Keys

By Doug Plamping

Book 2 in the Council of Three series sees Amy, lost in a sandstorm, saved by the One Who Tests. It seems that on other planets God is more directly involved in the lives of humans.
Amy meets a baby alien that she is to take to Earth. That seems to be a condition of their travelling from Earth into the galaxy. The baby alien spider is already four feet across from claw to claw and growing! They aren’t given an option to say no.
Returning to Earth, Amy takes the baby spider to university with her, hiding it in her dorm room. Babysitting an alien turns out to be a full time job. Someone takes a movie of the spider, and it only gets worse after that. Amy discovers that a baby spider is the least of her troubles. The staff that the old priest gave her is changing her physically; she heals faster and has more energy, but it gives her strange dreams and nightmares. Also, the criminals and the government watch and follow her, and the criminals have decided to act.
Warned by an alien, Amy runs from the criminals but she is stopped, kidnapped, drugged, and tortured for her knowledge on how to travel to other planets. She is to be killed, but the government rescues her before that can happen. Unfortunately the government decides to lock Amy, Paul and Frank up and throw away the key! Given powers by the staff, which is now talking to Amy in strange two word sentences, she uses shields to escape from the seventh floor of the hospital where she is being held.
Paul and Frank are warned and escape capture. Now they all have to travel across the US without being found by the criminals or the government, but they only have 48 hours to get to their rendezvous. Once they’re together they still have to get off Earth. Unfortunately, the military have occupied the area around the pillar, the only known way off Earth.
Add to those troubles, aliens think that Earth is the most dangerous planet in the galaxy, and propose to do something about it !!!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Doug Plamping
• Release date: Jul 3, 2011
• ISBN: 9780987735904

Doug Plamping

Doug Plamping has recently taken his writing hobby to the new level of published author. Step on the Sun is his first book, with a number of books in the Council of Three series being prepared for publication. Doug has been a science fiction and fantasy fan since he was a boy growing up in the United Kingdom. A Canadian for 40 years, he enjoys rural living north of Calgary, Alberta, and spending time with family and friends.

Book preview

Chapter 1 – Sandstorm

From above, the sandstorm looked like an ocean storm on a brown sea. Instead of water, sand and dust were thrown about by the brutal wind. Mountains and valleys of this planet were invisible, engulfed by the violence of the storm. Entering the storm, a witness would be surrounded by flashes of lightning created by the dry air and the friction of the sand. Closer in the witness would see one of the humans, battered by the storm, crawling on the top of a pyramid that once stood above a city, now buried by the sands of a desert.

The human was struggling to find shelter in the rotted ruins of a wooden boat which incongruously lay on top of the pyramid. The human was unable to find the boat in the sandstorm. Lightning flashed around her, but it only showed more sand. The human was lost, exhausted, and near death.

Amy Elizabeth La Reine, mouth covered by her T-shirt, croaked from a dry and dust coated throat, a desperate cry, God help me!

Sandspour of Oupavok One, one of the angel kind was watching and listening, he heard the desperate prayer of the human. But he was commanded not to interfere. This was her test. She was a potential member of the Council of Three. She had to pass this test or die.

Amy swayed on her knees, knowing that she would soon collapse face down onto the sand covered platform and die, suffocating as the dust and sand filled her throat. There was no hope! How could it end this way? She had so much left to do!

Abruptly Amy’s body was shaken by the command, "Forward!"

It shouted above the violence of the storm.

It shook the sand around her.

It shook the stones under her.

Her skin, flesh, bones and muscles, shook with the command and leapt to obey. Amy found herself scrambling across the sand on her hands and knees. Without warning, Amy sprawled face first into the sand as the hand holding the staff suddenly stopped. Initially startled, she realized the staff must have hit something, the boat! She hadn’t even seen it! She moved forward and her hand felt wood, and then her forehead was touching the wood. It was real! Thank God! she croaked.

Amy wondered if the answer of her desperate prayer was from God? Or The One Who Tests as they call God here in the Isolated Planets? Focus girl, Amy told herself, find shelter, you haven’t survived yet!

