Colony in the Core: The Maker Manuscript

By Phillip L. Truong

With the king acting in a bizarre behavior, the Officials are back in action as they are hunted down one by one for a reason obscure to anyone besides the king. Jun and his team are separated into the different parts of this once utopia, now a hellish nightmare. All they can do is run and hide, while slowly discovering the truth to the king's actions. Why does he want to arrest the Officials the protectors of the colonies that were to be a utopia? And what is the Maker Manuscript? Such a treasure has the Officials racing to find before the king, for as long as they can evade him and the police.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Aug 17, 2011
• ISBN: 9781463442484

Phillip L. Truong

Phillip Truong is a Chaozhou, Chinese-American. The last name was translated to Vietnamese from the Chinese language. Phillip began writing Colony in the Core: Traitors and Rebels in the eighth grade which was soon completed three years later in time for his 16th birthday. Colony in the Core: The Maker Manuscript is the second installment to Colony in the Core. He was born in Waynesboro, Virginia in December of 1989. He moved to Arlington, Texas at the age of six. Phillip is currently studying business administration at the University of Texas at Arlington.

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© 2011 by Phillip L. Truong. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 08/13/2011

ISBN: 978-1-4389-6666-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4634-4247-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4634-4248-4 (ebk)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011913608

Printed in the United States of America

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

TO THOSE WHO SEEK

THE WAYS OF PEACE

CHARACTER PROFILES

CHARACTER PROFILES

CHAPTER 1

THERE AND BACK AGAIN

CHAPTER 2

RUN

CHAPTER 3

HIDE AND SEEK

CHAPTER 4

DESPERATE MEASURES

CHAPTER 5

FREEDOM FIGHTERS

CHAPTER 6

SHADOW SOLDIERS

CHAPTER 7

THE MAKER HOUSE

CHAPTER 8

THE MAKER MANUSCRIPT

CHAPTER 9

COUP OF THE COUNCIL

CHAPTER 10

RETURN OF THE WIELDERS

CHAPTER 11

THE WHITE COURTYARD

CHAPTER 12

LOYALIST WARRIORS

CHAPTER 13

SECRETS OF THE EMPIRE

CHAPTER 14

THE LOCH

CHAPTER 15

PRISON CELL R1, R2, AND H9

CHAPTER 16

THE WIELDER WAR

CHAPTER 17

RETURNING THE FAVOR

CHAPTER 18

RECLAIMING THE THRONE

CHAPTER 19

THE WELCOME BACK DINNER

CHAPTER 20

THE QUEST FOR PEACE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

TO THOSE WHO SEEK

THE WAYS OF PEACE

With much gratitude, I wish to acknowledge the individuals that helped me strive to write the sequel to Colony in the Core throughout my time in high school and college. Without their input and hearts, this book would not have been possible. I’d like to thank my readers for their patience waiting for this sequel to be completed. Knowing that many individuals were waiting for the release of Colony in the Core: The Maker Manuscript has helped me persevere and continue to write and complete this sequel, which took nearly five years due to my involvement in education and work. In particular, I’d like to give many thanks to my friend Luan Nguyen for being my illustrator for this book. The time and effort he has put in, while also a college student has astounded me and the results have never ceased to amaze me at every step of the way. Also in particular I would like to thank Brian Hoang, Can Dinh, and Cynthia Vela for their honesty, their time, and their willingness to read my work in its early stages. I would like to thank the staff of AuthorHouse Publishing for helping me continue my adventure as an author, and I would like to thank my family and friends for their unending support and encouragement for my continuation of

Colony in the Core.

Be master of mind rather than mastered by mind.

—Zen Proverb

Peace is a journey of a thousand miles and

it must be taken one step at a time.

—Lyndon Baines Johnson

Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek,

but a means by which we arrive at that goal.

—Martin Luther King, Jr.

Each one has to find his peace from within. And peace to be real

must be unaffected by outside circumstances.

