The Time Stone (45 page)

“
Amazing” she
yelled.

“
A small step for man,
large leap for the holder” said Drax proudly.

“
We got the map now” said
Mercedes marveled.

“
Blessed be” said
Cutlass.

“
Mercy me” said
Yulelka.

“
We got the Orgola Golon”
said James opening his eyes and turning. “I think we can expect
Capulow to find us again.”

“
Don’t worry, well get
him.” Said Drax.

Then suddenly Yulelka pointed out
something as she looked in pure astonishing horror, “it’s them!”
Everyone looked at the largest ship they have ever seen sail the
seas, many have seen it but few have lived to tell about
it.

“
What’s that?” Asked
Drax.

“
A legend alive before us,
one of pure evil” said Cutlass with a great frown.

The ship they approached was large,
almost twice the size of the Gorge Hunter, enamored with three
times as many cannons on either side, each one with a small
projectile firing mechanism at the end, a small sphere of silver,
as the entire arm began to glow with light and electricity reaching
the silver ball at their tips and flashing like multiple stars
surrounding the hull, readying to fire their energy. The hull was
triple reinforced with metallic armor and extension wings that made
it seem like a giant seagull gliding across the waters. The sails
were holographic as well. The engine emitted trails of light
pushing it aloft the rough stormy seas.

“
What is that?” Asked
James.

“
That is the mightiest of
the might, the scourge of the eight seas,” said Cutlass with
absolute fear in his voice, “the Marauder!”

“
She has equipment ten
times as powerful as we do, trans morph torpedo launchers,
multi-laser cannons, and a trans-phasic energy based armament.”
Said Yulelka.

“
Never heard of that kind
of technology” said Mercedes.

“
It’s very unusual. It
doesn’t exist anywhere except on board that ship.” Replied
Yulelka.

“
Could they be from the
future?” Asked Tina “well the future of this future” she added
nonchalantly.

“
Anything is possible, or
they had help” said Drax. The fear and panic in their tones was
immense as they watched in agony as the Marauder approached and
they could do nothing but pray that it would pass them by on their
voyage to the great island. But it did not and the sounds of the
braking system on the Marauder erupted like torments in
hell.

“
We got trouble” said
James.

“
Maybe we can talk our way
out of this” said Drax.

“
If not, lad, we will not
be able to outfight.” Said Cutlass. “We simply cannot win. No one
ever has.”

“
The Marauder’s weapons
are targeting us!” Yelled Yulelka. The silvery orbs on the tips of
their cannons lit up and aimed at the Gorge Hunter. Multiple
streams of thin laser energy flew towards the Gorge Hunter and
struck its underpinnings of metal rocking the mighty vessel back
and forth along the waves.

“
That sucked” screamed
Tina. Several crew members fell overboard. The firing
continued.

“
We got to do something”
said James.

“
Why are they doing this?”
Asked Mercedes holding onto the mast.

“
We invaded their sea.
They are very territorial. We have never been out this far to see
them,

only heard of them in legend” said
Cutlass screaming as he held to the side of his ship and barked
orders, “return fire, return fire.”

“
Weapons are down” said
Ricon.

“
We’re doomed” said
Tina.

“
I got an idea” said
Mercedes. She grabbed the glowing time stone from James and turned
it.

“
You’re gonna ‘time jump’
them?” Asked Drax.

“
Not them… us” she yelled
as the temporal wormhole opened up in a flash of light before them
and in between the two ships. The crews of both shipped stopped in
awe as the Gorge Hunter maneuvered slightly towards it.

“
We need more speed” said
Drax.

“
Now” Cutlass gave the
order and struck his hand down like the hammer of God as the ships
helmsman turned the wheel with a mighty stroke sending the ship
lurching towards the roaring vortex as the Marauder continued its
assault. The Gorge Hunter received numerous blasts and caught fire
on one of the masts disabling the holographic sails.

“
We’re dead” yelled
Ricon.

“
Not yet” said Mercedes as
the entire Gorge Hunter amidst in flames and all its remaining
inhabitants came within close proximity of the vortex and
transformed into a ball of energy being sucked into the vortex that
soon then quickly vanished to the behest of the crew of the
Marauder left in awe. The captain of the Marauder rested on the
deck of his ship with a serious grit on his face showing his sharp
teeth in anger.

After being released from the roaring
vortex, the Gorge Hunter travelled along the water slowly. The crew
hustled about trying to fan the flames with rags while Ricon ran up
to the main control panel at the helm of the ship and pressed the
emergency red button that caused a stream of coolant to flow from
the beacons as they turned towards the masts and sprayed their
water vapor that generated the electrical components putting out
the flames. The crew cheered.

“
We made it” said
Tina.

“
Quick thinking, I am
impressed.” Said Drax to Mercedes.

“
Thanks. Seemed like a
leap of faith” Replied Mercedes.

“
Where or when are we?”
Asked James.

“
Land Ho!” Yelled the ship
yeoman from the mast bucket high above the ship.

“
It’s the great island”
said Cutlass slowly.

“
The Island looks weird.
It is not at all like I envisioned with more greenery and taste.”
Said Tina.

“
This isn’t some Robert
Louis Stevenson novel, sometimes life is funny.” Said
Drax.

The great island was dark and
desolate, appearing like a lone piece of charcoal in the blanket
sea, and a harbinger of great mysteries cloaked in absolute
darkness in the midst of daylight.

“
Wow” said James. “We are
the first to see this?”

“
Well we don’t know.
Legends were told of the great island as a place of mystery and
wonder but also fear and dread. Those who were supposedly able to
arrive here have never returned. I fear we may soon join them.”
Said Cutlass nervously.

