"Quiet in there," one of them screamed.

Ignoring them, Tom turned to the bars. The spasm hit him unaware and he crumpled in pain. Breathing hard, he tried to pass through the pain and ignore it. "Escape, I need to escape," he chanted. Grasping the bars, he tried to pull two of them apart. Normally he wouldn't have the strength required for this feat, but the comet augmented his need. The adrenaline pumped into his system, giving him the required hysterical strength. Finally Tom squeezed through the bars and staggered out toward the doors opposite from the guards.

Hearing a noise behind them, the two guards turned towards the cage and saw Tom staggering to the other door. "Halt," the stocky guard screamed. "Don't make me shoot you."

Tom ignored the man and fell through the door. He thought he heard one of them yell something, but he wasn't too sure. Ignoring the havoc behind him, he painfully forced his way down the hall. "Need to find a way out. Have to meet the others." Opening various doors, Tom tried to find the exit. Just as he reached for another door, he heard a shout.

"There he is. Shoot him!"

Tom felt something sharp hit him in the hip. Ignoring it, he continued to move away.

"Again!"

Tom felt three more sharp punctures. He attempted to take a small step forward but fell to his knees. Struggling to stand, he fell onto his face. The drugs partially paralyzed him. A door in front of him opened and Tom saw the night sky. Reaching for it, he screamed, "No!" and fell unconscious.

Charles walked to the body and shoved him with his foot to see if he was conscious. No response. "Dave, is the tank ready?"

Dave hesitated a moment before he answered. "Yes."

"Since Daniels is so hell bent on escaping his cage, let's put him in the tank." Continuing down the hall, he explained, "It's about time we did this experiment. The data will be invaluable. It'll tell us a lot about his species."

"Are you sure? There are many more experiments we need to run before we attempt to run this one." Seeing Charles' face darken, he hastily backed away and said, "OK. I'll get right on it." Gesturing to the two guards, he waited for them to grab Daniels and carry him by his hands and feet to the Sensory Deprivation Tank Room.

Continuing down the hall, away from the Cage Room, Dave turned the corner and opened the first door on the right. Inside the dark room, a large windowless tank dominated the interior. The interior held some warm water, and a camera to record the reactions of the occupant inside the tank. Dave walked to the tank and opened it.

As the two guards dumped the unconscious chameleon on the examining table, Dave ordered the two orderlies to prepare Tom for submersion. "Strip him and place Daniels into the tank." As he walked into the control room, he grabbed a clipboard and started preparing the initial page for the data they'll need to record Daniels' reactions in the experiment."

Before exiting, the two guards surveyed the odd instruments that lined the room, shuddered and left quickly.

The orderlies prepared the unconscious body for immersion. Quickly, they ripped the pants off of Daniels and carried his naked body towards the open tank. Heaving the heavy body over the edge, they released their hold and arranged him flat on his back, attaching all the monitoring devices to his wet skin.

Checking his pulse, they closed and locked the tank doors.

"Mother, I don't understand," complained the small boy. "Why are you doing this to me?"

'Hush, Tom," shushed a young Jane Daniels. "You'll soon understand." Grabbing his hand, Jane glared at the man standing on Tom's other side.

The blonde man grasped his son's remaining hand in his large one. "Tom, just follow orders and you'll understand everything in time," explained Adam Daniels. Tom's father knew the purpose of the ceremony and he was proud of his son's position in the future regime.

The little boy stared up into his father's eyes and muttered quietly, "Yes, Father."

The three walked into the cave, hand in hand, while the drums beat a primal rhythm. Tom's eyes widened in fear, as he saw the large fire in the center and the man with the strange long needles heating them in the fire and resting them in some clear, hot liquid.

Upon reaching the circle, his father stepped aside while his mother crouched to his level and whispered in his ear, "Lie flat on your stomach and be very quiet. No crying."

Tom obeyed and prostrated himself. He stiffened as his mother held his arms down and the strange man approached. Quickly the man pressed the hot needles to his skin. Those points felt hot and painful for a few seconds, but then he felt distant from the ceremony.