—Mahatma Gandhi

CHARACTER PROFILES

Lower Array

CHARACTER PROFILES

Upper Array

CHAPTER 1

THERE AND BACK AGAIN

Jun knelt down by a cauldron in front of a gold statue of Buddha, with an incense stick in between his palms, . . . give me the strength to find my friends and restore order. The government has turned against the Officials for some reason. King Ben is not himself—

Jun’s prayer was broken off by footsteps down the hall leading into the Buddhist section of the multi-religion temple.

ARREST THE OFFICIAL! someone screamed.

Jun was stripped of his sword, his magical uniform, his only protection; all he could do was run.

* * *

The sun rose overhead. Three friends were in the middle of a Chinatown street in California.

Let’s go shop! Wing shouted over the noise of cars and pedestrians on the busy streets.

Jun and Jerry followed her into a nearby shop selling a variety of traditional Chinese silk outfits, small and large souvenirs of animal models, fans, all sorts of trinkets.

Wing ran to look at the clothing and took a red silk outfit, holding it in front of her body. How do you think I look?

Jun and Jerry looked up from staring at a group of model stone figures.

"Um, fat!" Jerry grinned.

Jerry you’re such a dumb-butt! Wing screamed. For once be serious!

I am!

Ugh! What do you think Jun?

Like someone might’ve poured a bucket of blood over you! Jerry interrupted.

JERRY!

WING! Jerry played.

Argh! Wing screamed again.

Roar!

PIPE DOWN! the store manager screamed, and continued ringing up items for a customer who gave the kids a disgusted look.

Teenagers, the customer hissed.

Exactly what I was thinking, said the cashier.

Wing gave up and breathed, Jun?

You look decent.

You boys are ridiculous.

What? Jun asked. You asked for an opinion right?

Oh, you were serious? she looked at him, Okay never mind, and she put up the outfit.

Jun, when do you go back to China? Jerry asked him, watching Wing’s arm pile up with clothes.

Oh I’m staying!

Oh man! Awesome! You didn’t tell me that!

Now you know.

Here for us? Wing grinned.

You bet, plus my relatives too.

Eh, forget them! It’s us that matter! Jerry said, sarcastically.

Whatever man, Jun laughed.

They walked back to his house and his friends bade him goodbye. It was getting dark now and Jun was tired. He limped into his bedroom, exhausted. He turned out the lights, listening to the adults in the living room playing a gambling game, yelling at the top of their lungs.

Jun hopped into bed, got under the covers and laid there. He had a dream of the same world over and over again for the past week. It was quite a fictional, imaginary, and almost futuristic world where everyone got along, or so, that’s how it used to be.

A humming sound was heard only to Jun. A red sphere, only seen by him, engulfed his body and Jun awoke in his real body; the same as the one before but this was the original. He opened his eyes and looked at his ring on his right index finger. It was gold with a ruby on it. He looked around and found himself in a dark room with little sunlight shining through a stained-glass window near his bed. Candles above the chandelier over him magically alit, and Jun found himself back in the imaginary world, or so, that’s what it seemed at first.

My name is Jun Wu, alias: Draker Matrup, age 16. My life changed the first day of year 2000. An invitation appeared on my bed out of nowhere with a piece of gold-colored chalk, it was a key that brought me into this world. Very soon I became what they call an Official, the elite protectors of the king, serving as keepers of justice, ambassadors to the definition of peace. We are protectors of this world, this colony which is located in the Earth’s core, Rabika. There’s also Alaraka but they summon us if they are in need of assistance. We are also in the command of several hundred officers. There was a jailbreak; Rabika was in chaos for a period of time. Heavy artillery was stolen and used against us. The next thing I know there was a battle in a forest. No lives were lost. The weapons we were issued were non-lethal, the convicts meanwhile had rocks, chains and clubs I think.

