CHAPTER 35

175 Thousand Years Ago

The Pillars of Jericho

Middle Paleolithic Era Earth

It was a bright and sunny day. The wind blew harshly across the desert sand, causing small vortexes over the surface. For the animals that called the scorching plain home, it might have been a good day. In the blink of an eye, everything changed.

It started with the clouds merging overhead, tumbling on themselves like the end of days. The wind accelerated, turning the small vortexes into gigantic swirling storms. They raged across the surface with such force that they cut mountains in half and tore the hills from their roots. As the dust rose into the sky, the clouds darkened, shrouding the area in almost complete darkness. From within that darkness erupted a thunderstorm, firing hundreds of lightning bolts at the ground, each strike turning the sand to glass.

Suddenly, a tight cluster of lightning erupted from within the cloud, striking with the power of a solar flare. It tore through the surface, sinking its burning teeth deep into the Earth, then it vanished. With it, the darkness, storms, and raging clouds also faded. The wind calmed, leaving only silence. Standing at the center of the crater were three armored figures.

The man in the middle retracted the armor covering his head, revealing Riley Karlsson. His two allies did the same, showing themselves to be Bethany Clarke and Isaac Clarke. Riley’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the damage their arrival had done to their surroundings. He grunted quietly.

“Holy shit!” Isaac exclaimed, kneeling and touching the glassy ground. “Look at this. Wish I could have seen it.”

“Keep your head in the game,” Riley growled. “We’ve got a long road ahead of us.”

Bethany stepped forward, reading from a holographic display over her palm. “The jump was almost precise,” she said.

“Almost?” Isaac asked, exasperated. “You mean we landed at the wrong time?”

Bethany shook her head and sighed. “No. We traveled exactly one hundred and seventy-five thousand years as we intended, but we’re about three hundred miles away from our planned coordinates.”

Isaac smiled. “Are you kidding? We traveled back almost two hundred thousand years and you’re worried about landing three hundred miles off course? We could land on the opposite side of the planet and it would still be a huge success.”

Riley watched the pair babble for a moment. Then, with a powerful blast of wind, he set off toward the red dot marked on his display. Bethany sighed, shook her head, then took off after him, followed by Isaac. When Bethany and Isaac reached the destination, Riley was waiting for them, standing at the edge of the Pillars of Jericho. They landed beside him.

“One more step forward and things get complicated,” Riley said.

Isaac raised his palm in front of his chest and nanites flowed out in a spiral. The nanites formed a life-sized eagle drone. The eagle flapped its wings in a smooth, lifelike motion and soared up into the sky.

“Eagle-Eye entering Jericho in three, two- ”

“Don’t call it that,” Bethany muttered.

Isaac stared at her. “It’s my drone, I’ll call it whatever I like.”

The eagle hovered above them for a moment, then arched its wings back and, in one swift motion, dashed forward into the Pillars of Jericho.

Riley’s armor spread over his face. “Share the feed,” he said.

Isaac and Bethany also covered their faces. On the corner of their heads-up display, a live feed of the drone’s view appeared. The drone flew directly toward the center of the target on the map.

“Something’s different,” Riley said. “I didn’t get this far before it started.”

“Maybe it only affects organic lifeforms,” Bethany replied.

The eagle zoomed past a stone to its right.

“Wait!” Riley shouted. “What was that?”

“What was what?” Isaac asked.

“Turn it around.”

Isaac turned the eagle until it was facing the stone structure. It was slightly over eight meters tall and three meters thick.

Riley’s eyes widened as he looked at it. “This shouldn’t be here,” he growled and began scanning their surroundings.

“What is it?” Bethany asked. “What shouldn’t be here?”

“There are four Pillars of Jericho,” Riley explained. “We know someone built them but we don’t know who or how. In our time, each of the pillars stood three hundred feet tall.”

“I’ve read about them too,” Bethany muttered. “Whomever the builders are, I think they’re here, in this time.”

Isaac laughed. “Guys, we’re in the stone age. The middle friggin’ stone age. No caveman can build that. It’s a natural rock formation, it has to be.”

“Are you joking? A natural rock formation with four perfectly equal sides? This rock shouldn’t exist yet.”