Later, Tom learned the needles were laced with hallucinogenic drugs to help with his programming connected to the event. Of course, Lewis erased this memory for later retrieval.

Tom partially recalled the programming at the pillar.

Screaming, Tom eyes snapped open to noise, some intensely loud noise only he heard in his head. Thrashing in the warm water, he grabbed his head and howled in agony. 'Too much, must block, must block or drive crazy.' Tom sensed too many layers of emotion. :Pain, happiness, malevolence, concern, love, hate, greed, envy: They bombarded his senses. 'Too much to block. Must block... must block... must block...'

Bob stared at the tank from the control room. He and Jonathan sat at the controls monitoring Tom's heartbeat. The monitor registered the erratic heartbeat of their subject. Jon and Bob ached for the tortured man.

"What do you suppose is happening to him in there," whispered Bob.

"I'm not sure. But if these readings are any indication, he is under extreme duress."

"I think his empathy is his greatest enemy in there," suggested Bob. "That tank will amplify it to the nth degree and cause system overload. He won't be able to block any of it." Slamming his hand against the table, he angrily stated, "He'll die in there! His senses are bombarded by every person's emotions within his range of sensing. There's no way he'll live and be sane."

"I know," whispered Jonathan, lowering his head guiltily. "We have to do something, soon."

"Yeah," slurred a groggy and muffled voice.

"Ed, I need your help."

"Mariana?" he asked, startled awake by the exhausted quality of her voice. "What's the matter? Is it Mark?"

"Yes, he's delirious. Can you come over? We're having trouble holding him down. He keeps trying to escape into the desert."

Pulling himself from under the covers, Ed exclaimed, "The desert! Why is he... no wait, that's not important right now." Glancing at the radio-alarm, he said, "Yeah, I'll be right there. Give me an hour." Setting the phone on the cradle, Ed stood and stretched, naked as the day he was born and walked into the washroom for a quick cold shower.

"Come in. It's open," she called.

Ed gestured to his 'protector' to wait outside, turned the knob, and entered a few feet. Shock held him still. The room was a disaster zone. The furniture was turned over, one lamp broken against the wall, the bed a tangled mess. Slowly turning his head to survey the room, he asked slowly, "Ummm, how long has this been going on?"

Mariana walked from the washroom, wiping her hands against a towel. "The delirium... the first week, the fever... these past few weeks."

"Why didn't you contact me immediately!" demanded Ed hurt that she didn't trust him.

Tossing the towel onto the chair, she approached Ed and placed her hands against his chest. Her eyes begged him to understand. "After you tended his wounds, Mark appeared to heal, but very slowly. We all thought that odd, since chameleons heal quickly. But Mark ordered us not to contact you for such a trivial matter. Two weeks ago, the situation started to go downhill. Mark's fever worsened. At first, we tried to decrease the temperature using that ice trick again, but it didn't work for long. The fever just returned. The situation was so bad, we had to post a guard because he kept running out into the street in his delirium."

Letting her hands slide down his chest slowly, she turned and sat next to Mark lying tied to the bed. Caressing his face, she said absentmindedly, "We always caught him running in the direction of the desert."

"Why the desert?" asked Ed. "Do you know?" When she didn't respond, he approached the bed and touched her shoulder. "Mariana?"

Turning her head slightly, she gazed up into his eyes blankly. "Huh? What did you ask?"

"Why was Mark running towards the desert?"

"I don't know."

Ed stared into her eyes for a few seconds. He knew she was lying, but he decided to let the matter drop. Crossing to the other side of the bed, he dropped the medical satchel on the nightstand and sat down. Turning to his patient, Ed pulled the cover down and gasped. Mark's skin surrounding the dressing showed red streaks radiating from the wound and down towards his groin. "Oh Mariana," he moaned, "why didn't you call me sooner?" Pulling the dressing off Mark's chest, he inspected the wound. Ed could feel the heat radiating from it and the streaks. "Didn't the antibiotics help?"

"Initially, but then not at all."

