Matakeo: Echoes of the Future Read online

  Matakeo:

  Echoes of the Future

  A novel by

  Daniel L. Newcomb

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

  Matakeo: Echoes of the Future

  Copyright © 2010 Daniel L. Newcomb

  Fourth Edition 2015

  ISBN

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  On Facebook: Author Daniel L. Newcomb

  Cover art by Yvonne Less - diversepixel.com

  To my father

  Some of my fondest moments in life are when you and I get together and create story lines or discuss the scriptures in the Holy Bible. Hurry up and get one of your novels published.

  To my mother

  Thank you for the countless prayers that you have offered up on my behalf throughout the years to the Creator of all things.

  To my wife

  Wow! Learning how to give and take for twenty-five years has helped to build my character. I would not be here without you.

  To all my family, friends and Xbox Live buddies

  I have kept you waiting long enough!

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  1

  2186 Giefan Calendar: Sagittarius Arm

  There was not much different about the new room Telly was assigned compared to the one he had moved out of. The unpleasant smell of fresh paint and new carpet filled the air. He sat down upon the side of his bed, a new mattress and box spring topped with his old comforter, and admired the new furniture that had just been delivered that very morning. The care givers had placed his personal belongings back just as they were before the move.

  Partially hidden behind a dresser was something the old room did not have. An air duct grille was on the wall opposite his bed. Telly stood up and walked over to it. The fabric of his shirt lifted off his abdomen as it was being pulled towards the white square. He was fascinated with the fact that the air seemed to flow into the vent and not out. Curiosity took over. After moving the dresser away from the wall, he worked the exhaust grille loose. It was a simple and easy task.

  On all fours, he crawled into the shaft. The metal floor was cold to the touch. A thin film of dust coated his hands. He tapped his knuckles on the metal floor to test its sturdiness. This action gave him the confidence to adventure further in.

  Telly’s chest drummed faster. This new and interesting place gave him a sense of release from the daily routine at St. Maratha’s Group Home. The state-run facility had been his home for more years than he knew how to keep count of. He had become a loner within a small world of lonely adults. Oddly enough, there was a strange compensation he came to enjoy by being alone. There was no need for companionship, or so he had tried to convince himself for a long time now. He yearned for an adventure.

  Carefully, Telly progressed forward. Twenty feet in, the duct work conjoined with another section that was large enough for him to stand up in. The light in the tunnel grew dimmer the further away from the room he ventured. Then the light would reappear at locations where there was another exhaust grille. Sometimes the light shined in from the sides. Other times it streaked in through the bottom.

  Every time he came upon a cover he would stop and look through the slots. Some of the locations that were visible he recognized from being inside of them during the day. The first business he recognized was the Emporium; this is where his caregiver would take him to buy clothes. Another was a grocery store. They had the best produce in this quarter of the city, or so he was told by one of the cashiers. One he knew from the odor that permeated into the shaft; Tom’s Donuts shop. A feeling of warmth consumed him for a second as he thought about Tom’s cream-filled éclairs. Now that he thought about it, Telly could not understand why Tom was not a fat man.

  As he turned the next corner, he came face to face with a passage that was slightly darker than the others. The light at the other end was nonexistent. A chill shot down his spine when he thought about what could be at the other end. Tingling sensations bulleted up the sides of his neck when his thoughts went from what could be at the end to what could be waiting in the middle of the darkness. Hesitation battled with his desire to know where this passage led to. In a way he could not understand, it was as if some ominous force from hell was mocking him for thinking about walking away from the challenge of exploring it. The unknown beckoned him. He could not turn back.

  Little by little, inch by inch, his determination hardened his resolve. He was going to find the end of this dreadful shaft. Telly knew there had to be a lighted area sooner or later. With his shoulders pinned back, he entered. There was one moment when he called upon his god to help him when it seemed as if a section of the duct work was about to break loose. Those darn butterflies fluttered in his stomach. What seemed like an hour to get to the end of this particular shaft actually only took eight minutes.

  Where this segment ended there was another exhaust grille. Peering through the grille, he discovered this section of duct work was suspended in the air above an unusual room. The floor below glowed with a gold hue. Real gold! This reminded Telly of the gold foil wrappers of his favorite chocolate bars. The walls shone brightly, like millions of stars. There would not have been a need for a flashlight here. Plenty of light penetrated through the slots in the grille.

