Shadow Warrior: Destiny of a Mutant (29 page)

Altrusia

1497 A.D.

Months had passed since Will’s return from Earth. The quashing of the rebellion on Avtaehr V and the aversion of the seismic destruction on Trebulon IV were distant memories. Other missions had come and gone since then as well. But no matter what Will did, he still found himself preoccupied with thoughts of his family, and Hanna; a fact not lost on Portak.

One day Portak called Will to his chambers to discuss another assignment.

“Will I have several missions that will require your special skills to accomplish,” he began without preamble.

Will just shook his head in affirmation.

“I can also see that you are still missing your family and are wondering whether or not you have made the right decision to leave Earth for good. I‘m also sorry it did not work out with the woman you spoke to me about.”

Will looked surprised.

“Yes, I am still having doubts about doing so,” he admitted.

“Will, from the beginning of this venture, the Elders and I fought amongst ourselves as they thought the idea of approaching a Terran - even one as unique as you - was a mistake. I told them it wasn’t, did not listen to their wise council, and took what I felt was the most logical course of action.”

He paused for a few seconds to collect his thoughts. Will was focused intently on Portak and was more than a little uncomfortable accepting Portak‘s praise.

“It was a
mistake
that I’m glad I made, and would do so again without hesitation.”

Will nodded and said, “Thank you.”

“Will, although you are modest regarding your abilities, you must realize that you are undoubtedly one of the most unique and powerful beings in the entire universe. And I don’t say this lightly. There are many powerful and unique Guardians that have sworn to protect the planets they are responsible for and would lay down their lives if necessary. I am proud to be associated with such a group. I am also most pleased to consider you not only as one of the Guardians, but also as my friend.”

Will nodded again in agreement.

“And I also consider you not only a mentor, but a friend as well, Portak. I cannot begin to tell you how much it means to me to hear you say all of that. I will not let you down.”

Portak acknowledged Will’s comments with a nod of his own.

“Excellent. Now, in addition to your primary mission of protecting your sector, I must also ask another favor of you. One of our missions as Guardians includes that of being historians. Many of the worlds you have sworn to protect are in various stages of development. Some are very advanced civilizations, while others are more primitive than your Earth. Therefore, reviewing their historical records and documents is impossible as it is often unreliable or unavailable. Oftentimes all we have are the various myths and legends of their cultures, which are usually substantially embellished or totally fabricated.

“With your unique abilities to travel through time and alter your appearance, it is the Elders’ request that you use these abilities to travel to various periods of time and record the history of the worlds where our records are incomplete, and in some cases non-existent.”

“That will not be a problem.”

“In some cases you may have to live with these beings for decades or even centuries. In others you will be able to skip around to different time periods in their development. You will have to be the judge of that on a case-by-case basis. However, since you are immortal, this will not be an issue. Once you have completed an assignment you can simply return to this time period without missing even a single second of your primary responsibilities as a Guardian.”

“I am intrigued by this idea, and I am looking forward to the challenge.”

“However, you must be aware that in the past history of these various worlds you are simply an observer, and you cannot influence, alter or change the course of their history in any way, shape or form.”

“I understand,” Will said.

“It may be easier said than done, my friend. As a Guardian you are sworn to protect innocent life above all costs. There will be times when you will simply have to watch one or more beings die in front of you, knowing that you could have easily saved them, but doing so could very well affect the entire course of that planet‘s history.”

Damn
,
I hadn’t thought of that
. His expression gave away his thoughts.

“Therefore, you should give this assignment careful consideration before accepting it.”

“You are right. I would like to think this over for a couple of days and get back with you, if that is permissible.”

“Please do. Take your time, and when you’re ready, let me know one way or another. I will leave you now to get some rest.”

Portak gave Will a slight bow and left Will to his thoughts. Will then flew to his home and made himself some dinner. Afterwards, Will laid down for the night, but could not sleep right away. He knew this would be a difficult assignment, but he also knew that he was the only person who could accomplish it. Will finally drifted off to sleep in the wee hours of the Altrusian morning.