Moving downwind and around the end of the boat, Amy looked for shelter from the wind, lightening, dust and sand. She found a spot under some broken timbers away from the full force of the wind. Even in this shelter the sand was still blowing in her face, forcing her to keep her T-shirt over her mouth. She laid Simon’s staff next to the boat so she would find it again, then took off her backpack and laid it on the sand in front of her face to protect her. It didn’t do enough! Sand and dust still ground at her, trying to get under the T-shirt.

In desperation, she unfastened her sleeping bag from the backpack, and holding it firmly so the wind didn't drag it out of her hands; she pulled it over her head, down to her waist, and pulled it under her butt to hold it in place. That worked! There was still some dust, but as long as she breathed through her T-shirt, she’d be OK.

Amy leant back against the broken timbers of the boat, exhausted, listening to her heart thump in her chest. She told herself, What was I thinking, going alone like this! Who was that? God? An angel?

It was getting difficult to breathe. Fine dust was finding its way into the sleeping bag. Each gust of wind that hit her blew the dust into her face. Amy found it difficult to breathe. She refolded the T-shirt so that she was breathing through multiple layers of the cotton fabric and tied it tightly across her face.

They’d been told by Simon that this pillar was known only to a few people, so it was not used much. Not surprising as it was half a day’s walk across the sands of a desert to a Transit Station. If she died here she might not be found for a long time. Paul and Frank might find me, she realized. That would be horrible! They’d had to bury Simon after he died, and now they might have to bury her. John, her brother, was waiting for her in a hotel in San Crecerlan in Mexico. How long would he wait? When would he figure out that she was never coming back? How would he handle that? What would he tell Mom and Dad?

I’m not dead yet! You…Amy Elizabeth La Reine…can beat this! Amy told herself, voice muffled by the T-shirt across her mouth, and drowned out by the noise of the storm. She had to stay awake, and told herself to think about something.

The pillar! Their first trip was from Mexico to the planet where Simon was camping. The pillar was a yellow stone in the middle of a floor mural in some Mexican ruins. They didn’t know how old the ruins were. Frank thought that the stone they stood on was the top of a machine, probably shaped like a pillar, which could take them to another planet in seconds. But the machine gave off some kind of signal, because as soon as they started using it there was military in the area looking for something. And now there were people following her back on Earth. She’d lost them this time. Now she was travelling from planet to planet using pillars, archways and yellow domes. Did the people following her on Earth know about the pillar? Likely.

Archways were easier to use as they didn’t need you to tap a long sequence. You just tapped your staff, with eight gold beads in it, on the side of the archway, walked through, and then tapped the side of the archway again to close it behind you. You could just walk through with your staff, which was OK if you were on your own, but when they’d done that as a group it had cut off the bottom of Frank’s staff. Frank was just happy that it wasn’t his heel that had been cut off. Why hadn’t Simon told them how to use an archway properly?

Some pillars and archways took them to the yellow domes. She’d had dreams about them, recognizing it the first time they’d walked into a real one, but the dreams still happened; so what did that mean?

Sweat from the heat of the sleeping bag around her was soaking her head, chest and back, but her legs and feet were freezing as the wind in the sandstorm was getting colder and colder. Amy tried to think about something else.

Paul and Frank were at their universities. Frank, Frank Bristol Wiseman, was completing a masters in…she couldn’t remember. Frank already had two degrees from Dalhousie University, which was close to his home in Canada, and would finish the masters this spring. Frank was brilliant and loved his gadgets. Amy wouldn’t be surprised if half of Frank’s luggage was gadgets and cables.

Paul Augustine Fortezza, Paul, was in his last year of his degree, attending a military institute which was part of a university in Turin, Italy. Its name was…Torino University! Why do we change the names of cities in foreign countries? Paul was a hunk, taller than her, very Italian and he got stares from all the women at the resort. Paul was very protective of her. He would join them for their trip to Quenlac Three, instead of immediately joining the Italian Army.

