Dark Universe & Forbidden Love (14 page)

Lucis held on to a chair and
pushed him up in the dark bridge. He looked around and asked, “Your guys are
alright?”

“Yea.”
Orizy replied as he slowly sat on a nearby chair.

“I am
OK. OK.” Idi said listlessly as she leaned her head against a wall.

Titainein
crawled to Sayilin and saw his face covered in blood. She kept pressure on the
wound and shouted, “Here. Sayilin is hurt!”

Lucis
and Orizy stumbled to Sayilin and checked his head. There was a bleeding wound
on his forehead. Lucis took out a spray from his pocket and applied some mist
to the wound. Erikon ran into the bridge with a bleeding hand and asked,
“Anyone got hurt?”

“I think
we are OK except Sayilin. Check your hand. ” Lucis said as he threw the spray
to Erikon.

“I am
all right, just a scratch.” Erikon said easily. He sprayed some mist on his
hand.

“Idi,
you OK? Can you move?” Titainein asked.

“I can
move, but I don’t want to.” Idi said sadly.

“Where
are we?” Titainein turned to Lucis.

“I have
no idea. We need to get power back first. Erikon, can you do that?” Lucis
asked.

“I think
so. The auxiliary power should still be alright. But we don’t have enough to
move the vessel.”

“Let us
solve one problem at a time. First, get power back. Idi, keep an eye on
Sayilin. Lucis, Orizy and I will go to help Erikon.” Titainein said calmly, but
Idi froze there without any reply.

“Idi,
come on! We have to get ourselves together!” Lucis shouted

“OK, OK.
I will take care of Sayilin.” Idi said feebly.

Erikon,
Lucis, Orizy and Titainein left the bridge for the engine compartment.

After
two hours, the power was back and the bridge was now well lightened.

Orizy,
Lucis and Titainein dragged themselves into the bridge, their face sweat-strapped
and smudged with dust.

“Good
job, guys, where is Erikon?” Idi asked.

“He was
cooking something for us.” Lucis said tiredly as he sunk in a chair. After
several minutes, he sat up and leaned over at the navigation screen. 

“Anything?”
Titainein asked.

“Navigation
system was damaged. We don’t know where we are and we may still use manual, but
we don’t know the coordinates. It is all stored in the system.” Lucis sighed.

Sharing
the same frustration and desperation, Titainein let out a long sigh.

“Should
we send out SOS?” Idi asked cautiously.

“I don’t
have other better ideas.” Titainein said.

“Yea, go
ahead.” Lucis said weakly.

Idi
walked to captain’s chair. It reminded her of Jason. She sat on the chair and
asked, “If Jason was here, what he would do?”

“He
wouldn’t ask for help. He would fight until his last drop of blood was shed.”
Lucis said.

“If you
let him choose between being caught by Glycans and being lost in the universe,
he would choose the latter one.” Titainein said confidently.

“If
Glycans captured us, we still can survive. My father could save us.” Lucis said
firmly, even though the last time he saw his father was ten months ago. 

“What
does your father do?” Idi asked.

“He is
in charge of Human treasury department.”

“Well
then, let’s give it a try.” Titainein said.

Idi
pressed a button, located on the chair arm.

Later,
Erikon brought in some food he found in the kitchen. None of them ate anything
after leaving Eva-1, so everyone was gobbling whatever in front of them.

“So we
just wait here for rescue?” Sayilin said as he wiped his mouth with sleeves.

“Navigation
is down, we can’t go anywhere.” Lucis said sadly.

“I think
there is another way.” Erikon said and rammed a slab of meat into his mouth,
his uniform barely holding his swollen belly.

Everyone
gazed at him, waiting for him to finish chewing.

“We can
use dark engine system.”

“How do
you do that?” Titainein asked.

“The
engine automatically records where it absorbs dark energy. We can use those
coordinates as our destinations.” Erikon said.

“We can
manually enter the coordinates.” Lucis said.

“But
navigation is down. We can’t match those coordinates with the records. It can
be anywhere.” Titainein said calmly.

“For
this cruiser, it must go to the places that have something to do with Guardian
Fleet.” Sayilin said.

“Very
possible.” Titainein nodded.

“Now we
don’t know where we are and we only have limited power, so it is possible that
we might stop at the halfway.” Erikon said uneasily.

“We are
sending out SOS right now. We shouldn’t leave here.” Idi said cautiously.

“We will
keep sending SOS when we are on the move. I don’t want to wait for Glycans to
pick me up.” Sayilin said

“What
about the engine?” Titainein looked at Erikon.

“Partially
works. It needs more work. We can’t repair it in space.” Erikon said.

“Well, I
guess we have to take the risk.” Titainein smiled reluctantly.

Everyone
else nodded. They knew they didn’t have many options at their disposal.

In the
next two hours, they fixed as many leaks as possible and replaced some damaged
parts. They also rewired some lines and restarted the dark engine.

Everyone
was nervous. They could end up anywhere and nowhere.

“Erikon,
the coordinates.” Titainein asked.

“20D3,
4AD55, 78QW6, 3AA82, 3RT47, 23S2, 93B6.” Erikon said.

