Authors: Thomas Fay
Izikiel
IZIKIEL
By Thomas Fay
Copyright 2013
This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this e-book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this e-book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Cover: Yvonne Less (www.diversepixel.com)
Also by Thomas Fay:
A Mind Supreme
(SF Short Stories)
Apothecary (Fantasy Anthology)
‘
The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out’
(
KJV, Leviticus 6:13)
Contents
H
e woke with a start. Breathing heavily, he wiped the sweat from his face with the palm of his hand. Visions of a burning flame devouring worlds slowly receded from his mind. He opened his eyes. A harsh white light blinded him. Blinking several times, he looked around.
The landscape was flat, punctuated
only by jagged rock formations protruding at irregular intervals. Sand, endless grains of perfectly formed white sand stretched out towards the distant horizon. There were no signs of life; no structures, no animals, no vegetation. Nothing but sand and rocks bathed in extreme sunlight.
A sudden though struck him. Using both
hands to shield his eyes, he looked up. A blazing yellow sun hung suspended far above in the clear blue sky. He was not surprised by the lack of any clouds. What did surprise him was the second sun. Dark red in colour, it hung parallel to the first.
‘Where am I?’ he whispered.
Struggling to a standing position, he turned around full circle. ‘Hello! Is anyone out there?’
His voice
disappeared in the vastness of the landscape. An eerie silence, thick and oppressive, settled over him. Instinctively, he sensed that something terrible had transpired here. Casting around the barren landscape, he struggled to find a name for his surroundings. There wasn’t one. With a growing sense of unease he realised that he had no idea where he was or how he had come to be there.
H
e was dressed only in a pair of dark blue pants made of a sturdy material.
Jeans
, he realised after a moment. His arms and chest were bare. Frowning, he tried to remember why. Putting his hands inside his pockets, he withdrew a piece of paper. On it was an image of a young dark haired woman. Her blue eyes smiled at him from the photograph as he struggled to remember who she was. There was something familiar about her that told him that he knew her. Yet he was unable to recall anything about her. With a sinking feeling, he realised that he couldn’t remember anything before he had opened his eyes a few moments earlier.
He knew the names of things;
rock, sand, sun
. He knew that he was a man, a
human being
from the planet
Earth
. He also knew with certainty that he was
not
on Earth. Wherever this place was, it was not the blue green planet that he had been born on. This was an inhospitable environment devoid of life. He couldn’t shake the feeling that had not always been the case, that once there had been life here.
What sort of life
, he wondered.
And how did I get here?
There was no sign of a vessel or transport of any kind. He had no idea how long he had been there or why.
‘I...w
ho am I?’
Closing his eyes
, he searched his memories. There were none. Concentrating, he attempted to delve deeper, down into the very core of his being. A single memory slowly drifted up out of the depths of his subconscious. It was like a faint spark of light growing brighter. Suddenly the spark exploded and his thoughts were filled with images of a burning flame rising up to engulf him. He recoiled from it. Opening his eyes, he realised that he had stopped breathing. Taking a few slow deep breaths, he calmed himself. Whatever had happened to him was temporary. His memories would return in time.
Or so he told himself.
He began to wonder if anything could survive on a planet with twin suns. It was then that he became aware of the extreme heat. It struck him like a silent hammer, crushing the air out of his lungs and evaporating the sweat from his body. He staggered under its oppressive force as he desperately searched for an escape. Locating the nearest rock formation, he took an uncertain step towards it. His feet sank into the hot sand registering as a distant burning sensation. One foot followed the other and soon he was moving faster and faster towards the rocks. The heat seemed to intensify with every step and he felt that his lungs would explode from the effort of sucking down dry air.
His vision began to blur
. Patches of dark red and black colour swam before his eyes as he tried to focus on his surroundings. In a final desperate motion, he reached out with his left hand towards the jagged rocks. His legs gave way under him and he toppled forward. Landing in the sand, his fingers twitched releasing the photograph. The dark haired woman on it smiled as darkness crashed over him.
The vastness of space seemed unending.
