Iron Rain Pt. 15

"I will knock first," the Captain replied as he headed for the control room.

"Suit yourself..."

Nick went down to the main deck to find Cyan and take her to the spanking party he had planned. As he reached to knock on her door a hand fell on his shoulder. Nick spun and came face to face with the Zeitgeist known as Thorn.

"Hello Nick," she was smiling in her casual way.

"Hello Thorn, what brings you into my life again?"

"You removed the Iram Stone we need to talk please," she asked nicely.

"Okay, do you mind if I bring company or is this one of 'those' talks," he asked.

"I don't mind if you bring company Nick," Thorn said smiling.

"Excellent," Nick said as he knocked on Cyan's door and the door opened a few seconds later.

"I thought I heard voices out here, hello Nick what's up?"

"I have need of you and your toy box but before that this young lady and I have to have a bit of a chat... wanna come?"

"MMMMMMMMMM Nick you already know the answer to that," Cyan said closing the door behind her. "We can get the toy box after our talk I assume?"

"You would be correct," Nick said offering her his arm.

Cyan slipped her arm in his and followed them to the rear of the ship. Thorn seemed to have a destination in mind. They reached the storage bay where the grav-bike was being stored and with a gesture the door unlocked and apparently opened by itself. Thorn walked in and snatched the tarp off and pointed at the vehicle.

"Notice any differences since the last time you worked on 'her'?" Thorn asked.

Nick peered at the surface of the vehicle and gawked seeing the minute characters all over the shell in long serpentine lines.

"What the hell," Nick said pointing at the grav-bike.

"You took something that was at the city besides the Obelisk didn't you," Thorn said smiling.

"Maybe," Nick said before adding. "Okay a few things."

"Did you happen to use the gravity pump from the temple for your vehicle here?"

"Maybe," Nick said again.

Thorn walked up and knelt and as if she had worked on the bike a hundred times she hit the release switch revealing the heart of the vehicle, the gravity pump.

"Take a look at the pump and you'll see the same writing on its surface as what is now on your vehicle," she pointed out.

"But why is there writing on the shell?" Nick asked.

"You are dealing with a device that you know very little about," Thorn explained. "Much like the avatar technology you have been utilizing the software for the pump is 'alive' and it is designed to constantly scan, fix or improve any other technology it comes into contact with."

"Are you telling me that the pump has optimized the bike," Nick asked grinning.

"Yes," Thorn said but was no longer smiling. "It won't stop there Nick. Whatever technology has been in direct contact with the pump could be affected."

"Such as," Cyan asked.

"Oh I don't know the entire ship, anyone who has come within touching distance or I suspect a forty foot radius." Thorn was not amused.

"Well the only people who have seen the bike have been us, my dad and my sister... oh shit Kat!"

"Why oh shit Nick," Thorn asked her eyes narrowing.

"Kat may still be wearing the contact lenses that Jesse made for her," Nick explained.

"And you Nick, are you wearing any technology?" she asked.

"Um yeah, I have his top of the line lenses on at the moment," he admitted.

"Have you noticed any fluctuations or changes in them?"

"Not yet," he said a little worried now.

"Can you take them out and we can see?"

"Good idea," Nick said switching off the lenses and removing them.

"Let me see," Thorn said looking at the lens very carefully. "It appears that your friend has crafted a very good lens Nick. But you must contact your sister and have her check for the characters on her lenses."

"Can you stop the pump from doing this," Cyan finally spoke out.

"Yes, I can place it in perpetual diagnostic mode so that it only scans itself and the vehicle only. It will no longer affect any more machinery than it has up to this moment."

Another gesture from Thorn and a nod and she was all smiles again.

"Um Nick," it was Cyan gesturing to his left wrist where his watch was.

He looked down and saw that the same queer black alloy that he had used on the bike had taken over the watch. Like the gravity pump and the bike the watch was covered in serpentine lines of the alien script. Nick was about to touch the activation switch when the watch woke up on its own. It showed a small holographic representation of every avatar he had access to including Abraxxa and Khora Daine.

"Whoa," he exclaimed.

"Apparently your watch has been augmented as well Nick," Thorn said before taking a better look at the avatar of Khora Daine. "I know this creature what has transpired here?"

