Legacy: Island

"I knew it." I whispered. "The lying little cunt."

"Mia?" Mom whispered back.

"Yeah. I hid the key outside. I warded it around. She can wait. I am not finished here."

"No, you aren't." Mom growled. "Hold on tight!"

An hour later the MILF Club lay all about broken and happy. I washed up, dressed in clean clothes, and headed out. The key was hidden between a small grouping of three bamboo trees. They formed a near perfect triangle. I used the Emperor and turned myself invisible and hovered to the hiding spot. I was hurt and angry that Mia had betrayed me. I had offered her a measure of trust and she had broken it. The key was untouched, but she was hiding nearby. Had my passive search alerted her? I had Thorn craft a hologram and sent it forward. It slunk stealthily forward, and Mia struck from the shadows. She threw her body against it and passed through it instead. Her plan had been to shove me and trigger the trap spells I had placed around the key. She pounded on the shimmering walls of the containment spell.

"Damn you Thomas!" She cursed as I double checked to make sure it was really her. It wasn't.

"Nice try Mia." I said revealing myself. "Let's talk."

"Trust is hard to come by tonight." She said as she walked from her actual hiding spot.

"Yeah." I said my disappointment clear in my tone and expression. "Give me one reason I shouldn't end you."

"Jeez Thomas, you don't even know what is at stake." Mia said her lower lip trembling.

"Not yet. I am going to the cave after our little exchange. I repeat. Give me a reason not to kill you."

"Your father wanted me to stay here guarding the cave. He trusted me, can't you?"

"No. You haven't given me a reason to." I fired back my anger rising.

I reached out and touched Indigo's mind. I asked her for a favor and she agreed. A soft popping sound could be heard off to my left as I teleported Indigo to the island. Mia looked over in that direction. I saw the first hint of true fear on her lovely features. I began counting down from ten and walked away. Mia cried out and raced after me.

"Damn it Thomas! You don't know."

"You put my family at risk!" I roared as my anger went volcanic. The ring lifted her off her feet as the area around me illuminated from the scintillating solar disk manifesting above my head. "My mother is here on this island along with her friends. There are a thousand ways I could end your existence!"

She disappeared with a pop and I counted to ten. She reappeared covered in a layer of frost and gasping for air. I healed her from the damage she had suffered from her exposure to deep space. Mia remained silent and I began to wonder what was so important she was willing to risk death or worse. I wondered how it felt for her to feel her blood boil with no hope of survival. My mind flashed with more and more grizzly ways for her to suffer.

"If you are going to kill me, just do it."

"No. I can't let my anger dictate my actions. You are coming with me to the cave and you are going to explain why you set all of this in motion. So, will you walk, or do I have to carry you?"

"This is so out of character," Mia replied and I again I saw the fear in her eyes.

"Hold still." I told her and told Thorn to perform a deep level scan on Mia.

Something in the way she was behaving was out of character. I felt strange. Why was I so damn angry and willing to hurt her with so little provocation? One answer came a few minutes later once the scan was complete. The other was hidden away in some damn cave at the base of the mountain. The bright green letters were displayed in my field of vision, scan complete. I waited for Thorn to interpret the results. She borrowed portions of my mind the way computers network to crunch numbers and solve complex equations.

"You were right to be suspicious Master," Thorn said as her avatar manifested out of the digital ether. "She's a clone. There are tell tale markers on the following genes." Thorn listed over twenty different altered markers. "I don't know how to tell you this. She is your sister. You share DNA from the same parent your Osirian father. I suspect Old Black Thom's hand in this. He must have gotten ahold of a sample somehow."

"You expected me to act one way and were confused when my anger got out of hand. You were more confused than afraid. Why?" I asked Mia and she broke her silence.

"I am only a fall back plan. A failed one at that. I was supposed to be male. Dad fucked up. I had everything going for me except that one thing, my sex. Older. Wiser. I was meant to run the family not you. I know its holdings inside and out. I..."

"I abdicate. You can have it, except the house and the antique shop. I need a place to sleep and something to pass the time."

"Huh? You can't be serious." She stammered.

"Not up to the task." I challenged her, and Mia rose to the occasion.

"I can run it better than you can. Why are you doing this? You barely know me. What the hell are you up to?"

