BETRAYAL

Waiting

"I KNEW IT!!!!!!!" Captain Westfall screamed, then lunged at Semilar, ramming him against the wall.

"I KNEW you were evil!"

Semilar's guards rushed forward, grabbing at Semailar and the Captain, trying to pull them apart.

"Captain, stop!" Iris shouted desperately. "He's just trying to manipulate us! You're just giving him what he wants!"

Westfall finally gave up. But it still took two guards to pull him away. "Sorry," They heard him mutter under his breath.

Semilar regained his composure, then sighed. "You three were always important to our plan. But with such foolish actions..." He shook his head. "Especially you, Captain. I expect so much more."

Iris and Shae expected Captain Westfall to lunge at him again or even say something snippy in response for talking to him like that, but he kept silent.

Semilar continued, "Now, are you going to let me explain to you WHY you're here, or are you just going to try to escape and die trying?"

They were all silent for a moment. Honestly, Captain Westfall would have rather died than be a part of Semilars' plan, but he couldn't give up on Iris and Shae. He could tell that they wanted to know more- and again, that Semilar wasn't giving them much of a choice. As if he would really let them leave that easily.

"Fine," Westfall said. "We'll hear you out."

Semilar smirked. "Of course you will." He made a sweeping gesture with his arm, inviting them into the Memory Chamber.

They walked inside, and it seemed to be much larger inside than from outside the doorframe.

"Sit," Semilar instructed, gesturing to the floor.

Reluctantly, they all sat down, while Semilar remained standing.

"Now, the three of you weren't here by coincidence. Commander Evans, unfortunately wasn't acting independently. All of this, all that you've been through, were.... trials, or barriers, so to speak. To see if the three of you... or one of you will accompany me and Dovaa and the rest of the angels to victory."
Westfall's eyes lit up when Semilar mentioned Dovaa's name. 

"Wait... what-" Iris started to say, but Semilar cut her off. He raised his hand. "Please, if you have any questions save it until the end." 

Iris rolled her eyes. 

"Now, how should I say this--- I can't tell you everything now, because you still have to pass one more more barrier. However, when you arrived at the black hole, it was almost an illusion. What you saw was really a portal to another universe. The supermassive black hole that you were sucked into was a black hole, yes- but when you entered the black hole's event horizon, you probably didn't realize it, but you hit the speed of light and you accelerated through it. You approached the central zone, and you would have been destroyed, except for the fact that what happened to you was extremely rare- impossible to some. You managed to survive being so close to the Inner Horizon that as you whipped around it, you were thrown into a wormhole, and when you reached it's end you passed through a white hole. You then entered our universe, and from there I was able to guide your ship to our planet."

"But white holes only exist in theory," Captain Westfall said. "We couldn't have passed through one- they decrease entropy! White holes would defy the second law of thermodynamics!"

"Yeah," Shae added, "and they can only stay open for a few seconds- how could we have passed through one in that short of time?" 

Semilar sighed. "Now I almost wish I hadn't wiped your memories," he said. "You used to know what all of this meant. You were all for it- if only you could remember."

"Well, we can't," Iris snapped, "and that's YOUR fault, not ours!"

Semilar didn't seem to care. "Alright, I think I've told you enough for today. You are all going to the conference room to think about what I just told you. In a few hours, the next barrier will begin."

"What? Why the conference room?" Shae asked. 

Semilar simply responded, "Because we have nowhere else to put you." 

All three of them glared at him as the guards ushered them out of the Memory Chamber and down the hallway. 

*****************

The conference room was huge. It was long and rectangular, with a long narrow table in the centre and chairs on each side. They had no idea why there would be a conference room so big in a tower that appeared to only have one man living in it. 

The guards closed the doors behind them, but they couldn't hear their footsteps walking away- as if they needed to stand guard.

Iris, Shae and Captain Westfall all sat down, Shae and Iris beside each other and Westfall across from them. 

"This is all too confusing," Iris said, putting her head in her hands. "How the hell are we supposed to do anything if he won't tell us what to do- or even HOW to pass these stupid barriers!?"

Westfall sighed. "I don't know. But I don't care if we pass or fail. We're going to die here either way."

"Don't talk like that," Shae said, "we'll find a way out of here."

"No, We won't." Westfall said firmly. "If we really DID come here through a white hole, then that means there's no way out. White holes are the opposite of black holes- instead of sucking matter so that nothing can escape, it expels matter out so that nothing can enter." 

"But then doesn't that mean that Semilar and his angels can't leave either?" Iris asked.

"Most likely."

"But he didn't answer our question- How we passed through the white hole in a matter of seconds."

"I think it's clear that these angels have power," Shae said. "Wether Semilar was bluffing or not, they could have done anything to bring us here. He said Commander Evans wasn't acting 'independently'. What if that means someone made him do it? What if they did? Or what if they held the white hole open long enough for us to pass through?" 

"Well I guess we can't know for sure until he tells us, or we get our memories back," Iris said.

"Yeah," Westfall agreed. "If they did do all of that, then god knows what ELSE they could do." 

Until suddenly, green gas was ejected from the corners of the walls, slowly at first, until eventually it filled the entire room. But by the time the three of them noticed, it was too late.