Dark Universe & Forbidden Love (53 page)

General Kalan was waiting
impatiently as his fleet was closing to Cruiser General Klizan. He was
concerned about Hylocan. Last time, they managed to seize the cruiser right in
the middle of two Glycan fleets. Kalan didn’t want that happen again.

As Kalan
was pondering the strategies against Hylocan, Neiteo, the deputy chief of
Seventh fleet, walked to him and said, “General Kalan, we found a tracer in
that Human’s body. It is made by Glycan.” Neiteo said seriously.

“From
Glycan? Are you sure?” Kalan asked in confusion.

“Yes, it
is the latest model of its kind.” Neiteo said firmly.

“What
did that Human say?”

“It
seems that he doesn’t even know about the tracer.”

“What
else? Did you ask him how he knew about the eyeball?”

“Not
yet. He said he knows you and has something you will be interested in.” Neiteo
whispered into Kalan’s ear.

“Wait.
You mean he knows me?”

“He said
you two met before.”

“I met
him before?” Kalan asked in disgust.

“I was
surprised as well, so I asked him where he met you. He said planet Agirue.”

Kalan
froze there for a second and said, “This is very interesting.”

“I am
also thinking about that tracer. Maybe this Human really knows something.”
Neiteo said as he winked at Kalan.

“Then
torture him and find out.” Kalan said decisively.

“I
personally like to save it as the last resort.” Neiteo said carefully.

Kalan
paused for a second and said, “OK, let’s see this Human.”

In a
well-lighted compartment, Mark was fixed on a chair among all kinds of weird
equipment. Mark didn’t know he was bugged until those Glycans showed him the
tracer. He recalled the fight with Liutein and wondered whether that was the
reason. But if Liutein wanted to kill him, there was no need to bug him. He
could simply asked Treton to do it. Then Mark thought about the prison mission
Treton gave him and he started to feel that this might have something to do
with Jason.

Just at
this moment, Kalan walked into the compartment leisurely, followed by Neiteo.
He gazed at Mark for several seconds and said, “I thought you were dead.”

“Surprise?”

“What
can you offer to save your ass this time?” Kalan asked directly.

“Liutein.”

Kalan
was surprised but he didn’t show anything on his face. Instead he flashed a
brittle smile and said, “How come I am not surprised.”

“If you
don’t believe me, you can simply kill me.” Mark said calmly.

They
stared at each other for several seconds.

“You are
already dead. You still don’t see it?” Klaycon said easily.

“It’s a
matter of opinion.”

“Where
is Liutein?” Kalan asked coldly.

“I will bring
you to him.”

“You
think we will trust you just like this.” Kalan laughed.

“It’s up
to you.” Mark said slowly.

Kalan
didn’t say anything and walked out of the compartment. Neiteo followed him and
locked the door behind. He caught up with Klaycon and asked, “You think he
really knows where Liutein is?”

“No.”

“We have
been searching Liutein for a while and no fleet has any clue. If we have a lead
and find Liutein, that will be big.”

“I know,
but this Human is lying to save his ass.”

“Think
about the tracer.”

Klaycon
paused for a second.

Just at
this moment, Neiteo’s badge rung and he answered it.

“Chief,
the patrol reported the sighting of Cruiser General Klizan.”

“Are you
sure?” Neiteo asked nervously and looked at Kalan in confusion. Kalan heard their
conversation. He didn’t expect the cruiser was this close to the fleet.

“Yes,
chief. It is Cruiser General Klizan and it is drifting towards us right now.”

“Battle
station.” Kalan said hastily.

“Battle
station!” Neiteo shouted at his badge.

Two minutes
later, Kalan and Neiteo rushed back to the bridge.

“Sir,
combat formation is ready. Fighter jets have been deployed. The cruiser is
still drifting towards us.” First officer reported.

“General?”

“Send
probes.”

“Send
probes.” Neiteo repeated the order hastily.

Ten
probes flew off the patrol vessels and headed to the cruiser.

“Fighter
jets stand by for engagement. Ready long range missiles.” Kalan said calmly.

“First
wave fighter jets stand by for order. Cruiser 21 to 50, ready long range
missiles” Neiteo said quickly.

“Estimate
probe contact time is five minutes.” First officer said.

Everyone
in the bridge was focusing on the screen.

Klaycon
crossed his arms in front of the chest so that no one could notice his hands
were shaking. He had no idea what would happen next.

It was the longest five minutes.

“Probes
are closing to the target right now. Images are coming.” First officer said.

On the
screen, the shark like cruiser was moving slowly, its hull shining brightly.
Apparently, it was not on power.

“Scan
the cruiser for life sign.” Kalan ordered.

“Right
away.”

The 10
probes circled the cruiser several times and returned with no hit.

“Send
one probe into the cruiser. Keep the fleet at this bearing. No fighter jet
returns to the carrier.” Kalan said slowly.

Neiteo
repeated Kalan’s order and sent the authorization code to the cruiser. One
probe was able to open the emergency airlock and entered into the cruiser.

