Legends of Amacia: Mysteries of Tiamat
The Download

Back in Sumatra at the Templeof Tiamat, Hannibal and Selina stood in the control room of the core withHannibal gazing intently at the control panel. He searched the panel forseveral minutes, and then said with some relief, “Thank God; the machine’soperating normally.”

“Were you worried about amalfunction?” Selina asked.

“Yeah,” Hannibal replied whilecontinuing to study the console. “I had this sudden feeling that something waswrong down here. But there’s obviously nothing wrong here. Maybe the feelingwas about something else. I don’t know.”

“It could be,” Selina answered.“Maybe there’s something going on outside that’s tweaking your instincts.”

“Possibly,” Hannibal murmured.“It could be that the Lord wants me to do something with this machine.”

“What would He want you to dowith this?” Selina asked. “You don’t even know how to operate it.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Hannibalretorted mildly. “It seems I’m getting more and more back from that jolt theTeacher gave me. I think I’m beginning to understand this thing.”

“Really,” Selina answered in atone reflecting her curiosity. “Have you figured out this console yet?”

“Yeah,” Hannibal declared. “Ibelieve so and it’s just as I suspected. This control panel operates a varietyof different defensive mechanisms. One of these defensive systems is a cloakingdevice of some kind. Once activated, this Temple will be invisible to anyonethat’s outside to the point that anyone looking at it will only believe there’sa mountain and jungle here. They’ll actually be able to walk up to it and notsee or feel it, making it the perfect camouflage. It’ll also create animpenetrable shield around the Temple.”

Selinanodded with a grunt. “So, are you going to turn it on?” she asked.

“Yes,ma’am,” Hannibal replied. “There are forces at work here that I don’tcompletely understand. We’re just hedging our bets with this now that I somehowunderstand this machine.” He touched a sequence on the control panel and said,“That ought to do it.” The panel glowed brightly as the core began to producemore power. They looked at the hologram and saw a giant shockwave of poweremerge from the core and race up the spire. Looking out the window, Hannibaland Selina watched the power surges from the spire triple in intensity. Thecontrol room rumbled and a secondary hologram appeared to one side of the mainhologram. It was a hologram of the entire outside of the Temple, including thedraken colossus and the mountain from which it was carved. The hologram reflectedeverything going on outside the Temple. A great pulse of power shot out of theplatform where they had observed the strange phenomena six weeks earlier. Itspread like a shockwave with giant electrical discharges striking all up anddown the colossus. The shockwave encompassed the whole mountain and theywatched as the structures faded away in the hologram, leaving only theiroutlines in it. The pair watched in fascination as the platform, the colossus,and all traces of structure disappeared. “This is truly awesome. You know, ifI’m reading this right, there’s a mechanism for active defense of this place.There’s even a self-destruct mechanism here too. It’s right here,” Hannibalsaid, pointing to a small clear dome with a strange looking switch under it.

“That’sgood to know,” Selina returned. “Let go outside and see if the cloak is reallyworking.”

“Good call;let’s go,” Hannibal ordered and they started back to the portal chamber. Anhour and a half later, they stood outside in the edge of the jungle, just a fewfeet from where the edge of the platform would have been. “This is incredible!”Hannibal said as he and Selina walked to where the platform and the colossusshould have been. In its place was nothing but jungle growth that looked andfelt real. They saw absolutely no trace of the structure. “It’s gone andthere’s no way to tell that it was ever here,” Hannibal breathed as theysearched the old platform area.

“I’ll haveto admit,” Selina agreed. “This is astounding. We were able to make holograms withour technology but not at this level. This is truly amazing. It’s as if thatmachine restructured the entire area to hide the Temple. Our enemies will neverreplace this place now.”

“I believeyou’re right,” Hannibal agreed as they walked back to the portal and into theportal chamber. The portal snapped shut behind them and Hannibal put theconsole remote back into its place. “We’ll need to tell everyone about the newdefensive shield,” he said.