It was hard to think. She wasn’t getting any fresh air in this bag. Stay awake, she told herself. Think about something!

Simon! Simon…who had changed his name from Hillseeker of Bayside City without telling them! He’d not told them many things! Simon had told them to stay away from the hills as the spiders were large and dangerous. A sandstorm chased them the first time they were on this planet, Desert Stronghold Two. Thank God they didn’t arrive in the middle of that one. That sandstorm had forced them to go into the hills for shelter. The spiders found them! Huge, intelligent spiders! The Mother spider, made? laid? gave birth? she didn’t know, to a Daughter spider that they were to take with them. They weren’t given a choice about that! All of which was why she was here, alone, in the middle of this sandstorm. If she hadn’t been late, trying to lose the people who were following her, she wouldn’t have been caught by it. It was their fault! Evil’s breath! Amy laughed; she liked that one. Then she realized she was becoming hysterical. She forced herself to breathe normally and calm down.

It was hard to breathe through the T-shirt. Amy tried adjusting it, but it didn’t help. She tried to stay awake and took long, slow breaths. Think about…

Schedule! With only four weeks to graduation in May, she had a lot to do, plus that presentation to the subcommittee at the White House. She needed to complete the presentation, but after a couple of false starts she had a good approach now. Staying away from the technicalities and talking about concepts and principles worked better. After we graduate, I meet Paul and Frank on Simon’s planet and then we travel with Daughter to Quenlac Three and return the journals and the staff. Simon said it would take seven days to get there, should be easy. Maybe…maybe not; nothing has been easy so far. Once at Quenlac Three we complete our training as Wayfarers, and then explore the planets. Should be fun!

The heat of the sleeping bag around her face was claustrophobic and making her feel faint.

Daughter of the Clan Adv’fr’gaite! Think about Daughter! Why had she agreed to take Daughter to Earth? Could I have said no? It seemed to be that if they didn’t take her, they couldn’t become the Council of Three. Was that true? Was it important to be the Council of Three? Yes it felt like it was! That destiny thing again. It felt right.

She couldn’t think any more. Amy was frightened that if she slept she’d suffocate. She had to stay awake, but she was so exhausted. Eventually heat and exhaustion defeated her, and she couldn’t think about anything except breathing. Finally Amy lost consciousness.

Chapter 2 – Daughter

They were in the law firm’s boardroom on the fortieth floor, overlooking New York City. The boardroom location was secure, and the two people felt free to openly exchange information.

Greg Dennison was a lawyer, successful, well dressed, and had been groomed by The Organization to represent their legal interests as well as run the US east coast operations as Sector Chief.

The other person in the boardroom, an old man in a tweed jacket and slacks, was detailing everything that happened at the last Board meeting of the Society of the Book. The receptionist knew him as Mr. Colombo. The old man came without any notes, because, like other members of the Society of the Book, he was trained to rely on his memory.

The old man watched with poorly veiled contempt as Dennison made detailed notes of what he’d said. Dennison finished checking his notes, and looked up. That’s it? This is valuable information.

Yes that’s all. The Book will be here in May and I’m to see it at the next meeting. I should have been allowed to see it before now. I’m told it has gold covers and eight silver pages, with each page inscribed on one side with information about the galaxy.

Dennison knew that this information was critical. The Organization, the people he really worked for, wanted that Book desperately and would grab this opportunity to seize it.

Dennison wasn’t senior enough to know that The Organization had originally been part of the Society of the Book, but had broken away when their methods were condemned as too violent. That was centuries ago, and today The Organization was far stronger than the Society of the Book. But only the Society had access to the Book; that would now change.

The dates that the Book would be in the US overlapped the proposed date for abducting the three students who knew how to operate the pillar. They never used the word ‘kidnap’ as US phone and email monitoring systems were set to flag the use of that word. He was sure that Director Gesasin would support a change in plan to seize the Book and abduct the students at the same time. Once The Organization had the Book, the location of the pillar, and the method of traveling through it, this old man and the students would be surplus.

