Chad and Allie looked on as the news reported the arrival of the visitor spacecraft hovering above the planet. Chad did not go to his rendezvous, as the whole world was thrown into chaos by not only what the SIC had stated, but also what the alien beings had spoken through the image in the sky.
As Chad, Dana, and Allie watched the other smaller objects moving into positions, Linda had left the room to go lie down. All of this was overwhelming her. She wished so much that Jay was there to help them. She needed a moment to take it all in. So, as she lay there, she began to doze. As she fell asleep, she began to dream.
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In the dream Linda was in, she awoke in the same chair Jay had once occupied before everything had happened at the Fleece. She was back inside the Fleece, in the Artifact Chamber, but was completely alone, as far as she could tell.
"Hello?"
Linda yelled as the sound reverberated around the chamber. She could still see the glowing orb in the center, surrounded by the artifacts, linked by the glowing cables on the ground. She stood up, looking around the room, but saw no one. With this utter sense of loneliness creeping in, even as Linda screamed for someone to answer her, she collapsed to her knees and began to weep. She looked down at the floor, begging for someone, anyone, to help her.
As she wept, a hand laid to rest on your upper back. It startled her at first, but then a sense of calm came over her. She took a deep breath and began breathing more easily. She closed her eyes and began to turn to face whoever had come to her aid.
When she opened her eyes again, she was face-to-face with a being that looked like Rapha. The image of the being standing there shifted in and out of reality, its form rotating like disconnected molecules, with no face. As the being leaned back up, a low voice spoke, "Hello, Linda."
Linda looked at the being with astonishment. The voice was unrecognizable, but something about the way they had spoken seemed soft and warm to her. Something familiar. Something she hadn't expected.
"Jay?"
"Yes, it's me."
Linda, even more astonished, stood up, her mouth agape. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. The being, identifying as Jay, reached out his shifting hand to her and placed it on her face, caressing it softly. Linda closed her eyes as her head tilted in the direction of the hand, allowing it to hold her face within it. The hand did not feel like Jay's, but she could feel the warmth of his touch. A touch she was so familiar with. A tear ran down the hand holding her right cheek as Linda opened her eyes and ran to embrace them. Despite being semi-transparent in their shifting form, Linda was able to embrace the being, as they hugged her back.
But after a few moments of embracing, Linda's eyes opened again, and she began to back up away to look at their distorted face-like structure. That's when Linda had a terrifying realization.
"This isn't real, is it? It's only a dream."
"It is a dream, Linda, but I am here. I am real. Just as much as I was before."
"But you died, Jay. The Jay I knew has long since been dead."
"I did die, way back when. But they brought me back."
"Who did?"
"Rapha, and the others like him. The Atlanteans."
"The visitors? The ones in space?"
"Yes, those are our vessels, hovering in the sky."
"But the," Linda paused. "Oh my! Jay, something terrible has happened here."
"Yes, I know. We all know."
"They used your body, Jay!"
"Yes, I know that too."
"It's been Pat, manipulating everything. Him and his 'no deception' nonsense. He's always been a liar."
"That's why we have returned, Linda. But first, how are the children?"
Linda looked up at Jay again, a softer expression on her face now, "I'm sorry. Of course. They aren't children anymore, Jay."
"I know, but are they ok?"
"Yes, as much as can be expected in this world."
"That's good. I'm glad they've had you all this time until I could return."
"You said Pat is the reason you have returned?"
"Yes, and Britton, and Rob. We're here to stop them, once and for all."
"That's wonderful news! It's been awful living in this world with them ruling over everything. I'm glad you've come to save us."
"That's just it...," Jay paused.
Linda's smile left her face.
"We haven't come to save anything. We've come to ensure everything is destroyed."
"Destroyed? I don't understand."
"Linda, you have to listen clearly now. Soon, this world will end, but a new one will be born from its ashes. You have to trust Rapha and everyone with him. They are going to help, but it is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. You, the children, and everyone you love need to go to a safe place. Somewhere beyond the reach of Pat, Britton, and Rob."
