The Experiment Read online

  “Instead, I was a coward. I wanted someone to tell me what to do. Of course, that would mean I’d have an excuse to blame someone else. I suppose that is one reason my mother insisted that it was me that chose. I thought I made it easier for myself by purposefully and willfully ignoring her, the question, and the decision. But it didn’t.”

  Abigail nodded, not knowing what to say. Suzanne shook her head, sighed, and continued.

  “On the other hand, my younger sister Meg had no problem choosing. Two recessive genes had met in her and made her into the shapeshifter who could be anything, and she loved it.

  “Even when she was younger, Meg loved terrorizing all of us by hiding in a form that we didn’t recognize. The three of us would panic. Where had she gone? Eventually, Meg had to let go of the shape—and there she would be, a human child laughing so hard tears would be running down her face. Punishment of any kind never worked. She would turn into water, or steam, and wait until everyone gave up trying to discipline her.

  “In moments of quiet, Meg was a wonder. We shared secrets and told each other stories. But Meg was rarely quiet. And as much as I loved her as my sister, she frightened me as a shapeshifter.

  “There were no long moments of indecision for her. The second she realized she could look like anything she wanted to be, Meg was off and running, trying one shape after another. Her choice was to decide whether to use her abilities for good or what she would call mischievousness.

  “By the time she was six, she had taken her name Meg and changed it into Megladon. In the Earth dimension, it is an extinct white shark. In Erda, it was my sister.

  “And it was because of Meg that I eventually chose to be both human and dragon. Her mischievousness finally turned into more than mischievousness, and my parents couldn’t wait for me to make a decision any longer. They had their own choice to make. Let their youngest daughter run wild, or do their best to contain her.

  “They hoped that as Meg grew older, she would gain empathy to match her abilities and her courage. I wanted to believe it was possible, but I didn’t, and don’t, hold the hope that my parents have for Meg.

  “If my parents can’t handle my sister, that would leave only two other options. The option of sanction or death. All the shapeshifters will be able to vote to stop my sister in one of those ways.

  “Even that wouldn’t be easy. I prayed every day that it wouldn’t be necessary.

  “Finally, my parents decided that Meg couldn’t stay in Erda. Instead of waiting until her death, or her banning, they took her away, to another planet. One that would be hard for anyone to find. Including me.

  “They left me for her.”

  Abigail reached over and held her friends hand. “Even though I know you must have rationalized why this was necessary, I know it still must be painful.”

  Suzanne nodded. “It is, and it is also one reason why I treasure Earl and Ariel who have acted as my mother and father all these years.

  “They saved me and helped me because with my parents’ departure to look after Meg the choice was essentially made for me after all. I would be both Suzanne and Lady. As Lady, I would replace my mother as the head of the crown of dragons that my parents had flown with.

  “It also left me with my mother’s other role, liaison between the Earth Realm and Erda.”

  Abigail squeezed Suzanne’s hand.

  “I know I only know you only as Suzanne, but I am grateful you made that choice. You have shown us all the things we would have never learned on our own.

  “And I know you will take care of my granddaughter, Hannah, when the time comes for that. When she travels to her true destiny in Erda.”

  Suzanne bowed her head and said, “I will do my best.”

  Four

  As agreed, the brothers returned to check on the progress of the Earth and Erda dimension. They had been gone a long time, and much had changed. The beings they had released into Earth and Erda had mostly thrived.

  It seemed that their experiment was going well. Both dimensions had evolved as expected. In fact, the results were so predictable that on reviewing the progress, one of the brothers was upset.

  The last few thousand years of travel had not gone well for brother Two. Perhaps if the brothers had stayed on Gaia when they had first arrived, he would not have become the bitter and angry person he now was.

  Brother One, on the other hand, had mellowed and was tired of it all. He was especially tired of his brother. He and his brother had been arguing almost daily, and One was getting sick of it.

  So when Two said he wanted to speed up the experiment between the Earth and Erda dimension, One was ready to agree. Anything to make his life a little more peaceful.

  During their travels and the researching of the experiments, they had discovered something that bothered Two and delighted One. You would think it would have been the other way around though since he had started out as the more rational and determined of the two of them.

  He was the one who had suggested the experiments, and it was usually him that designed the parameters of the tests. One thought that he would be able to live with the result of those experiments.

  But as time passed, he became more and more uncomfortable at what he had done. Too many of the tests they designed had turned into disasters. Entire planets were gone. Others were in the last stages of destruction.

  Only a few had survived, and even fewer had thrived. Brother One wanted to know what was making the difference. What was the defining factor? Over time, One had discovered why some planets managed to thrive. And it was that discovery that had changed him.

  He now wanted to stop the destruction, and he believed that he knew how to do it. But Two opposed him. It was what they fought over every day.

  Now, as they once again stood on Gaia, they were at a crossroads. The planet was still beautiful, but not as pristine as when they had first found it. One feared that both dimensions were fighting a losing battle and in time they would self-destruct.

  This was no longer the outcome he wanted. He was the tired brother now. He was finished with experiments. He wanted to either stay on Gaia or find another planet where he could stay and live out his life.

  Yes, brother One was ready to stop, but brother Two had changed too. He was no longer happy, even in his boredom. Now he was angry. Very angry. And he wanted to continue experimenting to appease his anger.

  Truth be told, what he wanted to do was see more planets destroyed.

  Something had taken over Two. Every day he found more and more joy in producing chaos and destruction. Nothing seemed to satisfy him, and his older brother was at his wit’s end as to what to do with him, and how to stop him.

  As they stood on Gaia, they came up with what would be their final experiment. So far, their testing had not been discovered by their own people. But sooner or later they would be.

  The brothers knew that they were breaking the law with their tests. When their people found them, they would stop the brothers by imprisoning them or abandoning them on an inhospitable planet.

  Since they both knew there was only so much time left, brother Two had a suggestion for their final experiment. This time he would stay on Gaia and carry the test out himself.

  In the meantime, One would travel to planets that hadn’t destroyed themselves yet and see if he could reverse the results of their experiments using what he had discovered.

  When One returned to Gaia, they would determine the winner.

  One hoped that Erda would still be there when he came back because his brother’s plan was so irrational it might work. He feared for his brother’s sanity. He was getting worse by the day. Two firmly believed that evil would always win. More than that, since Two wanted evil to win, he was going to help it along.

  They both knew that there was someone in place
who would lead the way to fight against Two’s evil intent. Two said he could defeat her. One prayed that he was wrong.

  They both knew that her travels between the dimensions of Earth and Erda would shape the outcome of both dimensions. One hoped that the girl named, Hannah, would remember who she was in time, and that the team that gathered around her would help her discover the secret to defeating his brother.

  As One’s silver snake-shaped space ship lifted away, leaving his brother behind in Erda, he watched the blue dot drift out of sight knowing that he might not ever see it look this beautiful again.

  He had made a bargain with the devil. He hoped it had been the right thing to do. Now the outcome of both dimensions, and the future of the planet Gaia was out of his hands, and into the hands of the good people of both Earth and Erda.

  The End

  I hope you enjoyed this short story that introduces two book series, The Karass Chronicles and The Return To Erda and hints at the next series due in 2020, The Chronicles of Thamon.

  Find them all on my website BecaLewis.com, or your favorite book store.

  The Karass Chronicles

  Karass

  Pragma

  Jatismar

  Exousia

  Stemma

  Paragnosis

  The Return To Erda Series

  Shatterskin

  Deadsweep

  Abbadon