World Without End

The nuclear blasts at the turn of the Millennium have touched humanity with the cold breath of extinction, and the exiles from the centers of power realise that the odds for survival haven't changed greatly under the new order...

A former enforcer for the new lords, Kane found shelter in Cerberus Redoubt, along with the Archivist Brigid and fellow magistrate Grant. They know that unseen forces guard an ancient secret, which has thrown a dark shroud over the future. Behind them stands the impenetrable past. But all that changes when they are suddenly catapulted into another reality - and here, as they attempt to remake the future, the enemy races to turn time into a weapon of destruction.

Book one of the Lost Earth Saga!

First Printing: March 1999

Total Pages: 348

Written By: Mark Ellis

Hellbound Fury: Book Summary

The book begins where Iceblood left off.  Kane has just been given the vigil to try and find a way for the human race to survive.  He has all three of the stones and the group leaves to return to the gateway located in the monastery.

On the way out they encounter the last surviving member of the Tushe Guns group.  He has totally lost his mind and forces Kane to kill him by attacking.  The find the horses and the food exactly where they left them and camp for the night.

In Cobaltville the baron has a private audience with Abrams.  Abrams informs him that only one redoubt in the United States has yet to be explored. The cerberus redoubt.  The baron demands that they inspect it.  He isn't happy about it but Abrams is forced to lead the expedition.

On the trip back to the Monastery the group encounter a small band of bandits.  Kane kills the leader and gains the title Tushe Gun from Trai, the girl they brought back with them.

Back at the redoubt Lakesh is outside standing on the Plateau. He's lost in thought in regards to the failed attempts to chance the past, in his fight against the barons and the eventual extinction of the human race. Domi and Grant are walking together and they meet up with Lakesh. They discuss the possibility that Kane may have killed Balam, and the agreement that Kane made with Skydog.

They head back into the redoubt and run into Beth Li who is looking for Lakesh.  They tell the woman where she can find him.  Domi then helps Grant back to his quarters and props his legs up for him. She talks with him and nearly manages to seduce him when Bry calls.  The signal that they were waiting for has arrived. Kane and Brigid are on their way back.

Beth Li catches up with Lakesh and wants him to return her to Sharpeville, or another ville.  He tells the woman that it is impossible and accepts the blame for her situation instead of allowing it to be put on Kane and Brigid.  Beth Li stills sees it as a competition that she doesn't want to lose.

Kane suffers from Jump nightmares.  The first one involves a battle at Mount Rushmore, which has a fifth monument. That of Hitler.  Another nightmare shows him a fight at an Archon embassy. The third in deep space against an Archon dreadnought.

The mat trans messes up and the mist doesn't dissipate. Grant helps Brigid get out and he sees that there are four different Kane's.  The others disappear and when he touches the last one his hand passes right through it.

Slowly Kane reforms and he's taken away to be inspected by the redoubts resident physician.  Domi points out the obvious to Lakesh that the effect that they witnessed must have had something to do the three stones that Kane brought back with him.

Beth Li goes to the armory and takes a HK P-7 M8.

Abrams is called for another meeting with the Baron.  Cobalt admits to making a mistake with Salvo, and that he realizes that Salvo was the hostage, not Lakesh.  He now knows that Lakesh was being rescued.

Cobalt explains his reasoning to Abrams.  He then reveals that he hasn't been in contact with the Directorate and the possibility that it might not exist because he has never seen it or anyone from it.  He will not share his suspicions with the other Barons.

Back in cerberus Kane is undergoing an EKG.  He is suffering from horrible headaches and the doctor is trying to find out why.  She ends up giving him an injection to lessen the pain and Brigid shows up to see how he is going.  The injection makes him sick and dizzy so Brigid helps him back to his quarters.

There, Beth Li attacks them.  She has every intention of taking Brigid out and Kane is too messed up on the painkillers to be any help.  Brigid is forced to fight the other woman.  In the struggle, Kane is shot.  But Lakesh hears the fight over the intercom and sends Grant and others down to help.

Brigid is in tears.  She and Kane share a rather intimate moment together.  The wound is unsightly, but non life threatening.

After the fight Kane is taken away to the infirmary once again.  Brigid confronts Lakesh in regards with Beth Li.  She accuses Lakesh of being no different from the Barons he's so opposed to.  She asks Beth Li to confide herself to her quarters until Kane decides what to do about her.  On the way out the other woman agrees and apologizes to her for being so blind to how much Kane loves her.

After Kane is patched up and he leaves the infirmary, he, Brigid, and lakesh meet to discuss what to do next, and what to do about Lakesh himself.  When Lakesh asks what they want to do with him, the others are at a total loss.  Then he brings up what probably would have happened to each of them if he hadn't interfered with their lives.

During the heated discussion, Kane picks up one of the stones and receives a powerful vision from Colonel Thrush.  The man (?) has thrown down the gauntlet of challenge to Kane.

After it ends Lakesh debriefs them and tells Kane what happened when he rematerialized from the jump.  Kane then tells him about the jump dreams he had.  He then tells them about Thrush's intent to concur each of the lost Earth's he had witnessed, until humanity is either enslaved or extinct.