Linda looked down, "There is nowhere safe from them."
"There is one."
Linda looked back up, somewhat surprised.
"The Fleece, Linda. You have to go back to the Fleece."
"That's insane, Jay. How would we ever get there, or get into that place?"
"You will. We will see to that. But there isn't much time. You have to start moving now."
The room around them began to fade now, and a low rumbling began to start. The artifacts in the room began shaking, shuddering, and falling to the ground.
Then Jay grabbed both her arms and spoke one last time, "Right NOW!"
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Linda gasped awake, only to find Chad, Allie, and Dana all huddled over her as the entire building they were in was shaking violently.
Linda was wide awake and oriented now. "What's happening?"
"The extra-terrestrials are attacking!"
Linda had been asleep for four hours, waking up just after the destructive forces had been unleashed by the seven stars. At least, that was the narrative being broadcast on the news. The shaking finally subsided, and the news reports were filtering in. The power to the building was out, but the mobile devices still worked, showing that the smaller objects had fired on parts of the planet, releasing over two teratons of energy. A massive ash cloud could be seen in the distance hanging over the horizon in the United States of Columbia. The impact triggered a massive volcanic eruption, which blanketed the entire country in sulfur, ash, and smoke. It was only a matter of time before everyone in that region was dead from the disaster. In the far east, closer to home, there in Prussia, the plate tectonics of the planet were activated, causing a mammoth 9.9 earthquake in that region, obliterating whole cities and towns from the violent disaster. After shocks would continue for some time, but the news reported that the SIC was mobilizing troops to address concerns on the planet's surface and deploying spacecraft to make contact with the visitors and negotiate a settlement.
"There won't be any settlement," Linda said.
"What do you mean?" Dana asked.
Linda looked at her, "We have to get to the Fleece."
"What? Are you crazy?"
"It's our only hope, Dana. We have to get there now."
"Tell me why," as an aftershock rattled the building again.
"I spoke with Jay."
"Jay?"
"Dad?" Chad and Allie said together.
"Yes. He's with them in the sky. He's alive, and he told me we need to go to the Fleece now."
"He spoke to you in your dreams?"
Linda nodded.
"Well, that's good enough for me," said Chad. "After all you told me about dad's dreams, I'll do anything he says in one."
Linda laughed at Chad's statement and then looked back at Dana.
"Ok, let's go to the Fleece, I guess," Dana replied reluctantly.
Despite all Dana had seen, she was still cautious. But even she knew, like Chad, you heed the warning of dreams in this world.
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"Well, this seems like a great idea," Rob barked off as he leaned against the wall to prop himself up. Pat punched some buttons, and the Fleece roared to life, lifting off the ground surrounding it. The shaking finally subsided, and the three of them could maintain their balance again.
"You fired the kinetic devices. Why?" Britton asked Pat.
"Because it would have taken too long for the activation sequence to start. By then, Rapha and his minions would be on us. At least this way, they'll focus on addressing issues arising from the attack. Believe me, Rapha's bleeding heart will want to care for these creatures despite how useless they all are."
"What will the sequence accomplish for us?" Rob asked.
"Once we activate all the ancient structures, massive amounts of energy will start building around the planet. However, we will remove the safety limits on energy, making it totally free, unbound, and out of control. That energy will produce antimatter. Once the antimatter is established, it will begin wreaking havoc on the planet's surface. Ending this species once and for all," Pat said
"But won't Rapha try to stop this?" asked Britton.
"Yes, and when he does, he and all his people will be pulled in with the humans here. Two birds, one stone. Then the planet will be ours for good. No more humans. From there, we can make this world whatever we want it to be. It will finally be all ours," finished Pat.
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"He did exactly as you said he would, Rapha," said Samuel.
"Indeed."
"What happens next?"
"He believes he has an upper hand, but this plays right into our processes. Pat has no idea exactly what the activation sequence will do."
"What will it do?" asked Enoch.