They had a leader called the Convict King. He wanted control over Rabika. He wanted it so bad that he allied with another secret world, Aerindia. These people had ancestors that were sent out of the colonies because they wanted too, but, they entered into a new life, a life in which they did not call for. It was a world under the middle of the Atlantic Ocean in the Bermuda Triangle. Their president had a small talk with the Convict King and he agreed to help. They also wanted to rule Alaraka as their ancestors did a long time ago. So after they attacked Rabika, they swarmed into Alaraka where we defeated them and recaptured Rabika, executing the Convict King in the end. Now here’s the twist. He used to be an Official whom we thought was dead! He was the one I replaced when I joined the team. After the Great War, which we called it, our very own King Ben had a talk with the president of Aerindia, President Cunningham, and they agreed that the pathway to both worlds will be opened as a peace treaty, and by means of getting back together. There was a condition however; that if the citizens of Aerindia cause any trouble at all in these colonies (which was created in the very beginning for peace and harmony) then the Aerindian citizens will be removed from the colonies, our utopia, and the portal will be closed. And that’s what happened so far.

Jun changed out of his pajamas and got into a pair of jeans and a blank, white shirt. Then he fisted his right hand and placed it on the left side of his chest. His body glowed from head to toe, a shining white light then stopped. He morphed to a black short-sleeved shirt with gold, runic inscriptions all over, tucked into black pants with symbols on the outer left and right sides on each leg. His belt was black with a golden buckle, and for the finishing touches, a thin, black cape and a gold necklace with an emblem of four candles connecting each other at the ends by a ruby to form a plus sign. Jun even grew taller and slightly muscular. He walked out of room fifty-three and down several floors to the very bottom: room six. The walls of the building were a mahogany color. It was a square walkway all the way to the top with a large, square opening in the middle revealing every floor. A nicely carved railing surrounded the large opening.

Every door has a gold animal’s head for a knob. Mine was a Chinese dragon. Ironic huh? So now I go into room six, the room where people do nothing but stuff themselves. Well, I don’t mind, their stuff is pretty good!

The room was filled with paintings of historical landmarks from around the world, same like in Jun’s bedroom. There were six tables in front of Jun in this square room. Each was vertically facing two shorter tables with eight seats each. Finally, a table of three horizontally connected the two just in front of them. Officers seated the six tables, the two shorter tables by Officials, and the table of three was the king in the middle and his two bodyguards beside him. The right table of the Officials was adults in the age range of 26 to 40. The table on the left is for the Officials in the 15-25 age range. Jun sat closest to the king on the left side across a Chinese girl in white and beside her was a former blind teenager in a brown uniform that looked exactly like Jun’s.

If you are wondering why we are wearing different colored uniforms, well, as an Official you possess the power to attack with special powers in relation to an element in nature. The symbols in the meantime are silent incantations, known as Demented Magic, that allow you to perform these powers. I sometimes like to see us as the Power Rangers, me being the black range. Ha! Ha!

Hi Draker! said the girl.

This is Wan Chen in the white uniform, Official name, Tama Thompcan with the Light element. She’s my girlfriend. We went out twice actually, the first she used me, making me do most of her shopping and fulfilling requests and now we’re at it again, better than ever.

Hey, he bent over the table and kissed her.

Sometimes I wish I was still blind, said the boy.

This is Dagan Smith, alias Grener Shald. The most disgraceful Official name I have ever heard so far. It’s not like we pick them. A machine called the Name Generator decides it all. After that, we can’t change these names. At least it hides our true identity. Anyways, he’s the Earth Official. He is a brand new member in our team. My old buddy Wesley Murphy, otherwise Sapphizar Loutin, was murdered by one of the Convict King’s hitmen, or so he called them, Honor Guards. And just so you don’t take it the wrong way, he has a witty, sarcastic humor.

We found Dagan at a crime scene, well he wasn’t the bad guy but with his awesome hearing, he gave us great details and helped us along the way. Soon he had a specialized surgery on his eyes and look where he is now.

Sitting across from him was Wesley’s best friend, Michael Thompson. He is also known as Siln Onen, in his fiery red uniform, he is the Fire Official.