Nick launched into the long detailed story of his encounter with the soul thief and her eventual imprisonment within the special crystal prepared for her.

"Excellent work Nick now if you'd be so kind as to hand over the prison crystal," Thorn said and was not asking.

"Why," he asked nicely.

"She is a clear and present danger and you have no idea what you are dealing with," she explained.

"That threat was in my head for months fucking with me and my crew. I was the one who tricked her and locked her up. Why should the old ones benefit from my hard work?"

"We may be able to heal her mind and make her an asset instead of a liability," Thorn said softly. "Can you do that?"

"No, I am sorry I snapped. I guess I am still a little rough around the edges when it comes to her."

"No apology necessary Nick I understand. Besides it will be a great show of trust on your side with your allies."

He nodded and agreed that once their talk was over with the prison crystal would be handed over.

"What else did you remove from Iram Nick?" Thorn asked softly.

"I took the Obelisk, the coins from the fountain, the gravity pump and the portable device that looks kind of like a question mark."

"Where are all of these items?"

"The Obelisk is now located in a Borderland near Dunwich Massachusetts, the coins are on board this ship in the cargo hold, the pump is in the bike and the other device is in my bedroom."

Thorn seemed to become thoughtful for a long moment before she spoke again.

"The Obelisk is safe which is good; the coins are of no matter, the pump has been dealt with so that leaves this portable device. Nick I need you to take me to your bedroom."

Nick tried to suppress a smile but failed miserably.

"Follow me," he said still smiling.

"You are a very naughty man," Thorn said sharing his smile.

Cyan was watching the entire exchange with a mixture of amusement and complete astonishment. The storage bay closed on its own and a loud click told them Thorn had locked it behind them. A few minutes later and the threesome were in Nick's bedroom and he opened his safe and retrieved the prison crystal and the scepter. Thorn took a visible step backward and stared at it like it was a hot brand.

"Where did you get THAT," Thorn said moving slowly back her lip pulling back in a snarl.

"It was located below the temple in a hidden room," Nick said clearly disturbed by her reaction. "What the fuck is it?"

"It is FORBIDDEN technology," she hissed. "It belongs to the Elder Things."

"Okay quick history lesson here," Nick said putting the scepter back in the safe. "Who the fuck are these Elder Things?"

"Not everything that lives upon or below the surface of the Earth are native to it. The Elder Things arrived billions of years ago and immediately began tampering with the primitive life that was present. They bent and twisted it to suit their needs or more often their amusement. Some of the knowledge they brought with them was how to create things like that."

"The avatar I met there said it was Organic Technology. She said that it would either work for me or not."

"Avatar... what avatar," Thorn spun on Nick. "You never mentioned an avatar before now!"

"I forgot. I found her and her crystal in the temple. She said she was the chief architect of Iram."

"No Nick she was the chief architect for the city beneath Iram that foolish Solomon built on top of." Thorn hissed.

"She's right Nick," Abraxxa said as she manifested unbidden.

Thorn moved to stand behind Nick like a child hiding from the boogey man. Nick stood his ground and confronted the alien avatar.

"You lied to me," Nick began. "That is a terrible way to begin a relationship."

"Would you have taken me with you if you saw my true form," Abraxxa asked.

"That all depends I suppose but you never gave me the chance now did you?"

"No," she said her face screwing up in an angry mask. "I should have trusted you Nick but it had been so long since anyone had found that god forsaken city."

"Cyan take Thorn out of here," Nick directed as he passed off the prison crystal to Thorn and Cyan happily complied.

Once they were alone Nick looked back at the lovely Abraxxa.

"Show me your true form Abraxxa and tell me what your true purpose aboard my ship is."

"As you wish," she said softly almost sorrowful.

The outline of her shape began to become irregular and then completely dissolve and reform into something out of nightmares. If an octopus could evolve in a weightless environment you might have the most basic shape of the thing that hovered before Nick. It was constantly shifting and writhing never keeping a stable 'form' for his eyes to lock onto. But unknown to Abraxxa the horrific nightmares that Nick had been suffering from had prepared him to a certain extent for her mercurial form.

"Okay, you have made your point," Nick said closing his eyes when his mind began to rebel against the horrific thing. "I would have run screaming if you greeted me like that but why not tell me after?"