"The energy produced by the structures will completely overwhelm the planet. It will be destabilized to its core. The planet's surface will melt, along with all life on it. Then the planet will destroy itself. But before any of that happens, we have to remove those who are not deserving of this fate and ensure those who are remain."
"They are sending a ship to approach ours, Rapha," said Jacob.
"With the grid around the planet now, we can begin to prepare to remove people. What we need now is to..."
Rapha was interrupted by Jay approaching, "I've got that plan in motion now."
Rapha looked back at Jay, "Good. So they are on their way to the Fleece?"
"Yes."
"Excellent. Once they are there, we can end it once and for all. In the meantime, you need to prepare, Jay."
"Prepare?"
"Yes, for your confrontation with Britton."
Jay smirked, "I've been looking forward to seeing her again."
Rapha smiled, "I know you have. Make preparations."
Jay left again as Rapha turned his attention back to the image of the planet now engulfed in chaos.
"Let the activation sequence begin."
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Pat, Britton, and Rob started pressing buttons on the control console in the main chamber of the Fleece. The console connected them to the other sites around the globe. Ancient sites we know as Giza in Egypt, Easter Island, the Mayan civilization, the Great Wall of China, Teotihuacan, Gobekli Tepe, Petra in Jordan, Machu Picchu, the Colosseum in Italy, the Acropolis in Greece, Stone Henge in England, areas within the Grand Canyon, a pyramid in Antarctica and one in northern Siberia, Angkor Wat, and other ancient locations.
In the Saharan Savanna, where the Eye of the Sahara now rests, and covered in foliage, a structure began to emerge. The structure rose like a tower hundreds, and even thousands of feet in the air. On the site of the temple in what once was Jerusalem, a similar structure ripped through the temple rebuilt there, destroying the structure. These towers were made of copper, aluminum, gold, silver, graphene, and other rare-earth metals, as well as some unknown to the world on the surface. The structures had been residing deep in the ground for millions of years since the time of the Atlanteans. These structures were not meant to produce harm but to produce energy that everyone and everything could use. The natural processes of the world are coming together to provide humans with all the energy they will ever need.
This was the big thing Pat wanted all for himself. The power to use that energy as he saw fit, with no rules or regulations. But Pat did not fully understand the purpose of these structures or what they could do to the planet. The free energy produced could be used, provided regulatory processes were in place to manage it, as Rapha wanted. Pat wanted to use that energy for conquest. He aspired not to stay on this lonely rock in space, but to use the energy to venture out and spread his ways of thinking and belief to all the corners of the universe. He wanted to conquer all. Everything, everywhere. He never admired Rapha's restraint. He didn't understand living a life of servitude. Not when the power to take all was right there in his grasp. That was the reason the Atlanteans had to go. Over the years, however, Pat kept having to deal with humans on the planet fighting back against him, making it nearly impossible to activate all the sites. Some would get buried and ruined, requiring rebuilding. In some cases, that rebuilding took millennia, for which the humans left behind after the Atlanteans were gone were unable to achieve the same longevity. Pat could keep a few alive, but most grew old and died, and Pat would have to start again.
Pat had seen enough of that and wanted all the humans gone for good. But he still needed them to locate the final sites and restore them, one last time. Those sites were just completed, and that meant Pat could rid the world of this nuisance for good.
As the sites rose to their positions and the sequence started to activate, a smile crept over Pat's face again. He was excited about the end of humanity.
It was the end of the world for man. Humankind was facing its judgment day. This is it, at long last.
But then Pat noticed something in the sequence he hadn't anticipated. A code that he had missed or didn't know about. As he looked at it, he saw only the code's name. A name no one else knew in this world. Pat knew instantly it was from Rapha, and that meant Rapha was in control of the sequence. Now that the code had passed, there was nothing Pat could do.
You see, the activation sequence can either provide energy or start a self-destruction mechanism. The code Rapha entered began the self-destruction sequence, and there was no turning back now. The code was: Alpha&Omega.
