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It's a new and hopefully exciting story with our four heroes: Nicole, Manuel, Daniel and Bastian - you may already know the four from their experiences in the "New Elements".
There you could witness how Bastian had to worry about his Daniel, who was involved in an adventure that almost got out of hand for our four protagonists.
They all exceeded their own abilities in the search for the mysterious meteorite. And often they had to overcome their fear to prevent the stone from falling into the wrong hands.
In the end, they had succeeded. They had thwarted the plans of an unscrupulous corporation to use the stone for military purposes. And even though it was quite painful at times, Daniel and Bastian had overcome all obstacles. Manuel and Nicole had also grown a little closer again. In the end, the stone sank into the sea, and the danger was averted.
The adventure they experienced is actually over. But it's not quite over yet. The four of them will have to find out in this new story.
You won't find a simple continuation of "New Elements," although the plot continues. Rather, the story offers a glimpse into the remaining questions. It looks between the characters and back into the past. Alongside the heroes you know, you'll also find new ones who have influenced more than just this short story.
It's an adventure story, a story so fantastical that it would surely never happen. Or would it? Of course, it's entirely fictional. But not everything is mere fantasy. There's a grain of truth in it, too.
So then, enjoy reading. And let me know what you thought.
Greetings Andy
 
"The sky will darken. From a ball of fire comes the miraculous, the terrible, that will one day determine our world. Only those who think beyond themselves will defeat the force."
Peredus, ca. 1027 uZ

Time for the Act 

"If someone has identified a problem and does nothing to solve it, they are part of the problem."
(Indian proverb)
It's early morning. Mavachee knows he shouldn't be here right now. The Guardians of the Faith and his father are discussing how to behave toward the strangers.
Maybe there will be war here too.
He knows the danger. If he's discovered here in his quest, it will mean certain death. And yet, he must avert the threat from his people, from the world.
As a young boy, he often hid in the secret passages leading to the sanctuary and watched the temple guards perform masses. He therefore knows his way around here well and can enter the temple without taking the official guarded route.
He has to negotiate the last stretch on his knees. The passage has now become too low.
His plan requires a lot of courage and determination.
Despite being the king's youngest son, he's not exactly the bravest. At least, that's what it seems like during the contests and sacrifices.
His gut feeling has often told him that it's wrong to settle a dispute with his fists, and that it can't be right to sacrifice the life of an animal, or even a human, to the gods. This has earned him a reputation as a coward among his brothers.
Today, however, he is the only one who has truly recognized the approaching danger. And he is the only one who knows what he must do to prevent something worse from happening. His courage has not deserted him.
The tears of the sun, after which the conquerors are finished. Gold, which for his people is a possession of heaven, of the gods, is for the foreigners the source of all greed and cruelty.
He saw how they killed his people in the coastal village, vandalized the temples, and took all the sacred objects. That can't happen here in his city. What the temple also contains is too dangerous.
The narrow, dusty ventilation shaft leads into a huge hall.
As a precaution, he extinguishes his small oil lamp so as not to be discovered.
Weak daylight penetrates the spacious room from a few small openings in the ceiling.
He moves nimbly out of the shaft and stands with his bare feet on a stone ledge.
A small stone, barely larger than a seed, breaks loose and falls. Its echo reverberates in the vast space as if a pillar had fallen over.
Mavachee crouches down. His eyes have now adjusted to the darkness. He scans the room, listening for any sounds that might indicate the approach of the guards.
But it remains quiet.
He carefully slides down from the ledge onto the smooth, cold stone floor, taking great care not to drop even the smallest grain.
His athletic body gracefully absorbs the jump. Not the slightest sound now betrays his presence.
Quickly but very carefully he moves to the altar.
On top of it is a small golden box. The outer surfaces are decorated with sun reliefs.
Mavachee puts his hands on the side handles and tries to open the box.
At that moment he feels that someone is standing behind him.