They walkedacross the platform and Hannibal suddenly became dizzy to the point that hestumbled and fell. Selina quickly caught and sat him down on the platform,holding him up. “Are you all right?” she asked.

Hannibal’seyes glazed as he said, “I don’t know. I feel very strange.” He suddenly beganto jabber in the Stone Language.

Selinarealized that he might be having a surge of recalled knowledge from theincident with the Teacher so she attempted to reach him telepathically. Themoment she made contact, her consciousness exploded as the sheer volume of knowledgeflooding into Hannibal’s feeble brain overwhelmed her. It flowed and surgedthrough her mind, literally shattering and then fusing her telepathic contactwith him, knocking her senseless while sending her sprawling back several feetas if she had been struck by a tremendous power surge. Within seconds of theonset of the attack, Hannibal fell unconscious and Selina lay next to himstunned, struggling to regain consciousness of her own. Both of them lay therefor nearly twenty minutes, at which time, Nathanael and Harry happened to comeinto the portal chamber.

Nathanael’skeen eyesight immediately noticed two figures laying on the platform and hesaid to Harry, “I think we have a problem here.” They rushed forward to seeHannibal out cold and Selina moaning and shaking her head. Dropping to theirknees, Nathanael and Harry tried to bring them around but were unable to do so.“This isn’t good,” Nathanael said as Dan and Jerry showed up. They immediatelyran over to see what had happened. “We need to get them back to theirquarters,” Nathanael ordered.

“Whathappened?” Dan asked.

“We don’tknow. We just walked in and found them like this,” Harry informed.

“I suspectthat Hannibal may have had an overload from the Library incident with theTeacher but I’m not sure,” Nathanael said as he picked up Selina. “Let’s getthem back to the barracks. I’ll be able to determine something there.”

Dan, Harry,and Jerry lifted Hannibal and carried him to an awaiting golf cart. Jerry gotbehind the wheel as Nathanael climbed aboard with Selina. “Drive!” Nathanaelordered urgently. Within minutes, they laid Hannibal and Selina next to eachother on the bed in Hannibal’s quarters. “Dan, Jerry. You can go back towhatever you were doing. Harry and I will deal with this,” Nathanael ordered.Dan and Jerry hesitated with concerned looks on their faces. “I’ll let you knowwhen we know something,” Nathanael reassured. Dan and Jerry nodded and left.

“What doyou suppose happened to her?” Harry asked as he watched Selina rock slowly fromside to side, moaning softly with her eyes glazed over. Hannibal lay like arock, eyes fixed and glazed, staring into infinity.

“I don’tknow,” Nathanael said. “But I intend to replace out.” He gently grabbed Selina andheld her firmly to keep her from rocking. Next, he looked deep into her eyes,touching her temple with his fingers in an attempt to make telepathic contactwith his daughter. A sudden jolt ran through him, throwing him back violentlyacross the floor.

Harry’smouth hung open and he quickly moved to help Nathanael up. “Are you all right?”Harry asked.

Nathanaelshook his head to gather his wits as Harry helped him up. “Yeah,” Nathanaelreplied. “It’s incredible. I saw her mind for an instant. It was just as Isuspected. Hannibal has had a catastrophic download from his experience in theLibrary a month ago. The information stored in his subconscious is violentlycascading into his conscious mind. Selina made telepathic contact, trying todetermine what was wrong and she was caught in the middle of it. Sheinadvertently shared the download with him and is now caught in its grip. Theonly thing that has kept her from going completely under like Hannibal is thefact that she isn’t human, but Lynxian with great mental strength.”

“Is thereanything that you can do?” Harry asked in a worried manner.

“I don’tknow. I’m not as skilled a telepath as she is. I could try and make contactagain but I very well may end up like them,” Nathanael declared. “Because oftheir telepathic link to each other, they’re caught together in the samemaelstrom. This may be their salvation. If their minds can stay linked, theymay be able to come out of it.”

Nathanaeland Harry looked at each other as Harry pleaded, “If you can do anything,please try. We’re talking about your daughter and our best friend here.”

