Anna Jackson written by Zariel Pate
"Why did you help me?" I asked him.
"If you really want to know why I helped you, I'm still trying to figure that out," he said. "I saw you in a dream. It was around the time I first arrived to Korea. The night we met, I recognized you. This morning I saw the CIA and I knew you were in danger so I helped. I'll say something just led me to you."
"Jesus," I said.
"Jesus? I forgot you guys call Him that."
"What do you Rahvians call him?"
"The All."
"He has many names."
"Oh yes."
I knew the Lord had sent someone to help me. It was not how I would have expected at all, but it was greatly needed.
"So where are we headed?" Herb asked.
"China," I said. "To, The Great Hall of People."
"The Great Hall of People is a state building located at the western edge of Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Used for ceremonial and legislative activities by the government of the People's Republic of China! Oh and the ruling Chinese Communist Party too! Why there?" Herb asked.
"Well, I didn't know anything about it until now. And it's complicated."
He nodded. "Okay. The Great Hall of People here we come!"
We were still in Korea and were very far away from Seoul. There was no longer a trace of the CIA.
I had no plan on how I was going to get the Crystalsphere. None whatsoever. I figured I would tell Herb what was really going on.
"Fine. I guess I should just tell you this now," I said. "I'm on a mission, sent by God or as you call Him, "The All" to travel back in time and..."
He finished my sentence, "To stop The Great Smog from ever occurring...!!"
"How did you know that?"
"In the dream I had. I saw you go back in time and do those things. All of history was rewritten."
I pondered for a few moments. "Hmm, well I guess you already know what we need to retrieve," I said pointing at The Great Hall of People in the distance.
"Yes, I do."
We parked the ship in a nearby parking garage. We followed a small group of tourists walking to The Great Hall of People. I was glad it was open to the public this day, or else we would have had a much harder time getting in.
"Anna, where is it going to be located?" Herb whispered to me.
"The Banquet Hall."
"There's so many stairs!"
"I know."
We walked up the stairs, making our way to the banquet hall.
"Secret room, secret room..." my voice echoed. I remembered, on the back of the map Dad had written, "The Crystalsphere will be located in a secret room inside the Banquet Hall...".
"It's being held in a secret room?" Herb asked.
"Yeah."
"I think it might be back here," I said. My speculation was that it was being held in a secret room behind the stage.
"Stand back," Herb said.
"Why? What are you going to do?"
He grabbed a square device from out of his back pocket, then he stuck it to the door. It carved a hole large enough for a person to walk in.
"Herb, we're dead if they catch us. Are you sure you still want to help me?" I asked.
Herb held his chin, "I know we are...Let's go."
I nodded.
As I suspected the Crystalshpere was being held in that room. It was sitting in a glass container on top of a wooden stand that had Chinese carvings. The golden Crystalsphere shimmered with light. You could see the tiny diamond shaped patterns perfectly arranged side by side on it. It was a perfect sphere.
Herb placed the same device that he had used on the door, on the glass container that the Crystalsphere was in. He told me that if we removed the case from the wooden stand, the alarm would be triggered, so cutting a hole through it was our only option.
"I'm going to put this in my backpack," I said as I gently grabbed the Crystalsphere. It wasn't heavy at all. "Got it, let's go!"
We ran out of the secret room and back into the Banquet Hall. We made it out of the building intact, and with the Crystalsphere.
"Oh my gosh, we did it!" I said.
Then the alarms began going off. "RUN!!!" I said.
" 抓住他们! Get them!!" I heard the security say.
We ran onto the street and nearly got hit by a car. We kept running and hid behind some parked vehicles.
"I think we lost them," Herb said.
We heard them shouting at us.
"你! Hey you over there! Get them!"
"Go! Go! Go!" I said.
Herb and I dashed like there was no tomorrow, sprinting until we were on the brink of collapse. We ran and ran, until the coast was clear, and only then did we cautiously pause to catch our breath in a nearby alley.
"We almost got caught!" I said, trying to catch my breath.
Herb gasped for air, "I forgot to tell you...that in my dream we only had 10 minutes after we grabbed the Crystalsphere before the alarms would go off..."
"I see...", I said as I caught my breath. "You think we lost them?"
Then we heard someone yell. "Hey!" but this time it wasn't security, it was an alien; a Rahvian like Herb.
"Can we help you?" I said.
"Anna, Anna..., I finally found you..." he chuckled in an unsettling manner.
I was puzzled. How did he know my name? I looked at Herb, not sure what to think.
"Who are you?" I said.
"He's my brother," Herb said. "Eem, why did you follow me?"
"I know what you're up to Herb. Give her to me."
Herb said nothing.
Eem chuckled to himself. "You're weak Herb. You'll never be commander."
"Eem can't you see that their plan is to partner with the humans to kill off our kind?!"
"They only want to bring order. If she goes through with it, all of this will be erased, you fool!" Eem responded.
"You might be right, but it's not up to you to decide..." Herb quickly grabbed me and clicked a button on his belt.
We were no longer in the alley but back on his ship.
"AHH!!" I screamed. "How did you do that?"
"Teleportation," he said.
"What's really going on? Tell me now, why are you here?!"
Herb sat down in the driver's seat and started the ship's engine, "I didn't just have a dream about you... I came to protect you."
"Why was your brother looking for me?"
"I work for Japan's government. The higher ups received a message to terminate you, Anna Jackson, before you went back in time..."
"What?"
"I know. After that message, all of the crew began searching for you in Korea. One night I was asleep and that's when I had the dream. It revealed to me that you were the good guy and we were the bad ones. That's when I left the camp where I was stationed and took my ship to find you. I found you first by going to the location of where I saw you in my dream. It wasn't a coincidence that I was at the Boba shop that night. I was watching you. Then when you kindly bought me food I followed you home and parked my ship nearby, to keep an eye on you. When the CIA showed up, it was clear that Japan was not your only enemy, but America was too."
"Wow..., what can I do to repay all that you have done?"
"My brother will keep looking for us. They must have noticed that I was gone, so they sent him to come and find us. Where to next?"
"Well now that we have the Crystalsphere, we have to get to the Lacandon Jungle in Mexico."
"That's the Dragon Forest. You have to capture a Dragon's breath in it right?"
"Yeah. I do."
"Okay, we will have to make a few stops to fill up. It's gonna take a while, so get some rest."
I sat back in my chair. It was unsettling knowing that people wanted to kill me. If I was sent by God, then everyone who wanted to stop the plan of God was my enemy. I was going to do what I was destined, whatever it took, even if I had to do it alone.
Chapter 4 - What happened to the Rahvians?
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