The Foundation Zone: Extensions by Amber Millard (phonics readers txt) 📖

was up to, but it didn’t take long before she felt another change. Ree’oal and Bialai felt the sudden change as well; Saatswei’ell removed his hands and foot from the trio carefully, making sure to not break the bond just yet. In the stage they’re in, breaking the bond prematurely would cause their bodies to go into shock, reverting back to first form, their life force would stay dormant until they can find a way to refresh themselves. Next Saatswei’ell clasped his hands around the bunch of hands with the most connection; he took a moment to brush a strand of hair back and breathe before his eyes lit up and his body conservatively blazed with great energy.

The sudden rush was bearable at first for the three, even though Marie was starting to shake a little.

“Prepare yourselves, he’s breaking us out!” Ree’oal yelled to the three standing ridged as their surroundings quickly changed from black to white.

Then Saatswei’ell gritted his teeth and powered a massive jolt through the trio that caused them to jump back. Aaksaun appeared just in time to support Marie’s fall as the four looked over at Saatswei’ell who was gently raking the side of his face and neck with the tips of his fingers.

Chapter 10: Order

A great wave of energy made a sweep throughout the entire plain and everyone was renewed by it; a double dose for Saatswei’ell. Instantly he zapped from the auxiliary room to the control room. He stood in shock at the mess of messages scattered on the huge globe. Clumps of rods, indicating huge masses of beings, were scattered all over the globe, the control screen on the panel indicated the next group of recruits were to arrive in one hour. Another screen showed the next available open window in the foundation zone; one month, in roughly thirty days’ time the door way will open once more and this time the Earth may become void of most life living on its surface.

“An hour to reverse it all.” He muttered to himself. Taking a moment to think, Saatswei’ell turned to the control counter to get his baring, once more the control board, which remained blank until a hand ran just above the surface, revealed the button for multiple-retrieval had been activated.

Ree’oal urgently sent a number of Takzens out to search for their ever gone scientist; Bialai walked into the spot where Saatswei’ell last stood and caught a faint signature.

“Grand Head I believe I’ve found him!” Aaksaun looked up in amazement,

“You know how to track?!”

“I’ve been practicing…” She replied. He had no doubt that she was practicing more often in secret. Mcen rose high in the air to give another announcement

“Attention everyone attention.” The echo rang throughout the entire Takzen complex; those gigantic black pucks which hung in the ceiling broke apart to attach themselves to the plates on the walls. Everyone froze in place, preparing for the next batch of bad news.

“The experiment is on stand by and it is now one ciov before the foundation zone alternates its cycle in this section.” Takzens everywhere relaxed, releasing their grips on select individuals.

Marie was concerned for Saatswei’ell, afraid that Bialai and the others were going to hurt him or worse. As Ree’oal focused on Bialai’s new lead, Aaksaun and Marie quietly deliberated how slip out of the room without anyone noticing.

“Hey can’t you just teleport like your friend?”

“There would have to be a diversion first.”

Aaksaun’s eyes glowed then he stared in the direction of the control panel on the wall. A button was activated and the huge pucks which hang in the ceiling separated then shot to the plates on the walls. Everyone’s attention was immediately diverted to the message produced seconds later. Just at that moment Aaksaun and Marie slipped quietly from the area without a soul, much less Bialai, noticing so much as a wave in the air. As the two reappeared in the control room, they found Saatswei’ell standing at the control broad rummaging through the data. He was in a panicked state when looking for a reason why the multiple retrieval protocol was activated.

Marie took a moment to notice that the overall silver tone, which dominated every bit of décor that belonged to the Takzens, was beginning to annoy her. There was nothing to offset it, no accents of any kind except the huge black communication pucks and the globe which changes its looks when showing different worlds.

When Marie focused on the men standing near to control board, they were locked in a blend. Their right hands holding, heads bowed, their lids were cracked just enough to see the eyes glow. A moment later and they looked up and then broke their bond.

“You didn’t feel that?”

Saatswei’ell looked in shock at his friend. Aaksaun looked stunned and distant; disbelief that he had caused such an event to happen. He tried to find the words to save face but he had nothing to say and they were distracted when Mcen appeared from above, dropping to level where the men were standing.

“Putting them back isn’t that hard.” Aaksaun stated breathlessly, Saatswei’ell nodded in agreement, considering the time it would take to round up all the subjects.

“It would be in your best interest to involve Ree’oal in these plans.” Mcen added.