Nathanaelnodded solemnly. “You’re right,” he agreed. “But I’m going to need some help. Ineed to make contact with your mind before I try to contact her so I can useyou as an anchor. If I’m not careful, we both may end up catatonic just likethem.”

Harrylooked Nathanael in the face and said insistently, “Do it.”

“Okaynow…just relax. This is going to feel a little weird since you’ve never hadsomeone make telepathic contact with you before,” Nathanael declared as hereached out telepathically to Harry. He linked up with Harry’s mind andthought, Can you hear me, Harry?

Harrynodded, saying aloud, “You’re right. This is really weird.”

Good,Nathanael responded telepathically. I’m now going to try to make contactwith Selina.

Nathanaelsat down next to her and once again gently restrained her, looking deep intoher glazed eyes. He reached out again to her, calling to her in his thoughts.Harry stood there with absolute fascination as he could see and hear everythingthat Nathanael did in his mind. Nathanael drew on Harry’s strength and probeddeeper and deeper, constantly calling to her but unable to make contact. Hismind was beaten and whipped with the maelstrom of knowledge that swirled inSelina’s mind. He began to sweat and Harry had to sit down as Nathanaelsearched frantically. Finally, he began to hear a faint echo of Selina callingout. He moved toward it and the dim outlines of two figures emerged from thetempest: Selina and Hannibal. He called out to her mind, Selina, can you see me?

No, dad!I can’t replace you! Hannibal’s hurt bad! I can’t leave him! Selina answeredback.

Can youfollow my voice? Nathanael asked.

No,we’re pinned! Something is holding us down! Selina answered.

Don’tmove then. I’ll try to reach you! Nathanael replied as he tried to pushthrough the tempest in her mind. He then called to Harry, Hold on to me myboy! This is the most dangerous telepathic tempest I’ve ever encountered!

Harry’smind braced itself and he said aloud, “I got you.”

Keepcalling, Princess! I’ll try to reach you! Nathanael called out again.

No, dad!Don’t! You’ll never make it! Selina begged. Get out of here! You won’tbe able to stand the power!

Nathanaelnevertheless pushed forward as any loving parent would when their child was indanger. Lord, please help us, he thought, closing in on her position.Just as Hannibal and Selina became visible, the power of the maelstrom becametoo much, violently expelling Nathanael from her mind. He flew across the roomand crashed into the wall as if he’d touched a high-voltage power line. Harrycrumbled at the same moment, falling to the floor. Nathanael immediately brokecontact with Harry’s mind as he lay on the floor panting heavily. Harry satthere for a few moments with a bit of confusion that quickly dissipated. “Itwas too strong!” Nathanael panted. “I couldn’t get to her!”

Harrydragged himself to his feet and stumbled over to get a close look at Selina andHannibal. Selina had ceased rocking, but she continued to moan softly with hereyes less glazed than they were earlier. The glaze in Hannibal’s eyes hadlessened also and he was starting to stir just a little. “I think you reachedthem,” Harry said wearily. “They’re beginning to respond a little.”

Nathanaeldragged himself to the bed and hauled himself up so he could see. “I hope itwas enough. I was able to contact her but I couldn’t reach her. One thing I didsee. Their minds are completely merged right now. They’re together in there.That’s a good sign. At this point the only thing left to do is pray,” Nathanaelsaid. “Thanks for your help. If you hadn’t been there for backup, I would havebeen swept up in what they’re experiencing and would have ended up like them.I’m just not the telepath that she is. Much of her skill she got from hermother.”

Harry puthis hand on Nathanael’s shoulder and said wearily, “You were able to reachthem. Your strength and courage has already helped this situation. I don’t knowabout you, but whatever you did to me drained my strength like a glass ofwater. I can barely hold myself up.”

Nathanaelcracked a weary smile. “I had to use some of your strength in order topenetrate the storm,” he stated. “Without it, I would have been blown away. I’msorry that I had to use so much of it.”

