The search for Kalid/5

Trapped
Leone took a deep breath and talked to Thot.

"Thot, I want you to find a safe spot for the spaceship to start a counter attack."

"It is already done." Thot answered. Leone thought that Leone was very smart, smarter than a person, because it had no feelings. While they were frightened, trying to find a solution to the problem, Thot was already searching for enemies and preparing for a counter attack. Thot now showed the information Leone required.

"Aristark, look at this!" Leone said.

Aristark observed the enemy spaceship. It had no logos neither marks at all, maybe for none to trace it back to its owners. It was a shame, they could not know who they would fight against... again. If they ever get to counter attack, Aristark thought, pessimistically.

"See" Leone said. "As I see it, it cannot be from Flammis that we are being attacked or persecuted. That ship does not possess hiding technology or they have not activated it yet. So, we can counter attack. Although you are my subordinate, you are free to choose your destiny, so you can flee using one of the safeboats, if you wish. But if you stay... if you stay you will have to follow my orders until we get to Azur, understood?"

"Affirmative. I think I will stay this time... I doubt I could escape right now. They must be watching us closely, preparing for our attempts to flee using boats. And now, watch Thot's update of the information. There are three spaceships now."

"Then, let's attack them while we can!" Leone said, solemnly. "While I shoot, take manual control of the ship, which is now in automatic mode. AIs are not very good to avoid human shots or, even if they are, I prefer to depend on you and not on Thot for this. Thot, abandon automatic mode, Aristark will take control of the spaceship from now on. Thot, enter attack mode, I will handle it."

Aristark did his maneuvers as a scared animal. Leone could imagine adrenaline flow all over Aristark. Leone thought that this was the perfect role for a coward like Aristark, he was a master in the art of avoiding projectiles. He could not be defeated, his shield only got to 80%, on that hard test Leone was remembering now, while trying to shoot the enemies. Leone, on that test, concentrated more on attacking than dodging, therefore, he destroyed 70% of ships... but his shield diminished to 10%, the moment in which they lost the test, for security reasons. It was not in vane or due to plain friendship that Leone had chosen Aristark for this mission; Leone knew, intuitively, that they would have to fight from the beginning. Finding Kalid would be no easy task. After all, cowards may have their function in this universe too. A person as "valiant" as Leone would die in such unequal battle because he would always focus more on attacking than dodging.

Nevertheless, the battle could not last long. They were watching the shield counter, at moments, and they were on 4%. Leone instructed Thot to notify them of changes in the shield, verbally. They had recovered part of its energy, it charged as an old battery, using generated energy from antimatteric engines. Time was running out. If they did not destroy at least one ship and disabled weaponry on one of the other two, they would have 99% of probability of dying at the battle. Leone felt his adrenaline was at peak, it improved his concentration but fleeing response was of no use in there, locked in a spaceship with nowhere to run. He depended on Aristark and Thot to be able to finally flee. The counter went to 3.5% now, their probabilities of survival were just that, for the moment. Only a miracle would save it but, unfortunately for Leone and Aristark, none of them believed in such wonders. No mystic force could save them because they did not believe in any force but physical. Leone was thinking about that, it would be very curious to be saved by some mystical trick. Leone, as most people, could not imagine or think of the possibility of his own death.

The spaceship alarm started to sound, very loud. Thot informed that the fifth room was burning. The spaceship had five main rooms: control, bath, kitchen, exit and sleeping room, equipped for four people.

"Thot..." Leone instructed "Turn of the sound of the alarm and tell me which room is affected by fire."

"Alarm disengaged. The exit room, I am trying to control the fires."

They went immediately to the exit room, letting Thot dodge and attack meanwhile. As soon as they entered, they saw the identification beacon that Sybil had given to them. Maybe that artifact had informed their presence on Flammis, maybe they would have to destroy it once and for all. Now that Flammis was hostile, the Invocator, as Sybil called it, using her stupid esoteric jargon, Leone thought, was of no use. Leone thought that he could destroy the device right now. Besides, it was very heavy to be moved to another room and maybe fire would help... Aristark broke the silence.

"We have to move it. We cannot let it burn, with everything on this room. We will also have to move the spaceboats."