"I was afraid you'd throw me back into the pool like my last Master."

"I am not going to throw you away. Now tell me about your true purpose."

"I never lied about that," she stood firm on that. "I was created to design and construct a city; just not the city that you saw but one beneath it all those eons ago."

"Eons really, so the crystal I took from the pool is how old exactly?"

"Time is relative Nick; let's just say I'm not from around here."

"So your stone wasn't mined on earth?"

"No my creators fashioned me from the heart of a dead star," she smiled. "I am what is left over after a super nova; a flawless diamond from massive explosion far from here."

"How... I mean how do you mine a dead sun? That's just..."

He stopped as Abaxxa began to laugh so hard she cried.

"...what's so fucking funny?"

"You," she said still giggling. "You see me in my true form and hardly blink. But I tell you how I was created and only now does your mind go all wonky."

"Can you give me a clue or hint or something?" Nick said still trying to wrap his head around how he could have possibly picked up the core of a dead star.

"It involves some pretty complex dimensional engineering..."

"WAIT... what did you just say?"

"I said it involves dimensional engineering... why?"

"Griffin! You so need to meet this guy I know. You two are made for each other."

"You want to give me over to someone else?"

"Yeah if that's okay, it goes like this..." Nick explained all about Professor Griffin and his new goal to understand the higher dimensions as he calls them.

"This Professor Griffin is a good man," she asked.

"Oh he's the best."

"Why would you just give me away like that," she asked suspicious.

"Didn't I just explain that, you could SO help him with his research? You could guide him to better understand this new project of his. Both of you would benefit. He gets a sexy new assistant and you get to fulfill your purpose. Well?"

"I don't know what to say, I feel like I owe you a debt I can never repay."

"Well if you ever run into the Obelisk's Key Stone maybe you can help me decipher them at some point." Nick told her.

"So your goal is to decipher the writing on the Obelisks," she asked coyly.

"Yeah," Nick said. "But the key stone is way beyond my reach."

"MMMMMMMMMMMM not necessarily Nick," she smiled and walked towards him with a definite sensuality in her step. "I might be able to give you a hint or two."

Before even he could react she snatched him by the front of his shirt and pulled him into a breath taking kiss. Her hunger was evident as his hands roamed over her curvaceous form her tongue invaded his mouth and her hands unzipped him and freed his now iron hard cock.

"Fuck me Nick and I will grant your desire," she moaned in his ear as she jumped up and his cock impaled her to the core.

"UNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN," he moaned in her mouth as she renewed their kiss.

His hands went to her waist and began to lift and drop her onto his fleshy spike. Their moans mingled as he caressed her ass flesh in his grip and they were both panting in unison as the pleasured flowed both ways. This was happening so fast and yet the incredible pleasure was so damn intoxicating. He spun and pressed her back to the wall to make his thrusts deeper and faster. He felt her nails drive deep into his flesh and draw bloody lines from his shoulders to his lower back. His thrusts grew stronger still as she rammed his hips up and into her. He could feel her begin to shake as her climax got closer and closer. The kiss never ended as Nick slammed his cock into her wet tightness faster now feeling the stirrings of his own orgasm. She began squeezing him with her pussy muscles forcing him closer and closer with each thrust so that they could come together. Their moans were now in sync he noticed and then he could hear their hearts beating as one too. His climax was moments away and as his pleasure was cresting there was a brilliant white light behind his eyes and his cry of exstasy became a scream of pain. When Nick came to Cyan was cradling his body and Abraxxa was nowhere to be seen.

"Nick what happened?" Cyan and Thorn were asking.

"I... I don't know." He said as he regained his senses. "Wait, there's something."

In his mind's eye he saw the Obelisks all six of them in all their dark glory and between them the Key Stone! The alien script suddenly blazed to life with a sapphire light and began to take on a familiar form. No that wasn't right the characters were revealing their meaning to him one at a time. Like some crazy parade of living beings they introduced themselves and then moved on. It seemed to take forever as over a thousand glyphs were displayed and deciphered but it would take much longer to determine the full meaning of the Obelisks and the Key Stone and their true purpose.