Dennison opened his briefcase and took out the thicker envelope and slid it across the table. Dennison waited. Greed overwhelmed the old man’s hesitation; he picked up the envelope, and without counting the $20,000, left.

* * *

Colonel Daniel Richards, Dan to his friends, had finished his presentation and was quietly closing the conference room door behind him. Before he could move off a Sergeant stepped in front of him and saluted. Sergeant Forester was a communications specialist, by her name badge and uniform flashes. She had an envelope and a clipboard. He knew the routine, and put his hand out for the clipboard. He signed where the Sergeant pointed and passed the clipboard back. She checked his signature against his security badge before handing him the envelope. She saluted and walked briskly down the hallway. He smiled when he realized that not a single word had been exchanged.

The envelope had all of the usual security warnings on the outside, and was marked to be delivered ASAP. The report that was in the envelope showed that a single pulse had been reported just 2 hours ago. The new portable instruments had narrowed down the location even though there was only the one pulse. The area was down to a piece of jungle extending two miles north of the village on the coast of Mexico.

Dan headed for the nearest security station to use the encrypted telephone system. Team One was already in the area and they would now get orders to examine that area, inch by inch if necessary.

* * *

Special Agent Amanda Andrews waited patiently for the First Lady to exit from the meeting. Amanda was the Supervisor of the First Lady’s Secret Service Security Team. It was six months now and things were going well. She needed a few minutes to confirm some security arrangement changes with the First Lady before her next set of meetings started. The First Lady shook one more set of hands and then stepped out into the White House hallway with her assistant in tow. Well Amanda, what’s changed?

The First Lady knew Amanda only interrupted her day if there was a change that impacted security. Amanda was pleased with her relationship with the First Lady. Amanda reviewed the security changes as they walked to the Oval Office. The First Lady was to join the President for a presentation of an award to volunteers who had helped to preserve one of Boston’s historic neighborhoods. As they had a couple of minutes to spare, Amanda decided to cover one more item before they went in.

Amy La Reine’s name turned up in the MCI. Seeing the First Lady’s puzzled look Amanda explained, The Master Central Index system, used by the Secret Service. It’s a record of all case and subject information. The FIF, the Financial Institution Fraud Division, investigates fraud against financial institutions. In one of the FIF cases, investigators entered Amy’s name as one of the people that a criminal organization is currently watching. It says that members of the organization discussed abducting her, interrogating her, and then terminating her. It seems that she has information that’s important to them.

The First Lady had stopped dead in the hallway on hearing this. Our Amy? Amy from the wedding? Amanda nodded. The First Lady and the President had sat at the same table as Amy at their nephew’s wedding. They’d enjoyed their conversation with Amy, and Amanda had been able to overhear some of what was said; a young lady with some interesting viewpoints on current issues in Washington, D.C. The First Lady and the President had invited Amy to the White House and really enjoyed meeting her again.

Why? asked the First Lady.

Amanda reluctantly answered, We don’t know. Amanda wasn’t happy with that. I’ve asked for the whole file. I understand that the organization talks and emails in code, encryption isn’t an issue as we’ve broken that, but they talk about planets, archways, pillars, a galaxy, and so on. An old method, but very effective. We haven’t broken the substitution code yet, so we don’t know why they’re interested in Amy.

The First Lady was concerned. What are we doing about this?

Amanda calmly answered, Nothing, Ma’am.

Why nothing? demanded the First Lady looking at Amanda intently.

Amanda calmly answered again, It’s outside our mandate, Ma’am.

The First Lady was getting upset. Well I don’t like to see smart young ladies under threat of abduction, torture, and termination, especially people I like!

Amanda agreed, No Ma’am, I don’t either. But we need to follow ‘procedures’.

Amanda saw the First Lady calm down; she’d heard the hint. Amanda saw a gleam in the First Lady’s eye. If I remember right, anyone that is going to meet with the First Lady alone goes through a much deeper security check. Am I right?

This is what Amanda was going for; it was even better if the First Lady asked for it. You’re correct Ma’am. In fact if you were to ask me to place Amy on your schedule I would have to follow procedures and request a thorough background check and an investigation of these threats against Amy. Amanda smiled at her co-conspirator.