At that moment, the Invocator emitted a very loud beep. They had to protect their ears but the sound was unbearable. It was more than Leone could stand, he decided to unplug it and try to stop the fire. It was funny that, in spite of it using "mental technology", the artifact needed a power surge as any machine. Leone was about to unplug it when Aristark appeared handling a quantum extinguisher. It was more effective than ancient fire extinguishers, at preimperial times. It diluted flames and advanced weaponry in a quantum manner... very few actually knew how it worked. It required to be an expert in the new Theory of Plasmas, very different than the past one, because the newest was based on Chaos Theory. Nevertheless, Aristark did not have to use the advanced extinguisher; the Invocator possessed an advanced system of refrigeration and several ways to stop nearby fire. Slowly, the Invocator stopped emitting the annoying sound until Aristark left the extinguisher on the floor. Now the machine projected a small old LCD screen on top, it was 10 inches, approximately, and was based on old technology too. "Something typical for those retrograde people", Leone thought. It was not in vane that Kalid had tried to support the Antiquist Party for so long; it was a matter of principle.

Both of them were impressed by the machine, which they considered of second rank and completely useless before. But they did not know how useful it could get to be, if let on its own. On the screen, they could read a message, in Standard Imperial language: ''DESTRUCTION DANGER DISABLED. ENTERING GHOST MODE."

"Ghost mode?" Leone asked, without expecting any reply. "These people are really psychos... Will it disappear from our sight..."

"...confounding our senses." Aristark completed.

"What? I was not going to say that."

"No, but I was. And I did. Do you not see what it implies?"

"Imply? It can mean nothing, less imply. A cryptic message using Kalid and Sybil esoteric lore. It means nothing, I repeat."

"How can you be so blind? Of course it has a meaning. Look at the next message."

'''GHOST MODE PHASE 1. QUANTUM INFORMATION CLOAKED IN A RADIUS OF 5 METERS... 10... 15...'''

The counter advanced until 100, when they could read the next message.

'''GHOST MODE PHASE 1 COMPLETED. ALL MATTER AND ENERGY INSIDE 50 METERS RADIUS IS HIDDEN TO ALL MEASURE INSTRUMENTS. STARTING PHASE 2..."

"Do you see it now?" Aristark asked Leone, his face seemed triumphant. He had always being interested on the Invocator. It had an ancient external appearance, well achieved. Aristark had concluded that it should have another functions besides announcing them to Flammis people.

"I understand nothing." Leone answered, he was so skeptical that he could not understand it yet.

"I cannot add much more than what it says. This spaceship has an approximate radius of 80 meters and the Invocator hid 100 meters around us to all measure instruments. So, they cannot see us now. We will have to flee, taking advantage on the fact that they cannot know where we are right now."

"Well, yes, it seems that was what that strange artifact did. I would not trust on it so much, but we have to flee right now, anyway. About the counter-attack, I..."

"We have to stop it. With any simple computer they could calculate where the projectiles are coming from, if we keep on attacking and the cloak would be of no purpose. We must silently flee..."

"You seem to be enjoying all this. In spite of my wishes, I have to agree with you this time, for the second time. I hope this works to save us." Leone said this in such a way that it did not admit any answer. He was angry for having to cede again, to the counsels of a subordinate, as Aristark. Although his friend was right that it was the most prudent decision, he was not happy having to accept that fact.

"Then, I will go back to my job. In a few hours we can leave them behind."

And that was how it happened. Aristark took manual control again and both could confirm that the three enemy spaceships did not know where they were. They were shooting at random, near Thot's last seen position. Maybe they were thinking the foreign spaceship was using some kind of special gas to hide; that kind of weapons did exist, using dark matter. However, Invocator's powers was of a very different nature. For now, they had no idea how it worked, but it seemed to be that it was very effective. Soon, the images of their antagonists became small until they vanished completely from their windows and 3D models. Nevertheless, they were still at Akara system. They could not use the same hyperspatial travel from the same place. Therefore, to flee completely from their enemies, they would have to get out of that system, which would take weeks to accomplish, traveling through antimatteric means.

Temple
...Sybil had been told that this was an ordinary Haldus Order retreat where initiates gathered for study and meditation. It was called "Kalid's temple" because during his time as Grand Master Kalid had gotten into the habit of using it as his base of operations while visiting Sakkara. Sybil wondered why Kalid would select this particular location as his favorite place on Sakkara. Sybil had to admit that the rural setting was calm and well suited for meditation, but the facilities, at least by outside appearances, seems absolutely primitive. There was nothing but a dusty path leading from the landing field to the temple.

