The Children of Time (The Children of Time Trilogy Book 1) (9 page)

He also couldn’t stop thinking about the beautiful Lorena. He didn’t
understand how he been able to feel attraction for a woman from the past.
However, she was so lovely and beautiful that he couldn’t stop thinking about
her. If he could go back in time, maybe he wouldn’t have gone away and would
take the major’s place. On his planet he could never be happy with anyone and,
deep in his heart, he felt that he could be happy with Lorena. Living as an
impostor, however, wasn’t a pleasant idea to him, even though that woman was capable
of messing with his heart, hardened by failed relationships.

The commander has programmed his ship to enter the space-time bridge
with warp speed and ordered to Z8, the central computer of the ship:

“Z8, take the ship home safely. I want to rest a bit. Just call me
in case of an emergency.”

“Yes, commander.” Z8 replied.

***

While the Challenge I was heading for the planet Vida, under the
command of Z8, Merko could rest.

But his mind couldn’t relax, and he was plagued by several memories
of moments spent beside Silion.

One adventure that went back and forth had happened five years ago.
A giant meteor was on a collision course with the planet Vida. All the
alternatives to intercept and destroy it had been discarded by the Royal
Council. There was only one chance to deflect the asteroid: Using a powerful
laser beam that could bombard and destroy it from the planet Vida while it was
still thousands of miles away from the fatal encounter.

The Challenge II ship, which was coupled to a laser gun, however,
was defective, and engineers worked tirelessly to fix it.

There was no time to solve the problem of repairing the ship, and
the gun couldn’t be removed or transported to another vehicle in a time. As they
were all condemned to death with the imminent destruction of the planet, Merko fierce
entered his ship Challenge I and decided to leave in order to project himself
against the meteor.

He would try to use the own Challenge I, heading toward the
celestial body, being tangential to one of its ends in order to get it out of his
route. His computer, Z8, had calculated the exact time and point of impact in
which they would get the highest percentage of success in the mission of saving
the planet Vida. The commander didn’t say goodbye to anyone, knowing that many
would try to stop him from continuing with his suicide mission.

He entered his ship and departed at an extraordinary speed toward
the asteroid, which was still at a safe distance to change its course.

Silion watched his friend in his last moments. He knew Merko very well
and knew that something strange was about to happen. Before he left, they
talked:

“Merko, why haven’t you talked to anyone lately? What’s on your
mind, my friend?”

“I’m worried about the arrival of Meteor X26. I believe it will be
impossible to stop it and we’ll all die. I must think of a way out.”

“Our engineers will be able to recover the Challenge II on time. The
weapons are ready and only the reactor still needs to be repaired.”

“Dear Silion, when they repair the ship it will be too late. There’s
no time left, X26 is close to a point where we won’t be able to stop it. We
both know that very well! We don’t need to fool ourselves with false hopes. There’s
no time to wait for the Challenge II to be repaired.”

Silion lowered his head, feeling sad, and let Merko alone. He knew
that in difficult situations, the commander used to make wise decisions and
that he would find a way out. A few hours later, he looked for him again and
found out that his ship was gone. Silion had a bad feeling and imagined that
the captain had left for death.

At an incredible speed, Merko had programmed his ship to a course
against the large asteroid. The commander was traveling with tears in his eyes,
thinking about everything he had left behind. At the same time, he hoped that
the impact was enough to save the planet and all its inhabitants.

Silion quickly went to meet the engineers that recovered the ship’s
reactors. He asked for urgency in the repair and accelerated all the steps of
the maintenance process.

Merko could already see the monster X26, that seemed voracious on it
purpose. Silently, he said goodbye to his life. When the ship approached, a few
miles away, he heard a voice shouting in a holograph that appeared in front of
him:

“My friend Merko, open the way, because I’ll use the laser in this
meteor!”

He only had time to observe the powerful red ray passing near his ship
and hit X26 with surgical precision. The asteroid passed close to Merko’s ship,
and he felt the effect of its passage. The meteor moved away from the planet Vida
and everyone was saved, including the commander who had been so close to surrender
his life for his planet.

“You’re crazy, Merko. You would sacrifice yourself for humanity. I’d
really miss you, my friend.

