A Call From The Dark

By Christopher A Frank

As the clock strikes thirteen on human civilization Evan A’con finds himself curiously displaced in time confronting what remains of humanity.  Cid the soldier finds herself on an impossible mission, possessing an intrigue which runs deeper than the chasms depths.  Jace and his merry band of traders stumble upon a nightmare from

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christopher A Frank
• Release date: Oct 14, 2015
• ISBN: 9780996376716

Christopher A Frank

C.A. Frank holds a bachelor's degree in Anthropology with an emphasis in evolutionary theory. This being the first in his body of work his accolades are, as of yet non-existent. Still he doesn't plan on stopping so keep your eyes peeled for future adventures.

Book preview

Prologue

Evan A’con, Inventor, 2024, was the very apex of the modern scientist. He held multiple advanced degrees including two doctorates: One in Theoretical Physics and the other in Mechanical Engineering. Evan devoted his spare time honing his body to near physical perfection. He achieved the rank of black belt in Aikido, Taekwondo and Jiu Jitsu and was widely regarded as a survivalist expert. If there was something to learn, he learned it; if there was a task to be had, he completed it. Now here he was, on the precipice of his latest invention a possible source of unlimited energy.

Ladies, gentlemen, and assorted fellows, this is it. Evan A’con stood above his team looking down on them with his beaming smile and sparkling blue eyes. Behind him was his invention, its thick awkward gray metal casing towering over the room. The first Interdimensional Matter Energy Bridge is complete; all we need do now is turn it on, he couldn’t help but pause for effect, this is our chance, our last chance to change the world for the better. With this device we can end global warming, eliminate world hunger, and bring about world peace! Several in the crowd attempted and failed to stifle their laughs.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves Evan. Dr. Phong spoke up moving to stand by Evan’s side. After all, this is just the first experiment the first step in a very long process, aside from the other ailments of the world you claim this will fix. We certainly won’t be eliminating climate change with just one experiment. Dr. Phong was Evan’s oldest scientific partner, his graduate advisor, and his second author on Evan’s most well-known theoretical scientific breakthrough: How to Cure Gravity: A Theoretical Perspective on this Obtuse Phenomenon. Evan titled the paper of course.

Right! Evan announced with a crack in his voice, Let’s begin!

Everyone in the room knew exactly what to do; they had all trained and prepared for this moment. One year and one billion dollars in federal and private funding were given to this experiment and only the best of the best in the scientific world were present. Particle physicists, theoretical engineers, and quantum mathematicians, you all know what to do, Evan was bombastically gesticulating at the center of the room, Grad students and interns prepare the coffee pots this is going to be a long night. Most everyone in the room had already started ignoring Evan. As brilliant as he was, he had a tendency for theatrics that most scientists found hard to stomach. Regardless, the experiment had begun. Engineers were checking, double-checking and triple checking their well-crafted devices while mathematicians were feverishly pumping out new mathematical models as the situation called for it. The physicists in the room were sweating over viewing the entire affair; Evan’s and their theories had brought the group to this moment. If one calculation was wrong or one theory found lacking, then the entire thing could potentially blow up in their faces. Evan, though working hard and exhibiting laser like focus, was giving off a beaming smile the entire time.

Four hours into this grueling exercise in theoretical physics and the group finally achieved success. Eureka! Evan expounded as the recorder battery storage units finally started to charge. There was a brief moment of jubilation before the entire group was taken by complete surprise, for the device at the center of the room, the thing they had all worked so hard on for so long, began to do something they didn’t expect even in their wildest predictions: A strange brilliant blue light was emanating out from the device. It was almost smoke, almost liquid in nature, yet was still obviously light. It flowed in and out of the device curling around the room tanning them all in its strange yet soothing aura. They were all transfixed, everyone from scientist to grad-student stunned into silence by the event.

Evan broke the silence, I don’t believe it, he breathed slowly approaching the device, in all my years, all my experience, I never imagined this. Evan stopped and tilted his head as if listening to something. The rest of his fellows were slowly coming out of their stunned state’s each shifting their gaze from the device to Evan. Can you hear that? Evan asked to no one in particular, Someone’s singing. Can’t you hear the singing? Evan was beginning to sound slightly hysterical. The group, at that moment had regained just enough control of themselves to hear a loud deep droning sound coming from the device but nothing else. She’s calling for help! Evan was yelling now, Why can’t you hear her?! Evan turned looked around at all of their stunned faces and with only a moment’s recollection and thought he made his move. And before anyone could stop him, Evan ran to the device containing the Interdimensional Matter Energy Bridge, opened the safety hatch, took one sort second’s pause as he stared into the blue fathomless depths of the device he had designed and jumped, never to be seen again.

