Ever My Merlin (Book 3, My Merlin Series) (25 page)

A bit of blue magic flared. Matt held up the small crystal orb high in the air.

The Kronos Eye lit up. Like a 3D movie, a hologram in full color played out the sequence I’d previously witnessed in person. A star went supernova, causing its younger neighbor, our sun to go crazy and begin emitting huge solar flares. It showed a blue planet. Earth. The sun shot out a particularly massive flare. The bombardment of radiation tore through Earth’s thin barrier of defense, the ozone, and attacked the fragile ball’s innards. Within seconds, flames cooked the surface of the planet Earth. Steel cities melted in eerie silence.

The hologram winked out.

Matt walked to me and put his hand on my shoulder.

The Queen asked, “Can you confirm, sword-bearer, this is what you saw?”

With effort, I focused on her. “Yes.”

A composed man seated by the Queen, the Prime Minister (of Britain, I assumed), stood up. “Quite fantastic, isn’t it? However, it is also quite real. I have taken the liberty of gathering our top astrophysicists to review the vision.” He gestured at Mustache-Man, who began passing out a thick set of papers. “You will want to review their reports with your own advisors.”

“Pages and pages of calculations.” The grey suit beside the US President flipped through the report. “What does it say in actual English?”

“The details are for your scientists, Defense Secretary.”

Interesting. The pinched-face man in the grey suit was our Defense Secretary.

The Prime Minister continued, “The report comes down to two simple words—our sun. I will allow Dr. Latimer, who led the report, to explain.”

Dr. Latimer, a white-haired man in a too-expensive suit, cleared his throat. “The star identified in… the Kronos Eye… is thought to be a previously unobserved pulsar—a star that has already gone through a supernova. In the reports you will see it marked as MPH2 or Phaethon. The supernova would have been observable fifteen hundred years ago. It sits further out, about fifteen hundred light-years, beyond Orion’s shoulder.”

Fifteen hundred years ago.
I sat straighter in my seat.

Dr. Latimer continued, “We’ve been observing its brother for years. Approximately five hundred and seventy light-years away, the red giant, Betelgeuse, is the alpha star on Orion’s shoulder. It has been of keen interest to us, since it will be the closest supernova to Earth in our known history.”

“There are two stars going supernova?” asked a military man further down the table.

 “Twin stars, we believe,” Dr. Latimer said.

“One has gone supernova and one will,” the military man said.

Twin stars. The first one happened fifteen hundred years ago already.
I shifted in the wheelchair. It all sounded hauntingly familiar. Vane’s memories came back to me and a chill went through me.
Was this why he and Merlin had waited in a frozen tomb for fifteen hundred years?

Dr. Latimer clarified, “Technically, they have both happened. It takes light-years for the phenomena to travel the distance across space and be observable. Until then, to us, it hasn’t happened—”

The Defense Secretary scowled. “Forget observable. Let’s concentrate on the physical effects.”

Dr. Latimer nodded eagerly. “Yes, well, as I was saying— the Phaethon supernova, in our terms, happened fifteen hundred years ago from the approximations of the modeling we’ve done. Now, Betelgeuse will affect us in the not too distant future.” He opened a laptop to show a crude modeling of the Orion system. “In the past few years, the scientific community has noticed it shrinking without losing any of its luminosity. There have been no firm conclusions as to what the cause is. According to the Kronos Eye, it is because it is getting closer to a supernova explosion. Or I should say, five hundred and fifty years ago, it was losing its luminosity and we are only observing it now—”

The Prime Minister cleared his throat. “Yes, Doctor, but for all intents and purpose to us this is happening today.”

“Yes. Yes.” Dr. Latimer added with self-importance, “But I want to make sure you have the facts—”

The Defense Secretary interrupted, “From what I gather, you cannot confirm the version of events the Kronos Eye predicts with outside data.”

“No,” Dr. Latimer said. “However, we did run the modeling and the possibility exists. Once the supernova happens it will cause our usually stable sun to start fluctuating for a period of time.”

The Defense Secretary said, “What do you mean fluctuating?”

“Increased coronal mass ejections from the suffusion of energy from the supernova explosion.”

“A super solar flare,” the Prime Minister stated.