“Thanks again, Silion. You always appear when I need the most. I was
really willing to give my life for the continuation of the human race, but I
confess I’m happy to continue living. Let’s go home to celebrate my return.

***

After losing his close friend, Silion, Merko remembered returning to
planet Vida, the moment his life was saved.

In memory of Silion, because he knew that would be his friend’s will,
he decided to continue his current mission, doing what he liked. He loved the space
travels. To contemplate the big bright stars, planets and their satellites was
his greatest pleasure.

Those visions were what most impressed Merko. When he had to execute
some mission and let the adrenaline circulate through his veins, that was what
really made him happy. He wished one day he could find a woman with an
adventurous spirit that would complete his life, but had no hopes. He had already
tried before and failed. He couldn’t forget that woman from the past. There was
something different about her that messed with the captain. But he didn’t knew
that a woman like Lorena was a treasure that is not easily found, nor on Earth,
neither in the planet Vida.

***

On Earth, Lorena couldn’t understand what had happened to the army
major, John, her husband, who disappeared suddenly. After a useless wait, she
decided to move from the state. She left Arizona, where her husband worked, and
moved to Los Angeles to raise her child.

She didn’t understand what had happened to John after that
unforgettable night they spent together. The next morning, he left to work with
his usual mysterious behavior. She had no idea what exactly he was doing in
that military base, from where he never returned. The army had no concrete news
and just informed that her husband was missing. She began to be supported by the
government, but she really missed the man she had lost. She was also sorry
because she hadn’t been able to make a funeral and give a decent goodbye to the
man she had loved, the father of her only child.

She was very sad, but continued to raise her son, Nicolas. With
great difficulty she managed to educate him and now she paid the University where
he studied. Some years later, Sophia was born, which was a blessing and she
also struggled to give her a good education.

She was very proud of her kids, because they both were excellent
students, didn’t get involved with bad companies and had clear purposes to
succeed in life: Nicolas wanted to become a great physics, and Sophia dreamed
of being an environmental engineer.

Despite how much she missed her husband, Lorena had managed to
overcome her fears. She raised her kids very well, who were growing up healthy
and with good characters. But she still missed a great love in her life.

Twelve years after the disappearance of the major, Lorena met a
gentleman who charmed her in a birthday party of one of Nicolas’ friends from
school. His name was Robert. Since she had already spent many years alone, she
decided to give herself a chance and try another relationship. She was excited
at the prospect of loving and being loved again.

Mr. Robert was a good man. He was a civil engineer, who was always
involved in large projects and, as Lorena, was also a widower. He had beautiful
green eyes and dark brown hair, wore a mustache, which was already slightly
grizzled, and was extremely charming.

When he saw Lorena, he immediately became fascinated with her golden
hair and her beauty. He asked her out and she accepted, because besides being
elegant, he was also an educated and interesting man.

Robert fell in love and did everything to get Lorena, who also
surrendered herself to her new love. They both tried to be happy again.

After two years, Lorena gave birth to a daughter called Sophia, who
became her great friend; when she was not at school, she wanted to go with her
mother everywhere. Robert also loved his daughter and did everything to please
her. He helped her raising Nicolas, advising him and acting like he was his
real father. Together they formed a happy family.

However, Robert died shortly after Sophia’s birth, because of a massive
heart attack, which occurred during one of his trips. He worked very hard and
was always stressed, although he was almost retiring. That was another pain for
the young woman to carry in her life marked by irreparable losses.

Thus, Lorena became a widow of two husbands. Robert was a great
companion, although she hadn’t felt for him the overwhelming love she felt for the
major who had disappeared so many years ago.

Now, besides the pain of losing two men, her son had also
disappeared. She loved the boy and was completely lost without him. That was
what happened with the major; he simply disappeared and was considered dead.
She knew she couldn’t resist the same pain again. At least she had been able to
provide a funeral to Robert, saying goodbye and whenever she missed him she
could go to her husband’s grave to pray. She needed at least to find the body
of her son. She didn’t lose the hope of finding him alive, but she knew the chances
were few, because Nick had always been a very responsible kid and would have already
gotten in touch if he could do it.

