Dwellers of the New World Chapter Five ( Pt 1 )

Crystal Love:-

In corners of my mind,
I gravitate towards my
other world...a land of
no milk or honey,

though I obsess of
those towering crystals,
sitting by ice cold lakes,
me alone...a shadowed figure
with my imagined dreams,

magic beams flicker in and out,
dancing to the quiet tunes of
echoes through time and space,
and so I continue my story.

It was late evening on Obsidian, the night was clear with many stars that could be seen twinkling in the black velvet night sky. Within the stars shone two moons, their clarity evident from a long way off, light streaming on to the massive, tall crystals that covered the surface, the brightness casting reflections into the cool waters of the lakes.

Way down below in a dimly lit control room, stood a lone figure with a lot on his mind. He was dressed in an all in one black uniform, his dark hair covered by a uniformed cap.

He stood in front of a huge glass screen, that covered most of one wall. To his left were some crystal controls, above was a clear quartz lever, with a beam of light shining up through the centre, the beam was like a laser that transmitted signals on to the monitor.

Max was presently in conversation with Dawson, the pilot engineer on board Addies ship. It had now been four days since Addie and his crew members, had gone off to explore the planet they had landed on, they still had not returned.

Not only that, but the people of the New World, were becoming disconnected again. Max was determined they wouldn't get involved unless it was really necessary, though he did continue to worry for the children.

He was keeping a watchful eye on one particular young boy, who he knew to be gifted and could be important one day. He was building a record of the boy's life as he grew.

Max paced up and down, his hands clenched behind his back, he was nearing the end of his shift and had hoped to clear up this mystery of the lost crew, before he went home.

“Dawson...is there any chance of you or the others left aboard the ship, going and searching for them?”

“You know I would if I could, but we were given strict instructions that if they did not return, we were to stay with the ship and contact you. You know how Addie feels about his ship.”

Max knew only to well that Addie's anger was not to be tampered with, if he gave an order, it would be a mistake to disobey. But he couldn't help wondering what would be the consequence of them just sitting around, while Addie and his men could be lying injured, or even worse dead.

He scratched his head as he paced the floor, trying hard to make a decision, but nothing would come. Then he thought about Luke, once he'd passed his pilot exam, he would definitely want to make the trip to search for his father, but Max didn't want to loose another good aviator.

His thoughts were interrupted by the door opening, it would normally have felt a relief to see his co worker walk in, so he could get to his quarters for some sleep, but he felt a little frustrated at now having nothing to report.

David Marshall arrived early for his shift, he was tall and muscular with a smart appearance, always conscious of his looks, spending most of his leisure time at the gym, keeping his body in good condition was his main concern after his job.

“Evening Max...any news on Addie and his crew?”

“Nothing yet...though I'm still trying to make a decision as to what our next move should be.” The problems lay heavily on his shoulders, his head ached from all the thinking.

Marshall was the more easy going of the two. He made his way over to the drinks machine, which stood close to one of the exit doors, there were two on either side of the screen in case of emergencies. “I'm getting a drink, do you want one?”

Poor Max was all but done with his shift, he really just wanted to sleep, but with still another half hour to go, he would have to go through the log book, explaining the events of the day. “Yeah! Go on then, I'll have a herbal tea.”

Dawson was still on the monitor awaiting any instructions, when all of a sudden an eerie dark shadow drifted across the screen without any warning. Max froze staring. “What the hell is that?” he called out, not taking his eyes of the screen.

Marshall turned to see what all the fuss was about, he too was shocked. “What the heck!” neither man had seen anything like it before.

They both checked the other signals, which seemed to be okay, all but Dawson's. Grabbing the lever, Max pushed it up the panel, as far as it would go, suddenly the dark shadow disappeared, to be replaced by static interference, so he moved the lever back down, but it was too late.

The crystal started to turn a bright yellow, this was definitely not normal, he felt his heart start to beat fast. Neither man had a clue what was going on. Before they had a chance to think, the crystal went bright orange, this was not good. “Quick sound the alarm!” he shouted to Marshall.

Then there was the smell of burning as the crystal turned red and exploded, sparks flew as red hot shards of crystal flew over the control panel and across the room.

The beam of laser light shot through the ceiling instantly burning a hole, leaving the two men having to think fast on their feet.

Dwellers of the New World Chapter Five ( Pt 2 ) | ABCtales