  In the middle of the floor was an enormous circle. It was trimmed in a vast array of colors. Red and blue planets rested within alternating purple and white squares. There were words inscribed as well but they were too far down for Telly to make out. In the middle of that arrangement there was a huge orb. Telly believed it to be a sun. The yellow-orange ball gleamed brightly. Smaller models of planets and stars revolved around it in a never changing orbit. Behind all of this the circle looked like outer space. He decided to name this floor, The Big Swirly. It was more beautiful than the pictures created from his kaleidoscope. Another thing he liked about the Swirly was that it moved on its own. He had to turn the end of his scope for its contents to change its appearance. The thought of his eye toy reminded him that it was in his back pocket.

  Deciding on staying for a spell to enjoy the sight, he stretched out on the shaft floor. The coolness of the metal penetrated through his clothing as he used the palms of his hands to cradle his chin. His elbows were pressed onto the air shaft floor which caused a burning sensation. A tingling fury shot up into his hands as the circulation of blood was being cut off to his forearms. A numbing sensation pooled in his fingertips. Several times he had to release
his hands from their supporting position and shake them repeatedly.

  Approximately every six minutes the air vent would come to life. This sent a chill down the back of his neck every time the system turned on. Nonetheless, considering he had worked up a small sweat to get here, the coolness that flowed over his body felt good.

  Telly stared at the Swirly for several hours. He had never experienced anything as fascinating as this before. For long periods of time he would stare at its alluring beauty. Then he would switch to his eye-scope briefly, examining the jagged little shards of creation that formed snowflake-like patterns, then stare back down at the floor again.

  He assumed that he was the only one who knew of this place and that it was accessible only from his room, via the air shaft. He believed that his friend, the great god of the heavens, had given this to him.

  Telly lost track of time as his mind began to dream. The graphic fluidity of the floor mesmerized him. In his mind, he visualized himself standing in the middle of that floor. God would be there with him, holding him in his arms. This he knew would be another one of God’s gifts to him. He just could not fathom how he would get down to the floor. The heads of the screws for the grille he was staring through were on the opposite side. Even if Telly were able to remove the vent and get out of the shaft, he knew that he would be faced with the long drop to the floor. Fifty feet might as well have been one thousand for him. He did not comprehend distances by measures. There was one thing he did know for sure. If he fell from that height, his body would paint the floor.

  Now it was while he pondered on these things, he detected movement in the room below him. An individual attired in a silver and red robe had entered the gold glow. The only place he had ever seen someone dressed like this was in the sanctuary of the Church. Then this person knelt in the middle of the Big Swirly. As he put his knees to the floor, he pulled the hood back off of his head. The cloth came to rest upon the man’s shoulders. A strange looking tattoo could be seen upon the crown of the man’s smooth head.

  Telly was shocked beyond belief. Frustration taunted him as many questions began running rampant in his mind. For a moment, he believed that this man might be looking for him? He pondered whether he had made too much noise or if someone noticed him missing from his room? Then it dawned on Telly. The man was praying.

  Now his lips pressed thin. This was the floor that God gave to him. How could that man think that he could trespass on something that did not belong to him? The day Telly would stand on that floor would be an accolade in his life. His confidence had assured him that he would be the first to do so. Not only did he think this intruder was stinking up his plans, but God’s plans as well.

  He remained still. Unfortunately, he tried so hard his body trembled. His body shook while sweat poured profusely from his brow. As air cycled through the vent it cooled the beads of liquid that were running down his forehead, causing him to feel chilled.

  Then, to Telly’s amazement, another individual entered the room below. A black cloak covered this newcomer’s entire body. This one reminded him of a character named Death from one of his comic books. The aura of evil that surrounded this one was strong. So strong, he had a hard time trying to swallow what little saliva had formed in his mouth.

  In one swift move, this sinister one moved up and stood behind the man who was kneeling. Telly was positive he heard the newcomer issue forth an evil laugh. With wide eyes fixed upon the scene, his heart began to pound uncharacteristically fast. He watched as the one in the dark cloak bent down and whispered into the bald mans ear.

  The penitent man made an attempt to rise to his feet. Telly could see that the man must have been weak in the knees because he struggled to stand quickly. He spun around to confront the presence behind him. An expression of unbelief was depicted upon his face.

  Telly watched in awe, as this new arrival stretched out his left arm at a forty-five degree angle. He squeezed an object tightly in his left hand. This tool reminded Telly of his eye-scope. Within an ear-shattering second, the gadget that Death had in his grip came to life. A long point, that measured three feet long, extended out of the hilt.

  Telly looked on as the man raised this odd looking device above the bald man’s head. The edges of this object’s energy were defined, but the center of mass was translucent. Ripples of power pulsed throughout the pinnacle, giving the appearance of heat waves rising off of a hot desert road. Now he recognized the weapon as an echo blade, the weapon of a Matakeo.