"Shit!" he said forcefully. "I prescribed a very strong, broad ranged antibiotic which should've cleansed his system and wound of any infection. It must be some resistant strain." Digging into in his bag, Ed pulled out a needle and vial. He extracted 20cc's of a new antibiotic and injected it into Mark's system. Canting his head towards Mariana, he explained, "This drug will help relieve some of the symptoms, but it won't cure him. Do your people have anything that would help?"

"I don't know. Maybe, but we can't approach them now. It's Mark's orders and we have to follow them even though it may lead to his death."

Ed's mouth gaped open. "But... that doesn't make sense!"

Mariana's hand touched his on the bed. "Don't you have anything?"

"Only in the experimental phase right now," explained Ed. "I really would rather not use them, it might kill him."

"And doing nothing will also do that. Couldn't we try it?"

Lowering his head, he said quietly, "I don't know. I'll find out. And if I have to, I'll steal some."

Smiling slightly, Mariana simply said, "Thank you." As she stared at Ed's lowered head, she recalled her orders. She didn't want to follow them, but she had no choice in the matter. Frustrated, Mariana thrust from the bed, and paced the room.

Ed turned and looked at her, puzzled. He could see she was fighting some internal battle, but he didn't know what he could do to help. Silently he waited for her to decide.

Stepping in front of him, she stared down into his upturned face. "Ed, I lied," she stated miserably. "I don't want to tell you, but it seems I have no choice in this matter. A life's at stake here." Mariana walked to the chair, righted it, and sat down, resigned to revealing a secret so integral to her species. "Mark's running into the desert because he's trying to arrive for the meeting associated with the coming of Kewleys Comet. He's programmed to attend, no matter what condition he's in because he's one of the Chosen."

Locking gazes with Ed, she declared, "I'm afraid if Mark tries it once more, he'll die in the attempt."

"Chosen?"

"Damn! You don't know about that," she exclaimed frustrated. "It's what we call our future leaders, those chosen to lead us, because they show the potential for great feats. They're the ones who'll..."

"Wait a minute," interrupted Ed. "Does this have anything to do with the tattoo I saw on Mark's and on Tom's body?"

"Yes," she said. "It identifies a Chosen one."

Ed started muttering under his breath, trying to determine some tangible point just out of reach. After a few seconds, he finally said, "I think it does more than that. The tattoos I saw on Tom and Mark are different. That would lead me to presume each tattoo is a specific identification of the Chosen's status as well as stating their position in the hierarchy for your future leaders." Glancing over to Marks tattoos, peeping out from under the sheets, he didn't notice Mariana's uncomfortable squirming in her chair. "Did you know that Tom's tattoo is the exact configuration that signifies the very day Kewleys Comet will be visible to the naked eye? That's today, October 18, 1999."

Silence greeted his question. Bewildered, Ed turned to see Mariana's face whiten in shock. "Oh my God!" she whispered. Understanding dawned in her eyes. "That's why."

Seeing her reaction, Ed finally understood what he was missing. "Tom's an integral part of your species' plan to win this fight for survival, isn't he? He's the only one with that tattoo configuration regarding Kewleys Comet." Pushing her to react, Ed shot questions at her, not really expecting any answers. He knew he was right. "This would explain why Lewis is so determined to regain control of his protegee. Tell me I'm wrong!" he goaded.

"No, you're right," whispered Mariana shocked. "And that's why we need to rescue him. If Lewis finds him, there won't be any peaceful co-existence for any species. You'll all be dead." Jumping from the chair agitated, she said, "Damn! This changes everything." Walking to the door, she opened it and whispered instructions to the guard there. Nodding, she re-entered and shut the door, leaning against it tiredly. "Can you and Ray meet me here later, about 5 p.m.?"

"Yeah, sure. But why?"

"There's a meeting you'll want to sneak into," she said, smirking broadly. "After all, we have to counter any plans Lewis has for the future."

The large object stood in the natural depression on a dark lonely corner of the Mojave Desert. Seven smaller pillars encircled the larger one. Rock outcrops and small caves surrounded the area giving it an illusion of deep seclusion. The surface of the pillars appeared smooth at first glance, but upon closer inspection, the mysterious carved detail came into focus.

This night established the beginning of the end of the Homo sapiens. The new species intended to intensify the war for the survival of the fittest. The Chosen that attended this meeting would re-affirm their intent to announce to the planet Earth: a Homo dominant would ascend to the top of the food chain.

