The Acolytes of Crane (Theodore Crane, #1)(66)

The Bromel stood up, then bent his massive frame in order to ogle into Dan’s face. ‘You are a twerp, that was pure luck,’ he said. ‘No one ever has beaten me on his first game. I’ll be watching you!’

Dan swore, ‘Screw you, you are big and slow, and you can watch me all you want dude, but it isn’t going to help you win. I don’t get lucky. So you can shove it!’ I yanked Dan’s arm, afraid that there would be a fighting match.


I admonished him. ‘Dan, you can’t talk that way to people, even if they are acting that way. We have to respect him. We might need these guys at some point.’

Eventually, Mariah, Dan, Liam, Lincoln, and I re-united, a little overwhelmed. The consensus was that we were all tired and overloaded with the Urilian culture. We all gathered near our sleeping quarters.

I gave a little speech to my team. ‘Well, let’s call it a night. I want everyone to use their IPU to practice martial arts. It is important for us to get better with our fighting skills. You can tell the other groups already have been at it. So please put an hour of effort into martial arts each night; it does not matter to me which one you choose. Then, as you rest for bed, spend an hour into researching the technology behind your devices, like Nezatron said. Alright, see ya tomorrow.’

We all dispersed to our rooms for the night. I began to walk away, and I heard someone tailing behind me.

‘Theodore, I really didn’t see you much in the Hall of Efran…’

I stood there, enchanted by Tez once again. “You mean in the room of wild life?’

‘Yes, did you have a good evening? Did you enjoy yourself?’ she asked me. She was a sight for tired eyes, and pleasingly exotic. It may be hard for someone to believe that an alien covered in hair was beautiful, but she was. She appeared as huggable as a cuddly teddy bear. Her voice was exotic and uplifting, and her slender figure showed off her slight bosom and hips. Her eyes were like emeralds, green and beguiling. Her presence held me captivated; any other thoughts I had were banished.

‘Yeah, I mean no, well, it was good. I just, wow, you are—’

‘Beautiful?’ she asked, her eyes twinkling. She was clearly enjoying my attention.

‘Yeah, very. I am sorry. I am not trying to be a dork, and I just think you are great.’ My face turned red; I badly wanted to exit before I wilted in front of her. Mumbling, I barely sounded articulate. ‘I have some studying to do in my room. I better get going.’

I thought about turning around to break off eye contact, but I just couldn’t. Tez still looked at me expectantly. ‘Theodore, can I call you Theo for short?’

My heart thumped like crazy at these words of intimacy. ‘Yeah—sure! You’d be the first!’

A faint smile on her face widened into a broad grin. ‘Very good, Theo. Good night.’ Tez started to walk away.

‘Wait, Tez,’ I yelled after her, not wanting to end the moment just yet. ‘Why is the Garden of Odion named after the person we are trying to defeat?’

She turned and looked at me. ‘Theo, I don’t even know if I should tell you this, but Odion and Zane worked together for quite a long time. The garden was Odion’s idea. When the Dacturons decided they no longer wanted to take part in Zane’s mission, Odion sided with them. That led to the irrevocable split between the two powerful brothers, and the universe’s never been the same since. That led to the theft of the Chamber of Treark. That is enough information. If you want more, you have to ask Nezatron yourself. Will I see you tomorrow?’

‘I hope so,’ I said, and we walked off in separate directions. I looked back to steal one last glance at her beauty and just when I sneaked a peek, she arrested me with another glimmering twinkle from her eyes. She probably knew—and savored—the fact that I was all ravished by her delicate elegance, and I was playing right into it.

“I continued to walk proudly because I detected an iota of interest from her in me. Combined with the exciting tour of the ship, and Dan’s decisive defeat of the Bromel, the day was a success. More importantly, I felt as if I was in love. I could not stop thinking about what Tez said.”





13 THEODORE: THE TRAITOR





“I rolled around my bed and tossed, with a faded, yet stubbornly tenacious urgency to remember my life on Earth.”

I didn’t stop to think about Jason for the twenty-two days I spent on the Uriel. All that I had left behind was a micro-slice of history now. I was enjoying my stay aboard Zane’s vessel, because it challenged me. I had learned more in the past three weeks than I had in the past three years living on Earth. It was called the learning paradigm.

We were no longer being taught. We were being programmed. We were hard-wired to receive and accept new information with great ease, but more importantly, our retention and application skills were boosted by this futuristic nanotechnology.

The Chamber of Rafal opened pathways and strengthened portions of our minds. These surgeries were only slightly invasive. Dan actually acquired an infection from the procedure. It was remedied right away.

What I loved about the chamber was that we just stepped into it—and poof—we were evolved.

I was in a rare mood that day. I awoke from my Dieton mattress, pulled off my Dieton blanket, and munched on some Dietonic cereal. Okay, the last part was just a joke.