Good, said the First Lady with a smile. Keep me informed on any progress. Amy will be here in a couple of weeks to make her presentation. And, put her on the list for real, I’d like another chat with Amy. Her suggestions on the new Social Security Bill impressed us all. You know, she was the one that said ‘believe in people, not programs’…

* * *

Amy woke up hot, sweaty, and thirsty. She'd fallen asleep! The hot sleeping bag twisted around her was claustrophobic. She wiggled out of her sleeping bag, taking big gulps of fresh air as she pulled it off over her head. There was no noise, the storm was gone. Her improvised mask was down around her neck, it must have fallen off when she slept. A bottle of water was open in seconds, the water was warm, but she didn’t care and the whole bottle was gone before she was ready to stop. She pulled her T-shirt down off her neck and put it back on. Amy checked the platform while she stretched the cramps out of her legs. Simon’s staff was where she’d put it, but there was no sign of her cap or sunglasses.

The hills were visible on the horizon, so she knew which way to go. Amy walked shakily down the steps from the platform. There were over 20 steps exposed now, and the pyramid shape was clear. She took a picture for Frank; he’d like to know he was right. The sun was hot on her head, so Amy pulled out another T-shirt from her backpack and wrapped it around her head to protect her from the sun.

If she was to survive the sun and heat she'd better get moving. She started towards the hills stretching her muscles and putting on suntan cream as she walked. The cream made a mess, mixing with the dust on her skin, but she didn’t want to waste water for washing until she was out of the desert.

Walking between the sand dunes gave her time to think about the voice in the storm. Was it real? Did it happen? If not, how did she find the boat? It did feel real, so whose voice was it? The possible answer to that question was scary. She enjoyed attending church regularly, was saved in the Baptist sense of the word, and had a deep faith in God. None of that had prepared her for the possibility that God might speak to her!

It was an exhausting walk as she was tired from the struggle with the sandstorm, but finally, by mid-afternoon, Amy reached the cave where she would meet Daughter. She turned around to look over the desert towards where the Boat Pillar should be, but without sunglasses she couldn’t see it in the glare. She’d lost another half day but hopefully Daughter would check to see if she had arrived.

After the sandstorm and the hike Amy could hardly stand up. Looking at her watch she realized she hadn’t slept in 28 hours; she wasn’t counting the time she was unconscious. She needed to set up the tent and get some real sleep. Thirty frustrating minutes later she’d finished the job. That took forever! she growled, annoyed. Paul had put it up in less than five minutes! Amy put her backpack and the staff in the tent and laid out the sleeping bag and her pillow. She shook out the sand and dust the best that she could, and lay down. Amy was asleep in seconds.

* * *

John Napoleon La Reine looked out of his third floor hotel room over the rooftops of San Crecerlan. The small Mexican town was quiet in the heat of the early afternoon. John was worried about two things.

His sister, Amy, was due back today, but there was no sign of her yet. She’d said there were many things that could delay her, so she could come back as late as tomorrow. The second thing was that he was bored. He was getting tired of room service and would like to take a walk that was further than the hotel entrance. They hadn’t set this up right; they should have come to the hotel first, so if Amy returned when he was out she could have just waited in the room. He was stuck here!

Just one more day, he told himself. Amy was tall, thin, smart, athletic, attractive, and a champion shooter. When they were growing up, those things had intimidated him, but now that she ‘needed’ him, he felt more equal to her than ever before. John smiled. This was a first, and he wouldn’t mess it up. He went back to his computer; time for another video game.

* * *

Amy woke up wondering where she was. She’d had the yellow dome dream again. Nothing happens in these dreams, except static. Why? It was dark in the tent, and checking her watch she figured that it was sometime in the middle of the night on this planet, maybe. She couldn’t figure out when it would be dawn here; Frank would know, but he wasn’t here. Amy didn’t know where her flashlight or headlamp were, so she dozed until the first hints of dawn gave enough light to find her way around the rocks so she could pee.