“Do we have evidence that corroborates the Kronos Eye?” the US President asked.

“We have previous evidence that coronal mass ejections can reach Earth at an astonishingly fast rate. In 1859, in what was called the ‘Carrington Event,’ a major solar flare from our sun made it to us in a matter of seventeen hours, thereby retaining much of its energy. At that time, it thankfully resulted in a benign aurora display.” Dr. Latimer turned to his laptop and zeroed in on the Orion system. “Secondly, there is Phaethon itself. The simple fact of its existence lends credence to the Kronos Eye. Before nested dust and gas shells obscured our sight around Betelgeuse. Now, we know where to look. Thirdly, we’re seeing increased solar activity across the board. The global blackout was the first wave. No one expected a neighboring star to go supernova at the same time as an energetic sun.”

The US President closed her report. “What would the supernova mean to us, Dr. Latimer?”

“The supernova itself will be merely interesting—a second sun will be visible in the sky for weeks, we approximate. It is the increased activity from our sun that we need to worry about. The super solar flare will hit our already weakened ozone layer—”

A military man interrupted. “I thought the hole over Antarctica was closing.”

“It has been. However, we’ve been seeing severe storms all over the world this summer—quite possibly due to the turbulence in the oceans caused by earthquakes. It has weakened the layer in major areas.” Dr. Latimer continued, “Imagine our ozone, our only protection, as a massive sail with several thin patches that’s about to face a hurricane. Mild flares cause satellite disruption and magnetic storms interfering with worldwide communications. A medium flare caused the global blackout. Stronger flares will deplete the ozone layer leaving us exposed to radiation and solar winds—”

There was a pause. Everyone across the table flipped through their handout, not because they were actually reading it, but because they needed something to do.

The Defense Secretary said, “We will make plans to evacuate underground.”

The Prime Minister shook his head. “The super solar flare will be like a million megatons of hydrogen bombs being launched on us all at once. Nothing is going to survive that.”

Dr. Latimer, his white hair glistening in the dim light, stared at the table. “The universe is in delicate balance, gentlemen. The flare will not only destroy the Earth’s surface, but also superheat the core of the planet. It won’t take long for the already unstable supervolcanic sites, like Yellowstone, to erupt. This is actually a good thing for the planet. Volcanic eruptions will tear apart the earth and release atmospheric particles trapped in the ground. That will rebuild the ozone layer and ultimately, preempt global cooling. The Garden of Eden will flourish again and the planet will rebuild.” He smiled grimly. “However, we will not survive the upcoming chain reaction. Life will be eradicated. We are the dinosaurs.”

“Kronos’s Fury,” Matt murmured beside me. “The day of reckoning.”

No one on the rectangular table heard him. The US President tapped her pen on the hefty report. “If it is inevitable, as you say, what hope do any of us have?”

Matt interrupted, “We can do this with the tools we have been given. Excalibur was sent to us for a reason.”

The Queen spoke, “Yes, since the Total Tremor, we have known something was coming. We must believe.”

With more diplomacy, the US President added, “Sitting back and doing nothing isn’t my way.”

The Defense Secretary scoffed, “How can some magical sword save an entire planet from a super solar flare? Will you go on top of the Himalayas and knock the flare out of the sky?” He glanced at me and sneered. “Should we helicopter up your precious sword-bearer?”

I rasped, “There’s more.”

No one heard me.

Matt faced the Defense Secretary with fisted hands. “She is the champion!”

With effort, I grabbed the back of Matt’s shirt. I repeated, “There’s more.”

The Queen’s sharp gaze focused on me. “What did you say, sword-bearer?”

With effort, I straightened in the wheelchair. I croaked, “More to the v-vision.”

The Queen turned to look at Matt. “Merlin?”

Matt’s amber eyes turned to me. “Ryan, what did you see?”

Black dots danced in my vision. I blinked. “I-I…”

“We should use a memory stone to extract it from her. The poor girl is in no condition to speak.” The Queen took out a smooth gemstone from her pocket. She floated the seeing stone to Matt. “This is one of the best.”

Matt grabbed the stone out of the air. “Ryan, are you sure? This won’t be easy.”