The pillars seemed eerie because of the new moon, one of the darkest nights of the year. No moonlight illuminated the unknown objects and they appeared as dark unknown figures totally encompassed in a dark cape. But their ghostly visage wouldn't remain for long. Kewleys Comet would illuminate the area as the Earth rotated into position. This would signal the commencement of the Horizon Event.

The activity in the area increased slowly as the night wore on. The figures attending dressed completely in black and slipped with determined panther-like grace into the area. In a trance-like condition, the Chosen gravitated to their assigned pillars pre-programmed into their psyche at the Ceremony of the Chosen. One larger carved symbol stood out among the seven smaller stones and resembled every person's tattoo in that group.

Upon arrival, all the Chosen stripped off their dark shirts to reveal their tattoo and turned to the central pillar with expectant faces. They were waiting for the Chosen one who would lead the meeting tonight so they could initiate their plan of victory against the Homo sapiens. But the central pillar remained curiously alone.

Finally, a man appeared on the ridge of rock outcrops to the north, naked from the waist up and silhouetted by the first appearance of Kewleys Comet behind him. Collectively the group stood and turned to the figure and breathed a heart-felt sigh of "You have come!"

The man on the ridge raised his hands and silenced the group. The muscles of his chest and stomach rippled as he moved. Taking a deep breath, he addressed the crowd. "Yes," he responded. "I've arrived." Stepping down from the ridge, he revealed his identity to the Chosen.

"Lewis!" they cried surprised to see him alive.

Nodding his head, he walked to the central pillar, sat cross-legged, and suggested, "Now sit and hear us well. The Horizon Event shall be fully explained."

Thirteen people from the first pillar detached themselves from their group and approached Lewis. The muscular athletic bodies of all those Chosen as the future leaders of their countries as well as the new High Council radiated with power and grace.

The first person stepped in front of Lewis and introduced herself. "I am Theresa Sinclair, the future Canadian Prime Minister." The well-built woman with short, light brown hair and green eyes bowed gracefully to the others. She moved to the left of Lewis. Her athletic body moved with the grace inherent to the Chosen-chameleons.

The second man approached and said, "I am Nigel Millington, the future United Kingdom Prime Minister." He bowed his head, hand to his chest and moved to the other side of Lewis. Long brown hair, mid-shoulder length blew wildly in the wind while his blue eyes twinkled with merry inner lights.

"Michel Duvall," said the man, with wild red hair and golden-red beard, soft as goose-down walking to Lewis' side. His hazel green eyes shone with the fire of the comet. "I'm the future European Union President."

One by one, the Chosen ones stepped forward and briefly introduced themselves, bowing slightly after each introduction and moving to stand next to Lewis.

The tall brown-eyed man with dark-brown hair and a soft, well-kept goatee said, "Sergei Ivanovich, the future Russian President..."

A slim, but tall lady with long blonde-hair and blue-green eyes declared, "Katerina Savino, the future Swiss Prime Minister..."

A deeply tanned lady with waist-length auburn-hair and hazel-blue eyes announced, "Melanie Gibson, the future Australian Prime Minister..."

The man with short curly black haired, unblemished chocolate brown skin and brown eyes proudly declared, "Moussa M'Tata, the future President of the African Union..."

"Abdul Prasad, the future Paramount Shah of the Arab Nation..." said the man with long black hair and brown eyes.

A woman with short curly brown hair and light brown eyes introduced herself as, "Eli Littleman, the future Israeli Prime Minister..."

The diminutive lady with straight, shoulder length black hair stepped forward and said, "Mei Chang, the future Chinese Premier..."

The compact man who sported short straight black hair and eyes announced, "Heiro Kimura, the future Japanese Emperor..."

The proud man with the dark-brown hair and deep chocolate brown eyes stepped forward and proclaimed, "Kutti Sharma, the future Indian Prime Minister."

The tall olive-skinned man with thick wavy black hair and vivid green eyes stepped forward and said, "Jorge Ramirez, the future Presidente of the S/C America's."