Part I

The Chasm Below

It was never dark the architects made sure of that. The city ran off several energy bridge reactors: Three reactors just to keep the damn thing flying and a fourth to run the lights keep the people happy and the trains on schedule. Finally, a fifth reactor was designed only to keep the giant underground chasm fully and completely lit. The fifth reactor wasn’t part of the original design; it was put in as an amendment from the General Council on bequest of the people. It seemed no one could stand the idea of having a giant; dark, underground chamber beneath their feet. Maybe because the fifth generator wasn’t part of the original design or because it only provided power to one section of the city it still worked and maybe that’s why the chasm was still lit.

A thousand years had passed since the city fell, but the maintenance robots were still working, replacing the lights when they went out and maintaining all the critical systems. No one was alive, the city itself was dead, but when night fell the lights from the chasm could be seen for miles around, beaming out from the cracks in the city streets.

The planet, while barren, wasn’t dead. There was still life in the desert, and though rare, you could sometimes see lizards scurry in and out of sight weaving through the rocks. Water was scarce, food even more rare, but if you were capable enough and strong enough, you could get by. That’s what she was strong. She stood tall, looking out at the edge of the cliff. The planet’s gas giant parent Anora shone bright in the dark making her into a silhouette, her white coat waving in the sharp desert wind as she looked over the ruined city now glimmering in the night. Finally, she had arrived.

Caroline was young when she was chosen. Taken from her family at the age of five, taught and trained to be a fighter and survivor. Intensive desert exercises made her independent, comprehensive physics and engineering lessons made her resourceful, and harsh military fighting drills made her dangerous. It was more than that though she was also given enhanced bionic components salvaged from one of the old city’s military grade medical ships. Caroline could see further, hear better, run faster, and lift more than the strongest man. She was also enhanced with psionic components allowing her to hack and communicate with various types of old civilization technology. With her training finished, she was given the call sign, Cid, and a mission.

Objective #1 Achieved: Find the Fallen City With The Still Lit Chasm

Cid began to hike down the hillside towards the fallen city; Anora’s pervading green and silver light illuminating her path. Pebbles and rocks rushed past her as she slid down the last edge of the cliff. How many? Cid’s eye implants immediately displayed the information, nearly five thousand regenerating mines directly between her and the city. This is going to be harder than I thought.

Without warning, she began. Quickly and silently her tall slender figure spun, twisted, and flipped through the minefield. With unmatched speed she disabled each anti-grav mine that drifted her way, hacking into some with her bionic implants while disabling others with electromagnetic pulse grenades thrown with precise timing. She dodged and spun through the exploding mines that she could not disable and, for a mile, she ran never blinking, never slowing. Finally, with a turn of her heel, Cid reached her destination: the entrance to the chasm.

The panel lit up when she touched it, a subsequent loud thunk and a shrill whine came from behind the door. She was surprised to see that even after all these years, the machinery still worked. Her skin began to crawl and sting, her on-board instruments flicked and winced. Cid took a step back and looked up.

It’s trying to fly?! She asked with disbelief. There was no mistaking that feeling how many times had she been blasted to the sky in an anti-grav unit, how many times had she felt that unnatural energy consume the space she was in. But this time, the energy was overpowering; it stung and cracked at her senses. Focus, you’ve got a job to do. Cid turned back to the panel. There were several decryption levels that she had to break through and it was going to take time. The night was young, but she wasn’t worried about that. Cid looked over the shell riddled minefield one last time before beginning her work.

