The Quantum Prophecy, Ryan Matthew Harker [books under 200 pages txt] 📗

small sigh of relief and paused for only a second before he followed.

*****

The doors opened abruptly and the small scientist was the first to emerge. Jeshux held back, not wanting to jump the gun and spring the trap too early. A second later his patience was justified as a second person walked into the waning afternoon sunlight.
Not quite yet, Jeshux cautioned himself again. He wanted some distance between his quarry and the door from which it had just emerged so he allowed himself a quick moment for observation. It was almost hard not to think of it as a man. Walking on both legs, with no evidence to the contrary, the creature could easily have been mistaken as such. But Jeshux was no fool and he had been tracking these monsters for almost a thousand years now. And while none had ever worn a human form, there were some tell-tell signs that any trained observer would spot. The grace in which the beast moved, for instance, for no human on either side of the Harashna could match the pure animal ease with which this ‘man’ carried its frame. There was also the almost imperceptible pause to test the air just before leaving the shelter and safety of the doorway, animal survival instinct at its best. And last but not least, the faint glimmer of the sun’s reflection in its eyes as it passed from shadow, to sunlight and back again. Although not seen as clearly as it would have been in an animal of non-human descent, this last sign alone was all but unforgivable. And compared next to the others? Well, there could be no other explanation. Only still-frames could possibly show this type of effect in a human’s retina.
Jeshux took in and processed all of this information within the space of a few seconds. The target, probably only instinctively wary, moved quickly from the sheltering doorway and upon regaining the side of its host appeared to become more at ease. He had more than enough space between the target and the building and so with practiced ease, he stood from the place of his concealment and trained the sights of his weapon on his target.
“Halt! You are surrounded!” Jeshux heard McAriicoys shout from his left.
Three soldiers had risen at the same time that Jeshux had, their coordination so precise it bordered on telepathy. McAriicoys was to his immediate left with one other man. Another mercenary had risen to his right, while below; four others had crept in stealthily from the back to effectively deny the target any means of escape.
“We have you surrounded,” McAriicoys repeated now that he had the bewildered men’s full attention. “We’ve also positioned snipers at all points. Do not run or you will be shot.” Adding emphasize to his words a shot from a fifty caliber rifle sounded suddenly and threw up a cloud of dirt next to the young man’s left foot.
A give-away shot, Jeshux liked to call it, for while proving the point it also revealed the snipers position. Of course no give-away sniper would ever be positioned without a back up sniper, placed in a different spot in the same vicinity, which would fire from the same direction thus allowing the give-away to sneak off and reposition. Or, as was the case here, the give-away retreated to a predetermined location to act as radio liaison with Base Command.
“Just what in the hell do you think you’re doing here?” the older of the two captives demanded suddenly.
Jeshux was not the recognized leader here, as the man’s remark, directed at McAriicoys, indicated. Done intentionally, as a standard precaution against enemy fire, Jeshux had designed his entire plan around McAriicoys being thought the leader of this operation.
McAriicoys, never missing an opportunity to act the hard ass, was quick to answer. “You aren’t in any position to make demands, my friend. Now! Both of you, on the ground, face down with your hands behind your backs!”
A split second hesitation as the two men exchanged glances had McAriicoys barking, “I said, NOW!” with Jeshux quick to punctuate with a short burst from his rifle. And with bullets striking the ground around them, both men suddenly found themselves quick to comply.
Now, with both faces in the dirt, McAriicoys stopped to give each of his men a seemingly casual glance of satisfaction. He did nothing by way of acknowledging Jeshux almost unperceivable nod except flash a lightning quick hand signal to the four men who were still in concealment. Two from a side, these four men moved in towards the captives with a speed born from anticipation. Each man was uncoiling a length of sturdy looking rope as he came and everyone had their attention focused on them. No one was aware of anything else until it was too late.