***

Will arose at daybreak in order to exercise. Will started out with a 10,000 mile “jog” around the planet. Will was so fast that even at a jog, he finished in less than two minutes. Will then made a couple of flights to Altrusia’s closest moon. What had once taken him seven minutes to make the round trip, he could now accomplish - not even flying at top speed - in less than one minute.

He then went into the special gymnasium that he had built in his house. One of the specially designed machines he used simulated gravity in place of weights. Will was so strong that he was able to lift the equivalent of the Himalayas like it was a bag of potatoes. He finished up his workout with a 5,000 mile swim, 5,000 pushups, 5,000 sit-ups, and 5,000 pull ups. All of which was accomplished in less than ten minutes.

Will then took a shower and ate breakfast. He felt refreshed after his “light” workout. Will then got dressed and flew to the command center facility to find Portak so he could give him his answer.

Upon arriving at the facility, Will found Portak in the Command Center.

“Good morning, Will. I hope you rested well.”

“I did,” Will lied. “I have come to a decision: I will take the assignment as your historian.”

“Excellent! We still have a few details to discuss, but I would like for you to begin tomorrow. Are you going to be able to stand by and be an observer, even in an emergency?”

“It will be most difficult for me to do this, but I will just have to remember that these are events that have already occurred, and that if I try to prevent them, I could cause irreparable damage to the planet.”

“Very well then. We have much to talk about before you begin tomorrow. I have prepared a list of the planets that we need to chronicle the histories of, and where the gaps regarding their histories are.”

Will nodded, took the list and memorized it. He was anxious to get started.

Historian

Will excelled at being a historian. With his photographic memory, specialized recording equipment, ability to alter his appearance, and fluency in more than 14 million languages and forms of communication, he was able to chronicle the history of hundreds of planets, some of which little or absolutely nothing was known of the planet‘s history and development.

Will spent several decades on Crenoulus II, moving between various stages of the planet’s history, a world inhabited by humanoid-like beings with four arms, green skin and large pink eyes, chronicling their rise from an industrial and agrarian society to one on the verge of interstellar flight.

Narcinium, a verdant planet on which plant-like creatures were the primary sentient life forms, had long been a planet clouded in mystery as to how these creatures evolved in such a short amount of time. Will discovered that a meteor containing spores that reacted with their body chemistry to turn them into sentient beings in only a few centuries had crashed on their planet.

Will spent several years on Titus VII, a world of humanoid creatures that were on par with Earth in the early 21
st
century in terms of their planetary development. The Titusians, like the inhabitants of Earth, also believed that they were the only sentient beings in the universe.

The demon-like creatures of Forlan V were surprisingly peaceful and scientifically advanced, considering their horrific visage. They valued peace and scientific advancement above all things.

Xerenius was populated solely by creatures similar to the dinosaurs that once inhabited Earth in the distant past, only they were much larger and more intelligent.

Zarinia’s inhabitants were a species of many different races of giant cyclops with lizard-like scales all over their bodies and only holes on the side of their head for ears. They averaged twenty feet in height, and they were cannibalistic.

Will’s most memorable time was spent on the planet Krelios. The Krelians were an advanced scientific race that cherished peace and science above all things. Earlier in their development they had been warlike and savage, but one of their greatest leaders, Noltran, had led them to develop the peaceful, scientific society they now lived in.

Will lived among the Krelians for more than 200 years and became close friends with one of Noltran’s descendants, Volnar. In his guise as a Krelian, Volnar knew Will as Kaltran.

The Krelians were humanoid in appearance. The males were slightly taller than the average human and leaned more towards the thin side. The females were the size of an average human female. Both sexes had three points, one at the top and two at the bottom of their ears. Their eyes were pale green, and their skin tone was light blue. Each of them was polydactyl, having six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. They had an average life span of 500 Earth years. Their women were absolutely gorgeous, and Will became romantically involved with Volnar’s younger sister, Sareena.