To his right was Cindy Lee, or Krinei Alra, in sky blue, the Water Official. Across from her was her twin sister Wanda, or Lana Alra, in her gray uniform she is the Wind Official. Her Official name is at least descent. To her left was my first friend here in the colony, Mary May, otherwise known as Swella Green, with the element of Beauty, and I mean like, grass, flowers, I’d say nature but we all have powers somehow relating to nature. So I guess that’s why they probably call it Beauty. She, like me, was also invited to the colonies. She’s from England.

Lastly, Jake Malvo sat across from her. His Official name: Ragly Shane. He’s the lovable, big guy in our team. He is a wise person and could always tell when someone was telling a lie. Dressed in purple, he is the Lightning Official.

Jun they need your team in the Alaraka Bank, said the bodyguard to the king’s right.

This is Alnanzu Clavarsh, the traitor Official Jared Valdez, otherwise the Convict King, recruited to spy for him. The one on the other side is Oonandeli Valdy. Alnanzu and the king’s advisor Michael Kambel, who was also recruited, were both sent to steal new weapons. This man also held a tryout to fill in the missing Official positions, the one’s Mary and I filled in. Only I knew that these three were recruited. I didn’t turn them in though. They are all good people; they were forced to work for Jared.

There was another recruit involved, he was a 14-year-old spy-thief named Kevin. We pretty much stole him from the Convict King and made him spy for us. He didn’t want to work for Jared either. He was my friend. In the final battle he stopped Jared in his tracks and I finished the job. He died from Jared’s final blow.

My buddy Wesley died in the same battle. He was our team captain. Now he’s gone and now I’m captain for taking Jared out.

What’s the case? Jun said, A burglary?

Well yeah, but also a hostage situation and the Alarakan officers can’t get through. These guys are well armed and get this, they’re Aerindian soldiers.

King Ben got up and left the room.

"Uh, oh, here we go," the twin sisters said together while bobbing their heads.

Heh, we never had a bank robbery before.

Yes, but soldiers! They should know better!

Well how long has it been going?

Half an hour before you came in. They can’t get out. They’re surrounded and no one can get in. Cops get in there, get shot. With your techniques you have the advantage.

And my team?

Support, he said. Figure it out. School will start when you guys get back. Go after breakfast, not much is happening.

Waiters came in with trays of biscuits and placed them on the table beside trays with sandwiches.

Jun ate the sandwich, then a biscuit, and finished a glass of orange juice.

How long have you guys been here? Jun asked his team.

Wan took a bite out of her sandwich, Longer than you. Why?"

We need to go.

What about your breakfast? Alnanzu asked. You can’t fight on an empty stomach.

I ate enough, people are in trouble here.

Alright, fine, go. Alnanzu casually sipped his glass of water. Just remember the rules of Officials have changed, you have to state that they are under arrest and why, otherwise the arrest won’t work and it will be considered an execution or murder.

I know, Jun concluded.

The eight Officials left the hundred-floor building. This array did most of the work. The adult array always got held back in case a second event breaks out or to protect the capitol.

There was a silver slanted vehicle hovering a foot off the ground outside the capitol building, Fujin, like the other locations around the colonies, the cities were all supposedly named after the creators of this hidden world.

Sorry driver we’re flying, Jun said.

The driver looked at him and nodded. The car swerved to the side and to the back of the building.

Come on, Jun put his feet in front of each other, toe to heel, and jumped off the ground. His team did the same. A steel board came from both ends of the shoes and connected in the air. Engines shot a thin line of flames from small twin exhausters on the sides. They bent down and flew into the sky.

The capitol building had no neighbors. Just a stable to the side with giant horse-like, purple grasshoppers called crails. A tall, stone wall surrounded the capitol. The war did not change the building or the walls at all. The two colonies, Rabika and Alaraka, have two different building types made by two different groups of people, the Makers, the ones that created this world, and man-made buildings. The Makers used magic to create indestructible buildings while the man-made buildings do not. A place called Zeo Crane City a manmade city, after the war, was in ruins and now it’s mostly restored.

