Novum: Revelation: (Book 4) (3 page)

Jake felt a little awkward sneaking into AJ’s hut, but he couldn’t wait any longer. When his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he made his way over to her bed. He smiled then whispered in her ear, “Time to wake up, sweetheart.”

There was a flurry of motion, and suddenly he found himself flat on his back on the dirt floor with AJ straddling his chest. One hand was on his throat and the other cocked back and ready to strike. “Don’t hit me,” he sputtered.

“Jake?” She instantly relaxed her grip and dropped her striking arm. “Drown you, Jake Stone. I could have killed you. What are you doing sneaking into my room?”

“It’s a hut,” he corrected, “and I came to tell you that…” He paused when he realized there was a lot more skin touching his chest and arms than there should be. “Wait, are you wearing any clothes?”

She gently slapped his face as she rose off of him and crawled back under her covers. “That’s about as close as you’re ever going to get to bedding me,” she whispered.

“Bedding?” he asked as he stood up. “Is that the term they use here? Sounds only slightly less clinical that
procreating
.”

“Why are you in here, Jake?”

The urgency came back to him. “I came to tell you that I’m heading out again. Heading west, and you all are invited. That is if you still want to come.”

“Heading west,” she repeated. “Going out to look for our ship again?”

“No,” he replied. “This time I’m going out to look for my father.”

It didn’t take long to assemble the crew. Everyone still had their backpacks from the previous morning, and they were all eager to set out again. “We’re not quitters,” Vee had said.

Four to five hours later, they reached the same place they had stopped before. Raines stopped to take a drink but then asked, “Where were we going?”

“We came out here for a reason,” AJ said. “Why can’t I remember it?”

Vee looked up at the sky. “It’s almost noon. We should start back, or we’ll miss lunch.”

As the others began heading back, Jake looked at Jane. “Do you know why we’re out here?”

She shook her head. “If you all want to return to the village again, I’m happy to follow you back,” she said. “The ship can certainly wait for another day.”

“The ship,” he repeated then yelled to the others, “We came looking for the
Rogue Wave
. And my father.”

AJ turned. “That’s right,” she said then jogged back. The others followed with bewildered looks on their faces.

“What just happened?” Raines asked. “How could all of us suddenly forget why we came out here?”

“My mother told me there is something out here that messes with our memories,” Jake said. “It’s why they were never able to locate my father. Every search party ended up back at the village before dark, and no one had any idea why.”

Wood was the last to return, but he was the only one with a possible answer. “Something in the air is my guess,” he said. “Some sort of plant spore, perhaps. A natural, airborne narcotic.” He looked at Jake. “Your mother’s people have discovered a surprising number of medicinal plants in their years here. One of them would probably know what is causing our memory loss.”

“I’m not convinced it’s that,” Vee said, looking to the west. “I still feel very nervous just thinking about going any farther.

“I feel it too,” AJ said, “and I think you all know I don’t get nervous easily.”

“Let’s go a little farther,” Raines said. They all nodded and began to follow him, but within a minute, he suddenly stopped and held up one hand. “Wait. I think I heard something.” He squinted his eyes and pointed to a tree line ahead. “Something’s up there.”

“Something dangerous,” Jessie agreed. “I feel it too, like cold air on the back of my neck.”

“Let’s head back,” Wood said. “I’ll lead the way.”

Jake was about to ask what they were talking about, when he began to feel it too. An overwhelming feeling that something dangerous lay ahead. “All right,” he said, “I’m ready to end this now. I’m sorry I brought you all…” He stopped when he saw Jane walking all alone to the west. “Jane!” he yelled. “Come back. Where are you going?”

“Follow me, and you’ll see,” she yelled over her shoulder then took off in a sprint.

Without a second thought, Jake dropped his backpack and ran after her. As much as he cared about the well-being of every member of his crew, he felt a special bond to Jane, and his need to protect her, at that moment, outweighed every other concern.

“Jane!” he tried to yell, but she was running so fast, the exertion of trying to catch up with her made it difficult for him to breathe. “Stop!” he yelled again.

A few minutes later, she came to an abrupt halt then bent over to catch her breath. When he reached her position, he dropped to his knees, sweat pouring off his forehead. “What…” He wheezed. “Why…why did you run?”

When she caught her breath, she stood up and said, “Had to get past it.”

He looked up at her. “Get past what?”

She pointed to the east. “The fence.”

He looked back. “What? There’s no fence, Jane.”

“Have to get the others through as well,” she said then took a big breath and started screaming at the top of her lungs. “Help! Help me! AJ! Vee! Help me, Jessie. Ahhhhh!”

Jake ran to her and tried to calm her down. “Stop, Jane. What are you doing?”

“Help!” she continued. “Norman! Dr. Wood! Someone help me!”

She went on like that, screaming like a mad person for several minutes, and nothing he tried would make her stop. Had she been exposed to the narcotic Wood had spoken of? He grabbed her by her shoulders. “Jane, there’s nothing hurting you. You have to stop.”

She paused to catch her breath, and in the brief moment of silence, he heard his crewmates running up behind him. “Get your hands off of her,” Raines bellowed.

“What are you doing to her, Captain?” AJ yelled.

When Jane saw them over his shoulder, she stopped yelling and clasped Jake’s face in her hands. “I’m okay, Jake. They’re here. You can let go of me now.”

“Are you crazy?” he said as he pushed her away so hard she nearly fell. “You screamed for help just to get them to follow us?”

She nodded, her face twisted in pain as she rubbed her shoulders. “I had to get them past the fence too.”

“For the last time, there’s no fence, Jane.”

“Aha!” Raines said as he approached. “I think I understand now.”