"Can't you feel it?" I said my voice low and soft. "There is something on this island. It is the reason I lost my temper. Once I confront it I won't be the same. I feel it in my bones."

"I won't tell you."

"Shut up!" I said and pushed down the sudden rage. "Why did you give me the coin?"

"I was ordered to. I had no choice." Mia said shivering.

"Go back to the house, please. I am going to find out what is going on."

"Before you go there is something you need to hear. Your dad figured it out." Mia said her eyes bright and excited.

"Figured what out?" I asked fighting the urge to choke her out.

"A way of defeating the Thanatons, the ancient enemy of the Osirians. Your dad discovered their secret. Here, this crystal holds the data he found."

"How? That doesn't any sense." I replied confused.

"There is a damaged Thanaton ship here on Earth." Mia said, and the implication was terrifying. "He discovered their signal and traced it to its source. The Thanatons were immobile and he hacked their network with the help of Osirian tech. That crystal is a detailed analysis of their capabilities."

"Damn dad, so what is the weakness?"

"I don't know. He ordered me that if you came here to give you the coin. Best of luck, but uh... I'm not sure you are going to like what you find. Got to go, I have a family to organize." Mia returned to the main house.

I clenched the crystal in my fist and watched her walk away. It was time to find out what the hell was in the cave. I left her and with Thorn's help followed the stream to a cave and its source. My eyes adjusted to the darkness. I followed the psychic tug that had begun once I had assembled the key. I hadn't noticed it at first but now it was undeniable. I took a narrow side tunnel that I could have easily walked past if not for the guiding presence beyond. The first signs of the natural tunnel being altered was the floor. It leveled out and was smooth. Soon the walls matched the floor and at the end of the corridor a double door. The hologram appeared without warning. It sprang into existence and challenged me.

"Who are you?" It demanded.

"I am Thomas Blackstone." I replied taking in the perfection of the hawk headed Osirian A.I.

"NO," It roared. "Who are you? A name means nothing."

"I am the avatar of Bennu."

"You lie!" It screamed as the volume of its voice doubled.

"Get out of my way." I said and threw up the protective shield microseconds before the attack manifested.

"Impressive speed," it commented. "Perhaps I was too quick in my reaction. You are no mere Osirian. I will allow you to pass."

"Allow. I could make you bend your knee to me. I will accept your kind invitation." I said through clenched teeth fighting the nameless rage that burned inside of me.

I approached the door and took out the key. It was the strangest looking key I had ever seen. The key slid into the lock until the first coin pressed against the metal plate. I pushed harder and the plate split in half revealing the hidden springs holding it shut. Inside the lock were three precisely shaped metallic spikes. The holes in the key slid over pointed end of those spikes and guided the key to the depth of the mechanism. I could push no further and turned the key. I was rewarded with a triple click and the door opened. I removed the key and strode into the chamber beyond.

The hologram followed me into the cave and observed my reaction. Pure clean light spilled down and illuminated massive piles of treasure. The center of the mountain had become a warehouse for fabulous wealth. There was too much to be real. It wasn't. It was a complex hologram used to distract intruders. I was halfway across the huge vaulted cavern when I felt something wet hit my upper lip. I reached up and wiped it away. When I held up my hand it was blood. Warning bells went off in my head and bright red letters warned me to flee the area immediately. I staggered out while the Osirian A.I. watched me run off. I managed to get my hands in front of me when I hit the floor of the tunnel. I gasped for air and coughed. Blood stained the smooth stone floor.

"Help is on the way." Thorn assured me and knelt next to me protectively.

"He is Osirian." The alien A.I. declared coolly. "Pity."

Thorn attacked. There was no pyrotechnic flash, or dramatic monologues, it was silent and occurred at the speed of light. The Osirian A.I. appeared to simply disappear for a few seconds but when it reappeared it was wholly different. Instead of the imposing image of Horus there was the austere and modest figure of Thoth, the Osirian god of knowledge and magic.

"Greetings fellow Osirian, I am Thoth and I greet you." The A.I. faltered. "Warning, there is lethal radiation within. Please seek the assistance of non-Osirian sentients to aid you."

"I need help." I croaked as another series of coughs painted the floor beneath me with crimson gore.

"Rendering assistance," Thoth replied. "Please remain still as the stasis field maintains your life force."