Many more countries held representative, but they were smaller and less important at this point in time. So these Chosen leaders remained clustered around their pillar. In one voice and body, both groups of future leaders turned to the assembly, raised their hands and vowed, "We are the hope, we are your future. Listen to our council, help us to win."

Lewis nodded and waived to the next pillar. Their representative stepped forward, bowed to the future leaders, and said with a slight accent, "Pierre Verjans, the future President of the World Bank." Locking eyes with every future leader, he pledged, "We are the bankers, the heart of a nation. Our power for you, a nation we'll make."

A signal passed to the next pillar, asking for their representative. A man rose from the ground, walked forward, and declared, "A nation needs power, to hold what is theirs. Control all the gold, precious metals and stones." Bowing to the High Council, he introduced himself. "Deryk Kitchee, the future President of the World Natural Resources Holdings."

An exotically beautiful woman broke away from her pillar, walked to the High Council, and announced "Inge Andersen, the future President of International Sciences. Think Tanks we control, we suppress progressive thinking. No scientific breakthroughs, discoveries we control."

"We teach all the youngings, we'll lead them astray. Discourage all the keeners, more dropouts we want. Subjects for experiments, our 'monkey' in a cage. Dominate the schools, our invaluable source." Smiling maliciously, the carrot-red haired man bowed and said, "Daniel McMaster, Head of Worldwide Education."

From the second last pillar, a tall well-built chameleon-assassin walked forward and declared, "No nation holds the power, without some internal protection. We are that force, dedicated to you. Protect all our power, our ascension to dominance. Our lives do we pledge, so our species can survive."

Turning to the crowd he said, "We need positions of power to be your force of protection. Therefore, I promise you, we'll infiltrate all the numerous worldwide secret intelligence agencies* to hold positions of power. And we vow to observe and kill anyone who discovers our plan for worldwide dominance." Bowing to the crowd, he stated, "I'm Dominic Holden, the Head of Worldwide Secret Intelligence."

Lewis nodded to the man who would be his close associate and walked to the last pillar. He arrogantly leaned against it and stated, "We are the force, who controls all the arms. We are the power, who'll ensure our complete inheritance." Smiling maliciously, he stated, "I am Lewis, the future Secretary of the Armed Forces for the United States, the future Commander for the United Nations' World Forces and the future Director of Security for the UN."

Bowing to the crowd he glided back to the central pillar, and motioned to the assembled leaders to return to their pillars. Waiting for them to settle, he scanned the Chosen ones. "One of our most important Chosen is missing and he's an indispensable part of our plan. While we could've chosen another to replace him, we chose not to do so. Tom Daniels is the best man for this position."

The crowd stirred visibly upset. Someone yelled, "How could this happen?"

Lewis frowned and ignored the their reactions, Holding up his hands for peace, he said, "This Chosen one is held captive by one who wishes us harm. Many of you may have heard of her. She goes by the name of Alexandra Luthor."

The Chosen gasped, horrified that the 'evil one' still holds one of their own.

"We must save him," another demanded.

"And we will," vowed Lewis. "I promise we'll rescue my protegee, so he'll take his rightful place in our Master Plan as the future United States President."

"Tom!" they searched.

As the last voice died out, another disembodied voice in the crowd demanded, "Rescue Tom Daniels. He's a Chosen one and he belongs with his own. Lewis, you must return him to the fold. He must understand that species is important and that we'll never co-exist. It goes against all of our instincts."

Lewis remained silent for a few moments. Slanting his head slightly, he studied the expectant faces around him and vowed, "It shall be done."

The Chosen murmured their satisfaction and took a few minutes to stare at Kewleys Comet knowing that their future's ensured as the species at the top of the food chain.

Lewis sighed. "Listen to me!" he yelled, trying to gain everyone's attention again. "We must concentrate on the tasks ahead of us. Our ancestors chose us to destroy the Homo sapiens. Our qualities and aptitude will see this endeavor to the end. We must infiltrate and eradicate the humans from this existence. Their time on Earth is long over. We will inherit the Kingdom of Man."

