Chapter 33
Norm’s mouth hung wide enough to park a truck inside. “Are you telling me the silver knight who saved our bacon is Dylan’s mother?”
“I am afraid so,” Adama nodded. “I have just spoken to the Luminary of the Galaxis, who informed me the Praesidium assigned to this sector was indeed Alaris. A brilliant young woman I met fourteen years ago. She traveled from Centauri to the Earth as part of a planetary integration program designed to help usher new races into the Galaxis. Though she was raised on Centauri, she is human. Centauri has cultivated a population of every race and species known within the galaxy. It is the oldest, most diverse, and influential of the planets. It acts as the leader and flag-world for our alliance.”
“How did humans get on Centauri?” Norm asked. “Alien abduction?”
“In some cases,” Adama stated as a matter of fact. “In most, they were chosen and asked if they would like to give up their present existence for a chance to be… part of something bigger. Alaris’ lineage has been on Centauri for over a thousand years, but it was her life goal to return to earth.”
“She had a calling,” Zalee interjected.
“Indeed,” Adama replied. “Her task was to live on Earth for one year to determine how and when humans would adapt to integration. Max offered to assist and asked her to stay with his family. When Alaris met Max’s son, Jack, they fell in love. She hid her origins from him, but could not resist love’s temptations.”
Zalee’s eyes fluttered with romantic notions while Norm’s rolled with apathy. “So, how did she get to be a Praesidium?” Norm asked, pacing.
“I am getting to that, Norm,” Adama continued calmly. “Alaris conceived a child and knew he was special from the moment he was alive within her. Something she hid from the Galaxis. When Max became aware, he was angry at first, but as the Scion, he sensed other forces at work. It was he who asked for our help. Alaris vanished suddenly from Jack’s life forever and fled to Telos to have her child.”
“So, he really was born here.” Norm blurted.
Adama nodded. “Ra’Nelle delivered Dylan only weeks before Alaris was to return to Centauri. But Alaris could feel his destiny with the Earth. She remained in Telos those last few weeks, among the Lemurians, before entrusting Dylan to Max. She believed in family. Max told Jack that Alaris had asked that he raise Dylan, because she was not ready to raise a child. She returned to Centauri with her flawless Human Integration Model. Her work garnered prestige and notoriety, but Alaris fell into a deep sadness. Instead of taking her choice of any project she could have, she chose a rare opportunity to enter the Praesidium Knighthood. An intense physical and spiritual genesis that has killed more than half of those who attempt to conquer its mysteries. The process breaks down the ego, strengthens the soul and eliminates fear or destroys the psyche in the process. Even after training, one must be chosen. A Praesidium is the pinnacle of attained status in the Galaxis. She bested hundreds to become Praesidium Lumen Seven.”
Norm’s eyes were wide with amazement. “She must have been pretty determined.”
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“Alaris knew she could not raise Dylan as she wanted to. She had more than a parental instinct to protect her special child in any way she could. Perhaps this was her destiny.”
“So, we’re just gonna leave her there? With the Terovian’s?” Norm asked, flabbergasted.
“We are often faced with decisions no one would choose willingly, and right now we must maintain our position here in Telos. We are the last defense and may be forced to make desperate preparations to preserve what we can. We cannot risk it for one person.”
“But Adama,” Zalee’s eyes softened, “she is Dylan’s mother. Surely, we owe her, and him, something. If it were not for her, we would not have a chance to begin with.”
“Seriously,” Norm added, “she saved us a bunch’a times. We wouldn’t have made it without her.”
“I am sorry. The decision has been made. She would not wish her sacrifices to be for nothing. That is the way of a Praesidium. I must go now and make preparations with the other in-worlders. I pray we succeed and see each other again. May the light guide you.” Adama hugged them simultaneously before exiting via a levidisc.
“Zalee, we can’t just let her die,” Norm said, his eyebrows raised halfway up his forehead.
“I do not intend to,” Zalee glanced toward Ra’Nelle talking to a flower. “We are going to rescue her.”
“But Adama said no and no one else is going to help us if he doesn’t give his okay.”
“He said he could not help. He did not say anything about us doing something ourselves.” Zalee smiled slyly as Ra’Nelle nodded and gave her a wink. “We are taught to pay attention to what is not said, as much as to what is said.”
“So… what didn’t he say?”
“I have an idea.”
Zalee, Norm and Lyca hopped on a levidisc and traveled back down to the third level.
“What are we doing down here, Zalee?” Norm asked, scratching Lyca between the ears.
“We need help. Adama and Telos are unable to provide that help. I am improvising,” Zalee directed the levidisc through the different zones, her eyes fixed on a specific region in the cavern.
“Are you gonna tell me what we’re doing?”
“I can now. Your thoughts were not shielded from Adama.” They flew to a lush grassland with a where several prehistoric creatures gathered around the central watering hole.
She stood atop a large boulder and whistled. “We need an army.”
“But those are all the extinct animals.”
“If Dylan fails, we may all be extinct. If saving Alaris can help Dylan in any way, we must try. And they are some of the most ferocious fighters ever on Earth.”
“I like the way you think. But you just whistle, and they come?” Norm said, as two giant beavers ambled up to her. Nearly the size of sofas, with teeth like bars of soap, they regarded Zalee with their football-sized brown eyes.
“My tasks involve caring for them. The animals here trust me as a friend. They are coming to my aid, as I would for them. That is how Lyca first came to me and decided I was her pack.” Lyca grumbled as Zalee ran her fingers through the giant wolf’s mane, “Most of the creatures here know my tones enough to coordinate a plan to free Alaris. If nothing else, we have to try.” Within minutes, Zalee assembled a group of over one hundred animals. There were creatures Norm recognized, such as dire wolves, saber-toothed cats, and, of course, two massive woolly mammoths, whose twisted tusks looked as if they were made to hoist cars around a prehistoric junkyard. Still, there were other mammals Norm didn’t recognize. The short-faced bear had long legs and torso with a face more like a pit-bull, while the cave bear was thicker, with enormous shoulders and a head to match. The elephant-like mastodon were smaller than the mammoths, yet had sharper tusks, well suited to combat. There were also some smaller prehistoric badgers and wildcats, as well as several bizarre looking earthbound birds that looked more like feathered raptors.
“How do we get them out of here and on the mountain?” Norm asked, straightening his glasses.
“There is a passage near where we entered this level. It is narrow, but will take us to the main tunnels. From there, we will coordinate an attack on the Terovians to create a distraction long enough to free Alaris.”