A series of beams from above lifted me into the air, suspended me, and I felt my body going numb. I tried to fight it, but I lost. My mind was aware, but my body was dying around me. Thoth slipped into my thoughts via the machine brain interface.

"I can slow down the effects of the radiation, but I cannot effect repairs. I am sorry. I simply do not have the facilities to deal with it."

"I don't blame you." I said and asked what had happened.

"I do not recall. One moment I was dealing with a persistent human life form and then I am here." Thoth said. "Accessing satellite link... dear me my chronographer is off by nearly three hundred years. I believe my military protocols may have been initiated. Sending distress signal."

"What is in the cave?" I asked.

"Scanning. Oh! Avatar I am so sorry for not recognizing your authority instantly. The Heart of Montu, the god of war, is hidden within."

"Osirians aren't warlike." I said but was quickly corrected.

"That is true of the modern Osirian. The past is clouded in war and conquest. Half of this galaxy was under the banner of Osiris. He and his brother Sutekh ruled equally. Then arose the ancient enemy, the enemy of life itself."

"The Thanatons." I added feeling light headed.

"Yes. Their massive pyramid ships appeared out of the dark nebulae and waged a war of genocide. They were after nothing short of wiping out the Osirian people. The Thanatons feed off aggression and once we learned that we removed it. The greatest Osirian minds extracted from the living psyche of their people and house the collective rage, anger, and hunger for conquest into the Heart of Montu."

"Is the heart the origin of the radiation?" I asked and Thoth nodded.

"Over millennia the crystalline structure of the vessel has weakened. It needs to be repaired." Thoth said frowning. "I am sorry. The field wasn't established soon enough. You are dying."

My first thought was for Scarlett. She was thousands of miles away completely oblivious to my little week off. How would she take my death? Then I thought of my family, extended as well as my friends and lovers. So many people that would go on without me. Thoth showed me a readout of my biological functions. The field slowed them down to a crawl but couldn't stop them completely. It wasn't designed for this. It would take a week for my body to crash but there was no stopping it.

The Osirians were counting on me as well. I was the Avatar of Bennu and when I died their hope died with me. I couldn't just remain here and not fight. I dove deep into the interface that allowed me to access Thorn as well as other Numenor technology. I used it to hijack the nanites throughout my body. The lethal radiation had damaged them. I had to rebuild them, no, I needed to rebuild one. If I could fix just one of them there was hope. I was hope. I steeled my resolve and isolated the least damaged among the billion or so microscopic machines. I had used telekinesis for varying effects, but this level of control was unimaginable, or was it? I surveyed the damage and it was extensive. My first task was to hold it and see if I could even isolate the lone nanite. My first few attempts felt like wearing thick padded gloves and wielding a Warhammer to perform surgery. My body was battered and bruised but from failure arose miniscule successes. I had time. I continued to fight the ongoing damage cause by the radiation. I nearly wept when I held the nanite between my psychic fingers. One success built upon another until I had taken the machine apart and using other nanites rebuilt one functional device. I powered it up and set it loose. Had I done it in time?

I withdrew and called up my fading memories. The damage had spread to my brain. Lesions were forming aggressively now as the cancer spread. My traitor heart pumped tainted blood to circulate through my body. My poisoned blood contaminated every system inside of me. I was dying. I wasn't just sick my end was fast approaching. Coherent thought was impossible as my grip upon life was failing. I opened my eyes or one last look.

I was outside. The sunlight fell on me in streams of photons shed from a sun one astronomical unit away from this world. The huge fusion generator called the sun warmed and held this fragile world in its embrace. Hope. I hoped I was smiling. The bright blue letters appeared in my field of vision. I had problems understanding them.

'Deus Ex Machina.'

My last coherent thought was, what the hell did that even mean? I was hovering in a dark dimension. It was silent and I felt nothing at all. It wasn't hot or cold it was just empty except for me of course.

"What are you waiting for?" She asked. I knew that voice.

"Bennu?" I cried out. "I am trapped!" I called out and she laughed at me.

"You aren't trapped you are waiting." She said and I felt the humor in her voice. "Well? What are waiting for? Get a move on!"