Suddenly, the drone jerked to the left. It shook and dropped out of the sky. Before it hit the ground, it flapped its wings and regained flight. Isaac flew the drone straight up, then stopped and turned its eyes downward. As the eagle turned, the trio fell silent, shocked by what they were seeing. If they expected to find anyone there, they expected nothing more than a cave dweller. Standing on the ground, looking up at the bird, was a man in a long black cloak, gloves, and strips of black fabric wrapped around his head to cover his face. Two goggle tubes pointed out from beneath the cloth. The man had a sling in his hand. He reached into his pocket and took out an iron ball the size of a pebble. He placed the ball into the strap, raised the sling, and took aim at the eagle. The man pulled the string back, then released it. He watched the ball as it flew toward the bird, but the eagle dodged it. He kicked the floor with frustration, then took another iron ball from his pocket. He pulled the string back and took another shot. The eagle again moved out of the way. This time, however, the ball released a small burst of electromagnetic energy. The pulse hit the bird, distorting its view as it shut down and fell out of the sky.

Riley looked at Isaac, then Bethany. None of them said a word. With a sonic boom, Riley flew into the Pillars of Jericho, further than he had ever been. Bethany and Isaac followed him, both causing sonic booms. Seconds later, Riley landed with a thud in front of the man, covering the stranger and his surroundings with dust. The man fell back with a grunt. He jumped to his feet and ran in the opposite direction, but didn’t get far before he bumped into Bethany. He screamed and turned, looking for an escape route, but the dust cleared and he saw another armored man. He fell to the ground and planted his face in the dirt, releasing high pitch screeches and grunts. Riley squinted. Something about the sounds seemed familiar. The familiarity didn’t come from the sound alone but also how the man was dressed.

Bethany walked to the man and gently pulled him up to his knees. The man was hyperventilating, sobbing loudly under his mask, and he hadn’t stopped speaking in his unusual language. Bethany pulled down his goggles to reveal his icy blue eyes. She slowly unwrapped the cloth around his head and exposed his face. He was a light-skinned man in his early thirties, with curly hair and a flat forehead.

Bethany looked at Riley and Isaac. “Does anyone understand what he’s saying?” she asked.

The man’s eyebrows flew up. He broke away from Bethany and crawled a few feet away on his knees. “Y… you speak the voice of God!” he said. “Tongue, the voice, the language of Janus.”

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For a long time, nobody said a word. They could only stand there, shocked to their cores, trying to comprehend what was going on. Not only was the man more than a cave dweller. He also spoke English and at least one other language, and wore elaborate clothing.

Bethany turned to Riley. “What’s happening?”

The man fell forward again. “Are you the messengers of God? Emissaries of the mighty Janus?”

“Who is…?” Riley started, but Isaac interrupted him.

“Yes,” Isaac answered. “We are the emissaries of Janus.”

The man looked up with more joy and excitement in his eyes than Isaac had ever seen before. He quickly got to his feet, head still bowed. His body was shaking as he slowly reached his hand toward Isaac’s feet. “H-hallow, hallow,” he stuttered.

Isaac reached down and picked the man up by his shoulders. The man looked at Isaac’s hands on his body, believing something divine had touched him. The man faced Isaac, tears streaming down his cheeks.

“Oh, hallow touched me,” he stammered. “Hallow touched me! We have been praying for years. We have cried, sacrificed. We have asked Janus to send his emissaries, to reveal himself to us. And now, finally, you have come.”

“You speak English?” Riley asked.

The man seemed confused, then shook his head.

“How do you know the language of Janus?” Isaac asked.

“The priest speaks with Janus. Janus shows him events of the past and those yet to come. Through him, Janus blesses us with many gifts. He gave us the living light. Technology. Knowledge of the future. Language.”

Riley grunted. “Is Janus a glowing sphere at the center of this place?”

“Yes. The light of Janus sits at the center of the temple, where it guides us.”

Bethany switched to internal comms so the man wouldn’t hear what she was about to say. “Guys,” she started, “I don’t like where this is going. This guy has a pebble that shoots EMP. Who knows what other surprises they have? We should tread carefully.”

