?” Nina asked as tears slipped down her face.

  “I’m going to catch my breath. I need to catch my breath. See those knobs of wood in here? You use them to climb. Stay in here and hide. I’ll help you but then I have to get back out there and help Solace.”

  When the ground shifted beneath her feet Clarity screamed and clung tight to a root as the dirt became an inky black hole. Nina screamed and reached for her, but Clarity pushed her back. The sides of the dirt were rolling into the ground. But Clarity could see a light and a bottom to the hole. She was sucked into a tube, a cover closed overhead; she was trapped. Her fists pounded against the hard container.

  The humming of a machine hurt Clarity’s head. The chamber she found herself in was a large tube swinging low in the ground. It appeared to be following a route. The motion stopped slowly. The door swung open and she crept out, blinking against the sudden light. Heart pounding, Clarity took a few small steps.

  “You needn’t be frightened. You’re finally safe.”

  Clarity gazed at a tall man, his black robe hung covering his head to the floor or perhaps he hovered over the ground. He was shadowed, broad. His voice was deep.

  “Who are you?”

  “Telk.”

  “What am I doing here?”

  “You were supposed to be here last year but my colleges and I wanted to see what would play out on Earth Twelve.”

  “Earth Twelve?”

  “Yes. There are twenty Earths in all. Each different yet the same. We control all.”

  “Twenty Earths? Dimensions?”

  “Not at all. Each Earth is real. All different. We sent the meteor to change the course of history on Earth Six. Your Earth, Clarity. The hybrids on Earth Twelve are breeding, genetically selecting the biggest, smartest. Like humans breed dogs, but with that comes complications, disease. While the humans are disease free on Earth Twelve, they have no clue how old they are, it was to even the playing field. The hybrids die out and can only breed every year so the process of a genetic change took longer.”

  Clarity crept closer, her heart racing, she quivered. She always knew something more was going on. On a massive wall and surrounding them were blue balls of planets, except one, one was black. She pointed.

  “Is that an Earth?”

  “Yes, the oldest, Earth One. It’s almost dead. Trillions of years old it advanced such as your Earth. There are no humans left. They killed one another. It was sad to watch but a learning experience, so we decided to intervene and open the sinkholes when we found your Earth on the same destructive path. We draw hope from the disaster. Before Earth One died there were too many survivors to house everyone. Every corner of the planet was inhabited. If you place caged animals together, they will fight, they need room.

  “Don’t you think there is a reason the world has become so overpopulated so fast? Everyone who has ever been born returns. Earth One dying and another, Earth Two in the stages of death are sending millions of souls to your planet. It’s up to us to distribute them accordingly, but we must be careful. If not dead, some humans lack the ability to fit in with their new environment.” He made a flourish with his hands indicating every planet.

  Clarity took that to mean all people everywhere were privy to the almost dead planet and its deceased occupants.

  “You steal people. Souls.”

  “When we approached your government, we gave them information of technology in return for individuals who could populate new planets. There are some humans from your Earth who are selected. It’s a great honor.”

  “But you have killed others.”

  “Collateral d
amage, to a small degree in essence. Some sinkholes didn’t open on the other side fast enough.”

  Clarity felt ill. “That fall I took, if it abruptly ended, it would have been like a freight train hit my body.”

  Telk was silent for a moment. “It would have been far worse but quick.”

  “Are those the people only returning to Earth after being gone two years?”

  “Yes. It was unfortunate. The sinkhole between destinations is a stasis of sorts. There is no time. For us, the problem was instantaneous, for earthlings it was two years. We thought the least we could do was offer families closure.”

  “Closure? They suddenly showed up. Dead.”

  “It’s necessary to thin a herd, souls are easier to distribute. We are not about barbarity, but obligation. War, terrorists, cruelty have run amok on your Earth. We had no idea our technology would be accepted so fast by your people. The government began building sinkholes, with help from us to take people to different worlds. Even the elderly embrace their new situation. Some with difficulty; others prove to be far superior. Hence the problem. There is a mark certain genders of your people wear who were off limits. The government was too afraid of amalgamation, thinking they couldn’t handle change. A study was necessary.

  “Those humans do handle some situations depending on the age and gender. Some have become multimillionaires on different planets, some leaders. In order to take the single person we want, they get lost in a crowd, and can’t be identified. Their records are expunged. Your world is anarchy. It will settle once half the population has been removed to their destinations. Once removed from your world, in death, they are returned to the last place of origin. Our worlds. They can begin again, new, and each world will grow. Unfortunately, other alien races have discovered humans. We are not impressed with their interference. These are our humans. Not only are they disposing their undesirables onto other planets including yours, but the aliens are stealing humans. We will get them back.”

  His tone was that of annoyance, perhaps anger. Clarity remembered the frightening sinkholes other aliens climbed from. Her mind was in a tailspin.

  “But my Earth inoculated again.”

  “The inoculation was given before the aliens discovered Earth. A strain of virus on the planet you should be on appeared. Nasty little bug. Space viruses are so unpredictable and can mutate from planet to planet. You refer to them as super bugs. The virus has been defeated; we can’t take the chance with you if it returns in a different form. Not all humans were given the same inoculation. Only your Earth. You are protected from all diseases known to us.”

  Clarity was fuming as she absently fingered the bump on her arm. “You say you’ll get the humans back. You do have a device in us.”

  “We tried. Not all are willing to have the shot.”

  “What about Doom’s world? Why is he tattooed after the sacrifices?”

  “That is unfortunate, but a necessity. The tattoos he and a few others bear are necessary to ensure we keep tabs on the humans. Those humans never needed to be inoculated. Their world is peaceful and disease free. Boring really. We have discovered a breed of aliens steal souls. When Doom finally succumbs, we will sort out the humans and their new locations.”

