The Chronicles of Aallandranon - Episode One - Ant-Lion Read Online Free PDF Page A

” The man spoke, but the sound of the water became unbearably
loud. “ The ship! The ship! ” He strained. “ Before
it ’ s
too late! ” He disappeared within the green haze, but the river
remained. The motion of moving forward took the unconscious eye and
hurled the camera above the complex mathematical expanse of a
massive black-hole, ripping and sucking everything into
it ’ s
emptiness. The camera dove into the abyss and the dream
ended.
    “ That ’ s a pretty bizarre dream. ” Ralph said. “ Did the old guy
look like anybody aboard the Enigma? ”
    “ He
looked like William, ” said Jonathan. “ Play the second
file. ”
    The
second file zoomed into a massive sandy city that looked like a
place in the Middle East on Earth, but the buildings
weren ’ t the sort of buildings Jonathan had become accustomed to
seeing during his trips to Baghdad and Doha when he was younger.
They seemed far older. The view zoomed over the the stone
house-tops, over the heads of hundreds of people walking the
streets below. The camera settled into the eyes of William,
presumably, as he was running as fast as he could, jumping and
diving across the rooftops. People were after him. Occasionally, a
face would emerge from the void of his free-run and he would duck,
dip, and dive out of his assailant before continuing his
run.
    William landed atop the final roof and stood across from
seven men who wore what appeared to be medieval mail. The man in
the middle wore a different color, and he held his wife with a
blade to her throat. She had long brown hair and sea-green
eyes … eyes that had been gouged out, leaving bloody holes in her
face. She was screaming as William fell to his knees. He tried to
get up and save her, but another figure emerged from the building
nearby with his arms raised high. The man wore a crown on his head
and smiled an evil grin. He had short slicked back brown hair and
dark eyes. He spoke, but all that came out was a vibrating humming
as his lips moved. Jonathan and Ralph could hear the syllables, but
nothing specific in the dialogue.
    Moving to strike, William dove for the king, drawing what
appeared to Jonathan and Ralph as a sword, but it was impossible to
tell. It didn ’ t matter anyway. William was blown off his feet and the
dream only just caught sight of his wife ’ s captor cutting the
woman ’ s throat – crimson blood flooding down her
neck – before the dream ended abruptly, leaving Jonathan and Ralph
standing in the empty room in silence.
    “ Well … that was messed up. ” Ralph grunted.
    “ He
didn ’ t
record anything else. ” Jonathan said.
    “ Maybe he couldn ’ t sleep. I know those dream recorders always make
me nervous. I start trying to analyze ideas, and my mind
won ’ t
stop racing. ”
    “ Or
he wasn ’ t sleeping here. Let ’ s go talk to
William, ” said Jonathan.
    Ralph
led Jonathan to the brig of the Lock-up, a division of the Cargo
Hold that had been set aside for crew-members who became unruly or
disturbed the rest of the crew. So far, they
hadn ’ t
needed it, but they also hadn ’ t needed the Medical
Office for anything other than a few routine
shots.
    William sat at the back of the room the crew had made out
of the massive storage containers behind a stack of tables. He
looked to have been sleeping, but opened his eyes when he saw them.
As they approached, Jonathan recalled the face of the man from
William ’ s dream. It was hard to envision with
William ’ s lack of facial hair. William was surprisingly kempt for
someone who very nearly blew the whole Enigma to smithereens. His
hands were bound with Ralph ’ s security
bracers.
    “ Jonathan
Tabith.” William hiked himself
to his feet and stretched, popping his back. “ I was
hoping I ’ d have the opportunity to see the face of the man who has
condemned man-kind to a very miserable fate by creating this
vehicle. If you knew what I knew you ’ d sabotage a reactor in
a heartbeat. ”
    “ Help me