Lorena did everything she could to try to find her son. She placed
advertisements in all the newspapers, informed the FBI about his disappearance
and went to the University to seek for clues and understand why her son, who
was so dedicated haven’t shown up for a few weeks. She and Sophia were alone,
but Lorena found strength to continue to live and to look for her son.

After several months, she finally received a mysterious email from
Nicolas.

“Mother,

I love you.

Don’t worry, I’m fine. But I can’t go back now; I’m involved with a
problem related to a friend. Please, don’t tell anyone that you spoke to me.
Keep pretending I’m missing. For our sake and little Sophia’s.

Soon, everything will be solved.

Kisses from your son who loves you more than anything,

Nicolas.”

***

Nicolas always knew he shouldn’t get in touch with his mother. From
the beginning, however, he tried to think of alternatives to calm Lorena down.
After talking a lot with Drako, who was an expert in Information Systems, the
two of them managed to create a way to send an untraceable email, so that Merko
couldn’t use the message to get to him.

They still needed a few weeks and many meetings to convince Sivoc that
it would be safe to send the email.

As soon as it was possible, Nicolas managed to send a message to his
mother.

***

After seeing that e-mail, Lorena felt a mix of sensations. On one
hand, she was relieved to know that her son was alive, but then she was worried
about losing him. She decided to wait, because there was nothing else to do
about Nicolas.

She had to trust her son, who always knew how to be responsible. At
school, he was a model student with good grades and never brought trouble home.
He always made his mother proud with his virtues, morals and common sense.

Certainly, something very strange was happening. And although she trusted
her son, Lorena couldn’t remove all the anguish of her heart, after all, she
was pretty worried.

Merko, Crom and the others from his team reached the position of the
ship on the bottom of the sea, in the Gulf of Mexico.

They positioned the Challenge I beside it and entered the Science II
teleporting themselves, but nobody was there. With a paralyzing gun, they left
the robot dog, Little Wolf, out of action. Only his eyes were moving from side
to side watching the movements of the invaders.

That was when Merko said:

“Crom, check in the central computer the last location they were transported
from the ship. There must be some record of their position.”

So, they managed to know what would be the next step: to follow the
coordinates of the teleportation position registered in the ship. However,
Drako had placed false records of latitude and longitude on the computers boards
in order to distract them. Merko and his team didn’t anticipate the
intelligence of the Information System’s expert and headed to the places
indicated in the ship’s computer, moving away from the ones they were pursuing.

The trick used by Drako was a way for Sivoc’s team to gain some time
and hide while waiting for the opening day of the wormhole near Calisto moon,
where intergalactic positions would become perfect for the trip back.

Merko and his soldiers looked around and realized they were in the
Red Square, the tourist site most famous and visited of Russia. The big streets
of Moscow starting on this square and were heading to several places. They
observed many tourists who admired the beauties of the place.

The tour guides showed all the buildings around, which were
historically important. Merko and the others put the infrared glasses to find
signs of transmuted people, but couldn’t see them. They walked through the
crowd with their sunglasses and didn’t detect the presence of their targets.

“Mr. Commander, I can’t understand why they would come to this place
so far from home and from the boys country. I observed in other records of the
ship, and the places don’t make sense. Istanbul in Turkey, Tokyo in Japan...”

“You don’t need to continue. Drako had duped us. He’s very smart and
I didn’t think that this hunt would be easy. Let’s go back to our ship and
think of some strategy. We need a better plan to find them.”

***

Without achieving success in finding them, Merko again decided to
contact Mirov, the organizer and advisor of his mission.

“Counselor, I’d like to know if you got any other information about
the target. We’re very close to it, but your help would be of great value at
this time.”

“Merko, give me a few hours to try to gather as much information as
possible. I’ll contact you as soon as possible.”

“I’m waiting for new information, counselor.”

After some hours, Mirov returned the contact with good news.

“Radof only got some information in the Royal Palace. They are in
the country where the earthling lives, but that was the only thing I could
discover. Certainly they’re hidden.”

“Understood, Mr. Counselor. I’ll use this information the best way I
can. We’ll find the earthling soon and we’ll succeed in our mission.”