Ree’oal always gave Saatswei’ell a chill whenever he was around; the amount of power, confidence and experience assumed by the Grand Head seemed intimidating. Back on Taksa he was considered a Grand Colonel in the Royal Army.

As soon as the men turned toward Marie’s direction Ree’oal, Bialai and Laand’ell appeared nearby her. Saatswei’ell was still as a statue while trying to find words to speak.

“Think, just think, don’t run” Saatswei’ell said to himself.

Ree’oal made a bee line for him when Aaksaun stepped ahead and said “Ree’oal, it’s not his fault this time! It’s mine, I pressed the button!”

The three new comers were in shock about the news but something had to be done about the test subjects.

“That’s alright because we can send them back.” Saatswei’ell quickly reassured everyone.

Ree’oal seemed just a tad skeptical, “Are you sure you can recover all the test subjects in time, because the clock shows differently?”

“Absolutely, we already have the grand majority waiting in the two rooms; we just have to locate the ones that escaped.”

“You can send them all back at once?”

“Yes!”

“You take care of all the subjects in the rooms while we gather the rest.”

“I'll find the count of how many are exactly missing and let you know.”

For the first time in his life Saatswei'ell felt moderately at ease and important to the Grand Head, this was what he’d waited for.

“Grand Head I can reset directions to take them back to exactly where they were, if you’ll track the ones that left.”

“Sure but do you think you’ll have every single life force back in their appropriate bodies once they return to their world?” Saatswei’ell glanced behind to check to see if there was enough time allowed for the reinitiating phase; to his relief there was just enough.

While Ree’oal was still in the room, planning how to capture the small group of test subjects that escaped, Saatswei’ell quickly jumped in.

“Grand Head I would like to do one more set of tests for the last test subject.” Ree’oal seemed unsure due to the quickly growing time constraint. He reassured the Grand Head that the tests would be done within the time limit.

Quickly Ree’oal called Aaksaun for additional help to have the people allotted into three rooms instead of the two. Aaksaun nodded, immediately transporting to the axillary room. When the rest of the party disappeared, Saatswei’ell rushed over to Marie, standing against the wall, still in a mild state of shock. The interior was clean and dim; her nerves were settling back down after the four vanished, Saatswei’ell didn’t make it any easier hovering over her. Marie fixed her attention to Saatswei’ells eyes, which were glowing but quickly dimmed; once he realized her life force was in good condition. If he had a heart, even more, if he were flesh and blood again, the heartache of letting his final test subject go would have been two fold. There was a connection made while heading toward the testing room. Somewhere along the way after the pause to select a tunnel, their life forces combined at the hand. Saatswei’ell briefly neglected to make a force lock because he was so consumed by his work, overlooking things was easy.

She felt the urge to cry; the situation looked to be out of her control and she was unsure how a sphere would send such a mass of people back in an instant, unaware of its capabilities, even the memory distortion protocol. Saatswei’ell inspected her to see why she was able to do the leaching so quickly. He warred with himself, struggling to reason to let her go. Let go? It wasn’t as if Marie was a prisoner of war, kidnapped and brainwashed, but she was involuntarily taken; she along with millions before were celestial lab rats. What was the purpose? She decided to break the silence,

“Why did you bring me here?” Saatswei’ell nodded gently to the left, considering his what and why of the explanation.

Chapter 11: Exploration

 

As humans and animals alike settled unwillingly in their new holding areas, the Takzens were deciding who would speak with the earthlings. Ree’oal reappeared after moments of debate,

“What are we talking about?” One of the Takzens explained the situation,

“We didn’t know where you were, so we took a vote to see who would speak to them.”

“Alright, I’ll take it from here, everyone else let Laand’ell, Bialai or Aaksaun direct you.”

In a flash they vanished, it was eerily quiet; a quiet plee from the Grand Head, “Please, no more surprises.”

Ree’oal zapped back to the area where the missing group was found. “Hell here he comes again; don’t let him in your head guys!”

A pair of Takzens, guarding the entrance, parted as Ree’oals eyes began to glow. He approached the soldier, “Relax I’m only going to read your life force; I need some questions answered.”

Jordan’s response “You can damn sure try.”

“I’m afraid you don’t understand the foundation zone works in cycles; life has cycles. This open portal will close for a time.” 

“How long will it stay closed?”

“Typically about one month in your time.”

“Just what do you expect us to do in the meantime?!” A man shouted from the audience; thinking he wasn’t detected, he was about to coax the crowd into rebellion until a Takzen appeared above him.

“Marie?”

“Why did you