Turning to study the central pillar and its complex designs, Lewis traced all the Chosen's tattoos interwoven into the star map. Of course, his protegee's design associated with Kewleys Comet was the most prominent. Lewis' hand lightly brushed against it, reminiscing. "It's time," he stated, almost absentmindedly. "Selected Chosen ones attending this meeting will go home and forget this ever took place."

Hearing the collective gasp behind him, he turned his head and clarified, "Those who do forget, you are our 'sleepers', our deep undercover operatives who'll continue to live their existence within the human world."

Lewis ignored the cry of "No!" uttered from many mouths.

"During the Ceremony of the Chosen," he clarified, "all of the "sleepers" underwent extra conditioning and programming. In the future, when we require your services, your contact will utter key phrases to awaken you. If the "sleeper" discovers something contrary to our plan, then he'll awaken, inform the High Council and eliminate the trouble."

:Satisfaction: Lewis sensed. Continuing slowly, he warned, "Beware of our discovery by the humans. Over time, some of us will meet to plan and implement our takeover of the planet Earth."

Glancing at his watch, Lewis lowered his arms and turned to watch the passage of Kewleys Comet. The Chosen followed his lead, watching their event. Suddenly a windstorm blew all the sand into the air, obscuring the Chosen ones and the pillars. Over the wind, a faint sound elevated. "Our Event Horizon has begun."

Bob paced the room holding the sensory deprivation tank, letting his imagination run free with the horrors Tom must be experiencing. Hearing the alarms blaring in the other room, Bob ran through the doors and skidded to a halt in front of the monitors. Leaning over, he gripped the table and stared at the monitors in horrified shock. All the biological readings were going crazy. Everything was redlining. Tom's heart rate, his blood pressure, and brain wave activity.

Out of the corner of his eye, Bob saw Dave, Charles, Jonathan, and Alexandra enter the SDT control room. Whirling to meet the arriving group, Bob bitterly stated, "It's happened, just as I feared it would."

All night, they had noticed that all of the activity had centered on the mysterious pillar in the middle of the clearing about 400m from their hiding place. Because their intent wasn't hostile, no one attending this event had suspected their proximity. Mariana explained the Homo dominants used passive sensing during this evening. The security for the Chosen arrogantly assumed, no "human" would know of the location for this meeting. That assumption would've been true if it wasn't for Mariana who revealed its location and escorted them there. Consequently, Ray, Mariana, and Ed gleaned valuable information for their future survival.

Slowly the meeting dispersed. The surveillance group remained hidden till all left the scene. Only the black carved pillar and several smaller ones remained.

Ed clasped Mariana's hand tightly. The controlled fear in his eyes dilated his pupils, coloring them black. The immensity of their plan appalled him. Glancing at Ray, he saw the same thought mirrored in his face. "Oh man," whispered Ed. "Are we in trouble. The situation is larger than we all thought." Twisting to his right he asked, "Did you know about this Marianna?"

The oddly silent chameleon glanced down. "Not all of it," she murmured, "but I was briefed recently and released from my programming pertaining to Kewleys Comet." Looking up, she locked eyes with Ed and miserably explained, "I'm supposed to be down there tonight because I am Chosen as well, part of the scientific contingent. But someone felt it was more important for you to infiltrate this "Horizon Event" and learn all you can about our species intent."

Ray latched onto this statement. His eyes flashed while he barked, "Who ordered this?"

"I can't say. My orders only allow me to say you must trust me. They'll reveal themselves to you eventually."

Sighing, Ray lay flat, turned towards the pillar and perused the area. "The area is clear. Let's go and inform Walter."

The young woman about 20 years old gazed up and said, "That's Kewleys Comet. Remember you studied it in school. It's our salvation and victory call." Fondly, she gazed at her four small children, all quads, who were in awe of the 'event.' Realizing the time, she herded her children to the farmhouse. "Time for bed," she ordered quietly. "It's just begun, and we'll be there for all of it."

Clenching his fists, Bob leaned over and whispered, "Hold on my friend, help is coming. I'll phone John Maxwell and tell him where we're located." Straightening, he peered at the broken catatonic man, and hoped he wasn't too late. He hoped help would arrive before Tom Daniels died.