A temple resident approached the landing field and greeted Dorothy. They embraced each other and Dorothy introduced the man to Sybil as Matthew. He nodded politely to Sybil and led them towards the shelter of the Temple. Dorothy and Matthew knew each other from old times, back when Dorothy had just entered the Order. Matthew commented that Sybil had the same facial features as had her mother at that age and that they shared a common manner of walking that reminded Mathew of light-footed cat. He made a joke about Kalid being an old dog and wondered if Sybil had any new tricks to teach Kalid...they all laughed and Sybil started to relax. Matthew spoke mostly to Dorothy but most of what he said was intended to diminish Sybil's visible tension; still, she could not stop biting her nails. The way along the path was a bit long and up hill. When they finally got to the old farm house that was the temple, Sybil was not so nervous.

They entered the building and another temple resident informed them, "Master Kalid will receive the girl as soon as he finishes his current appointment."

Sybil knew that when Kalid visited Sakkara, all the new initiates were brought here for Kalid's attention. Matthew went off and about his temple duties, leaving Dorothy and Sybil sitting on wood chairs and waiting for the time of Sybil's appointment to arrive. Dorothy noticed her daughter was a bit calmer now. Matthew had that gift; he was able to make people calm or happy. He was very kind and interesting man and Dorothy had known him before meeting her husband. Dorothy thought fondly of her affair with Matthew back when they had been students in the unnamed fifth circle. She had always remembered him with tenderness and maybe he did it too, it seemed.

Sybil observed the room; it was barely lit by a few candles perched on top of some high shelves. She was aware of a subtle scent that reminded her of medicinal herbs. Kalid was rumored to be some kind of shaman, and Sybil wondered if Kalid might have some appointments not for new initiates, but rather for the purpose of curing people of an illness with his own hands and his knowledge of medicine.

Now that Sybil was relaxed she was impatient to meet someone as smart and wise as she had been told Kalid was. If even half the rumors were true....that he spoke more than four different languages, was a Grand Master, shaman, physical and spiritual yogi practitioner, Vichido master and who knows what else... then he was someone worth meeting, even if she was not going to be a priestess.

Sybil yawned. If she could only have slept the night before things would be a bit easier now. Sybil had calmed down and now she felt a little weary. The conversation with Matthew had been very amusing, but now silence and boredom were draining her enthusiasm and strength.

Sybil noticed that her mother seemed lost in thought. It was a shame her mother had lost every form of contact with people from the Order like Matthew, but that was the price she had paid to be allowed to exit the Order and to marry Jeremy. If she did enter the Order, Sybil thought that it would be nice to talk to Matthew from time to time. Would she be able to see him again in the future if she was accepted? Just how many members of the Order were there on Sakkara, anyhow? She had no idea. If she was accepted. All her thoughts came back to that one conditional. She told herself firmly that she should not worry more about that. Time would tell her destiny and besides, she would have her opportunity to meet Kalid the sage, no matter what the decision was. She would try to remember everything she saw during the meeting. She tried to escape from the swirl of her worries and come back to the peaceful reality of the here and now.

She looked all around the room again and decided it was like a doctor's waiting room. Maybe patients from this district, possibly local residents like those farm workers she had seen always waited in this room before meeting with a temple shaman. Maybe the low candle light of the room was meant to ease the thoughts and calm the spirit of patients and initiates alike.

Now she was feeling as if she was going to sleep, entering a dozing state. Her lack of sleep was making her lose control of her body now. She told herself that she had to remain alert and she tried to think about what she will say to Kalid. But she did not have a clue what to say; maybe she would just do as instructed by her mother....answer Kalid's questions while trying not to say anything silly. Suddenly a touch of her panic returned and she regained full alertness again, sensing a danger. What if Kalid tried to enter her mind? She was not prepared for that kind of invasion. But if that did happen, would she even notice it? Her head automatically turned to the right, a door was being opened.

An old man was there in the door way, thanking Kalid with many bows. Maybe he was a sick person who was receiving help with either a physical illness or even some tricky mental problem; the knowledge of a shaman was useful to help people handle stress, anxiety and other trouble caused by imbalance of the energy inside and outside the body. Some people thought that a shaman could re-open a way for the free circulation of energy, resulting in relief from illness. Sybil could hear Kalid's voice for the first time, calling out from the next room and asking who was next. It was her!

Sybil entered the room where Kalid waited. She was unable to hide the fact that she was a bit scared....her hands were trembling. With one last glance at her mother, she closed the door. Now this was her time with Kalid and nobody else would hear their conversation. As instructed by Kalid she sat on a chair.

"Welcome, young lady. I am Kalid and you are...?"