After several years and against his better judgment, Will took Volnar into his confidence and revealed his true identity as both a superpowered Guardian and a Terran. Volnar was shocked, especially when Will transformed into his real appearance in front of him, but he was a true friend and did not reveal Will’s secret to anyone.

Over the years, Will taught Volnar several of Earth’s languages, to include English, German, French, Latin, Spanish, and a few others as well. Volnar was a natural linguist and picked up the languages very easily. Will talked often of his life on Earth, how beautiful the planet was, and how fiercely independent its people were.

Will also admitted to Volnar that he had been romantically involved with Sareena. Volnar did not want to see his sister hurt when Will left, so he asked Will to break up with her, so Will reluctantly agreed. Will divulged his identity as a Guardian and a Terran to Sareena - he felt he owed her that, and she agreed that it would be best if they were not together. Will never forgot about Sareena and their time together.

***

All together, Will spent close to 2,000 Earth years acting as a historian. The Altrusian historians were like children on Christmas morning each time Will brought them the results of his research.

Each time Will returned to Altrusia, it was as if no more than a few seconds or minutes had passed. Will often spent months, and sometimes years, between assignments as a historian. Between his assignments as a historian, he continued with his primary duties as a Guardian. Will thoroughly enjoyed being a Guardian and protecting others. As the Shadow Warrior he became even more of a legend among the different star sectors.

Extraterrestrial Contact

One day several months after Will had completed his latest assignment as a historian, Portak summoned Will to his chambers for a conversation.

“Will, there is something we need to discuss,” Portak began as he often did without preamble. “As you know Earth was not to be contacted for at least another eight-hundred years by an alien race due to its immaturity and planetary development.”

“Yes, I’m well aware of this.”

“What you may not be aware of is that over the last several thousand years, Earth has been visited on numerous occasions by alien races, mostly for research and scientific purposes.”

Will was genuinely surprised. “I did not know this. There are many legends on Earth that speak of strange creatures or vessels being observed over the millennia; some even describe contact with the aliens, and a few involve humans being abducted and taken aboard the aliens’ spacecraft. There are many cave drawings near my old home in England that were drawn by our ancient ancestors which depict some of these creatures. But, as I said, these were believed to simply be legends made up to explain phenomena that otherwise could not be fully explained.”

“My friend, even legends usually have some basis in fact. I know that different alien races have traveled to Earth for research purposes with the Universal Council’s permission, with strict orders of no contact. However, on occasion, there has been prohibited contact that was made contrary to those orders by some of the more hostile and belligerent races, most of which involve planets that have not joined the Council. The Council has ordered me to look into this and stop these unauthorized contacts immediately.”

Will was stunned, and it showed on his face. Even though he knew there were numerous sentient beings in the universe, he had not thought that any of the Terran legends regarding alien contact or sightings were true.

“In fact, the Council and I have decided to let
you
be the person to handle any of these incidents that occur. They will still allow authorized research vessels to study Earth, as long as they don’t violate the no contact edict. Some sightings of these spacecraft will be unavoidable, as not all spacecraft have cloaking technology, but the no contact edict will be strictly enforced and violations dealt with swiftly and severely.”

“It would be my pleasure,” Will said smiling.

“Somehow I knew you would say that,” Portak replied, also smiling. “In limited circumstances you will be permitted to make contact with those persons in positions of authority as a point of contact to notify you of any unauthorized contact that you aren‘t aware of. But, anyone you come in contact with will have to have that portion of their memory blocked to prevent them from ever discussing their contact with you under whatever parameters you establish.”

“The Council and you are very wise indeed. You can count on me.”

“I know I can, my friend. I know.”

***

Over the next several hundred years, Will made infrequent trips to Earth to prevent unauthorized contact between an alien civilization and the inhabitants of Earth or to bring to justice those who had violated the no contact rule.

During this time Will’s mother and brother passed away; he never took the opportunity to see them before they died, but their descendants flourished.

On one such trip, in 1888, Will returned to what was now known as Essex Manor. Some of his descendants still lived at the Manor home, but they had also opened part of it to the public as a museum and art gallery on a limited basis. Edward had indeed increased the value of Will’s initial investments, and the Essex family descendants were some of the wealthiest in Europe.

