CHAPTER TWENTY
The storm was growing in size; and it was moving, as well. It was descending upon the town of Communion. Anthony went back to the surface the next day to pay a special visit to the two sisters, and as he looked up, the black, swirling mass covered half of the vast sky. The two sisters met him with tired eyes.
"She can't die," he told them, coming into their room.
"But she is going to," Sarah said. "You have to accept that."
"Is she the messiah?"
They looked at each other. "Most of us have lost hope. Really, none of us knows now."
"But you were so sure," he said. "Why do you give up simply because she made a mistake? It was a flaw. Can't a messiah have a flaw?"
"Either way," they said, "she is going to die."
He shook his head in disbelief. "I think it's sick and cruel; far worse than any of the things that the humans have done to you. You can't let her die. She can save you without having to sacrifice herself."
He sat down on the edge of the bed, dropping his head into his hands. Sarah began stroking his back. "You're going to miss her, aren't you?" she said.
"I love her," he breathed.
"Then you'll understand that if she is our savior, then she has to do this. Not just for the sake of God, not just for the sake of the Novacadians, but for all of our sakes."
He looked up, now with tears in his eyes. "The IAST is planning to kill all of you," he said. "I overheard them talking at camp. They don't like what's been happening lately." He looked at his hands. "If Eve is the one who is supposed to stop it, then how can she do anything if she is caged up in that cell on the airbase?" He stopped. "Wait. I can do something. They let me into her cell yesterday..."
"Yes?"
"If I ask to see her again, perhaps I can sneak her out."
"Anthony, it's worth a try."
He took a shuttle back up to the airbase that evening. He told the guard that General Garrison had given him permission to see the Novacadian again, and the guard promptly let him back into the small, sterile cell. Eve was sitting on the bench, looking rather bored.
He straightened himself. "The IAST is planning on taking out the village," he said. "You are the messiah. You're the only one who can stop it."
"So how can I do anything about it?" she asked. "I'm here."
Still using mental telepathy, he said, "I'm going to get you out of here."
Her eyes widened. "How on Novacadia are you going to do that?"
He crossed the cell to her. "I'll take the guard down. And when the he's out of the way, I'll lead you to a private shuttle."
She looked down. "But Anthony, I'm not the messiah. I've been defeated."
"Yes, you are," he urged. "You have to be. You're their last hope; they need you."
She looked into his eyes. "You do realize what that will mean?"
Ne nodded. "Yes, I do."
He closed her eyes. "Alright."
Anthony first had to think of an appropriate way to overpower the guard. It came to him after a moment. After he knocked on the door to be let out, he engaged the man in light conversation, making sure that the door was still a fraction of an inch open. Eve was huddled in a corner, watching with the eye of an eagle.
Then, at a break in the conversation, he said, "I think there's something wrong with the Novacadian. She might be sick; she won't open her eyes. Will you take a look?"
The guard--the only one present in the hall, turned and went through the door before Anthony.
When his back was turned, Anthony slammed the heavy door against his head. The man fell over, knocked out cold.
Eve stepped over the unconscious man.
"Follow me, Eve," he said. "All we have to do is not be seen; then I can smuggle you into one of the shuttles."
They rushed through the narrow halls, ducking behind doorways when they heard footsteps. When all was clear, they resumed their path to the shuttle room.
Miraculously, they had made it there without any disturbances; no one had seen them. Anthony gestured to one of the shuttles. "This is the one I took on my way here. It should do fine. Just stay in the back, and they shouldn't see you."
Eve embraced him. "Because of you, Anthony," she said, "we've all been saved. Without you, we would have all been destined to die."
Anthony held her hands briefly. "I'm not so sure of that," he said. "You're the brave one. I could never amount to what you are."
The doors to the shuttle room opened. Armed guards were standing there. "Stop right where you are!" they yelled.
Anthony froze. Eve stepped behind him. It was all over in a fraction of a second. Anthony punched the remote that would open the outer doors, intending to hop into the shuttle with Eve and fly out fast. Eve edged backwards; but she went too far; she fell over the edge.
Anthony ran to the edge. "No!" he screamed.
The guards were no longer pointing their weapons at him. Anthony hopped into the shuttle and touched down onto the surface. Eve was gone.
The Novacadians in the town watched as the black, swirling mass swallowed up the airbase. Two weeks later, all the Novacadians were speaking out loud, but no one knew why; no one, that is, except for Anthony.
The time warp had sent the humans three-thousand years into the past.
That meant that Novacadians were humans, evolved over thousands of years.
But there was one missing link.