Part of Jared wanted to help, but he felt powerless. Before I can go up against something like that beast, I’m going to need a lot of training... and weapons... big weapons.
Dorn pointed up to the alcoves. “GO! NOW!”
Jared snapped out of his trance, ran around the guardians, and followed Paul and Danielle up the stationary escalator onto the mezzanine.
When Jared looked down below, he saw the Beast move toward the escalator, but Hilcar waved his hand while saying something Jared wasn’t able to make out. The Beast whimpered and put a paw up to its eyes.
Jared watched anxiously as Hilcar, Prienna, and Dorn pointed at the stunned Beast at the same time. After they yelled something that seemed like a foreign language again, light flashed out over the creature.
A transparent bubble of light encapsulated the dog-lizard, and the Beast collapsed to the ground like it had been shot with a tranquilizer.
Jared wondered how long the Beast would lay there like that.
The guardians wasted no time getting to the youths and sprinted up onto the mezzanine. Dorn, who got there first, started doing something on the control panel by the alcove where Jared, Danielle, and Paul were standing.
As Dorn’s fingers typed away, the portal came to life. Light filled the shallow, cylindrical hole.
Prienna and Hilcar were standing close by the youths by then. Jared was starting to feel a little more relaxed until he glanced down and saw that the Beast was waking up. The effect of the tranquilizer must have been wearing off.
After the portal lit up, the guardians ushered the youths closer to it. Jared looked back at the lower level. The trapped monster began clawing at the bubble.
“That bubble won’t hold for long,” Hilcar said.
A second later, the Beast tore through the bubble. At that moment, white-clad guards entered the room, through the same door Jared and the others used to enter, with pole-like weapons. The Beast sprang onto the escalator.
Jared didn’t move, but his thoughts turned to the portal—his only chance of escape.
Prienna yelled, “Now!”
Jared felt Hilcar shove him. He stumbled into the portal but managed to turn to the left as he fell. The last thing he saw before completely entering the portal and being encompassed by light was the Beast face to face with Hilcar at the top of the escalator.
A split second later, Jared became surrounded by darkness, followed by a brief moment of weightlessness, and then he was rocketed through space. After a couple of seconds, he slowed down and dropped.
He stumbled only slightly as he landed, but, a second later, Danielle and Paul crashed into him, one right after the other. They all toppled into a pile on the floor.
Jared made an effort to get to his feet, but Paul’s elbow jabbed Jared hard in the ribs. “Hey, get off me.”
“It’s not like we could help it,” Danielle said. “Ouch! Paul, that was my hand.”
Paul apologized. “Sorry.”
Jared groaned as they unpiled themselves and got to their feet.
Hilcar, Prienna, and Dorn still hadn’t arrived. Where are they? What happened to them? I hope they’re okay.
Almost frantic, Jared pushed through Danielle and Paul and slapped his palms on the wall behind them. He began rubbing and patting the surface. “Grandpa?” He desperately wanted to get back to Hilcar, but it was no use; the wall remained solid. “Do you think they’re okay?”
“I don’t know, but that monster was outnumbered. They’re probably alright.” Danielle didn’t sound convinced, though.
Jared stepped away from the wall, still surveying it. “I suppose,” he said, wanting to believe that his grandpa was fine.
While rubbing his neck and massaging his aches from the collision, Jared surveyed the compartment they had landed in. They were in a small, cube-shaped room with brass-colored walls and an elevator door.
A few seconds later, the elevator door opened.
Danielle, Jared, and Paul looked at each other, then at the open door.
“Well, I guess we should try to find that Ferran guy,” Paul said.
Jared hesitated for a moment as he looked back at the wall, wanting to wait for his grandpa, but then he followed Paul and Danielle into the elevator. We do need to find Ferran.
The elevator compartment was identical to the room they just left. “Are we in an elevator or did we just get out of an elevator?” Jared looked around. “Or both?” The door closed, and Jared felt lighter, like when going down in an elevator. “I guess that answers that question.”
When the elevator stopped and the door opened, they exited into a hallway with a cement ceiling, wooden wall panels, and brown carpet. At the end of the 10-foot-long passageway was an arched doorway.
They passed through the archway into what looked like a library. Besides the arched entryway, there were three wooden doors—one on each of the other three walls. Books filled the shelves on every wall from floor to ceiling. Also, there were several long tables, chairs, and computer terminals scattered throughout the room.
“That was a close one.”