The portraits that Elizabeth had painted adorned many of the walls of the estate. Upon seeing the portraits, he felt sad at never having seen his family again.

Elizabeth had gone on to become a very famous portrait and still life artist in her time. Her works chronicled the Essex family at different stages in their lives. Will was able to see what Edward, Elizabeth, and the children looked like as they grew older. Some of her other works of art included portraits of the various members of the royal family from her time period. Some of her work even hung in Buckingham Palace.

While perusing the art gallery, he noticed an attractive young woman, who was about 25 years old with long, curly blond hair, wearing a stylish blue dress, staring at him intently. As he moved around the room, so did she. The young woman did not try to hide her obvious interest. As Will moved behind a sculpture of
David
, the girl was surprised to see that Will had disappeared when she came around the sculpture to look for him. She was even more surprised when he came up unexpectedly behind her.

“Is there something I may help you with, young lady?” he asked her.

She let out a startled yelp. “Dear Lord! You scared me half to death!”

“I’m sorry about that, but I was curious as to why you were staring at me so intently.”

“I…I was not!” she said, her cheeks turning red. “I mean, I, well…you look exactly like the portrait of one of my ancestors.”

Will looked confused. “What portrait would that be?” he asked.

“Come, I’ll show you.”

The girl escorted Will into an adjoining room, and showed him a portrait that Elizabeth had painted almost 400 years earlier. Will was shocked to see a painting of himself fixed in a gilded frame hanging on the wall in front of him. He recalled the conversation where she had asked him to sit for a portrait and he declined. Obviously, Elizabeth must have painted it from memory after his visit. The resemblance between him and his portrait was astounding.

“One of your ancestors? Then you must be…?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m Emma. Emma Essex. And you are?”

Will was taken aback at hearing that this young woman had been named after his mother, but his face remained impassive.

“I’m David. David Porter,” he said, as he proffered his hand, which she took. Will had used a mix of his father’s first name and his mother’s maiden name.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Porter. Now, I apologize for being so rude, but the resemblance between you and my ancestor was somewhat startling. Are you related to our family?”

“No, I’m afraid not,” he lied. “My resemblance to your ancestor is just a coincidence.”

“Of course,” she said, with a placating smile, not totally convinced. “Sorry to have troubled you.”

“No trouble at all.” As she turned to leave he asked, “Out of curiosity, whatever happened to the chap in the portrait I seem to resemble? What was his name?”

Emma turned around and smiled, happy to answer the question. “His name was William. William Essex. To answer the first part of your question, that is one of our great family mysteries as no one really knows. According to our family history, he left home at eighteen, and was not heard from again until he was in his mid-thirties, which was in the year 1497.

“At that time he returned home for a couple of months and stayed with his brother, Edward, and his family. That portrait of him was painted by Edward’s wife, Elizabeth, during that visit. In fact, all of the family portraits in this gallery were painted by her. While he was visiting his family, he told his brother that he was a successful spice and jewelry merchant and reportedly gave his brother a large amount of jewels that allowed him to buy this estate. Some of the stones eventually made their way to the royal family and became part of the crown jewels. He also fell in love with a woman named Hanna Chapman. When he left, she was supposed to go with him, but at the last minute she changed her mind and didn‘t go. She eventually married a wealthy banker that her parents introduced her to a few years later.”

Will was a little shocked at learning this bit of information, and saddened at hearing Hanna‘s name again. He had wondered what had become of her, and hoped that her marriage had been happy.

“In fact, Elizabeth painted that portrait of her behind you.”

Will turned and saw the portrait of Hanna hanging on the wall behind him. She looked beautiful. The sight of her portrait instantly brought back his memories of their time together, as well as her scent and her touch. He turned away from her portrait quicker than he meant to, but Emma didn’t seem to notice.