The Bridge

The soft echoing sounds of hundreds of crickets flooded Evan’s ears waking him. It was damp. He could feel mud and grass underneath him prickling at his back and there was a dull humming in his ears. His clothes were tattered and burned but he could feel no wounds, no cuts, not even a scrape. He opened his eyes. Looking around him, Evan could see only darkness the faint outline of trees and the still canopy of the forest. Shaking, Evan stood up. The air was incredibly dense making his lungs burn with every breath. The birds began to chirp and Evan could feel the hairs on his arms standing on end. There was a strange energy in the air stinging at his skin reminding him of the old electron pulse generators he used to work on. Suddenly the forest came alive a million new sounds came rushing through the air. The chirps of the birds were joined by the screeches of what sounded like monkeys and squeaks of rodents. The slithering hissing sounds of various reptiles joined in the chorus along with the horrifying sounds of what might have been lions or tigers. Evan’s pulse began to race. His eyes sharpened to a focus and the dull humming in his ears vanished. He didn’t know where he was or how he got there, but what he did know was that he was in danger and he needed to get to safety.

He ran away from the lions and tigers, away from the monkeys and apes Evan ran as fast as he could; he must have been sprinting for over an hour. His lungs felt as if they were ready to burst from his chest. His legs wobbled and burned and he could taste the chill of iron bubbling up from the back of his throat. Suddenly, a massive flash of light exploded in the sky stopping him in his tracks. Brilliant beautiful blue beams began to show through the trees lighting up the forest signaling daybreak. The sounds of lions and apes had long since ceased and the edge of the forest came into focus. Feeling safer and more than a little exhausted, Evan decided to walk the rest of the way.

With the snap of a twig Evan arrived. An inaudible gasp escaped his lips as he stood in awe at the site before him. A million miles of vibrant lavender sky stretched across the horizon. He could see huge floating mountains and lakes surrounded by vast open plains lumbering in the distance. The forest he was in was ten thousand feet in the air suspended above an endless desert. He pushed his hands out feeling a strange and powerful energy shoving him back. Turning around, he stared back at the forest with wonder, excitement, and fear.

Never Forget

The desert was a harsh place to live, not that anyone had a choice. With resources so scarce people were forced to live in small settlements, and they protected those tiny towns with a fierce passion. Even with the entire population barely clinging to life, constantly worried about losing everything to their neighbors, the protocols and etiquette of the old ways were still being followed. Hospitality was still present and strangers were rarely met with the barrel of a gun. Some say this is why civil war never broke out, others say this is how the cities died, but regardless of ideology, the old ways were still followed.

That’s how Jace and his gang, Fink, Ed, and Simon got around. They were wanderers, scavengers and merchants. Towns would let them in and allow them shelter for one night only, but if they had something to sell, they got to stay for a couple of days and sometimes even got a meal.

There are plenty of things to find in the desert ruins from the old civilization and civilizations before that, but the real valuable finds are those from the war. Thousand year old alien ships collecting dust and sand are hard to find but that’s what Jace and his gang were good at.

Gold mine! yelled Fink from the front.

Cut the shit Fink! Admit it, you just found another slab of piece of crap metal like yesterday! bellowed Jace.

Fink glared back at Jace and smirked, I’ll make you eat those words, just you watch!

The wind began to pick up making Jace and Fink’s coats bellow in the wind.

Mask up! boomed Ed from the back, There’s a sandstorm coming!

Jace picked up a rock and threw it at Fink, This better be worth it!

How long till we get there? I don’t like sandstorms, yelled Simon.

Oh fuck, little Simon’s afraid of the big bad sandstorm! mocked Fink.

Big Ed’s scared of the badass sandstorm coming our way too, asshole! retorted Ed.

Looking worried, Jace instructed the group to pick up the pace. It was a cool dry day. Late winter, sunset, when the lavender skies shine a majestic green and the desert begins to come to life. Sandstorms are a normal event on a desert planet but a strong storm in late winter was strange. Still, Jace and his gang were prepared having suffered though storms like this one all their lives, so they carried on.

Gale force winds hammered the group as they reached their destination. The sky was dark now only the stars and Anora, the planet’s gas giant parent, brightened the otherwise dark night. Jace, Fink, Simon and Ed stopped stunned by what they saw. It wasn’t old, it wasn’t buried under a thousand years of sand and it wasn’t human. Hovering twenty feet in the air was a sphere, black and humming, with the words Devastator engraved in the metal.

No words, just fear, inaudible fear, radiated from Jace and the gang. Simon whispered, Run, and they did, as fast as they could far away from the object not daring to look back.