With this, they realized how difficult it would be to find them. They
wouldn’t reveal themselves so easily and were certainly taking all the necessary
precautions to remain hidden. Merko decided to trace a research strategy to
track them.

***

For the luck of Sivoc’s crew, they were all hidden. Sivoc, Drako and
Zara rested in the apartment while Nicolas and Tibor trained in the martial
arts academy.

Sivoc was quiet, listening to classical music, which came from the
radio and felt like it was penetrating deep into his soul making him relax. It
was a symphony of Beethoven.
“Simply a magnificent work of art!”
He
thought.

The apartment in which he and his crew lived was large, with three
bedrooms. The living room had the walls painted in the color of sand, with a
comfortable sofa and a recliner. In his bedroom, there was a large window with
a wonderful view of the city, where they spend a lot of time watching the
frantic “coming and going” of the people.

Living there, waiting for the days to go by, he never imagined that
his rival Merko was searching at all the databases for any information, no
matter how small, to look for the place where they were hidden.

Crom, using regular tools of search, found some news about the
episode that occurred in New York with the gang who levitated and remained
suspended in a tree. The strange event caught the attention of the
sensationalist media and was reported in all major newspapers online. Noticing
that this was important evidence, he ran to his commandant and questioned him:

“Mr. Merko, I think I found some important information about our
target. Look at this fact in the city of New York.”

“Brilliant, Captain Crom. A couple that imprisoned bandits by
levitating them. It sounds like telekinesis. But how is it possible? The members
of Science II don’t have this power. However, this fact is obviously related to
them. Hurry, prepare all men. We’ll teleport ourselves there. I’m sure we’ll
find more clues about Sivoc and his crew.”

***

Merko and his team were in New York to try to find Nicolas. As the
episode found in the newspapers had happened in Central Park, they decided to
start their search there. They were all dressed with a costume that would make
them go unnoticed amidst the crowd: jeans, blazers and black shoes. All the information
about the clothing of the time and place had been obtained in the database of the
ship.

“Merko, we need to observe how they live here so we can create a capture
plan. While we look for someone in the crowd, we can already devise strategies
to make the capture as soon as we find them.” Crom said.

“Okay. I know this is you specialty and I trust the task to you.”
Merko replied.

They spent hours in the park every day, observing the movement of
people with their infrared glasses, which would reveal if there were a
transmuted among them.

After several days of observation, during which Merko’s men were
positioned in strategic places to get a better reach and a larger view of the
park, they saw a man with the red image showing heat and radiation. It was the
signal that they needed to detect a transmuted.

They observed the man, who entered into a food store and it was
Drako. He looked everywhere and, although he was using his infrared glasses, he
couldn’t distinguish his tormentors in front of an intense crowd.

At the same time, the men of the Alpha-Omega team were also setting
up a stakeout in several places of the city, but only the agent Netil had the
glasses, a unique pair they had stolen from Silion, the alien captured years
earlier. Even using reverse engineering they weren’t capable to copy the
equipment. Thus, Alpha-Omega team had greater difficulty in the search for the aliens,
because with only a pair of glasses, they couldn’t scan a very large area, so
they would need to wait for some extraordinary event to reveal the presence of
visitors from space.

With a distance, Crom followed Drako for several blocks, taking
great care not to be seen. He realized that he also carried the glasses and he
had to be very cautious in his pursuit. Still hidden, he saw Drako entering a
building, probably the apartment where he and his team were hiding.

Crom reported to Merko, informing the location. After a brief
meeting, during which an alien continued to peek the building, they decided that
the best thing to do was to observe that place day and night, because it was
certainly Sivoc’s hideout, so, they would find Nicolas there. It would be necessary
surveillance of twenty-four hours, so all the movements could be detected and
they could trace all the details of the routine of the residents of the
building.

After a few days, they knew exactly what the routine of every member
of Science II was. Merko didn’t want to wait much longer, because he knew that
in a few days they would have to cross the space-time passage. He left two
soldiers guarding Sivoc, Drako and Zara, and decided to invade the gym where
Nicolas and Tibor were, along with Crom and another soldier.