The doctor asks to see Kane regarding the EKG she took of him earlier.  They meet and it turns out that that he had three very distinct brain wave patterns after returning from the jump.  They discuss what to do.

In a different casement Kane is screwing the hell out of Beth Li.  He is a knight in the military.  It turns out that the Nazi's won WW2 in this casement by detonating a nuke in Washington on Jan 20^th 1945.  This casement's Kane has been having visions.  Baptist is a captain and Grant shares the same rank as Kane.  They are both Majors.

All three have been suffering from bad headaches.  Kane, Grant and Brigid go into a building on Col. Thrush's request (actually demand).  They see a number of hybrids and are taken to see Salvo while he is interrogating Domi.

Turns out that Domi broke into the base with a tailored virus that was to be put into the incubation chambers and would wipe out an entire generation of battle class hybrids.  Kane and Grant are to perform the interrogation. When Salvo breaks a rib Grant nearly loses it.  The action surprises everyone in the room.  He recovers stating she was about to talk.

This casement's Domi convinces them that she'll talk if allowed to sit up.  They agree and she bolts, grabs the sonic weapon from Salvo and kills herself.

After the failed interrogation they are taken to see the administrator who turns out to be Lakesh.  He wants to learn what they discovered in the interrogation.  But Thrush informs him that they found nothing.  Thrush is convinced she had inside help as the outlanders wouldn’t have access to the labs that would create the virus she had.

Thrust informs Kane that he is going to take a squad of battle class genotypes into the field the next day to wipe out a group of Outlanders who are camped at Mount Rushmore.

After the meeting all go their separate ways.  The headache Kane is suffering from only gets worse, not better.  He hears a voice in his head telling him to go see Brigid as she could help him.  He takes the voice's advice and does so.

Just like the first time he met Brigid he walks in on her while she is totally naked.  And the beauty she possesses takes his breath away.  They discuss what is happening to them and he brings up the Archons and the Archon directive.

Both end up giving into the pent up sexual desire they have been holding at bay for so long and have sex.  This is what the other casement's Kane and Brigid needed to take control of the bodies.

In their home casement Bry, Domi and Lakesh have hit the halfway mark in the test.  Kane, Brigid and Grant are inside a modified gateway.  None are sure exactly what is going to happen.

Beth Li left her quarters and goes to see Wegmann, the redoubts resident tech and handy man.  She tells him straight that she wants a partner, an ally and a lover out of him.

In the other casement Kane and Brigid are a little shaken by how they ended up taking control of their doppelganger bodies.  They spend time comparing memories of their alter ego's experiences.

The two of them head off to see Grant.  The other casement hasn't been taken over yet.  They talk and Kane tries several different words to try and help his friend break through.  When he tries Olivia, it works.

The next day Kane and Salvo are riding in an Ogre battle tank to wipe out the Outlanders.  They have thirty battle class genotypes with them.  Kane doesn’t think that the genotypes appear to be very tough.

The Outlanders and roamers turned out to have been lured there to be wiped out.  The Ogre attacks and wipes out a huge number of the roamers.  Salvo sends Kane and the battle class genotypes into the battle.

The battle types are very effective and one attack's Kane. He shoots it through the heart and it undergoes a horrific metamorphosis.

Brigid and Grant go to confront this casements Lakesh.  He suspects they might be silent invaders from another Casement and neither of them deny it.  Lakesh admits to the fact that he was the one who had helped Domi and goes to show them the results of the work in Dulce.  They see a battle class genotype undergo the transformation, but suffers soul wrenching agony in the process.  They run into Thrush and he knows exactly who and what they are.

Kane Barely manages to kill the battle class genotype.  Salvo holds off finishing the man  He asks Kane why Thrush wants him dead. He tells him about not being from this casement.  Salvo thinks that his half brother has gone insane. Outside the Ogre the survivors open up on the Battle Class Genotypes.  Salvo breaks away and heads for the Ogre, Kane is right on his heels.

Kane gets inside before Salvo and order the pilots to close the ramp.  One of the pilots questions him so he pistol whips the man. The other pilot follows his orders.  He forces the pilot to close the ramp and when a trio of battle class troops get in front, the pilot is forced to run two over.  He gets the pilot to take the Ogre to Mount Rushmore where he uses the Ogres weapons to destroy the image of Hitler.  Salvo comes into the compartment and nails him in the nuts.

Back at Mesa Thrush forces Brigid and Grant to go with him. He shows them a docile battle class, explaining that they were designed to wipe out humanity, being man’s natural predator.  Brigid goads him and they learn more about the man and what he has been up to in the many casements that he has visited.  At the end, they are taken to see this casements Balam.

Kane goes down after the sneak attack from Salvo.  But Salvo doesn’t finish him off, instead it gives the man the time to goad Salvo into becoming so enraged that he ends up attacking him with the butt of his weapon instead of just shooting him. He is a superior fighter and beats the other man quite easily.  Salvo falls out of the ramp and Kane does try to help but the man is so determined to kill his brother, he ends up just kicking him in the face until he falls out of the Ogre.  The pilot sees what happens and Kane ends up killing him and then calls in for help, saying the battle class went nuts.

End of Hellbound Fury