"I am Sybil. I am here for you to choose my destiny."

"Hehehe. No, my dear. I will not choose, I will just try to find out if it is good for you to follow the path on becoming a priestess in our Order. In the female part of our order, I mean. As you know, the Haldus Order includes the Isis Order, for females. I remember inviting your mother into the Circle. In the same way you would be a Priestess of Isis if we discover that it is your destiny to do that."

"Oh. Well, I hope I receive that invitation."

"I see you are very worried about that, and your mom too. It seems you have been dreading this moment for quite some time. Did you sleep last night, young lady?"

"How...? No, I could not. My mind was too busy thinking about this meeting."

"You should not be afraid. Nothing wrong will happen. Just try to relax. Enough talk. Now, to help you relax, move over to that sofa and breathe thoroughly. Do one of the breathing exercises you learned in school."

At first Sybil doubted that she would be able to relax, but then she thought, what could happen? She obeyed and went to the sofa. As soon as she started a controlled breathing technique the lights went off and she was left in the dark wondering why she had not even noticed how Kalid's room had been illuminated. Her eyes adapted to the dark and then she could see some faint colored lights moving towards her. Kalid explained that those were to activate her energy centers and open a way to see if her fate was inside the Order or not. Sybil understood that that light would open her mind to him, more likely. Kalid mentioned she should not be afraid, there would be no invasion of any kind and that she should concentrate on breathing. Slowly, she began relaxing. He told he would make a full system exploration of her energy, to see if it was flowing as it should be. He ordered her to close her eyes and imagine nothing, just put her mind in blank state, watching the blackness. With her eyelids closed, the dim lights did not reach her eyes, so it was not that hard to do. Sybil finally relaxed and Kalid approached her. She was very beautiful and similar to her mother, Kalid noticed. Trying not to lose concentration, he touched his talisman and then her forehead.

"Do not be afraid, my dear. Trust me."

Sybil thought that she should not trust anyone asking for trust. But Kalid's voice convinced her. Now Kalid tried to visualize her aura and all the energies around her. It seemed Sybil's mind was hypnotized now. He tried to focus and noticed that part of her mind did not like darkness and was trying to open her eyes. He told her not to do so because she would suffer a headache later and resumed his job. He could see the colors and tried to make a meaning of them. He could see her past and future illnesses and the weakness of the body in those places where the energy was not circulating efficiently. Now he entered a conscious REM state, in order to find out more. He would try to have remote access to her central nervous system. This was the part that required more concentration and skills. Kalid took a deep breath, prayed briefly and tried to enter her mind, in order to find out about her future.

Kalid imagined a far place where he could study her mind like the terrain of a world. He saw himself there after entering the dream stage in a conscious way and remember what he was trying to achieve. He could see Sybil from far; she was running... away from him, apparently. Kalid tried to go after her but she always escaped. He had to find a way to attract her. He finally was near her and was thinking whether to take the external appearance of her father, to gain support by her but decided it would not be fair. It would just remind her of her suffering and sadness and would bring her mind to conscious state again. So, he showed himself as he was, and some white and green glow could be seen around him. The green part was the healing energy he possessed at all times, ready to heal someone nearby. As soon as she saw him, she tried to walk away, but Kalid extended his hand and tried to calm her down.

She decided she would stay there, maybe that was part of the meeting and maybe had to do with her entering the Order. She calmed down and said to herself that nothing evil could happen, Kalid was protecting her. Although Kalid knew there could be trouble, in case some evil entity was near them and had noticed their sudden appearance. But all the temple was shielded against those beings and there was no problem right then. Kalid looked at Sybil's eyes, focusing on their green color, trying to mix his own color with hers. He looked right there, at the blackness of her eyes and tried to enter her nervous system.