“Don’tworry about it,” Harry replied. “It was well worth the risk. They’re family.Besides, it was fascinating having you inside my head like that. It’s acompletely new experience for me.” Harry saw a chair in the corner and stumbledto it, slumping heavily into it. “I think I’ll just sit here for a while,” hemurmured.

“You dothat. I’m going to stay right here,” Nathanael said as he sat on the floor,leaning against the side of the bed. Within minutes, Harry’s exhaustion fromthe experience had him fast asleep in the chair. Nathanael’s strength hadlikewise been drained so he found himself nodding off. As he nodded off, he wouldcatch himself, trying to shake off the exhaustion. This happened several times.Just before the exhaustion finally won out, he noticed that Selina wasn’tmoaning any longer and her eyes were closed. Hannibal’s eyes were likewiseclosed. Oh Lord, I hope we were able to do some good, he thought as hepassed out leaning against the bed.

Two hourslater, Dan, Jerry Cynthia, and Mary barged into Hannibal’s quarters aftergetting no answer from the door. “This isn’t good,” Dan stated as they madetheir way back to the bedroom. They found Hannibal and Selina fast asleep onthe bed. Harry sat snoring in the chair and Nathanael sitting on the floorleaning against the bed, also asleep.

“Whathappened here?” Jerry asked as Mary immediately went to Harry and gently shookhim. Harry jumped with a start as he woke, looking into Mary’s face. Dan andJerry went to Nathanael and proceeded to shake him gently in order to wake himas Cynthia examined both Selina and Hannibal.

Nathanaelslowly came to and Dan asked with some concern, “What happened? Were you ableto replace out anything?”

Cynthiasuddenly spoke up, saying, “It appears they are going to be all right. They’reasleep now.”

Nathanaelshook himself, trying to dispel the drowsiness. “It’s incredible,” he saidsoftly. “They’re linked at a far deeper level than I ever imagined. It appearsthat Hannibal had a massive discharge of information from what he received fromthe Teacher. Selina risked all and made telepathic contact with him while itwas going on and they were caught together in a deep merge the likes of whichI’ve never encountered before. The information has seemingly cemented themtogether telepathically and entrapped them. I tried to reach her but was unableto. Had it not been for Harry’s assistance and strength, I wouldn’t have gottenas close as I did to them. The amount of knowledge that is swirling around intheir heads is staggering. There’s no telling what will come from this.”

“So howlong will they be like this?” Dan probed.

“It’s hardto tell,” Nathanael admitted. “They could come out of it in a few minutes, or afew hours or days or never. It’s just so hard to actually say how long thissort of thing could last since we’re dealing with the after-effects of highlyadvanced technology.”

“But youknow something,” Harry added. “I don’t believe they’re lost to this. The Lordas allowed this to occur for some reason that only He knows. Hannibal has atremendous task ahead of him and I don’t believe the Lord is going to allow Hisman to taken out before that task is even begun.”

Nathanaelshook his head knowingly as he slowly rose from the floor. He stumbled brieflyand Dan and Jerry caught him as he fell, helping him to his feet. “You’reright, Harry,” Nathanael replied. “This incident isn’t going to be the end ofthem. We just need to give them time. The Lord will bring them out when Hedeems the time’s right.”

“Shouldn’tsomeone stay with them?” Mary asked.

“Yeah…someoneshould stay,” Dan agreed. “Who’s it going to be?”

“I’llstay,” Harry volunteered. “Nathanael is the only one with the knowledge tofinish the preparations for the expedition. Go. I’ll watch over them.”

Nathanael’sexpression narrowed. “Are you sure?” he asked.

“Yes, goon. Things must be ready for the expedition. That’s what Hannibal would want,”Harry stated.

Nathanaelrealized that Harry spoke the truth. “So be it,” he replied. “We’ll be ready ontime. You let me know the moment they come out of it.”

“That Iwill,” Harry answered.

“I’m goingto stay too,” Mary said. “Just for a little while.”

Nathanaelacknowledged it. “Okay people,” he said. “We’ve got work to do.” He started tomove toward the door and collapsed to the floor.