Grey grabbed his arm. “Forget it, Emrys. I won’t let you endanger her anymore.”

Matt retorted, “I would not do this if I believed it could hurt her. We’ve lost enough time to the Kronos Eye. Only a month remains until the solstice. From here on out, every day counts. You know that as well as I do.”

“Grey,” I whispered. “S’okay.”

Grey turned to look at me hesitantly.

Matt stepped around him. “Are you sure?”

A sharp pain focused my attention on my stomach. Fresh blood soaked the loose, dark fabric of my T-shirt. Hoping no one would notice, I nodded.

In his face, I saw the conflict.
Should he believe me? Was risking me necessary?
But we both knew this meeting was too important. This meeting would define how the world reacted. This crisis belonged to us all. It was bigger than him. Bigger than me. And I understood why he’d brought me. He needed me to see what we faced and who it would affect, not a hypothetical “whole world,” but the eyes of several billion people peeking out from behind the haunted faces of the leaders they’d chosen to represent them.

Coming to some internal decision, he put on the
Dragon’s Eye
and held out the seeing stone. I put a shaking hand on it. He commanded, “
Atibha
.”

A heavy pressure pushed down on me. I started to pant, as I was unable to breathe. A bubble of green surrounded me and I inhaled greedily. Vane’s magic, I realized.

As he’d done in the Ella caves, Matt was siphoning off Vane’s magic.

The meeting room disappeared, but the table full of people remained. The circular table above me also stayed, but the background changed as if we’d suddenly been thrust inside a movie. Still sitting in the wheelchair, I watched myself fall on the nine stones. The horsemen appeared and the scene with the trilithon and the golden apple played over, but at a removed distance.

Beside me, Matt watched it all avidly. His hand linked the stone to me. “This is it. The gates are the answer.”

“Or the apple.” I yawned. “Or both.”

The memory flickered as my strength waned. Matt waved a hand. The meeting room came back into focus.

“That’s the plan?” The Queen looked at Matt.

Around us, the table full of world leaders sat in stunned silence.

The Queen cleared her throat. “Merlin, maybe you should explain—”

Matt began to say something. I didn’t hear him. The pressure on me was replaced by a loud buzzing in my ears. The door blasted open.

Matt flew backwards across the room. The seeing stone fell at my feet.

“What have you done, Merlin?” Vane’s voice boomed through the room.

The military man jumped up. Several others on the circular table above us also rose.

“Who is he?” someone said.

“Vane.” The Queen stood up.

“This is Vane?” the US President said.

“How did you get past security?” the Defense Secretary demanded.

Men in black suits and with guns streamed in behind him, but Vane sent them flying in the air.  He turned his glowing eyes on the Queen. “I don’t have time for this. Stop them or I will kill them all.”

Vane’s eyes traveled around the room. In front of me, Grey picked up the seeing stone from where it had fallen in front of the wheelchair. Behind Vane, the mermaids surrounded Vane in a protective stance.

“Why are you here?” the Queen demanded.

The other leaders sat in petrified silence. I remembered having the same reaction the day I’d met the mermaids. It hadn’t been a good day. I stared at Vane, yet again reminded that he was one of them—their king.

Vane strode straight toward us. Another wave of dizziness overtook me. The room spun and I fought to stay conscious.

The Defense Secretary yelled to the men in black, “Stop him.”

 “Send more security now!” the Defense Secretary barked into a phone. He leaned down and picked up a gun from one of the fallen guards.

The men in black scrambled up. One fired at Vane’s back.

The glow of a green shield popped up around Vane. The bullet bounced off Vane’s shield and straight at the nearest target—the Defense Secretary. It hit his chest and the politician fell back on the table.

A stunned assembly watched the trail of blood seep across the white papers on the table. On the floor, Matt slowly rose from the concussion-inducing fall and rushed to the fallen man. The men in black tightened their grips on their guns. Vane glanced at the Secretary without expression and sent a wave of green magic stunned the men in black. They froze in place.

“Anyone else care to test me?” he growled.

Black oblivion stood like a shadow over me. I held it back with a fragile tip of a finger, but it wasn’t enough. Pressure squeezed my lungs. I let out silent gasps, trying to suck in air.