*****

Candlelite paused in the entryway of the Complex and intentionally sniffed the air before following Max out into the open. He thought he had detected a scent of something, subtle. It wasn’t bad, per say, it was… slight seemed the only word capable of accurately describing what his nose had just perceived. Yet ‘slight’ did not seem to have much going for it as a description, accurate or otherwise. Oh well.
Slowing down as he regained Max’s side, Candlelite took a deep breath before he said, “Hey Max, why didn’t you say anything about my nightly transformations?”
“Isn’t it obvious, my boy?” Max gave him another of those looks before continuing. “You entered the territory covered by the WurmDome before dark.”
A surprised, “O-oh!” was all that Candlelite managed before the strange voice called out loudly.
“Halt! You are surrounded!”
The four strange men with guns seemingly appeared from nowhere. Hearing the faint crunch of gravel, Candlelite turned to see four more armed men moving into position from behind.
Looking forward again Candlelite heard the leader say, “We have you surrounded. We’ve also positioned snipers at all points. Do not run or you will be shot.” Then there was a gunshot and Max jumped slightly as a slug tore into the ground next to his companion’s left foot. Candlelite did not move at all as his natural senses pinpointed where the shot had come from.
“Just what in the hell do you think you’re doing here?” Max shouted.
“You aren’t in any position to make demands, my friend. Now! Both of you, on the ground, face down with your hands behind your backs!” The leader gestured wildly with his rifle. “I said, NOW!”
A burst of gunfire suddenly sprayed from the barrel of the rifle being held by the man to the right of the leader. As both men dropped to the ground Candlelite thought to himself, now there’s the true leader of this operation. No grunt would have fired that rashly without orders, as the silence from the other men’s rifles verified.
His nose now identified ‘slight’ as the same soldiers that had been following him these past weeks. His eyes darted from side to side as his nose warned that Max and him were about to receive some more company, which ran up from either side with ropes. And just when it smelled and looked like it could not get any worse, his ears spoke up suddenly and informed him they were all about to have an uninvited guest drop in on the festivities.
Reaching out slowly Candlelite tapped Max and whispered, “Hey bud, you might want to get ready to run.”

*****

The four men with rope approached the two men lying on the ground cautiously. They had all volunteered to have the honor of trussing the captives upon their being taken into custody and so knew full well the terrible potential of what could possibly be unleashed. Unfortunately for these four men no amount of knowledge or caution could have prepared them for the wicked surprise that fate had in store for them.
Jeshux was extremely satisfied with how smooth the wheels of this operation were turning. The searching and diligent tracking- performed tirelessly by all of the men in his command- combined with the careful planning of long nights spent huddled in a corner with McAriicoys was finally beginning to pay off and seemingly in spades. And so caught up, basking prematurely in the warmth of his ‘victory’, Jeshux made the unusual mistake of letting his guard down slightly. And however slight this overlooked precautionary detail was, it ultimately led to Jeshux being caught completely by surprise along with the rest of his celebrating soldiers.

*****

Alas now truly begins the end for this dream of these twin worlds intertwined destinies. And being a dream dreamt by fate- who has, in its eternal slumber of creation, dreamt into existence all the countless species and all of the uncounted realities these fragile yet powerful creatures respectively occupy throughout the multiverse- this dream is both flawed and perfect. A flaw created from a grossly misguided attempt at control, a single imperfection, finding life from the twisted seed of one man’s tyrannical need to try and cheat his fate. His dark ego the ill plotted blueprint that has grown into the groundwork for the twisted, rut plagued path on which both worlds find themselves blindly traversing. But perfect also. For any path in every dream, whether planned or unexpected, well trodden or little used, is created as perfection incarnate and has within itself the solution with which to combat its flaws. Its existence just one of many details painted across a sleeping Fate’s dream canvas. A flaw cannot be without perfection just as negative cannot be without positive. Neither good nor bad, they just are and need to be in order for the balance of a universe to progress on toward its eventual conclusion.
In the case of a multiverse continuum, the forces at hand are multiplied in their power and as will be seen, are compoundedly complex in the progressive sequence of events.

*****

The bear had not always been confused about its existence. It could vaguely remember a time when things had been simpler and as impossible as it seemed, the bear was pretty sure that at some point it had not been a bear. Also, the bear had been a bear but at the same time, not a bear.
The bear did not so much remember these things as it felt the rightness of them. It had not really felt anything about these things in quite some time though. Not until recently when it had an encounter with a scent that was so familiar the bear was instantly reminded of them again. In this encounter the bear had been wandering about in its usual fashion, just enjoying the day as much as a bear could enjoy a day, when it was brought up short by the sight of a strange two legged creature.
Feeling there was a kinship with itself and this creature the bear decided to have a closer look and perhaps a little chat with this somewhat familiar animal. Unfortunately things did not go as the bear had intended. Thinking in a decidedly bearish way, maybe this animal is like me, the bear rushed over to say hello in typical bear fashion.
“Hello,” the bear roared as it gave the two-legger a friendly bear tap against its head.
The creature did not react like a bear though. Instead of a bear tap back it was lying on the ground. So the bear, trying to impress this strange but somehow attractive creature, stood up to show off its rather impressive self. The animal still just laid there.
A little unsure of itself now the bear bellowed down at the animal at its feet, “I’m a bear. Are you a bear?” and not getting a response the bear took a swipe at it, which caused it to go flying