Soaring through the cosmos, he marvelled at the majestic beauty of a purple gas giant and its barren satellite moons. Fierce electrical storms raged within its swirling inner core as he floated by. Travelling through the asteroid belt of a ringed planet, he moved effortlessly between the frozen pieces of shattered worlds. Reaching the edge of the solar system, he looked out at the multitude of Galaxies beckoning to him. Each had a unique pattern of stars and planets shining brightly in the darkness of space. Some even seemed to be growing in luminosity. One in particular had grown considerably brighter than the others. Without thinking, he wiled himself towards it. Then he stopped as he realised that the light was coming
towards
him.
T
he cold and loneliness of space swept over him. A deep, primordial instinct urged him to run and hide. But fear kept him locked in place. He was unable to look away as the burning flame expanded in his vision. Consuming stars and planets in its path, it reached out towards him. He knew that he had to get away, that he could not allow it to claim him. But he was unable to move. His mouth opened but no sound came out as a flaming tendril of molten plasma engulfed him. Lurching forward, he opened his eyes and screamed.
‘
Hold him down!’ a male voice ordered.
Several hands pressed down
roughly on his chest and arms forcing him back down. He struggled against them for a moment but his strength rapidly evaporated and he collapsed.
‘
That’s it, relax, you’re safe now,’ a soft, female voice reassured him as the hands slowly released their hold on him. He felt a moist cloth wiping away the sweat from his face as a metallic cylinder touched his dry lips. Fresh water flowed down his throat and he eagerly drew the life giving fluid into his parched body.
‘
Slowly, slowly or you’ll...’ the female voice instructed but he was unable to control himself. Swallowing several mouthfuls of water, he felt his stomach rise up. Turning on his side, he dry retched onto the sand. Coughing, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and looked around.
He
was inside a cave. White sand covered the ground, while the ceiling and walls were made entirely of grey rock. Two squat metallic devices glowed with a steady light illuminating the inside of the cave. Seated next to him was a young woman of about twenty. She was dressed in a dark grey vest and pants, with an array of implements attached to her arms and legs. Her large green eyes were framed by a round face which was punctuated by a small, shapely nose. Dark brown hair was tied in a single strand at the back of her head. Her full lips parted as she spoke.
‘
You’re very lucky to be alive. A human being won’t last more than a few minutes in the full light of the twin suns. From the look of things, if Xavier hadn’t found you when he did, you’d be dead by now.’
A tall, powerfully built man
with dark skin nodded his head. His brown eyes were framed by thick, black eyebrows which matched the rough stubble on his face and cheeks. His cleanly shaven scalp was marred by several scars. Intricate tattoos etched in silver were faintly visible on his face and neck. His robust frame was clad from head to toe in a bulky, highly reflective silver suit.
‘
I’m Te’Anne, by the way,’ the woman said.
‘
Thank you…for helping me,’ he said.
‘
Don’t mention it. It’s seldom that we get visitors out here. Well,
human
ones anyway,’ Te’Anne said. ‘Which begs the question as to what exactly you were doing out here in the middle of the day and without protective gear?’
‘
I…don’t know.’
‘
How did you get here?’
‘
I can’t remember.’
‘
Surely you must remember something,’ Xavier said. His eyes narrowed as he stepped forward.
‘
What’s your name?’
He looked at both of them with a confused expression
. His brow furrowed in concentration. He delved deep into his inner thoughts searching for something that would identify him. Slowly, almost painfully, a single word floated up out of the void at the centre of his being.
‘
My name is Izikiel.’
Nothing moved inside the cave as Te’Anne and Xavier stared at him. The light emitted by the two devices cast a steady glow which illuminated the walls and white sand underfoot.
It was deathly quiet. Izikiel’s shallow breathing the only sound.
‘
You’re very lucky to be alive. In future you should only travel at night,’ Xavier said, breaking the silence. Turning to Te’Anne, he added, ‘I’ve lost a lot of time. I’m heading back out.’
As Te’Anne nodded, Xavier pulled
on a matching reflective face shield and hood. With his entire body encased in the strange silver material, he disappeared into the depths of the cave.