Rabika and Alaraka are both dome-shaped. The walls are multicolored with swirling, fading and appearing colors, like auroras. The colors valiantly glow in pink, gray, light blue and light green and light purple. It was indeed a magnificent sight.

The layout of this colony, Rabika, is simple. It’s a square with curved corners. On the northern side was a lake. Zeo Crane City, now mostly repaired from the war, is looking like any other city, is to the right of the lake. Animam Valley, which has the Rabikan prison, is just below it on the eastern border by the dome wall. Zimer Clon Temple, a temple of every religion, is at the bottom right corner. To the left of that is what they call the Gate, the entrance to Rabika, the exit to the surface world. To the left of that was Shrataun, a city of colored glass floating on water and surrounded by what they call Cinder Mountain. It is also the gate into Deleron, an underwater city that looks like a beehive. It links both Rabika and Alaraka. North of the mountain, and dragging all the way to the top-left corner of Rabika to the left of the lake was a forest, the colonies air supply.

The team aimed for Shrataun. The city, surrounded by tall mountains and literally sat on top of a lake, was known for its glass. Everything was literally made out of it: the houses, the buildings, and the furniture, and the plants even. They all glistened in either a solid or translucent or transparent color of blue or green or purple or pink.

They landed on the waters where they stood afloat. The sky was dark here and the mountain walls reflected the colors of the city. Jun thought to himself, Take me down, And his body thrust like a bullet underwater. His team followed closely behind him. His body flipped so he was shooting headfirst. Every time he breathed, air bubbles came rushing down from the surface to either his mouth or nose, whichever was being used. Soon it appeared; a white building shaped like a beehive with its many round windows alit. A white light appeared at the very top and the team flipped around again so they were falling in feet first into a green container which was once destroyed from the war. The door opened and they stepped onto a panel in the middle of the room. There was a window in front of them with an old man on the other side, Welcome back to Deleron.

The panel lit and a swirling line of white light appeared from the bottom of the panel at their feet, and swirled to the top and then back down. At that moment the team fell down and out of a white light in the ceiling of the floor below them. Elevator, Jun said.

They went down a hall in a four-intersection hallway and to an elevator at the end of the hall while catching waves and greetings from the citizens. They traveled halfway down Deleron and before they knew it, the elevator rotated upside-down. They found themselves at the mid-point of Deleron. Deleron is divided in half by both sides. The middle, the team’s current location, was a food court. There were people walking on the top and bottom of the room without falling to the other side. People were on the ceiling, the floor from their perspective. The tables weren’t nailed to the floor; the food didn’t drop to the other side. The walls of the room were entirely glass, which was once destroyed by a large sea creature deliberately pushed towards the building. The team walked to a door below another door off to the side of the room with a curving hallway that led to the other door. They came out of the other side and found themselves on the Alarakan side of the food court.

The team jogged to the elevator and went up to the transporter room on the Alarakan side and was launched head first into Alaraka, the colony on the other side of Rabika. They shot up a little ways into the air over the waters and saw nothing but building, then they finally landed on Sukon Lake where they stood afloat. This colony was one big city just like Deleron.

These two great colonies, Rabika and Alaraka, were filled with individuals of innocent minds. Those that even commit the smallest crimes were sent to prison where they worsened. They were only arrested so people could not follow their examples as they move on with life.

Jun and Mary were among the top ten people from the surface world with the most innocent minds, and were chosen to be invited to live in this peaceful world.

Now everything changed. At the end of the war, Aerindia has agreed to peace with Rabika and Alaraka, and their people were granted the right to travel in and out from these colonies.

The Officials kicked off into the night sky where blimps with giant TV screens and banners and lights and advertisements of all sorts filled the sky.

In the far north was the capitol, Culan, a huge mansion. Beside it were ranches. In front of the mansion and the ranches, going all the way to the sides was a fortified wall, protecting the upper north from the rest of the colony. The land in the middle of this colony, from the mansion and all the way down was concrete, while the land in front of the ranches was all grassland, marking three divisions in the colony. They’re not really divided it’s just the layout of the land.