“I agree,” Isaac replied. “These aren’t exactly cavemen. It’s only a matter of time before they realize we’re not whom we claim to be. I don’t want to find out what they’ll do when that happens.”

Riley scoffed and stepped closer to the man. “Take me to your priest.”

The man trembled and ran ahead, leading them toward the mark on the center of the map on their HUDs.

“Riley,” Bethany called through the inside comms. “What’s on your mind?”

“These people are the least of our worries,” Riley answered. “Stay sharp and be ready for anything.”

Riley continued to follow the man. Isaac glanced at Bethany before following. She sighed, shrugged, then joined Riley and Isaac. They only needed to trek for a few minutes before they arrived at a small village. The houses were domes made of solid rock, and there was a gap of about ten feet between them. Riley scanned the area. There were seventy domes and one hundred and ninety-two men, women, and children. Looking at the domes, Riley could see that they used the same technology as when building the Pillars of Jericho. He formed a drone the size of a golf ball in his palm and sent it flying back in the direction they came from.

“What’s that for?” Sky asked.

“We’ll see,” Riley replied.

As soon as they entered the village, their guide raised his hands, screaming at the top of his lungs. One by one, the villagers stepped out from their homes to see what the fuss was about. Most of them wore similar clothing to the man, and only a few had their faces exposed. When the people saw the three armored figures, they fell to their knees and bowed their heads to the sand, mumbling, and weeping. As they walked to the center of the village, villagers who were working dropped whatever they were doing and ran toward the alleged emissaries of their god, weeping and throwing their jewelry, food, and whatever valuables they had at their feet. Whenever they walked past a house, its occupants came outside and followed them, keeping their distance out of reverence. They moved through the village toward the mountain range on the outskirts. The mountain was too tall to see beyond it. The guide led them along a footpath that took them around the mountain. When they emerged on the other side, a huge dome structure, about three hundred feet high, came into view.

“It’s in there,” Riley said. “I can feel it.”

As they approached the dome’s entrance, a hunched-over man stepped out carrying a long staff. The staff had symbols etched on it and there were streams of light from its sturdy frame. Riley squinted as he looked at the staff. It was also far too advanced for the time. Like most of the villagers, the man had his face wrapped, with goggle tubes sticking out over his eyes. Behind him were three giant men, each standing at least seven feet tall with thick beards and bulging muscles. Riley felt uneasy at the sight of the giants. If he still had any doubts about who these people were, they were gone. The guide stopped and bowed in front of the man with the staff. He spoke in screeches and grunts, then stepped aside. Riley assumed the man with the staff was the priest, and the giants were his helpers. The priest had seemingly been staring at Riley and the others since their arrival. He passed his staff to the giant standing behind him, then pushed down his goggles and removed the strip of fabric covering his face. He was older than any man Riley had ever seen, so old that his irises had turned almost completely white, and his skin had more wrinkles than an African elephant. Riley wondered how the man was even alive.

The priest took a few steps closer to the armored beings before him. “Are you truly the emissaries of Janus?” the priest asked in a shaky voice.

“Who else would we be?” Isaac asked, curtly.

“I beg your pardon,” said the priest. “I’m merely surprised. The mighty Janus told me nothing about your coming.”

Isaac took a step closer to the priest. “Who are you to question the will of holy Janus?” he snarled.

The priest and the giants stepped back, trembling. They fell forward and bowed their heads before Isaac.

“Rise,” Isaac said. “Take us to the temple.”

The priest looked at the giants from the corners of his eyes. He took his staff back, then walked toward the dome’s entrance. Isaac, Bethany, and Riley followed, with the villagers coming behind them.

“He isn’t convinced,” Bethany said through the internal comms.

“I know,” Riley replied. “It won’t matter in a minute.”

Isaac, Bethany, and Riley paused at the entrance as they saw the sphere. It had been one thing when Garth described it to Riley, but it was something else entirely to stand in front of it. It was like a living, breathing ball of limitless energy. It hovered ten feet above the ground and spanned fifty feet across. Staring at it was like looking directly into the sun, but without hurting the eyes. It registered no heat on any of their scans. They could hear a faint hum that gently reverberated around the walls, creating a sense of solemn grace in the dome.