‘
Where am I?’ Izikiel asked, once they were alone. Te’Anne’s green eyes widened as she looked at him for a moment before replying.
‘
You really don’t know, do you?’
‘
I’m sorry. I have no memory of anything before I woke up outside.’
‘
This is the Kartucian Desert on the northern polar cap of the planet
Vesta
. At least that’s the official name. For those of us who reside here, we simply call it hell.’
‘
Polar cap?’ Izikiel asked, surprised. A shard of a broken memory pushed its way into his conscious mind. ‘But shouldn’t polar caps have ice?’
Te’Anne
laughed. The sound echoed around the walls of the cave. Still smiling, she replied, ‘Maybe on a planet which doesn’t orbit twin suns.’
Her smile vanished as her tone took on a more serious note.
‘There are rumours that this desert was once a great city. Filled with thousands of people of all races it was said to be a congregating place for true believers.’
‘
Believers in what?’
‘
An interstellar deity known as the Eternal Flame.’
‘
What happened to the city?’
‘
I don’t know,’ Te’Anne said, spreading her hands. ‘Some say the true believers set off on a pilgrimage to find the Eternal Flame. Others say that it was destroyed during a meteor storm. Either way, that was a very long time ago.’
‘
So what are you and Xavier doing out here?’
‘
We make a good living collecting and trading diamonds. Xavier’s genetic makeup allows him to survive in the desert with only a standard sun suit for protection.’
‘
Diamonds?’
‘
Yes. This sand is rich in carbon particles. Combined with the extreme heat of the twin suns, it is quite common for large diamonds to form on the surface.’
‘
Incredible,’ Izikiel said, nodding his head. A sense of relief washed over him as he realised that he was able to recognise most things. Combined with the fact that he had managed to remember his own name gave him hope that his memories were slowly returning. At the same time, he was puzzled by the fact that certain items, such as the implements on Te’Anne’s arms and legs, were beyond his comprehension.
He suddenly remembered the photograph of the
blue eyed woman. Searching his pockets, he came up empty.
‘Is this what you’re looking for?’ Te’Anne asked, handing him the photograph.
‘Yes, thank you. I thought I’d lost it.’
‘Xavier found it lying next to you. She’s beautiful. Who is she?’
Izikiel took the photograph and stared at it for a moment before replying.
‘I don’t know. All I know is that sometime, somewhere
, before all this I knew her. We were close.’
Te’Anne nodded.
Izikiel reached for the metallic canister and brought it to his lips. Feeling the cold water flow down his throat, he forced himself to drink slowly this time. Te’Anne’s eyes never left him as she said, ‘I still don’t understand how you were able to survive.’
He stop
ped drinking.
‘
What do you mean? You said yourself that a human being could survive for a few minutes under the light of the twin suns.’
‘
Well, that’s not entirely true. Yes, a human being would survive without any protective gear for a few minutes. But in that sort of intense heat your skin would burn and your internal organs would come very close to failing.’
‘
I barely made it into the shade of that rock formation. Xavier must have found me almost as soon as I collapsed,’ Izikiel said. Seeing the expression on Te’Anne’s face, he felt a cold chill flow through him as she shook her head.
Thinking back
, he could clearly remember those few moments outside after he had woken up. His initial confusion followed by his desperate attempt to reach the rock formation as the heat of the twin suns bore down on him. Those final seconds of consciousness after he had collapsed onto the burning sand as the blue eyed woman smiled up at him from the photograph.
The co
rner of Te’Anne’s mouth twitched as she struggled with herself. Finally, she said, ‘Look at your skin, Izikiel.’
Almost afraid to look
, he lifted up his left arm. The slightly tanned skin was a healthy, natural colour. There was no sign of any sun damage from the extreme conditions he had recently endured. His brow furrowed in concentration as he clearly recalled the burning sensation on his skin.
‘
Xavier found you lying next to the rocks in the full light of the twin suns. Even though it looked like you had been there for a while, your body showed no signs of sun damage,’ Te’Anne said. ‘I have never seen anything like it before in my life.’