In the center of Alaraka was a park surrounded by roads and buildings. This is Reynald Square. Just left of it on the grassland was the Mayla Mall and on the right side of the Square was a castle with a fortified wall around it. This castle is known as the Abandoned Fortress, home of the Makers centuries ago. Now it’s simply empty.

The Officials flew to a nearby building with hover cars all around it; lights from nearby structures glowed at the bank windows. Spectators watched across the streets as officers stood with guns pointing at the doors and windows from behind their cars. Their guns were small and black with a bottle of red liquid attached in the body. This liquid enters the pores of the skin and travels through the body, stinging the victim and knocking out the joints, causing the victim to fall while in pain.

The team landed in between the cars and the bank, the metal board retracting into their shoes. A woman and a cameraman rushed up past the police cars to Jun.

How are you to deal with this situation Official Draker? said the reporter.

We will handle the situation strategically and carefully without harming the hostages inside, he responded.

What about the burglars? she held the microphone up to his mouth.

We will arrest them using the ways we are taught, please no more questions for me or my team, Jun said, taking a brief look at the camera.

Yes sir.

Officers quickly rushed up to news crew and pulled them back with the spectators.

A man came up to Jun.

What’s the situation sergeant? Jun said.

Six heavily armed, masked men, he added, broke in. They can’t get out and won’t negotiate.

Have you tried breaking in through the doors and windows? Jun questioned, You’ve over a hundred officers in Alaraka.

All of us that went inside have been shot like crazy! he screamed. Somehow they smuggled in those powerful guns of theirs when they were forbidden. They will shoot at anyone going in. They won’t come out until we all leave.

Well we’re not going to go through all of that trouble, Jun reassured him, Let’s just get all of this done.

Jun looked at the bank. It was a brown building with holes in the front door and two broken windows were still standing out of about ten all around.

Well that’ll be all, thanks, he concluded.

My pleasure, Official, and he returned to his post behind his vehicle and pointed his gun at the building.

Jun looked back at his team. I’ll go in with Wan. Shadow man and invisible girl alright? he asked her and she nodded, smiling back. He looked at Dagan the Earth Official, Grener I want you to mole in there when I tell you to and bring Ragly with you. I need you two to protect the hostages and get them out, he looked at the rest of his team. I want the rest of you to stay outside and surround the building.

You know, you do a much better job at this than Sapphizar, Wan said, referring to Wesley.

Jun grinned. Everyone put on your head sets.

Jun put on an earpiece in his right ear and adjusted the mouthpiece near his mouth. This is something new to them. They normally don’t use headsets; they just barge in to whatever it was they were to go to and do their stuff.

Jun fisted his right hand and placed the thumb side on his left palm. White light shined out of the cracks between his fingers and he drew out a six-inch dagger out of the palm of his left hand and it quickly extended to be a meter-long black-bladed sword with a golden hilt and golden runic symbols on the blade.

Wan pulled out a white sword with gold inscriptions on it too, Dagan with a spear and Ragly with a meter long purple stick with blades that shot out of the top to form an axe. Each of them had the inscriptions on the blade.

Wait for my cue, he told them. Let’s Go Tama, crawl through the cracks in the window. Don’t do anything until I tell you to.

Alright, she pointed her sword straight up. The symbols on her shirt shined and then she vanished. Jun went up to the door, pressed his body against it and he became a shadow on the wall.

Jun went inside the door. He was in a narrow passage with translucent walls on either side. He could see the inside and outside of the bank. Inside the bank was a big room with a counter at the farthest end of the door with a safe room behind it. There were also several desks to the side with paperwork, and bills, and chairs lying around. All of the hostages were on the ground in the middle of the room. Men in frightening Halloween masks pointed black guns with red liquids in a capsule on top of the gun and pointed them at the windows, expecting officers to barge in again.

Not these again. I friggin’ got