  “You keep a record of kills on a man’s body for reference?”

  “Each image is triggered by Doom’s or the other leaders’ memories of those people. Each object or face is his way of sharing their loss. Haunting, and yet the images help them heal. The images aren’t meant to be cruel but to help him and the others cope. He is a sensitive man. I take full responsibility. The hybrids were never to evolve in such a manner as to achieve space flight. The first human they encountered changed their fate. She was a mistake. The hybrids would have been content to kill the humanoids over the next millennia and take over the planet. It was their destiny. Now they seek knowledge.

  “We had no choice but to send humans. DaV-nin struck a deal with the humans. He never would have done such a thing, but again our mistake. If we sent no more humans, the villagers would have been slaughtered faster. We have enough dead and dying to attend to now. We needed to bide some time. A wave of that magnitude would interfere with us finding and relocating the humans stolen. Those aliens must not be allowed to breed with any human. The universe, the galaxies will be forever changed. We can’t take a half human soul; you can’t split a child, one half for us one half for the aliens.

  “We tried to aid the villagers by sending your Earth children at first with adults from another Earth. The children were too young for war, but your kind of people are programmed for dominance. The battle would continue at a slow pace. The hybrids would learn no more about space flight. The other Earth is merely developing the infancy of space flight. It’s time to stop sending any human to Doom’s planet. We had no idea the villagers would ever hand over the human children they loved and coveted after they reached adulthood. We hadn’t counted on the deep bond of the race, their loyalty to one another. The hybrids’ intelligence took another leap after the slaughter. I’m sure you’ve guessed your Earth mind thinks differently than the others. Instead, we send the infirm or those with no concept of killing from another planet.

  “But there are Earth Six children on Doom’s planet.”

  “Again, there are casualties. It is unfortunate, but they will not last much longer.”

  “Unfortunate?” Her rage was building.

  “Those children have no knowledge of how to create space flight. They were and are too young. We’re trying to weed out the violence in these creatures. Their females began to possess too much compassion. Humans from Earth Five have no concept of killing. They are from a gentler Earth. The hybrids killed off most of their own females, unless they could scent savagery. You see why we can’t send you back? By simply being there, you have changed the course of the war. The hybrids cannot have you, the stem cell memories you possess from ancestors alone are too valuable. DaV-nin will learn more than space flight. They will kill other planets. Worse, they will join with other aliens.”

  “Stem cell memories?”

  “Not only can the knowledge you have learned be found in your brain cells. When you were a child you had three blood transfusions, each was from a scientist to help bring further knowledge to your new planet. When you were ill after your inoculation, you were brought here and infused with more stem cell memories. Some of mine included. The institution you work for is run by a college. You must remain with us until we can transport you to your new planet.”

  “So what are you saying? What about Doom and the villagers?”

  “Doom’s world is—doomed.”

  “But we are fighting back. We have Solace to help.”

  “Solace is not meant to be in that world. With the situation here being volatile, one or two tend to run amok. We only noticed her missing. Her information, if caught, would be as detrimental as yours.”

  “But she’s there,” Clarity stressed. “Just like I was there.”

  “It’s unfortunate this has gone on as long as it has. We have you and we will have Solace.”

  “Doom’s people are not doomed if they have us.”

  “They are. You are not part of the deal. You belong to destiny.”

  “The hell I do.”

  Clarity dipped her hands into pockets she sewed in to her pants. The being howled when doused with mace. He disappeared and reappeared healed behind her. Clarity stumbled as he tried to grab her. He was close. Clarity zapped him with her taser and fled, dropping the weapon. The machine was humming and the alien disappeared again while twitching. Instinct told her he would return healed. She needed to move fast. Clarity raced to the tube and slid the rounded door closed. A flash of light, the tube zipped down, up, around and she was again inside the massive tree trunk. Nina was gone. Dazed she climbed out as the top opened. She managed to roll from the tree trunk as the tube was sucked back down.

  All hell was breaking loose. The battle for supremacy was fierce. Nick had foun
d a sword and was battling a hybrid. Hatred plain on his face; Clarity knew he battled rage. A slice of claws and the young man went down. Blood flowed from a gaping wound. Below them, a line running across the field opened a huge hole in the ground. Clarity screamed. The earth shook beneath their feet sending all spiraling to their knees. She was terrified the alien she encountered would take the many for the ones it wanted—her and Solace. She needed to warn Solace.

  A roaring sound from underground rattled Clarity’s teeth. The hole was massive and black to stare down into. The roaring grew in intensity while her heart thundered in her chest. Something was coming. A plane emerged, swooping, wings spinning top-like. The vessel shot from the ground sending those trying to regain their balance crashing down again.

  Whoever the pilot was, he or she was in a battle. The plane slowed, spun lazily once, then twice before leveling off and Clarity rose to shaky feet. She lifted a hand across her brow to shield her eyes from the glare of the sun.

  “That’s my daddy’s plane,” Flight screamed.

  The pilot was weaving, no doubt struggling to get the craft righted. The wings teetered banking left then right before the nose of the plane could settle into a straight line. Clarity gazed around her. The plane was headed to the hybrid mammoth stampede, where the ground was trampled. The only open area in sight. The wheels hit the ground and Clarity wanted to cover her eyes. The plane bounced.

  Solace had the boy in her arms racing to the plane. She was screaming for Menace to follow her. Doom and Menace were back to back swinging their swords. Hybrids were falling, finally falling in droves. DaV-nin was joined by another.

  “Menace,” Solace screamed.

  “Go. I swear on my life I will be with you soon, help the children,” Menace bellowed.