***

One of Merko’s soldiers had already followed Nicolas and Tibor to
the gym which they attended every day and had the coordinates of the location.
After making sure that everything was right and informing its plans once again
to Crom and the soldier would go with him, Merko and his companions teleported
to the place. He saw the earthling entering the academy of fights, followed by
Tibor.

When Nicolas was training, Tibor came to him and said:

“I’m having a bad feeling, boy. Whatever it is, if there is a
problem, try to teleport yourself next to Zara, because she’ll know what to do.”

Some seconds after Tibor’s warning, the three men invaded the
academy. Alex approached one of them and asked who they were, but Merko,
without listening, struck him in his throat. He moved away and continued to
fight. Tibor asked Nicolas to get away and soon he was facing Crom, while Merko
didn’t take his eyes off his main target, the earthling whose special defense
cells were interesting to the inhabitants of the planet Vida. Tibor quickly
sent a telepathic signal of danger to everyone from his team and started
fighting with Crom. The fight seemed endless because of their mutual capacity.

Tibor managed to immobilize Crom with a technical arm lock, a blow
often used by the police to immobilize and knock out their opponent. Crom fell
unconscious on the floor.

Nicolas struggled with one of the soldiers and also managed to knock
him down, but Merko got rid of Alex and quickly got to the earthling. When the
young man grabbed him by the arm, the experienced soldier reversed the
advantage by bending his arm and holding his neck with two fingers of his right
hand, leaving him unconscious.

“Tibor, you should be one of my officers!” Merko said.

“I don’t agree with your methods.” Tibor replied promptly.

The two of them approached, after Merko laid the unconscious Nicolas
carefully in one of the closest walls.

First, the commander tried a
Kung-fu
blow in Tibor’s throat,
but his defense of
Karate-do
with the top of his right hand, threw a
blow in Merko’s stomach.

Despite the great skill of his opponent, Merko prepared an attack
that no one had managed to escape before. It was an advanced blow,
Aikido
style.

Tibor tried to hit him at the height of his liver, but his opponent turned
around holding his arm, making him to hit his head against the wall and fall
unconscious.

Meanwhile, the members of the academy watched it all, perplexed, and
thought it was a workout or some demonstration. They only noticed realized that
the attacks were serious when Merko looked at them and pulled his laser gun,
scaring them all and making them flee in terror.

“Commander, we’d better stop now.” Crom warned Merko when he saw
that everybody of the academy was running for their lives. He was getting up slowly;
still dazed by the blow he had received. “The situation is already under
control and we can’t catch even more attention to our existence. We need to get
out of here quickly.”

They used only the paralyzing rays to immobilize those who were
present and to avoid major problems.

They synchronized their watches to get out of there soon.

Merko was furious because he didn’t like to leave witnesses to his
actions during missions, but he remained silent. He, Crom, and the soldier who
came as a support, teleported themselves to the ship carrying Nicolas as
prisoner.

The boy woke up inside the ship, on the bottom of the Gulf of
Mexico. He looked through the window of the living room where he was and saw
sharks and stingrays swimming around. He woke up a bit confused, but gradually began
to remember what had happened in the gym.

The air in the room was very clean; it seemed composed only of
oxygen, which provided him a good sensation when breathing. Soon, however, his
attention turned to the place where he was and he could notice that it was some
kind of compartment of the ship similar to a bedroom. There was very few
furniture, with only one place to lie and another one to sit, both with the
shape that allowed the perfect fitting of a person.

Nicolas was still watching the place of his captivity, when he heard
somebody asking for permission to enter.

“Welcome to Challenge I!” At this moment, Nicolas realized he was a
prisoner and that his life could be in danger. The conversation was telepathic
and the boy couldn’t avoid listening. “Looks like you really like technology.
In the future we have the most powerful computers ever seen. But the telepathy
used among us, from Planet Vida, and other powers of the mind that you do not
know, can only be used by us and not by machines. It is a power inherent to the
nature of our thoughts. To let the machines think can be very dangerous.” He
paused for a moment, because he noticed the curious eyes of the young man. “I
was forgetting to introduce myself; I am Commander Merko, from the planet Vida.
As for you, there’s no need to presentations. We all know you.”