Lucis
entered them into the system.

“Well,
let’s see.” Sayilin said in a heavy voice and then pushed the throttle forward.

The
cruiser disappeared into the darkness.

Four Glycan soldiers arrested
Gloria before she could finish the physical and mental evaluations on planet
Arigie. Gloria wasn’t surprised at all. She knew this would happen sooner or
later. Right now she was on the way to selection committee on Sylareon.

General
Klizan was kicking his right foot on the floor, wondering whether the Human boy
arrived at Agirue or not. There was something about him. But he couldn’t figure
out what it was. He knew so many soldiers who were much better fighters than
Jason, but he only knew one as crazy as Jason. Her name is Relinee, a superace
and the commander of super vessel fleet.

General
Ceithu walked to Klizan and said, “General, Kalan reported that he got
everything ready. He is asking when they should start.”

“He can
make decision on this kind of thing.”

“We send
somebody else to replace Kalan?” Ceithu asked.

“No.
Even if he failed, nothing could go wrong.” Klizan said easily.

“Understand.
We have received the report from the combat vessels pursuing the cruiser. They
fired at the cruiser and they believe the vessel sustained severe damages. They
lost it before a black hole. Right now they have no idea where the cruiser is.”

“It
couldn’t go far. Send more vessels to them, search the nearby area especially
planets.”

“That
will take a lot of vessels. Our budget planner won’t be happy. Why do we pay
this much attention to a decommissioned cruiser anyway?”

“Because
it was named after my name.” Klizan said firmly. He couldn’t tell him the real
reason, because Ceithu didn’t know the project on Agirue.

“Understand.”

“We
don’t have any religion. Not even one.” Klizan said in a low tone, lost in his
thoughts.

“Where
this comes from? Why you suddenly say something like this?” Ceithu asked in
confusion.

“If we
do have our gods, do you think they can forgive what we have done to superace?”
Klizan asked slowly.

Ceithu
casted his eyes down. After a long while, he said, “If there is a hell, gods
will build another one just for us.”

They
both fell into silence.

“General
Klizan, Gloria from G family is here.” A colonel called in.

“Bring
her.” Klizan said coldly.

Gloria
walked in slowly, her eyes focusing on the ground.

“Come
closer.” Ceithu said and motioned the colonel to leave the room.

Gloria
looked up and saw Klizan. She recognized him right away. He was the one making
her family live in shame. 

“How did
you leave Etitaeg?” Klizan asked coldly.

“Will my
answer make any difference?” Gloria said coldly, casting her eyes down.

“If you wanted
to know what happened to the Human boy Jason, Yes.” Klizan said easily.

Hearing
Jason’s name, Gloria suddenly raised her head, her eyes filled with tears, her
body trembling.

“How do
you know this name?” She asked nervously.

“If you
tell me what happened to you, I will tell you more about him.” Klizan said
easily.

“Is he
still alive?” Gloria asked nervously, her heart throbbing.

“That
depends on your answer. Tell me what happened!” Klizan said loudly, enunciating
every word.

Gloria
told him how Jason saved her and how she arrived at Arigie.

“Now you
know what happened. Please tell me, is Jason alive?” Gloria said in a begging
voice.

“No.”
Klizan said easily.

Glora
busted into tears, but she quickly wiped them away and stared at Klizan in
anger. Klizan remembered this look. It was the same look Jason gave him.

“You
want to fight?” Klizan asked ironically.

Ceithu
looked at Gloria closely, his uniform transforming into an armor suit.

Gloria
dropped her stare. She knew her family has had enough trouble.

“You
love Human this much, then die with him. Put her in prison and prepare the
execution.” Klizan said in a hard voice.

“Thank
you.” Gloria said with a grin.

Klizan
was surprised at her calm and easy reply. Ceithu shook his head in disbelief.
He called in guards and they took Gloria out of the room.

Jason was lying on a square
table. He slowly shook his head from left to right, seeing nothing but white
walls. He tried to move his hands but it turned out that the only body part he
could move was his head.

“At
least I am still alive.” Jason murmured to himself.

Mark was
sitting in a room right next to where Jason was kept. He knew Glycans were
watching him right now.

Outside
of the room, General Kalan, Caytion and Doisgy were looking at Mark.

“I still
don’t think this is a good idea.” Caytion said carefully.

“We
don’t need to think. We carry out our orders.” Kalan said.

“We have
bugged this Human and the alternative Hylocan girl, so we know where they are
all the time.” Doisgy said easily.

“Something
could go wrong with those tracers. It happened before.” Caytion said in a worried
voice.

“We use
what we have.” Kalan said coldly and gave Caytion an angry stare.

“I...I...understand.”
Caytion backed off.

Right at
this moment, Zserie walked in with a big smile and said, “You are not going to
believe this. The Human boy is the son of this man.”

“What
human boy?” Kalan asked.

“Oh,
General Klizan sent us an almost dead Human boy and ordered us to do a genetic
analysis. He is in the next room right now.” Zserie said.

“That
could be useful.” Kalan said as he glanced over at Mark. Kalan pressed a button
and now Mark could see Kalan.