Jake looked at his engineer then at the rest of his crew, many of whom were still looking at him like he was a monster. “You get what?”

Raines looked over his shoulder at the path they had just taken. “Anyone feel any trepidation in being here now? Any fear? A strong desire to return to the village?”

“No,” AJ said, “but what does that have to do with anything?”

Jake looked at Jane, remembering her words. “You called it a fence,” he said.

Raines nodded. “Our Jane always manages to impress me with her powers of deduction.” Jane smiled and went off to chase a bug with large colorful wings.

“If that’s true, then it’s some sort of invisible fence,” Jessie added. “Maybe an electrical field or something.”

“But how would a fence like that work?” Vee asked. “There was no electrical jolt or anything. I just felt…”

“Like you didn’t want to come here, right?” Raines said. “My guess is that they are using the same technology used in that
Mine Ship
we found last year.”

“You think they are putting things in our minds?” Jessie asked.

“Fear is a simple but powerful suggestion.” He looked around. “There are probably transmitters buried in the ground back there.”

“But why put fences up here?” Jake asked. “What purpose could it serve?”

“Maybe to keep animals from traveling too far,” AJ guessed.

“Makes sense,” Raines said then looked at Jake. “Your mother’s people built fences out of wood and stone to protect their crops or contain livestock. It’s not unreasonable to imagine that the people who built this place would want to do the same for the native animals living here.”

“Why?” Jessie asked. “Who cares where the animals go?”

“Could be many reasons,” Raines replied. “Perhaps to control the populations or reduce overgrazing in certain areas.”

“But this fence works on people too,” Vee said. “Does that mean we are livestock?”

“Wait,” Jake said, looking at Raines. “You said ‘the people who built this place,’ didn’t you? Are you saying that you don’t think this is Earth?”

Raines smiled. “Everything was built by people, even the first colony, but let’s save that conversation for another time. Right now, I think we should keep moving. The sun is past overhead, and we’ll want to find a good place to make camp before it gets dark.”

“But before that,” Jessie said, “can we take a few minutes to gather something to eat? None of us ate this morning, and I, for one, am starving.”

“There’s a stream over there,” Wood said, finally catching up with the group. “I suggest we all drink what we can and fill our water pouches. I want everyone to remain hydrated.”

Apparently Wood had missed the previous discussion, but Jake was relieved to see that the doctor was carrying the pack he dropped when he had chased after Jane. “Thanks, Doc,” he said as he extended his hand. Wood didn’t shake it, but he did nod his head to Jake. That was at least an improvement over his usual demeanor.

“Everyone fan out and gather what you can find to eat,” AJ said. “I want to save the food in our packs for later. We’ll meet under that large tree ahead in fifteen minutes and share what we find.”

Jake glanced at his bare arm. “Yeah, let’s synchronize our watches for exactly fifteen minutes.”

AJ frowned at him but then walked over and took him by the arm. “Break up into small groups. I don’t want anyone walking alone out here until we know it’s safe.” She looked at Jake and said quietly, “Follow me.”

As she walked past him, heading towards a group of bushes, he snapped to attention and saluted. “Yes, sir.”

When she didn’t react, he jogged to catch up with her. “I’m probably not the best person to pair up with,” he said. “I’m afraid I couldn’t tell the difference between a good root and a—”

She turned and put a finger to his lips. “We need to talk,” she said in a hushed tone.

He glanced back at the others, but none were within earshot. “Are we keeping secrets now? We didn’t do that on the
Wave
.”

“We’re not on the
Wave
, in case you hadn’t noticed. And by the way, we actually did keep secrets. At least, you and I did.”

He was wondering when that discussion was going to come up. She was obviously referring to the time they kissed in his quarters, right before the power went out and their little journey into the unknown turned into a desperate fight for survival. “I know we should have talked about this before. It was inappropriate of me as your commanding—”

“What are you talking about?” she asked, wide eyed.

“Wait…what are
you
talking about?”

“I’m talking about what’s really going on here.”

“So was I,” he tried to say calmly, but she saw through it.

“You’re still bothered by that kiss, aren’t you?” she asked, a slight grin forming on her oval face. “I must have really gotten to you.”

“No…I…”

“Am I haunting your dreams, Jake? Do you feel all squishy inside when you look at me?” She batted her eyes in a mocking way.

“Stop it,” he said, hoping to drop the subject. Obviously the event affected him more than it did her. “Just tell me why you brought me over here.”

She dropped the smile then said, “Actually, it is sex I wanted to talk to you about.”

Now he was the one to smile. “So we’ve jumped from our first kiss to sex, have we? What kind of a boy do you think I am?”

“You’re no
boy
, Jacob Stone, but to be serious for a moment, I’m talking about your mother’s plans to match all of us up with suitable mates and start having babies as soon as possible.”

“Oh, that,” he replied, more than a little bothered to be discussing his mother’s weird fascination with matchmaking. He saw a blueberry bush and walked over and began picking some. “It’s her ‘circle of life’ thing. She hasn’t found someone for you yet, has she?”

She poked his arm. “Don’t worry, Jake. I’m not the marrying type, or haven’t you figured that out yet?”

He shook his head as he concentrated on the berries. “I don’t think they require any formalities like marriage here, or haven’t you noticed? Some of the men have more than one mate.”

She stood beside him and began to pick berries too. “And some of the women have multiple partners as well. My point is, everyone in the village seems to be obsessed with having children, like it’s their sole purpose in life.”

“They have been all alone here for over fifteen years,” he said. “They probably assumed they would never see any other humans again, and I guess they wanted to make sure their children would survive to carry on once the original members of their expedition passed away.” He stopped picking berries and turned to her. “Why are we talking about this now? And why did you want to talk to me away from the others?”