The Bridge

Evan’s knife quickly slid down the branch cutting off the hard bark revealing a gooey sap inside. He had learned this technique a month ago after watching one of the ape collectives. Tree bark wasn’t their primary food source, but it did make for a nice change of pace from the grubs and half cooked rat meat. As far as vacations go, this one has been swell, but I think I’m ready to go home now. After all, there is such a thing as too much of a tan, and besides, I have a job! It’s very important! Evan’s voice slowly went from buoyant to sorrowful. Since he had arrived, he had spent nearly every day in a constant struggle for survival. But Evan was smart; he was a survivalist expert and would often go camping with his old college buddies giving him a great deal of experience with this sort of situation. Being the world’s best physicist didn’t hurt either, he had an in-depth knowledge of engineering and, using that knowledge, Evan had MacGyvered some ingenious devices for surviving this harsh environment even managing to craft some useful things for comfort.

Evan had spent what little free time he had exploring and mapping the forest, calculating how far away the other floating ships were and how high up he was from the desert. He found several locked hatches; though try as he might, he could not manage to break their magnetic seals. As far as he could tell, the whole forest was designed as a habitat for the varied animals inside. Something had definitely happened to the planet below, but what? And why would they build a gigantic floating forest? He could tell it was moving, the ground would sometimes shake and jolt in different directions then smooth out again. When he first arrived, he could see a mountain ship lumbering behind the forest ship he was on. Today, it was alongside, moving ever closer.

Evan was on his way to the north side of the forest (as far as he could tell). He was hoping to find a control station or medical treatment center for the animals. These bastards couldn’t have built this whole fucking forest and not have added something to supervise the, he made a swift swipe of his makeshift machete grunting, ANIMALS! Evan was exhausted, angry, and frustrated. There’s technology here goddammit! I’m on a fucking floating forest for god’s sake! He continued to cut away at the forest with ever more vigor. He left his hideaway at dawn just before the sun rose in the sky. It was now noon and the forest was blistering hot. Evan was soaked from head to toe in sweat and the air was humid and heavy. It’s got to be that fucking shield thing keeping in this heat, making me sweat! His feet were tired. He was running out of water and, to top it all off, a stab wound on his arm had ripped open again, a souvenir from a particularly violent encounter with an overprotective baboon.

Several more hours had passed and Evan saw a soft red light blinking in the dusk. Excited, he ran towards it. It’s here! I finally found it! he told himself in between gasps for air. His vision was blurry and the sky was especially dark, so he didn’t see the thick metal fence he was rapidly approaching and was still smiling when his face collided with one of the beams knocking him out.

Evan awoke with a sharp pain in his back. He had landed on what looked like a very large coconut, his head felt like it was splitting apart. Looking around him, he saw a small square building sticking out from the ground surrounded by a large metal cage. Evan stood up and walked around the perimeter. There was a door, Locked, Evan said to himself with a smile. Okay, just one more barrier.

He opted to set up camp a few meters away from the structure in a small clearing and had spent the better part of the next week slowly bringing over supplies from his makeshift home on the other side of the forest. Looking through the gate, Evan could see two impressive looking locks between him and the inside of the building, but Evan was determined and had quickly devised some varying types of equipment to help him in his task.

It had taken him nearly a week to break through the first lock and open the gate. Evan walked through the gate, and, in delirium, he half expected the environment to suddenly change and be instantly transported to a magical world of good wine, good food and good company, but to his disappointment nothing happened except, instead of grass and dirt underneath his feet, he was now standing on cold concrete. The next lock was a little trickier forcing Evan to create a makeshift hand-drill from some of the things he found in the forest and some metallic debris around the building.

Evan drilled for nearly a week the metal flakes speckled the surrounding dirt making the ground, once dull and plain, sparkle like the night sky. His sweat was flooding the concrete slab of the ominous building it was placed on. ‘What’s behind the mystery door and what’s underneath this forest?’ The thought had haunted his dreams, he would wake startled in the night consumed with the mystery. A million scenarios ran through his mind. In the end, Evan concluded that whatever was behind the door would probably not be pleasant.

Then a click, a snap, and finally a loud crack, the lock fell to the ground. Evan slowly pulled the door open, light flooding the inside of the small room creeping into every corner.