“Dear Lord…” Isaac muttered.

They stopped a few feet from the sphere, gazing into its boundless glory.

“It’s… beautiful.”

“Riley,” Sky called, “I’m not registering any heat or cold. It’s incredible.”

“The drone is outside, right?”

“That’s right,” Sky replied.

The priest approached them. The giants moved to follow him but he held his hand out and they stopped. When he was close enough, he slowly reached out and touched Bethany’s hand. Bethany jerked back.

“My apologies,” said the priest, “I only wish to know. Have you come to lead us into the future, Janus promised?”

Isaac looked at him. “What do you think, uh…?”

“Jalareel,” the priest said. “My name is Jalareel.”

Isaac observed the priest closely. He could see suspicion in his eyes and hoped he might disarm him by making him nervous. “I’m curious,” Isaac said. “What sort of leader have you been to these people? Have you been good or have you taken advantage of your position?”

Jalareel fell to his knees. “Please, messengers of my lord and master, I have been nothing but a faithful and loyal servant. I have taught my people his ways and shown them the mysteries he revealed to me. I have held nothing back, not even the doom that awaits humankind in the coming age. I have done everything that he has asked of me. How will you judge me, emissary?”

Isaac watched the priest closely, scanning his heartbeat as he pleaded. “He believed every word,” Isaac told the others. “He isn’t lying.”

“What do you mean, he’s not lying?” Bethany asked. “You’re saying you believe this thing is a god and it talks to him?”

Isaac turned to her. “How do you explain any of this? The dome, electricity, that staff, how? How do you explain that they speak English? Either that thing really is alive, or someone reached back from the future.”

Jalareel remained on his knees, looking at them. As he watched, a bolt of lightning shot from the sphere and struck him in the chest. It engulfed him in white flame and carried him up toward the top of the dome. Jalareel’s eyes rolled back into his head. His followers immediately fell to their knees and bowed their heads. After ten seconds, the light set him back down gently, and the flame faded. Jalareel, with labored breaths, picked up his staff and slowly stood up. He turned to Riley, Bethany, and Isaac. The look of reverence on his face had vanished. He turned to the villagers, raised both hands above his head, and spoke in their language.

“What the hell just happened?” Bethany asked, shaken.

“I think we just witnessed the sphere speaking to him,” Isaac speculated. “If that’s the case, he knows we aren’t whom we say we are.”

The priest suddenly pointed his finger at them. The villagers quickly fell into formation, forming twelve lines, with each of them holding both hands in the air. In unison, they hummed a melody. With every sound they made, the sphere pulsed.

“What’s happening?” Bethany asked.

“Riley, what is this?” Isaac questioned, but Riley didn’t move. He was frozen in place, startled by the sound. Something about it felt strangely familiar but he couldn’t place it. Two girls walked to the front, carrying a device between them. They placed the device on the floor in front of the priest. Jalareel tapped it with his staff and the device glowed and whirred alive. Riley squinted. He had seen the device before.

“Riley,” Isaac called again but Riley didn’t hear him. Isaac grabbed Riley by the shoulder and shook him.

Riley looked at him.

“What do we do?” Isaac asked.

Riley stared at the device. The priest inserted the bottom of his staff into the hole on the top, then turned it. Riley raised his hand and fired an energy blast but, before the pulse could reach the device, everything turned white.

Riley held his hands over his face, trying to block out the blinding light. It lasted several more seconds, then faded. Riley looked around. He was standing at the edge of the Pillars of Jericho, with Isaac and Bethany at his sides.

“What the hell just happened?” Bethany blurted. “We were here before.”

“And then what?” Isaac asked. “We went inside? I was going to launch the drone, right?”

They both turned to Riley. He was standing still, with his face exposed, staring sternly into the Pillars of Jericho.

“Riley, what’s happening?” Bethany asked.

Riley tightened his lips, then let out a deep grunt. He armored his face and raised his hand. The drone he created earlier flew to his hand and merged with his armor.

“Riley?” Isaac barked.

Riley finally turned to look at Isaac. “We’re going back in.”