She spent the morning in the shade of the cave improving her Galactic by translating The Book of the One Who Tests. She found herself drinking a lot of water; she was still dehydrated from the sandstorm. When she checked her supplies Amy found that she only had enough water for twenty-four hours. If Daughter didn’t come by tomorrow morning, she would have to leave.

It was too hot at noon to even consider eating; Amy just lay in the shade of the cave and dozed. Amy woke up hot and sweaty. It was now late in the afternoon, but it was a lot cooler. It took a few seconds to accept the reality of waking up in a cave on another planet. Amy felt normal, better than before the storm. She wondered if studying every night had worn her out more than she thought. She was holding Simon’s staff again, but she didn’t remember getting it out of the tent.

Her water supply was getting low but it was too late to go to the village for water and get back to the cave before it got dark. She’d have to go the village tomorrow morning to refill the water bottles, or risk dying of thirst. What if Daughter didn’t find her here at the cave?

Chapter 3 – Ravinesedge

At the rate she was drinking her water supply, it wouldn’t even last the night. She was considering leaving the tent in the cave with a note on it, in Galactic, asking Daughter to wait for her. Would that satisfy the condition that she return in 16 days?

Fortunately Amy didn’t have to make that decision, Daughter arrived a couple of hours before sunset. Amy managed to only twitch when Daughter announced herself in her high-pitched voice. Amy hadn’t heard her coming. Daughter was carrying a leather tube under her, held in place by straps around her body, and in the tube would be Daughter’s staff, needles that she attached to her front legs for fighting, and whatever else she carried. Amy Elizabeth La Reine, welcome. I am pleased that the sandstorm did not damage you. Introductions in the Galactic civilization were always formal, with full names and a complement being mandatory.

Amy responded formally, Daughter of the Clan Adv’fr’gaite, I welcome you. I am looking forward to us traveling together.

Daughter came closer. As am I. I am prepared to travel. Although, Amy Elizabeth La Reine, you have not mentioned it, I am one day late due to the sandstorm. That shortens our time here.

They had agreed to use the Earth informality in private and Amy was going to push that now. Amy replied, Yes, Daughter, it does. I suggest that we start traveling as soon as I pack up the camp. I am low on water and I can refill my bottles at the village.

Agreed, Amy Elizabeth La Reine, Daughter answered in a lecturing tone, and as you do everything, please say it in English so I can learn the words. We will discuss sentence structure later.

Amy was glad that she’d brought a cheat sheet on English grammar; she was going to need it. The spiders seemed to have a thing about grammar! It took only a few minutes to pack up the camp. She found that Daughter only had to be told something once and she could recite it back perfectly, even mimicking the tone of voice.

The hike to the village seemed shorter this time, probably because she was busy teaching Daughter the English words for everything they saw. As Amy walked along Daughter would alternately freeze or dash, and when trees or bushes were available she’d travel above the ground. At first, Amy found this disconcerting, stopping and starting her conversation, but soon she learnt that Daughter could always hear her, so she ignored the dashing about and just kept talking. By the time they reached the hill overlooking the village, Daughter was using some simple sentences in English, and Amy was already using the cheat sheet to explain points of grammar.

Amy asked, Daughter, following our first meeting with the Mother of the Clan Adv’fr’gaite she sent word to the villagers to allow us to use the pillar. Is there anything different now?

Daughter responded, absently, as if reading a book at the same time, "I have that memory as the Mother of the Clan Adv’fr’gaite created me after that decision. We should just enter the village openly and you will introduce me as one who travels with the three."

Amy noted Daughter’s precise phrasing of ‘one who travels with the three’. She wondered what Daughter meant by that phrase as she introduced Daughter to the village elders and filled her water bottle from the fountain in the village.

The green archway in the Transit Station took them into the yellow dome. Amy explained as she walked across the yellow dome to the next archway, "Daughter, the next archway we take is the green one ahead of us that has the sign that says DO NOT USE - NO RETURN ARCHWAY. In case they took the sign down, Simon