Once again,Dan and Jerry caught him. “Looks like you need a little recharge. Come. Let’sget you to Station One,” Dan observed.

“Yes, lookslike it,” Nathanael agreed. “I must have taken a worse beating than I thought.Watch over them, Harry.”

Harrynodded as he sat there in the chair, still considerably weak from the incident.Dan and Jerry led Nathanael out of the room. Cynthia walked over to Harry andasked, “Are you all right?”

“Yeah…Ithink so. Nathanael sapped much of my strength in what he did. It still feelsso weird to have that kind of contact,” Harry said. “I’ve never had someone usetelepathy on me like that before.”

“Do youwant anything to eat?” Cynthia asked. “It may help to restore your strength.”

“Yeah…thatwould be nice. But at the moment, I barely have the strength to even raise myarm,” Harry informed.

“We’llbring you something. Mary, would you care to help me with that?” Cynthia asked.Mary nodded and they left the room, leaving Harry in the chair with Hannibaland Selina out cold on the bed.

Harry’smind reeled because of what he had just experienced. Bits and pieces of whatNathanael endured slowly exploded into his consciousness and then faded away ina matter of seconds. He tried to make sense of it, but was unable to do so. Whaton Earth did that thing do to you, Hannibal? he thought. He suddenly foundhimself overcome with drowsiness and was soon fast asleep again.

Deep in thedepths of Selina and Hannibal’s mind, the maelstrom of knowledge raged. She andHannibal sat together, hemmed in on all sides by the sheer power and brutalityof the download. Hannibal lay in Selina’s lap with her arms around his chest asshe tried to protect his mind from the onslaught of the download. It seared andcharred them as the information tried to replace an outlet. She called to Hannibaland shook him, doing her best to shield him. Hannibal! Hannibal! You have tohelp me! We can get out of here if you help me! I can’t do it alone, shepleaded. His mind remained paralyzed by the download, unable to respond. Shebegged and pleaded with him, shaking him. Oh Lord…How can this be? Am I tolose him in this? I thought it was your will that we be together. Now itappears that you’re willing to take him from me. Why? Why’re you allowing this?He’s my life because you made it so. Please do not let him die! Take meinstead. You chose him from before the foundations of the universe not just tobe my soul mate but also to be your man in this black day! Take me and not him!she prayed fervently. Do not abandon us in this abyss! She wept as themaelstrom raged even more, trying to tear their link apart.

Suddenly,Hannibal squeezed her hand and Selina became ecstatic. Thank you, Lord.Thank you, thank you! sheexclaimed as she looked into his eyes.

The sparkleof intelligence had returned to Hannibal’s eyes as he looked up into her eyes. Youcame for me. You risked everything and came for me, Hannibal saidtelepathically.

Selinaembraced him as he lay in her lap, responding, I had to. We’re foreverlinked, soul mates. I couldn’t just let you die, not after discovering how wellwe’re matched and need each other. Is this storm part of what the Teacher didto you?

Yes,Hannibal replied. This is the sum of all the knowledge the machine impartedto me. This storm, however, is not as severe as it was when I first got caughtin it at the machine. We just have to wait it out. There is no other way ofdealing with it.

How longwill it take? Selina asked.

Itshouldn’t be long now. It appears that the storm is subsiding now, Hannibalanswered. We’ll lose most of this information to our subconscious minds whenwe come out of this. It’s hard to tell what we’ll retain once this passes.

Selinabelieved him and hugged him tightly, refusing to let go of him. The maelstromseemed to rage on forever as they clung to each other. Then a strange lightsuddenly shined round about them and the storm dissipated as suddenly as it hadcome, freeing their minds from their prison.