Cyan and Thorn watched as Nick just lay there staring unseeing into the empty air his right arm up and his hand moving as if in a caressing gesture. But he spoke not a single word for long minutes, long enough for Akira and Bastet to arrive and see the disheartening scene.

"What happened," Akira's voice cut the air like an icy knife.

"It is complex," Thorn began but a single look from Akira told the Zeitgeist that she had the time. "I was sent here because..." and she went into the entire series of events since her arrival aboard the Numenor. Once she had finished her story Thorn fell silent and Akira took charge summoning the Sisterhood to action to search and examine every single inch of the ship for any signs of this strange characters.

"Report back to me when you find something, don't touch anything just come back here."

"Yes Majestrix," they said as one voice.

"How is Master Nick," Akira asked.

"He is stable," Cyan said still holding him. "It's like his mind is somewhere else or he is seeing something we are not."

"He will pull through," Akira stated as if that alone would break the spell that held her Master, her Kouryou in its thrall.

"Perhaps Master Nicholas would be more comfortable in his own bed at least until he recovers," Thorn offered.

"Perhaps," Cyan said not wanting to let go of him but knowing that she must.

"Let's do it gently," Akira said bending down and taking his feet while Cyan shifted to slip her arms under his armpits while Thorn took the middle. "Okay on three, one, two, THREE..."

They moved him as gingerly as they could and lay him down on his bed and the three sat watch. Akira suddenly looked over at Thorn and raised a disapproving eyebrow.

"By the way Miss Teen USA how the hell did you get aboard my ship," Akira accused.

"You mean while the ship is at full speed and no helicopter arrived to transport me," Thorn said.

"Exactly," Akira said eyes fixed on her.

"I am not sure I should share that particular piece of information with you," Thorn said coolly.

Already stressed near breaking at seeing her Master having once more pushed himself to the brink Akira rose to her feet confronting Thorn a heartbeat away from a violent solution.

"Akira calm down," Cyan said trying to negotiate a peace at least until Nick woke up. "Why don't you want to share how you got on board?" She asked Thorn.

"I cannot tell you how I arrived," Thorn said.

"You see..." Akira snarled.

"However it is not forbidden for me to 'show' you," Thorn finished.

"Oh," Akira replied with a heavy sigh.

"Lead the way," Cyan said getting to her feet.

"What about Nick shouldn't someone...,"Akira began but Cyan gently took her by the arm and gave her a reassuring smile. "...you're right he'll be okay."

Thorn led the trio down the hallway and downward, ever downward to the engine room. There she walked over to an inconspicuous doorway that divided the main engine room from the maintenance room. She raised her hand and pointed to the doorway. Then she walked over to it and pressed on a part of the wall just to the right of the open archway a panel slid open. Cyan and Akira approached to examine what was now revealed. To their shock was a section of gleaming mirror bright metal and gorgeously etched into the mirror-like alloy are what appear to be characters similar to Egyptian hieroglyphics. When they were close enough a dull thrum of power came from the exposed metal.

"It is tied directly to the ship's power plant," Thorn explained.

"It... what is it?" Akira stared quizzically.

"I think it is some sort of transportation device," Cyan said guessing at the truth.

"Since you have determined what it is I can now further explain. James Bell had this constructed and tied to a vast network of similar 'doorways' all over the world. It allows him and others instantaneous travel across large distances."

"So anyone who knows about this network can come on board this ship without our knowing about it?" Akira said her temper heating up again.

"No not just anyone," Thorn said attempting to calm the very volatile woman. "...only those who know of its existence and in this case that is a very small number."

Akira calmed visibly and looked at Cyan for some sort of emotional support and received a smile and a nod.

"Well since this thing is on Nick's ship I believe he deserves to be made aware of it and locations on the network, say in good faith."

"You are a gifted negotiator Cyan Michaels," Thorn said smiling. "I will contact my Masters and see what their counteroffer is, I will be in touch."

Before another would could be said Thorn touched a few glyphs on the panel and stepped through the doorway and simply disappeared. The control panel closed on its own leaving the pair to stare at the vacant entryway shaking their heads.

"Do you ever wonder what your life would be like if you never met Nick," Cyan asked.

"You mean times like these where the edges of the map get just a little wider," Akira replied.

"Exactly," Cyan giggled.

"Mine would have been boring and dull lived out in a monastery and you?"