Familiar and Unknown 

"Together, that's a beautiful word..."
(Ted van Lieshout, »Brother«)
Laughing, Daniel throws his shirt into the lake.
Like a small sail, the ball inflates in the wind and lands slowly and gently on the surface of the water.
Fine circles of waves move from there across the water and break on the small pebbles on the shore at my feet.
"And now?"
I put my right hand into the water.
It's freezing cold.
There, a few meters in front of me, the strange little fabric boat floats and slowly begins to sink.
Daniel looks at me with wide eyes.
He gets goosebumps and starts to feel cold.
"I told you, I'd give my shirt off for you."
My gaze wanders back to the water. The white spot has now disappeared, and the small fabric boat has sunk.
When I look closely, I think I see a bright spot on the bottom. But maybe it's just a ray of sunlight.
Daniel grins.
I grin back and jump into the lake.
It's really freezing cold.
My breath catches for a moment.
The waves crash over me.
As if in a tunnel, I move through the wet element, diving down.
It's getting darker and darker.
The water presses on my eardrums, the cold pinches me all over.
The bright spot I thought I saw is no longer visible.
I can feel the gravel bottom of the lake in front of me. But Daniel's shirt remains missing.
My lungs tell me that the moment has come to resurface.
As if by reflex, I do the same.
I've just reached the surface of the water again when Daniel comes swimming towards me.
"Basti, you're crazy," is the first thing I hear. Then, after the grim face, I finally get a smile.
We swim back to shore and quickly get out of the water.
With our feet back on solid ground, we look at each other and both burst out laughing.
"Come on, hurry. Otherwise we'll freeze here."
The sand now feels warm under our feet as we walk to the car.
The sun almost has the power of summer. Almost.
Only the wind is still quite cold.
We arrive at our vehicle completely soaked and Daniel with his upper body bare.
A few meters away, an elderly couple has parked their car and is now looking over at us, shaking their heads.
When we start taking each other's clothes off, they get into their car with an incomprehensible remark and drive away.
Luckily, Daniel has a blanket with him.
We spread out our things on the hood and roof of the car while we both snuggled up together in the warm blanket on the back seat.
Being so close to each other, we warm up again very quickly.
But when another vehicle arrives at the parking lot and a whole horde of pensioners pours out, we decide to go back.
I quickly jump out of the car and grab our things. Even though I'm still on the far side and thus not fully visible to the approaching group of tourists, I still get a few surprised looks from afar.
Daniel and I quickly put on our shorts and drive off.
The surprised faces make us both laugh again.
There are moments that are so intense, as if they were happening in slow motion, so that I can really take in and enjoy every detail.
I look at my Daniel.
The morning sun shines through the window and catches his eyelashes and eyebrows. A shimmer lies on his face. His hair is fluffy. His features are soft, a smile rests on his delicate lips. I know exactly how they feel and can sense them in my imagination.
I carefully stroke his right shoulder.
He smiles at me.
Since he's the driver, I hold back. Even though I'd love to feel his lips against mine and his body so close to me. His closeness exudes excitement and security at the same time. When he hugs me, I feel that this is simply meant to be, that we belong together.
We've been a couple for almost a year now. It's been a pretty exciting time at times. The adventure shortly after we met was almost too much to handle. But it's truly wonderful to be with my Daniel.
Daniel seems to read my thoughts. I can see it in his smile. He leans toward me until our lips touch. A tender kiss shows me that he feels the same way.
It was supposed to be just a morning walk together. Now it's turned into a trip to the beach. When we tell Nicole, she thinks we're crazy. Maybe we are. And so what?
I learned quite early on that what everyone considers normal is often just average and that a bit of craziness is what makes life real.
When we get home, we first get dressed. If only it weren't already just after nine o'clock. Unfortunately, there's no time left for anything else. Daniel has to go to work, and Nicole and I have a report assignment.
We each quickly drink a glass of juice and leave the apartment. We walk quickly down the stairs. Once at the bottom, we exchange a tender kiss as a farewell. The front door opens, and Ronja, our neighbor, comes in.
She smiles at us and wishes us good morning.
We wish her the same and go out onto the streets.
Unfortunately, our paths are now parting until this afternoon.
Actually, I don't feel like working right now. But since we both had to leave so late today, this Monday morning was also very nice, with our little excursion.
Daniel takes his bike and rides off. He smiles at me again and disappears around the next corner.
The night was quite chilly, so my Healey is still having some trouble starting. It's a nice car, but it does have a few minor quirks due to its age.
Apparently, this is the same for cars as it is for people.