“I will
make this quick. Look to your left.” Kalan said coldly.

Mark
turned his head to the left and saw a wall transforming to a huge window. Then
he saw his son Jason lying on a table. He squeezed his eyes and couldn’t
believe what he saw.

“We want
you know you can save him as long as you do what we asked.” Kalan said
politely.

Mark
turned around, his hands trembling, his face twisted. He looked into Kalan’s
eyes and said, “I will. I will.”

“Let’s
get ready.” Kalan said. 

Mark
walked out of the room, accompanied by five heavily armored Glycan soldiers.
They walked down the hallway and entered another room. A young Hylocan girl was
standing in the room. Her dull and lifeless eyes meant that she was a Hylocan
girl from the planet Hylocan reserve. Mark knew she couldn’t read his mind.

A Glycan
soldier handed Mark a Hylocan communicator and said, “When you reach the outer
space, make the call and tell them you have the girl.”

“Why I
need to bring this girl with me?” Mark asked.

“You
don’t need to know.”

“OK. I
want my backpack.” Mark said and pointed at his backpack on the table.

The
soldier grabbed the backpack, opened it and took a quick look. Then he threw
the backpack to Mark.

Several
minutes later, Mark and the girl were heading to the hangar, accompanied by
five heavily armed soldiers. As they were walking close to a fire alarm located
on the wall, the girl suddenly dashed to the fire alarm and pulled it. The
blaring alarm went off immediately. Three of the soldiers ran to grab the girl.
Mark hit the soldier on his left with his elbow and punched the right one with
his fist. He ran away and headed back to the room where Jason was held. With
alarm echoing in facility, every door opened and groups of Glycans poured out
into the corridor. Mark quickly took out a face transformer from his backpack
and put it on. He blended into the flow and found the room. Everyone was
running for their lives and Mark managed to sneak into the room.

Jason
was laying on the table, his chest covered in dried blood, his breath weak and
shallow.

Mark
checked Jason’s pulse and was happy that Jason was still alive. He took out
another face transformer from his backpack and put it on Jason’s head. Then he
carried Jason on his back and ran out of the room.

No
Glycan paid special attention to Mark. Mark knew the alarm wouldn’t last long.
He quickly rushed to the hangar. When Mark reached there, he hid in the shadow
for a second, checking the surroundings. There were about 10 guards and 20
small spacecraft. Suddenly he saw two girls holding each other’s hand and
running towards a spacecraft. One of girls was the Hylocan girl who pulled the
fire alarm. The other one was wearing some kind of bandage over her eyes. Some
10 soldiers were running after the two girls, but none of them fired a shot.
The guards left their ground and went to stop the girls.

While
all soldiers were focusing on the girls, Mark sneaked into a spacecraft. He put
Jason on the deck, started the engine and took the spacecraft off the ground.
Now those soldiers noticed the spacecraft and everyone was firing at it. Dozens
of laser beams hit the spacecraft, but it was not enough to take it down.

Mark
turned the bow towards those soldiers and fired cannons at them.

“Boom!
Boom! Boom!” The explosions torn those soldiers into pieces. Purple blood and
body parts splattered everywhere. More Glycan soldiers flooded into the hangar
and Mark gunned them down as well. Then Marked destroyed the two entrances and
made a huge hole on the ceiling. Just before he launched the spacecraft into
the sky, he saw the two girls lying on the ground. The one with bandage over
her eyes was crawling. The other one was lying still, covered in blood.

“Shit!”
Mark shouted. He landed the craft near the two girls and rushed out.

He ran
to the girl lying still on the ground. Her belly was soaked in blood and one of
her leg was missing. Mark quickly stood up and ran to the other girl. He
grabbed her on the waist and carried her onto the spacecraft.

“Boom!”
An explosion busted one entrance open.

As
robots poured into the hangar, Mark launched the craft into the sky.

Following
the robots, Kalan, Doisgy and numerous Glycan soldiers walked into the room
carefully. Kalan and Doisgy stopped at the dead Hylocan girl. They all knew
this girl was useless.

“Find
the blind girl, now!” Kalan shouted.

Upon
hearing his order, soldiers spread across the hangar.

“General,
there is no sight of a blind girl.”

Kalan
glanced over at the huge hole on the ceiling, then looked at Doisgy.

“You
mean she was on a vessel?” Doisgy said.

“Yes.”

“But how
can a blind girl pilot a space vessel?”

Kalan
lost his words. As he was thinking other possibilities, Caytion rushed to them
and said, “The two Humans were missing. One of them was bugged and he is in
outer space, leaving Agirue.”

“The
blind girl must be with him.” Kalan said.

“That
makes sense.” Doisgy nodded.

“We can
find him.” Caytion said.

“What
about the blind girl? Did we bug her?” Kalan asked nervously.

“No.”
Caytion said.

“Mobilize
your fleet and find them. I need that blind girl alive. The Human either way.”
Kalan said hastily.

Doisgy
and Caytion nodded and left Kalan.

Kalan
stepped on the head of the dead Hylocan girl and crushed it into pieces. He
knew he was really in a big trouble this time.