Empty? Evan breathed out the word as if the very thought had slammed him against the wall.

No! His eyes began to sharpen and as he looked closer; he saw a large circle engraved on the floor. Couldn’t be! He stepped in the room, its stale ancient air filling his lungs and he kneeled down to further inspect the circle; it wasn’t engraved, but separate. He could see a small crack between the outside of the room and the inner circle. It’s an elevator? Evan speculated.

Not willing to chance anything, Evan quickly ran back to his new campsite and, in a rush, grabbed his things: food, weapons, tools anything he could carry. Standing up, he took one last look at the forest; his campsite was stationed at the outer edge. It was sunset the pale lavender skies were turning stale green. The endless desert was stretched unyielding to the horizon, the forest was whispering in the wind and soft chills swarmed down Evan’s spine. To his left, the floating mountain was sailing, inching ever closer, almost touching the forest. With a deep breath, Evan gave a final farewell and briskly walked back to the strange solitary building.

Stepping onto the circle, Evan almost collapsed with anticipation. A soft familiar humming began to sound from beneath his feet. The air suddenly turned static and sharp, the outer ring started to give off a faint blue light. Evan understood instantly what was happening and, with a soft click, the ringed platform began its descent.

For what felt like hours, the strange elevator slowly made its way down deep into the depths of the massive floating forest. Evan’s heart was pounding, almost hurting in excitement and anticipation. He was about to find out what type of strange and amazing technology lied within the massive structure. There was a loud whooshing noise and the elevator entered what looked like a massive storage area. Suspended, flying in the air above the incredible room, Evan reached out, but found his hand blocked by the same type of stinging energy he had faced at the edge of the forest. The elevator disk continued its flight through the inner depths of the forest slightly changing direction as it approached the bottom of the chamber. Evan could see crates and cranes, dollies and carts as he flew by. It was hard to see not all the lights were on in the chamber, but he could divine that he was heading for a large building in the center.

That should be the control center. Evan began talking to himself, working through his thoughts. This thing, referring to the flying elevator disk, must use the same type of anti-gravity technology the forest uses, the same process I theorized in my research. Evan knelt down to further examine the disk. It’s a lot smaller than I ever imagined it could be. And this static field, possibly the same type I used to control the energy in my generator at the lab only…more.

The lift suddenly stopped and Evan looked up. He was at the control center on the roof next to several other pads just like the one he was on, each designated by their surrounding circles with a different color. He stood up and walked off the pad towards the closed door. There was a small panel by the door with several solid looking buttons lining the bottom and above them was a cracked screen. Evan reached out, pushed the green button, and the door opened. There was a long hallway behind the door the lights were flickering spastically on and off down the hall; some were dimmed while others didn’t turn on at all.

No one has been here in a while, Evan said as he began down the hull. The first door he came across didn’t have a panel like the one outside, just a doorknob and hinge. Well, I guess it’s not all Star Trek. Evan smirked at his joke as he opened up the door, Huh, must be a utility closet. He began to close the door when something caught his eye: It was a map nailed to the back of the closet wall; he stepped in to take a closer look. The map outlined the floor he was on strange symbols marked each room, but some rooms appeared to look more important than others. Different colors outlined different rooms and doors. Red was outlined around the whole structure and the door he just came through. Must be the outer wall. That means this, pointing to the left center of the building, must be some kind of courtyard. Here, Evan pointed to the room he was in, must be service. It was outlined in green lines, which flowed all around the compound. Evan turned and opened his bag taking out his makeshift screwdriver then he stopped and looked around, I should upgrade! He found several standard, and some strange looking tools, and replaced his bag with a nice metal fabric bag in the room. Then he turned to start taking the map off the wall, he unscrewed the first screw when he saw something impossible, No way! With a gasp, he stumbled back, dropping the screwdriver, It’s in English! No, wait, it’s… He took a closer look. It was like his mind was playing tricks on him he could see the different symbols, but when he looked at the words, he understood it as English even though it wasn’t. Impossible! How is this happening? Psychic transfer? Nanobots built for translation? How could they know my brain, my anatomy? Where am I? With that, Evan realized he wouldn’t get his answers here. He finished unscrewing the map and took a look at it. Control room, he said, pointing to a room lined in deep purple on the map. Evan stepped out, closed the door behind him and started