At that moment, Sybil felt a strong headache and a sense of panic. Kalid immediately walked back and soon he was running. He felt as if some kind of force had struck him; he was still not sure if this had anything to do with Sybil or with another conscious entity in that realm, but he had felt that before. He remembered he was in a created dream and that he could get out using a door he invented for that. He went there but remembered Sybil's mind was trapped in his dream. He could not abandon her that way, maybe her mind would never get to the real world again. That was a real problem in this kind of session. So, he went back again, recovering from his pain and looked at her again. He should have talked to her first, telling the way out but he preferred to look at those eyes. When he did it, he felt instantly hypnotized by them, they filled his entire mind and pulled him in until the blackness in the center of her eyes was the only thing he could see. His mind told him that he was losing himself trying to get inside Sybil's mind and something made him remember why he was there and what he was trying to do, again. He decided they both had to flee, so he tried to send a telepathic message to Sybil; in that realm he could not talk anymore, for unknown reasons and he felt as if a door was closing on him. It was impossible! He did not know if Sybil received the message and now he felt repentance. He felt a sudden sadness that took control of his entire body, from his energy point up to his brain. He repented for what he had made... He immediately remembered his family which was no more. He had no family at all now, he was alone in this vast universe and did not know why. His family had been killed and now he remembered it all. He did not know how he could have forgotten that fact before. He forgot about Sybil and entered his own mind, suffering. He felt a sense of void, he did not want to keep on living anymore. It was a tragedy that could never be cured. His mind... he was losing it. His hope, all those things he ever cared for, even the Order... were not important at all at that moment. He could not save his relatives and now he would not even try to save his own mind. He thought of the possibility of losing his mind in a place like this, during a telepathy session. And he was not afraid of the possibility... Was he? Oh, no, he could really become mad if he did not come back fast. But why would he want to come back? Meanwhile, Sybil was escaping through the portal he had opened and her mind was trying to recover control of her body, outside. Kalid's mind was still trapped in there, crying over the death of the people he loved more... Nothing was worth it, he could just let himself sink in there and nobody would ever know or care. And now the thoughts about going mad came back again, this time making that fact true. His mind submerged itself in a kaleidoscope of weird thoughts, contradictory thinking that made him dizzy. He did not feel his imagined body now and his created dream was becoming a nightmare. Soon, he lost conscience and entered the dream in an unconscious state.

After some time, he could finally wake up and found himself in his office. Sybil was there, also trying to wake up and he could finally recover from that dead-end he had placed himself in. He concluded that when his mind entered the unconscious mode, his mind had ordered his body to wake up and abandon those weird ideas. But not before having a chain of interconnected dreams, in most of them Kalid had suffered many false awakenings. Now he confirmed this was reality. Somehow he had been able to save his own mind, at least unconsciously. All his years of training had ingrained his unconscious mind with an advanced sense of self-preservation, apparently. Now he focused on Sybil. He called in two of the temple's monks who injected her a special substance to help her mind come back more easily and finally she woke up.

"What happened?" Sybil asked, when she regained consciousness. "I tried to escape but you were there and you did not want to get out. You told me the way to get out of that dream of yours but after some time your image got darker and darker. I called to you, but you never listened to me. I did not know what happened, the only thing I remember is some strong pain I felt in my head and then I was trying to escape. It was horrible! And you wanted to stay in there!"

"Yes. It seems I imagined a powerful illusion that I believed afterward. I believed that my f... It does not matter now. The important thing is that you are safe now and I will take my decision."

"Oh, no. I know what you will say to me."

"What will I say to you?"

"That I do not deserve to enter the Haldus Order for whatever reason." Sybil commented, sad.

"No! I already took my decision. Your destiny will be becoming a Priestess of Isis inside the Haldus Order."

"What? You must be kidding."

Kalid thought that that young lady was treating him as if they both were old friends. A little weird for that situation. Maybe because both of them were in danger, inside the dream...

"Yes. You are now accepted inside the Haldus Order and will be able to enter the Fourth Circle as soon as your age permits. That is all."

"Wow." Sybil literally jumped on the floor and then tried to embrace Kalid. Kalid hugged her and she felt very happy.

"I never thought this would end up this way." Sybil thought. "Oh, and I apologize for being so emotive, it is just that this..."

"Yes, it is very important for you and has been important for every member before entering. Congratulations. Now rest a few minutes while you recharge your energies in here, then you to be able to exit and tell your mother about this."

Sybil relaxed again and fell asleep again for a few minutes. Kalid went outside and tried to relax. He decided not to tell anything to Dorothy yet, it would be her daughter the one who would say to her the important fact. Dorothy was waiting outside and tried to catch Kalid but he went directly to another room, to order his thoughts.

Soon Sybil was awaken again. She could remember mostly everything that had happened and went towards Dorothy.

"Mom... I was accepted inside the Order!"

"What? Oh, my dear, just as I had thought! I am so proud of you."

They hugged each other and Matthew appeared again and asked about Sybil's fate. He congratulated her.

Sybil recalled all of that strange dream experience she had shared with Kalid and thinking of those old memories made her stronger now, in her new time of uncertainty about the future. Somehow she sensed that Kalid's dream was linked to this current crisis with Set, but how?