Apple's Diary

[Apple]

( If you have not done so, read this first. If you start here a lot of things won't make sense. )

Chapter 3: Prophecy

We arrived in Twin Peaks a few hours later, tired but alive. The journey was fairly uneventful, and the amplified rifle I carried more than took care of the few hostile animals we ran into.

I knew exactly where Father wanted to meet us. Above Twin Peaks on a little hill there stands an old, abandoned mine entrance. While it has no practical use these days, it makes an excellent spot for hiding or holding private meetings. I indicated the building to Ayhoe, and we slipped in between two Service Centers and climbed the hill.

Dad was there to greet us as we squeezed through the broken door. He must have predicted our arrival. I handed him the gun and he beckoned us over to a platform where we could stand together.

'So good to see you two. I trust you've been safe?' he addressed us.

'Safe enough. We had a bit of trouble with an atrox, and realized that the Syndicate had been tracking Ayhoe, but we've taken care of both, at least for the moment.' I replied.

'Good to hear.' Dad responded. 'Now, let's get right down to business. Fiona, I think we should tell him what we know.'

'I think that would be a great idea.' Ayhoe chimed in, grinning.

'This is very difficult, Adam.' Dad began. 'You may smile now, but you don't know what I have seen.'

'Let's get it over with, then.' Ayhoe responded.

'As I told you before, I have psychic abilities. I am able to discern certain facts about the future, which are nearly always correct. Before I tell you what I have seen, I will begin by telling you what we know.' He glanced at me and nodded.

'You are familiar with the Atrox Syndicate?' He asked. Ayhoe nodded. 'This organization came into possession of a strange item some time ago. When the massive Atrox Queen attacked the settlers of Calypso, she left behind one of her eggs. Using stealth and force, the Syndicate secured the egg for themselves. They have stowed the egg aboard the asteroid space station, and have awarded it a sort of divine status, as if their salvation lies within it. The members of the Syndicate are strange people, indeed.'

Father stopped, took a deep breath, and began again.

'We believe that the Syndicate is working together with the robots to try and establish a planetwide rule. Everything is connected - the robot abductions, the Syndicate, Raeky, even your abduction by the Syndicate plays a part. They believe that whatever comes out of that egg is going to help them win power over the entire planet.'

'But wait,' Ayhoe started. 'Isn't there just...a baby atrox in the egg?'

'There was, at first,' Father responded. 'Since the egg was moved to the asteroid, the Syndicate have placed it under heavy guard and have several powerful mindforce agents working to channel essence and energy into the egg in hopes of empowering what is inside. Day in and day out, they stand over the egg and concentrate their energies into it.'

'How do they know what effect it is having on the infant?' Ayhoe asked.

'They have psychics, like me - after all, they created me. The reason they want me dead is because I know this. They know as well as I what is going to come out of that egg.' Father replied.

'And what is?'

'An abomination,' Dad looked grim. 'A horror like nothing this planet has ever seen. The mind energy projected into the egg has warped and twisted and strengthened the infant's body, so much so that even now it is stronger than any living atrox on the planet. It is at the same time a horrifyingly strong atrox and also something much worse. A new life form. If it is allowed to hatch on Calypso's surface...' Father's voice trailed off.

'We'd be in big trouble.' Ayhoe stated.

'That would be putting it lightly.' I said.

'But I have seen something else.' Father started again. 'I have seen you, Ayhoe. Days before I met you in person, I had a vision of a strange man breaking the egg. I found out later that the person I had seen was you.'

I looked at Ayhoe, whose eyes had widened in response. Before he could reply, a deafening roar descended upon our ears. From outside, we heard shouts and screams and several gunshots.

Rushing to the door, I peered out. A massive, alien-looking robot spaceship was descending upon Twin Peaks.

 

[Apple]

Citizens ran to and fro, some seeking shelter within the Service Centers, others grabbing their weapons from storage units. The ship roared as it sank lower and lower. Some colonists fired upon it, and the sharp smell of burnt ammunition filled the air. Their weapons did nothing, however, to the ship's thick outer shell.

Suddenly two loud pops sounded, and two balls of metal fell from the ship to the roof of the nearest Service Center. As they settled, they began to unfold. They sprouted legs and arms, and as they stood I recognized two robot drones. One was quickly blasted from the roof by a colonist below, but as we watched, several more fell from the ship. They began to fire upon those with weapons, and a loud voice erupted from the ship.

'Citizens, put down your weapons and nobody will die. We will retaliate with force.' I recognized the voice. Raeky.

More and more drones fell from above, unfolding and dispersing among the crowd. Many were destroyed, but many more colonists were cut down by their powerful cannons and sent to the nearest Revival Terminal. As we looked on in horror, a massive chunk of the ship seemed to fall off and smash into the clearing near the Twin Peaks teleporter. This, too, unfolded and stood, but was much taller than the others.

'They can't be serious,' Dad stammered. 'A Second Entity...'

The huge robot's arms lit up, and two large energy blades extended from their ends. It immediately looked in our direction.

'They're after us!' Father cried. 'Get inside!'

The three of us squeezed back through the door as laser fire exploded from behind us.

'Over here!' Father spoke over the explosions and gunfire outside. Reaching the platform, he picked up his gun and crouched behind the metal railing that stood between him and the narrow door. 'Ayhoe, stay next to me. Fiona, I want you to go over there,' he pointed to the caved-in entrance to the mine tunnel, 'and hide, or try to break through that wall of rock. Hurry!'

I did as I was told, and began to scramble over the rocks, making my way to the mountain of dirt and stone that blocked the tunnel. It seemed nearly impenetrable, but I found a small nook that looked like I might be able to fit my body into.

Hearing shots from behind me, I looked back to see father firing at several drones that had begun to try to squeeze through the door. As the laser blasts hit them, they sparked and collapsed. More drones began to push over them, shoving their way past the wreckage and into the crack provided by the broken door. Father fired again and again.

I forced my legs into the opening, and began to use the nearby rubble to push the rest of my body through. First my knees vanished into the rubble, then my thighs, then my hips...

I heard a yell and looked back again to see a huge energy blade slice through the metal wall of the building. The Second Entity was forcing its way in. Father cried out as the ceiling above he and Ayhoe began to crack and crumble. The drones were on the roof, too.

'Grab my hand!' He shouted to Ayhoe. 'I'm going to get us out of here!' Placing his fingertips to his temple, he began to concentrate, preparing his teleport chip. Would he have enough concentration to pull both of them?

As the mind energy began to collect, the wall began to fall in. The Second Entity had cut a door into the building. It ducked its head and entered, along with a swarm of drones. Father's teleport chip should have been ready by now...

Squeezing the last bit of my body through the hole, I found myself in a dark tunnel on the opposite side of the cave-in. Looking back through, I caught my father's gaze, wide and fearful. As he inhaled, about to teleport, the Second Entity charged into them, retracting its energy blades and pushing Ayhoe to the ground. Father vanished in a flash of light and Ayhoe was left on the ground, seemingly unconscious. I screamed, but my voice was drowned out by the sound of laser fire from outside.

The Entity reached down, lifting Ayhoe's limp body, and turned to head for the door it had created. Stepping through, it vanished.

By the time I wriggled back through the space in the wall and made it outside, the ship was gone, and all that remained were a few injured colonists and the medics tending to them.