“
Don’t worry we got time
on our side” said Tina smiling.

“
Look guys, I think this
‘map’ is more, a possible storage device” Drax pointed to the stone
in Tina’s hand holding his handheld scanner over it.

“
It’s more than a
battery?” Asked Mercedes. “I think the alter was the battery but
the stone was for storage of information. We just have to access
it.”

“
How do we do that?” Asked
James.

“
Well, if it has info,
Drax and I can probably translate and read it on my scanner if
finding the right frequency it is pitched into. We could find the
map to find the dark star in the great island.” Tina
said.

“
The great island has many
secrets” said Cutlass “and is rumored to hold a weapon of great
invincibility and power.”

“
The dark star!” Said
Mercedes.

“
Yeah” said
Drax.

CHAPTER 73

The ship arrived anchoring down near
the island. “We can make our way via shuttle boat” said Cutlass as
the small vessel was released from the lower decks after the front
bow lowered and opened.

“
Well go alone” said
Drax.

“
No,” demanded Cutlass, “I
go with you. I lost seven men on that battle and want to make sure
we don’t lose anymore. Yulelka you be in charge until I
return.”

“
Yes, Captain” she replied
and ran back.

“
Alright. Let’s go” said
Drax. The five adventurers boarded the small shuttle boat on the
side of the ship. Drax felt nervous that Cutlass insisted on
coming.

The shuttle boat like a miniature
version of the Gorge Hunter rode across the water to the deserted
dark beaches of the great island, a large tapestry of inlets that
curved landscapes near rocks threatening to tear them apart if they
dared venture too close. The waves rocked them back and forth but
the trail of energy vapor emitting from it kept them on course
until they touched based. Cutlass joined the foursome on their
quest for the dark star as his skills in leadership and fighting
may prove beneficial thought Drax.

After docking on the shore, the five
adventurers marched towards the inlets in the mountainous region to
the north using only Drax’s handheld scanner and their wits as
their guide. Then suddenly they observed several objects in the sky
like dark dots getting closer and closer before approaching close
enough.

“
It’s those vampire
things” said Mercedes.

“
The beasts” said Drax
standing ready to fight.

“
They can fly” said
Tina.

“
We can see that” said
James.

“
We shall prevail” said
Cutlass with his large raspy voice as he was reaching for his sword
and swinging it towards the nearest beast. The beast repelled
itself against the wind. Drax reached for his elfin glove, put it
on, and began firing several intense projectiles of hot white light
from it. As his colleagues ducked and dodged the blasts and ran for
cover on the sandy dunes ahead, Drax continued to fire from his
glove and emit hot white piercing beams of energy towards the prey
floating above them viciously snarling as they swooped down to
attack. The beasts moved around until one was struck and fell. The
rest flew off into the distance.

“
They were the same beasts
we fought in the woods but with wings.” Said Tina.

“
That was close” said
Mercedes.

“
We should keep moving”
said Drax. They walked for miles until reaching the base of the
mountain at the far side of the great island. Drax led the way with
his wrist device’s light beacon.

“
Spooky” said
Tina.

“
Yeah, but I am not
afraid” said James, “I will protect you.”

“
My hero” said
Tina.

“
We need to get up there”
said Mercedes looking up at the caves on to either side of them
built into the mountain walls at the end of the island passing but
with no precipice just openings in the rock face.

“
I know just the thing”
said Drax.

“
Yes.” Mercedes responded
knowing what he was referring to.

“
Am I going to see the
Scorpion car now?” Asked Tina jokingly.

“
Indeed” Drax said
fiddling with his wrist device and pressing the right keys. Over
twenty-five minutes passed and James became restless.

“
What exactly are we
waiting for?” asked James.

“
Patience my young pupil”
said Drax sarcastically. “Good things come to those who
wait.”

“
You’re summoning the
scorpion car again” said Mercedes.

“
The what?” Asked
Cutlass.

“
That…” said Drax as
within a few more moments the vehicle they used to ascend the
cavern of lights was hovering towards them with its underbelly lit
up completely like a baseball stadium shining down into the waters
below making great movement on the Gorge Hunter as the crew and
Cutlass began to imagine as he conveyed that they were magicians
who can summon things at will. “We are not magicians” Drax replied,
“just very lucky. Lucky it had enough ultra-power to cross the
oceans at full speed to get here in almost no time at
all.”

“
Lucky the signal was not
too far to summon the car here” said Mercedes smiling.

“
Lucky we didn’t die of
boredom waiting” screamed James.

“
I told you, there is no
distance too great.” Said Drax. “Let’s go.”

“
Awesome” said Tina. With
that and Tina expressing a shock of joy and bewilderment, the five
adventurers squeezed into the scorpion car and flew upward
levitating against the wind currents into the inlets of the
mountain range. Hovering near the cave opening above, they noticed
that the cave opening was too small and narrow for the Scorpion car
to fly through. “This is just great” said Tina
sarcastically.

“
Don’t worry” said Drax.
Drax saw a weak spot in the rock he detected with his scanner. “I
think there is something there” Said Drax as he pressed a series of
commands on the console and the primary weapon illuminated the sky
before them, Drax pulled the vehicle in reverse and back away a few
yards, and a flash of brilliant white light emanated from the
Scorpion car’s primary battery weapon and mark striking at the core
of the cave wall crashing forth the air before them in a horrific
explosion. The weapon blasted a hole in the side of the mountain in
a terrific explosion. The debris flew out at them but moved to the
side avoiding them. The smoke cleared and the crew realized the
opening was much larger now.