“After he left that time, he was never heard from again. He supposedly returned to Asia where he told his family his businesses were located. But, there has never been any proof that these businesses ever existed in Asia, or anywhere else for that matter.” She paused for a few seconds and then continued, “In fact, I’m named after their mother, who died several years after his final visit.” Will became saddened again at the thought of his mother’s death.

“Thank you so much for that information. Well, I must…”

“The really strange thing,” she continued, seeming not to have heard him, “is a family legend regarding what really happened to him.”

Will was intrigued by this and wanted to know more.

“What legend would that be?”

“On the day he left, his brother offered him a horse to ride to the docks in nearby Ravenglass where he was to board a ship back to Asia, but he chose to walk instead.”

“I admit that seems strange, but what of it?” replied Will, remembering the day vividly.

“Unbeknownst to him, his nephew and niece, Miles and Emily, decided to follow him through the woods, surprise him and bid him a final farewell. As they were awaiting his approach, they hid at the edge of the woods, he looked around, changed into some kind of black clothing, and flew into the sky like an angel. But, you know how children are. No one in the family believed them, but until the day they died, they both swore this was what they had seen,” she said with a smile.

Will was completely stunned. He had not dreamed that his niece and nephew had followed him and observed him fly back to his spacecraft. He had not thought to scan the woods with his vision or hearing powers prior to flying back to his starship cruiser, mainly because he was thinking about Hanna. He would never make that mistake again.

“Yes, children can have quite the imagination,” he said, forcing a smile. “Well, I must be going. Thank you for your hospitality, Emma.”

“My pleasure,” she said, smiling as well. She turned and left Will by himself. A few minutes later, he left the estate and returned to Altrusia.

***

From a distance Will watched the human race progress in many areas - from science to art; literature to medicine; engineering to communications, and in many other ways. He could not wait until the day the human race was ready to accept that they were not the only sentient beings in the universe and become part of the intergalactic community. However, he knew that day would be a long time coming as the Earth’s inhabitants still had a lot of maturing to do.

In addition to his duties as a historian on distant worlds, he also became one for his own planet. He marveled at Earth’s rich history. From the ancient Greek philosophers, Plato and Socrates, to the building of the Great Pyramids in Egypt, and the Great Wall of China. From the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, to the discovery of the New World by the European explorers, to the brave travels of the Pilgrims to the New World to be able to worship in freedom. From the founding of the thirteen American colonies and its Revolutionary War with his native England, to the rise of the United States of America.

From its inception, Will was intrigued by the concept of America and its ideals of freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom from tyranny and oppression, and the pursuit of happiness. Another quality of the Americans that impressed Will was their strong desire for peace and their willingness to go to war to maintain that peace.

He watched the struggles of the African slaves as they fought to win their freedom, and the Civil War that almost tore America apart at its core by pitting brother-against-brother, father-against-son, neighbor-against-neighbor, and family-against-family. Will thought of the many worlds he had visited where slavery still freely existed, an institution he believed was wrong, but was forbidden to interfere.

As America became a dominant power in the world in science, engineering and invention, various alien races began to take notice and several expeditions were sent to study this up and coming civilization. Will’s job was to keep this in check and to make sure that the alien researchers simply kept their missions one of pure research and nothing more.

While America and the rest of the Earth rolled through the 18
th
, 19
th
and 20
th
centuries, Will kept a watchful eye on things from a distance when his primary responsibilities permitted.

More and more Will was kept away from Earth by his Guardian duties in his assigned sector and quadrant, which had increased in size and number with his myriad of successes. Will was now such a legend throughout the known universe, that the mere mention that the Guardian known as the Shadow Warrior might become involved in some type of interplanetary dispute was often enough to squelch it.

One day Will approached Portak with an idea he had for dealing with any issues that may arise on Earth as they related to alien researchers and hostile alien races.

“I know we discussed this many years before, but my idea is to secretly and privately contact the leaders of the major peaceful countries, such as America, Britain, Canada and Australia, and provide them with a way to make contact with me in case they need my services. I would not tell them more than they needed to know, of course, and I would make it so they could not discuss me in any way with anyone except their successors.”