  In a pool of perspiration, Telly watched on as the evil one slammed the power blade into the head of his victim. Simultaneously, a loud boom resounded. An aftershock pulsated throughout the room as the scope was swung in the downward motion. For a splinter of time, the men below seemed to be standing in a fog of malformation. Telly could see the concentrated point of energy between the two. Then the attacker slowly forced the energy through the center of the others body, rendering it in half.

  For Telly, it seemed like forever before the two halves of the dead man fell to the floor. At one point, he believed he heard the dying man scream. The air shaft trembled from the aftershock. Now both his hands were firmly in place over his ears as he dropped his kaleidoscope. The thought about a third hand to cover his mouth with crossed his mind.

  From his vantage point, he watched the blade of the weapon recede back into its hilt. The room fell silent. He had never seen anything like this. As he sobbed violently, vomit reached his mouth. The last thing he wanted to do was alert this evil one to his position, so he swallowed the vile. This action almost initiated a thorough puking and caused his sinuses to burn like hell fire.

  A flushed feeling settled upon his body. His eyes followed the dark trails of smoke that funneled upward from off of the smoldering body below. Within seconds, the current of air sucked some of the smoke into the vent that he was occupying. A putrid odor complimented the grayish-black cloud. This was the first time he had smelled singed garments and burnt flesh. The disgusting bouquet penetrated his nostrils, causing him to taste vomit once again.

  Telly had been taught that a corpse no longer contained a soul but it was as if the left eye of the dead man were staring up at him. Then, the evil one turned and looked up toward his location in the air shaft. Fear pulled him in tight.

  The blood in his veins turned hot, then cold. Sweat-soaked pajamas clung to every inch of his skin. Telly wrestled against a creeping darkness in his eyes and the dizziness in his head. He had to wait until the evil one was gone to move, he knew, but the seconds felt like hours. All he wanted was to get back to his room! But the swirly floor below shrank as the darkness closed in, and Telly's head landed on his limp forearm.

  2

  The man dressed in a black robe, who now carried a small metallic box, approached the space port security gate on Puritania. His face was concealed within the shadows of his hood. All he needed was for his forged visa to work one more time. An automated voice prompted him.

  “Please insert blue card.”

  The man placed the card within the read device. A few seconds passed before his code was processed.

  The scan stopped. An alarm sounded.

  “Is there a problem?” he asked.

  “Your authorization code is invalid” the woman’s voice resounded through the speaker. “Please standby.”

  The man shrugged his shoulders. A fully armed security unit emerged from a door on his left and approached him.

  “Sir,” the patrol leader called out. “You need to stand down with your hands on top of your head. Any deviation from these orders will force us to fire upon you.”

  The man complied. He sat the shiny case on the floor in front of him. Slowly, he raised both hands and placed them on top of his head. Patiently, he waited.

  Seven of the eight guards tactically positioned themselves behind deployed shields. They had their weapons trained upon him. All seven would score a direct hit if they deemed it necessary to fire. Not a one blinked an eye.

&nbs
p; Everyone in the squad had trivial stripes of rank sewn upon the shoulders of their uniforms except for one. The odd one out had the rank of buck sergeant. With a nod of his head, he gestured to one of his squad members flanked to his right.

  The guard acknowledged. He quickly moved towards the detained man. The security detail kept their sights trained on him as their comrade proceeded to frisk the individual. The completed search revealed no concealed weapons. The guard shrugged his shoulders in the direction of his team leader.

  The sergeant broke the ice. “Do you have any identification?”

  “That would be in your security machine over there.” With a finger extended from his sleeve he pointed it out. “It is stuck there,” he replied with a satirized grin. The guard looked over at the scanner.

  Once again, the sergeant fixed his attention upon the man. “What is in the box?”

  “That I cannot tell you…” he said while eying the name patch on his right shoulder…“Sergeant Render.”

  “May I ask why?”

  “Maybe, it is none of your damn business.” He was tired of messing with these guards. All he wanted was to get his butt out of there.

  “One more foul word like that and I will shoot you,” Render retorted. “Stevens. Scan the box for explosives or other contraband.”

  The guard who had done the pat down on the pilot nodded his head once again. From the right side of his utility belt he retrieved a small, hand held scanner. The device was designed to see through thick, metal objects up to one inch in thickness. Even the densest metals were no match for the state of the art tool.

  “I command you, do not touch the box! It will kill you,” the man exclaimed. His statement was true but he was looking for an edge. The man wanted the guard to touch it.

  Stevens looked back to his sergeant. “Are you sure, sir?”

  “Do it Stevens. We have your back.”

  “Just don’t touch it!” He pleaded once more.