Jared turned to see who had spoken. He recognized the man who had just entered through one of the doors. It was one of his teachers from school back home.
What’s he doing here? And for that matter, where’s here? “Mr. Hobson?” Jared wondered if Mr. Hobson, who was wearing a dark blue, hooded Teruvisan robe, was a figment of his imagination.
Mr. Hobson approached Jared. “Yes, Jared, it’s me.”
Jared looked over at Danielle and Paul. “This is my science teacher.” He pointed at Mr. Hobson.
“I’m also one of the Masters who will train you.” Mr. Hobson bowed slightly. “My real name is Ferran.”
Jared marveled that his science teacher was a Teruvisan. First my grandpa and now my teacher. Who else from Earth do I know that’s Teruvisan?
Jared’s thoughts immediately turned back to Hilcar, Prienna, and Dorn. He took a step toward Ferran. “My grandpa... and the other guardians... there was a—”
“I know I know.” Ferran raised a hand, making a motion for Jared to calm down. “Don’t worry. They’re fine. But unfortunately, the Beast escaped.”
Jared doubted Ferran for a moment. How does he know? But then, Jared remembered how his grandpa could talk to people who weren’t close by. That must be it. Jared took a deep breath and then relaxed as he exhaled.
“What was that... that thing?” Danielle asked with a scowl.
“That was Damen. One of the Beasts of Tirum—some of Dreggan’s awful creations.” Ferran sneered. “Terrible monsters, those Beasts.” He shuddered slightly. “Unnatural, genetic mutants.”
“You mean there’s more than one?” Danielle had a disgusted look on her face.
“Yep. Six.” Ferran turned. “Now, follow me, please.”
Wow. Six. Jared thought one was too many.
Ferran led Jared, Danielle, and Paul across the room toward a different door than either of the ones through which any of them entered the library. As he walked, Jared realized that he should be less concerned by the fact that there were five more of those dog-lizards roaming around than how he would be able to tell the difference between a real man and a Beast or if it was even possible. After all, Damen’s disguise had tricked Dorn and the other adults in the transport room.
Jared wanted to ask his question about how to recognize a Beast’s disguise but was afraid of the answer he would probably get—that there was no way. Instead, he looked around and asked, “Where are we?”
Ferran answered, “You’re in my library—my secret library.”
Does he like to read or what? Jared joked to himself.
Ferran continued his explanation of the library. “We’re far beneath my house on Earth.”
So, we’re on Earth. But not only that, I’m close to home. Jared almost wanted to go visit his house but then remembered the trouble he had the last time he was there.
“This library is where I’ve spen
t most of my time over the years.” When Ferran reached the intended door, he said, “In here, please,” and opened it.
Jared and the others entered an all-white room with a tiled floor. There were a half dozen dentist chairs inside. Next to each chair was a small computer terminal on a stand. On top of each computer was a small, black, glass dome. It was similar in shape to a small snow globe.
As he looked at the dentist chairs, Jared joked to himself, Part of our training is getting our teeth cleaned?
“Have a seat, please,” Ferran requested, indicating the chairs with a wave of his hand.
Instead of sitting, though, the three youths stopped and furrowed their brows at each other.
“Excuse me.” Danielle pointed at one of the chairs. “But, what is this room?”
Danielle must not want to get her teeth cleaned either. The corners of Jared’s mouth turned up slightly.
Ferran walked over to one of the chair-side computers and turned around with his arms out to his sides. “This is the transfer room. We’re going to create a communication link between you and the backup archives of Teruvisa in order to do a memory transfer.”
Jared wondered what Ferran meant by that. Memory transfer?
Paul asked, “Are these machines connected to Teruvisa?”
“No,” Ferran replied. “The library we just came from stores a backup copy of Teruvisa’s system files. That is what you’ll be connected to.”
At first, Jared wasn’t sure how computer files could be stored in books, but then he realized that he hadn’t bothered to take a close look at the books in the library. They could really be a type of electronic storage device made to look like books.
Ferran added, “Ever since we knew we’d have to abandon Teruvisa, I’ve been guarding the system backups in the library here. I’ve also been searching through every bit of data possible in preparation for this day—the day when you three would be old enough to be trained.
“And, I’m quite proud to say that I’ve successfully found a way to selectively explore and transmit memories and historical data between humans and computers. I call it Historical Sharing and Transfer—HST for short.”