Selina satstraight up on the bed in an instant with a deep gasp. Her eyes looked aroundwildly as she realized that she was free and awake. Her gaze fell on Harry,asleep in the chair and she knew it was over. She was no longer a prisoner inher own mind. She then realized that her telepathic contact with Hannibal wasstill intact and much, much stronger than she believed. She tried to breakcontact but found that she could not. Selina panted heavily as every fiber ofher being tingled. She looked at Hannibal and called to him telepathically Wakeup. It’s over. At first, he did not reply and a little pang of fear rose inher heart. She nudged him with her hand and called again telepathically Wakeup! Wake up, my prince! We’re through it.

Hannibalabruptly opened his eyes and sat up with a start, gasping for air. After hecaught his breath, he gazed into Selina’s eyes and thought, You came for me.At that, they embraced each other passionately.

I willalways come for you, Selina answered telepathically. There seems to be astrange side effect to what we’ve just experienced.

What’sthat? Hannibal thought.

I’munable to break my telepathic link to you. It’s almost as if our minds havebeen fused together. It’s totally strange, Selina answered telepathically.

“You meanto say our minds are permanently linked?” Hannibal questioned aloud.

“Apparently,”Selina answered. “I have heard of this happening before, but not like this.”

“How so?”Hannibal asked.

“Merges canhappen in degrees,” Selina explained. “This morning, we merged on a moderatescale so we could share our memories. I’ve heard of times when soul mates gothrough a deep merge where their minds are permanently linked telepathically toone another on every level. It’s an extremely rare event because of what itmeans: they know everything about their mates, their hopes, dreams, andfears…all of it, even where they are physically. From what I remember of theresearch I did on it while on Kaitia, those who end up with this kind ofconnection seemed to be destined to be together and each is willing to givetheir life for the other.”

Hannibalknew what she was saying was the truth. You were ready to die in my place inorder to save my life. I heard your prayer. You were willing to lay your headon the block so I could be spared, he thought.

“Yes,”Selina replied, smiling as she caressed his cheek. “I’ll always come for you,even at the risk of my own life. We now are apparently permanently connected byan unbreakable bond. We’ll be able to know and feel what the other is feeling.It’ll be a blessing and a curse, being that our contact seems to be fusedtogether now. We’ll be able to share not only knowledge but every little thingthe other experiences, maybe even pain and pleasure.”

“This isdeep,” Hannibal said as he flopped down on the bed. “I’m at a loss for words.I’m now literally closer to you than anyone on the face of Earth could be toanother person. It’s totally bizarre. By the way, how do you feel physically? Ifeel like I’ve just been run through a mill. My strength is practicallynonexistent. I barely have strength enough to sit up.”

Selina laiddown next to him, laying her head on his shoulder. “The same is true here,” shereplied. “I’m absolutely exhausted. I feel like I’ve been awake for three weeksstraight. I could use a long cat nap.”

“Me too,”Hannibal agreed. “Maybe we should just rest here a while.”

Selinasmiled and nodded in agreement, cuddling close to him. “Maybe we should wakeHarry,” she suggested.

“No, lethim sleep. I vaguely seem to remember him and your father doing something toreach us. Exactly what it was, I’m not sure,” Hannibal said. “Do you have anyrecollection of anything like that?”

“Yes, I dobut it is very vague. I seem to remember hearing dad calling to me but that isabout it,” Selina said with a sigh. She began to purr softly and withinminutes, they were both fast asleep, arm in arm.

Mary camein and saw Harry asleep in the chair. She shook her head sympathetically andthen looked over to the bed, seeing Selina and Hannibal fast asleep in eachother’s arms. Mary instantly noticed that this was a change from earlier andwalked over to Harry. She gently shook him and he gradually came to. “What isit?” Harry asked.

“Look; Ithink it’s just about passed,” Mary replied, pointing to the bed.

Harry immediately noticed that Hannibal and Selina layarm in arm rather than side by side. “Oh great; they must have come out of itwhile I was asleep,” Harry growled with irritation for missing the moment. Herose from the chair and went to the bed, looking the situation over. They weresound asleep as if nothing had happened. Selina purred softly and Hannibalsnored quietly. “I think you’re right. It looks like the worst is passed,”Harry agreed. “Let’s leave them be.” Mary nodded in agreement and they left thebedroom.