The Time Killer

Fourteen

                                                                                    Domi-ium

                                                                                Juonion 14, 679

      This was one of the times I had travelled with Ian, and the first time I had seen Domi-ium. Being someone who had travelled no farther than Mexico, the fact that I am on another planet is something I can’t really wrap my head around. So I don’t know how well I’ll be able to describe this glimpse into another universe, but I will try.

      If you woke up and found yourself on Domi-ium, you might not initially know you were on another planet. You still see trees, you still hear what sound like birds. The sun still heats your face. However, the differences are numerous.

      Domi-ium has a ninety seven and a half hour day. During that time, one of the planet’s suns is continually shining. The sounds that you hear that ‘might’ be birds would be the equivalent of Domi-ium birds, as they are flying mammals. They range in size from earth’s hummingbirds to the size of a small four cylinder car.

      Something else that takes some getting used to. Not all of the grass is green. Depending on what part of the planet you are on depends on the color of the grass. Don’t ask me to explain why its done, or how its done, but I was sitting in Ian’s ship, staring out at bright fuchsia colored grass. I feel like I’m stuck inside an Easter basket.

      Next to me was Ian. After getting the pendant from Litworth, the younger Gra had picked me up. I didn’t know what was on his mind, but I was content to wait. The thousands of hour I had spent on surveillance has allowed me to sit, without talking or moving, for hours on end.

      The pendant sparkled in the artificial light in the ship. It seemed to change color. It would change from green to blue to a fiery red. Being as it had the silhouette of a female in the center, it reminded me of the cameo that dad had given mom on their first anniversary.

      I didn’t know what he was thinking, but I was determined to give him silence until he was ready to speak.

      “He doesn’t think I know about him,” Ian began. “Litworth, I mean. I knew he was there almost from the beginning. Originally, it was only for a few hours every twenty years or so. Only when the Ambassador was exceedingly tired would ‘HE’ appear. That’s what my brother and I used to call him. He.”

      “Where did the name Litworth come from?”

      “Muah. The Ambassador thought he was invincible. He knew of The Curse, but came to believe that even Muah wasn’t powerful enough to inflict him.”

      “Litworth was the name of the last of the disciples. He was created from the leftovers of the Universe. He was small and his powers were minimal. But because of this, he was the most malicious. He was also the most loyal to Muah.”

      “What remains of the Ambassador would not remember the significance of Litworth, but I think it gives Muah a lot of satisfaction to use his weakest disciple to take out his strongest.”

      “Is the Curse fatal? That’s probably a stupid question since you guys are gods, isn’t it?”

      “Remember I told you earlier about the Domi-ium Institute? That is where the Ambassador will end up. Originally, he would have been in control of Domi-ium once Yorba stepped down. However, Muah knew eons ago that the Ambassador would betr1ay him and took steps to put someone else in charge.”

      “Cain?” I asked, knowing the answer.

      “Yes.”

      Now my detective’s senses were on alert. “So,” I tried to figure out how to say this. “So, the most evil being in the galaxy has masterminded a plan to circumvent his original plan. He fully backs the murder and chaos your brother is committing. He knows about the Council sending you to stop it. But he’s not going to let that happen, is he?”

      “No. Muah was there in the beginning. He will be there in the end.”

      “Great. What do we have?”

      “We have you. Didn’t your dad instill in you that the good guy always wins?’

      “Well, yes.”

      “You, Detective McCoy are one of the good guys. That’s why you’re my partner.”

      I wasn’t sure what to say. Nobody outside of dad had ever put that much faith in me. So I mumbled “thank you” and hoped that would be good enough.

      Even though Ian’s people didn’t understand human emotions, he understood my embarrassment and changed the subject. He tossed me the pendant. “What’s your thoughts on this?”

      I closed my eyes and ran my hands over it. “It’s light. It’s warm. It seems to pulsate as if it’s alive.” I opened my eyes. There appeared to be a chip in one corner. Indicating the chip I guessed “this may be where it was ripped from your mom’s neck.”

      “I didn’t do very well, did I?”

      “You did well. You said it pulsated like it was alive.” He rubbed it, almost lovingly. “The ancient Egyptians from your history had a term they called Khet, a physical object that is used by the soul, both before and after death. That idea came from Domi-ium. However the term is Kha^ta. Once we walk with our fathers, our soul transfers from our physical being into another object. This pendant was QMark’s Kha^ta.”

      He stopped rubbing it to stare at it. “Many, many times I say this around her neck. It has changed since I saw it last.” He pointed at the silhouette. “This wasn’t there. This is an image of QMark.”

      Again, I didn’t say anything.

      “You don’t believe me?”

      “When I was a kid, I found a frog. This was a big deal as the only pond on the farm never contained anything but algae.”

      Ian stared at me, not sure where I was going.

      “Dad had theorized that the storm we had the night before had brought it there. We had had a real gulley washer the night before. Anyway, this little baby frog seemed very lost, I took it inside. Every morning it seemed to have forgotten everything it saw and knew from the day before. It’s eyes bugged out at everything. Dad called it my Amnesiac Frog. That’s sorta what I feel like when you tell me things, an amnesiac frog.” I attempted to bug my eyes out.

      I assumed what I saw was a laugh. He smiled and his ears flapped against his head several times.

      “I believe you, I just don’t understand it. I’ll just say that.” I threw the pendant back.

      “Then, this you’re really not going to understand.” He held the pendant in front of him and blinked. In his hands, the object opened. Light filled the inside of the ship, slowly, the light formed an object in front of Ian.

      “Detective McCoy, this is QMark.”

      “Little Moo, you must not complete your mission,” she began, ignoring me completely. “You do not know what is to come. The β knows.” With that, the light evaporated.

      Even dead, she knows how to make an exit.