Ferran smiled. “Now, if you’ll sit down, I’ll explain what’s going to happen during the memory transfer process.”
Jared was a little hesitant because the last time he sat in a strange chair, clamps shot out of the armrests. But, Ferran was Mr. Hobson, and Jared had always trusted his science teacher. So, Jared walked toward a chair. Danielle and Paul followed his lead.
Once the three of them were seated, Ferran walked over to the seat Paul was in. He started doing something on the chair-side computer.
Paul had a worried look on his face as he watched Ferran. “So, why do you need our memories?”
After Paul asked that question, Jared pictured a laser beam from the small, domed lens on top of the computer shooting into his head and taking his memories. He felt a little uncomfortable at the thought of having his brain zapped and his memories stolen. “Yeah.”
“Well, I’m not going to take them if that’s what you were thinking.” Ferran continued doing whatever it was he was doing. “I’m just going to copy them into a database. And don’t worry. It’s completely harmless. You’ll be in a deep, relaxing, sleep-like state during the whole thing to allow your subconscious to work freely, and it’ll be like a dream because you’ll only be observing what’s going on.”
Jared started to feel less apprehensive about the memory transfer.
Ferran went on to explain a little bit more about the process. “Anyway, the library servers will send signals to your brains to prompt memory recollection. During the process, you’ll remember vividly specific, key personal experiences that deal with the rebellion and abandonment of Teruvisa. And, the HST server will record those memories.” Ferran walked over to Jared’s chair and began working on the computer.
So, the computer can access my memories—memories I didn’t even know I had. Jared considered the possibilities. What will I remember?
Ferran continued. “Oh yeah. And since you’ll be hooked up together, after the process is finished, you’ll exchange each other’s memories.”
“Exchange?” Jared furrowed his brow with curiosity.
“Yes,” Ferran said. “Once all of your memories are relived and transferred to the server, each of you will see what the others have seen.”
This could be very interesting. Jared was excited to see his memories and wondered what the exchanging of memories would be like.
“Oh. And one more thing.” Ferran held up a finger. “Before I initiate the process, I do have to give you a warning. Some of the memories could be rather intense. Some might even be difficult to bear. But, it’s necessary for you to see them.”
“You mean memories about our parents, don’t you?” Danielle asked flatly.
Ferran took a deep breath. “Yes.” He looked down. “I’m sorry to make you relive those times.”
Jared’s heart leapt at the thought of seeing his parents, even if only in a dream, because the only images he had of his parents were from a few pictures given to him by his grandpa.
“Sorry?” Danielle furrowed her brow, almost scowling. “How could seeing our parents be a bad thing?”
Jared also got a little confused as to why Ferran seemed sad about them seeing their parents. Yeah. But then, he realized that, if he saw his parents, he might see Dreggan. And if that was the case, he might see his parents get killed. He didn’t know how he would handle that, but he convinced himself that he did want to get on with the HST anyway.
“Uh...” Ferran paused as if contemplating a good response, but all he said was, “Sorry. But, it’s best if you just see for yourselves.” He shifted his feet and looked away from the youths. “However, any questions you have afterward, I’ll gladly answer.” Ferran smiled apologetically.
Obviously hiding something and feeling uncomfortable, he changed the subject. “But, the good thing about the HST is that it will help you remember where you came from and who you really are. The knowledge you gain could greatly benefit you in your training.” Ferran walked over to Danielle’s chair-side computer and began working on it.
Everyone was silent until Ferran was done and said, “So, what do you say we get started with the HST?”
He looked around at each of the youths. Jared and his friends nodded.
“Okay. I’ll be back by the time it’s done.” Ferran started to leave.
Am I supposed to just go to sleep? I’m not even tired. Jared sat up. “Wait. What are we supposed to do?”
Ferran stopped and turned around. “Just sit back, close your eyes, and relax. The computers will do the rest.” He left before anyone could ask him anymore questions.
How am I supposed to relax? Jared lay back down. “Okay...” He settled into his chair, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then relaxed as he exhaled. To his surprise, as he let himself go, he started to feel very light and peaceful. He relaxed even more.
Memories of Ferran, as Mr. Hobson, entered his thoughts. Jared had enjoyed having Mr. Hobson for a teacher. He had a kind smile, was very intelligent, and treated all his students fairly—even Tim.
Mr. Hobson is Ferran. Wow. What else will I find out? Jared speculated briefly, but not being able to concentrate any longer, he drifted off into a sleep-like state.