Nevertheless, the engine starts up and the journey begins. The sun is still shining. The morning rush hour is already over. This makes the ride truly pleasant, and I make rapid, relaxed progress.
Nicole is already waiting for me in front of the house. She's quite excited. I can tell from a distance, as she's nervously waving her folder around.
"Morning, Bastian. You're quite late, we have to hurry."
"Hi Nicole. Don't panic, there's still plenty of time. You're ruining the whole beautiful morning."
"Nice morning? Today is Monday. What's so nice about that? Oh yeah, Daniel had to leave later today too. All right. What did you all do this morning?"
She puts on an ambiguous grin.
Their ulterior motives are therefore very easy to recognize. So I deliberately respond calmly and calmly.
"We went swimming at the lake."
From her expression, I can now tell that she's wondering whether I was serious. Finally, she grins at me again.
"Knowing both of you, I can imagine that's still true. I always knew you had a little hiccup. But that it's now infected Daniel too?"
So I was right that she would think we were crazy when we told her about our trip.
So I briefly recount to her our morning on the rest of the journey. Her reaction is laughter and a shake of the head.
We have now arrived and I have spotted a free parking space.
Nicole is getting a little nervous again. Perhaps this is due to today's interview and our unusual interviewee. I've barely parked when Nicole jumps out of the car.
"Bastian, are you coming? ... Hello, Mr. Bergen," she calls to me.
"Yes, right away. I'm just looking for the wide-angle lens." Oh, Nicole is pushing something around here.
Ah, there it is. I grab my camera bag, quickly unwrinkle my shirt, and off we go. We have an interview with a retired general. It's about peace policy and NATO's willingness to use violence.
The general lives in a luxurious apartment building in the city center.
Our appointment is at 11:00 a.m. We enter the lobby exactly five minutes early. The doorman politely directs us to the seventh floor and guides us to the elevator.
Nicole has compiled a rather impressive list of questions.
I will try to take some portrait shots that are as impressive as possible.
Our elevator arrives on the seventh floor.
Nicole adjusts her skirt again. We exchange a quick smile and off we go.
The doorman had already informed us and so our conversation partner was already waiting for us in the hallway.
The general is a man of about sixty with short gray hair. He wears a gray turtleneck sweater and dark gray trousers.
All in all, it looks simply grey.
However, his eyes flash with life and energy, giving him a mysterious, eerie quality.
He greets us with a handshake and a friendly smile.
"Good day, Ms. Bergmann. And you are Mr. Bergen?"
"Yes, good day, Mr. Lessner. Or should I say General?" I reply.
"No, no. You can skip the general stuff."
He leads us into his rather impressive apartment. In his study, he invites us to take a seat in a comfortable leather suite.
A pot of tea and a bowl of pastries are already waiting on the table.
We answer yes to the question about a cup of tea and our host pours us all the fragrant drink.
After a brief preamble, we get straight to the point. Nicole begins with general questions and gradually moves on to our actual topic: NATO's war in Afghanistan.
General Lessner commanded one of the first German combat units. But he only served for thirty days before leaving the theater of war and, shortly thereafter, the military.
He could not accept what is generally referred to as collateral damage. Even for him as a professional soldier, the anticipated losses among the civilian population were nothing more than murder. He had seen and experienced what was not shown in the media reports of the "clean" war.
As the conversation progresses, it becomes clear that our host and we often share the same opinion. Accordingly, our interview is very pleasant, and our interlocutor is very cooperative.
Thanks to the good light coming into the study through the large glass facade, I'm able to take some very interesting photos. I'm always struck by the general's hidden, cryptic gaze.
Nicole now asks her final questions and we thank her for the interesting afternoon.
Our host says goodbye to us.
At the door, however, he says to me in a completely different tone, almost uncertainly: "Mr. Bergen, please stay a moment. I have a personal matter to discuss with you."
I look at him in surprise and then at Nicole.
Nicole shrugs briefly and says she'll wait downstairs in the café where my Healey is parked.
Mr. Lessner thanks her for her understanding and asks me to come into his office again.
I am extremely curious to hear what personal information this gentleman, whom I met only two hours ago, has to tell me.
Maybe he knows someone in my family?
But why that uncertain tone earlier? I have a very bad feeling.
He says, "Please sit down again and look at this."
He takes a gray folder from his desk and hands it to me.
I open it.
It's a kind of report.
When I read the date and place of the event, everything inside me tenses up.
I jump out of the chair and drop the folder.
I stand there petrified. Mr. Lessner has come over to me and is trying to calm me down. Since my knees are shaking too much, I sit down again.
He picked up the folder again and placed it on the table in front of me.