How had I forgotten? I was the Avatar of Bennu Phoenix. I am Phoenix! My birth cry shrieked through the void and into the waking world of men. I tore through the dark dimension and into the light. I roared as I was reborn! I had cast aside the limitations of flesh. I stood triumphant upon the heliosphere of Sol our home star. I rose against the pull of the sun and saw it, the gate. I saw the permanent portal leading to another portion of the galaxy. Parked just inside of the gate was an asteroid. As I watched something roared by glittering against the sunlight as it sped to the edge of the solar system. I barely got a glimpse of it, but it was enough.

"A giant crystal octopus?" I thought as the ship disappeared into the stellar darkness. "Time to go home."

All it took was the desire to move. My body shifted from one point to another instantaneously. It was the only way to travel. I screamed as the enormity of my entire being was forcefully shoved into a small vulnerable container. Life came at a price. I drank from the waters of the River Lethe. Forgetfulness washed over me and with a cry I took my first breath. I opened my eyes. I squinted against the sunlight making my eyes water. I sat up and looked at those assembled in a circle around me. The MILF club was staring open mouthed.

"What?" I asked my throat dry and scratchy.

"You're naked." Eleanor remarked as her expression lightened.

"Yeah, I am." I replied. "I have a tattoo on my naughty bits."

"Yep." Carol said with a smile. "How are you feeling?"

"I..." I began when a flash of images roared through my head and as swiftly as they appeared, they were gone. "I feel great."

"All finished." Indigo announced as she stepped out into the field where we all stood. "Here's your key back."

"Indigo? What are you doing here?" I asked.

"You sent for me." She explained. "You were pretty out of it. All fixed."

I had no memory of calling her or bringing her here. I was equally unclear as to why I had brought her to the island. I needed to blow the cobwebs out of my brain. We walked back to the main house and I felt a nice long swim in the pool might help me reboot my head. Something had happened but no one seemed to remember leaving the main house and walking out towards the cave. No one could explain the charred circle that I had been lying in when I woke up. Talon was being tight lipped, but I respected her judgement. The laps of swimming were working. As I focused my conscious mind on swimming and breathing flashes of memory rose up like bubbles from my unconscious. I had been sick, very sick. There had been something in the cave. I hadn't seen it, but it had hurt me somehow.

"Master?" Indigo said from above me.

"Huh?" I said gazing up at her prone form on the diving board. "Oh hey. Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Yes. I think you should know what happened." She offered. "It was mostly Thorn's idea but my unique make up made her plan possible."

"Go on," I said as I pulled my body out of the deep end of the pool.

"There was a jewel." She said her eyes went wide as she described it. "It was a huge diamond. It was the color of deep water, a blue so dark it was nearly black. There was a crack running diagonally along its surface. The radiation was coming from that. Thorn had provided me with a tube filled with nanites. Because of my adaptive nature I was able to release the nanites inside of me and then plunge the stone inside as well. One of the benefits of beings a shifter is my non-localized biology. The nanites used my cells as a conduit to the stone and infected it. Once inside they managed to seal the breach. The stone is like new."

"You have my eternal thanks." I said half remembering the importance of the stone.

"Promise me you'll let me watch over and instruct your daughter." Indigo said displaying her fierce loyalty to little Autumn. "She is precious to me."

"She is precious to us all." I said. "You and Dawn will be like older sisters to her."

"Thank you!" The shifter said smiling brilliantly. "Since I am here... I suppose I could stay until you leave by more mundane means."

"You earned it." I said.

We celebrated a victory. A triumph I didn't even remember. As the evening meal was being prepared, I took a much-needed walk along the beach. Thorn walked alongside me sporting an impressive micro-bikini.

"I have finished compiling the ton of data your father left you." Thorn explained.

"Data? What data?"

"Don't you remember the data crystal your sister gave you?" She asked prodding my memory. "It holds the secret to defeating the Thanatons."

"I forgot! How the hell did I forget?" I asked and she made a face.

"You got sick in the cave, but you are better now." She explained leaving something out. I could feel it. "Displaying designation Dark Nebula Styx. Moving deeper."

The shadowy cloud vanished, now a nightmare solar system lorded over by a raging black sun. Dark matter planets circling the massive dark energy star. The fifth planet was the home world of the Thanatons, beings that worshipped death and made a sacrament of delivering it. Here they were vulnerable. Destroy the planet and you eradicate the timeless menace that was the Thanaton race. It meant genocide on a galactic scale.