It was
cold, dark and dead quiet inside the cruiser. As the probe wandered around,
Kalan and others could see sticky brown stuff covering the interior like a
layer of mold. The probe soon reached the bridge and Kalan and others were
shocked at the image. Yayi’s dead bodies piled like mountains.

“That is
spooky.” Neiteo muttered.

Kalan
then had the probe flown to the compartment where the Hylocan eyeball was held.
The eyeball was gone.

Kalan
sighed and wondered how to report this to the Joint Commanders of Staff.

Later
Kalan went aboard the cruiser and activated it with his crystal. He ordered the
mechanic team to check the vessel. At the same time, the medical team took
samples of those brown stuff. A quick analysis showed that it was the dried
blood, but they couldn’t identify the species having this kind of blood due to
the lack of instruments.

After a
day, mechanics finished checking the cruiser and it was ready for sail. Kalan
knew going back like this would be like slapping his own face. He must find
something to make up the lost. Then he suddenly remembered the Human Mark. The
joint commanders were more interested in finding Liutein.

Neiteo
looked worried and unsettled. He could tell there was something about this
cruiser and Kalan was hiding it from him. He walked to Kalan and said, “We are
ready. We can leave at any moment.”

“I see.”
Kalan replied coldly.

“Is
everything alright? I mean we are here to find the cruiser and we found it. Now
it’s time to hit the road.” Neiteo said in a hard voice.

“Neiteo,
I know what you are thinking.” Kalan said slowly.

“Something
about the cruiser I need to know? You know, apparently some species were in
that cruiser and some horrible thing happened. Be honest with you, I don’t even
want to know what happened. But as for now, we will take the cruiser with us,
so anything I have to pay attention?”

“I don’t
know.” Kalan said sincerely.

Now
Kalan sounded more like a friend, so Neiteo just let it be.

“What
about that Human? Do we kill him? Or you are thinking about using him to find
Liutein?”

“I like
to give it a try.”

“At
least we got something from this trip.”

“That is
one way to put it.” Kalan sighed.

Later in
the day, just before they headed back to Sylareon, Kalan talked with Mark. They
reached an agreement that if Mark could lead Kalan to Liutein, Kalan would
spare him and his two sons.

Dolanz and Oepttese had been
technically at war since UWI, but this time they had gone much further in the
drain. Human was fighting for Oepttese but consistently denied it. It wasn’t
the first time Human did it, but Dolanz never declared war to Human. Their
relation was more like two close friends running after one girl and one day the
girl made the decision and dumped one boy. The dumped boy couldn’t stay cool
and always gave the girl a hard time. The other boy pretended that he didn’t
know, but helped the girl under the table. Both boys knew what was going on,
but neither of them wanted to ruin their friendship. When this applied to
species, it was far more complex, tangled with profits and interests.

Jason
quickly got used to the life as a pilot on the carrier. The military life
reminded him the old days when he was a trainee in Human preselection center.
Pilots were allowed to call their families once a week. Jason called Erikon and
learned that Oepttese only took him and left others on Weithei. Orizy came
later and picked them up. Jason was happy that none of them was hurt and then
he asked Erikon about Gloria. It turned out that Gloria didn’t return to the
training center. Erikon didn’t know whether Gloria was OK or not. Jason was
upset and worried, but there was nothing he could do.

In a
typical day, Jason usually spent four hours patrolling near the fleet. It was
allocated into two sections, each of which has two hours. Besides those four
hours, Jason had a lot of free time on his hands and he got bored quickly.

One day,
after the routine patrol, Jason came back to the room and sunk into the bed. He
wasn’t tired or sleepy, but there was nothing else to do. Since he spoke with
Erikon, he couldn’t pull himself up. Even though he acted just like other guys,
he never felt so lonely in his heart. His father was probably dead and Gloria
was out of touch. Then he thought about his current situation, he felt
difficult to breathe.

“Hey,
Jason, you OK? You look kind of heavy.” Riodin asked gently. He was a new guy
with ginger hair and flat nose.

“Yea, I
am fine.” Jason said easily and squeezed out a stiff smile.

“Let me
guess. You lost someone too?” Riodin asked sadly.

“My
father, they lost contact with him. He could still be alive.” Jason said
weakly.

“In the
war, this happens all the time. He might be just fine.”

Jason
nodded and asked, “You lost someone?”

Riodin
paused for several seconds and sighed, “My brother died several days ago. In
his case, they found the body or at least part of him. He was in infantry
division.”

Jason
didn’t say anything. He didn’t really know what to say.

“Why we
fight this war? Why?” Riodin shouted suddenly.

Other
pilots looked at Riodin, but quickly went back to their own stuffs. They had
gotten used to this kind of screams.

Jason
let out a long sigh. He didn’t understand why Human fought side by side with
Oepttese and he knew Human got in deep this time. Previously, Human only sent
weapons and other supplies to Oepttese, but this time Human dispatched its
Second fleet. Human only had six fleets and each of them had three carriers and
around 30 other vessels.

Rew strolled
to Riodin and said, “At least we are all airman.”

“What
difference does that make?” Jason asked impatiently.

“You
know, how you are treated in the force is really up to the gear under your
ass.” Rew said in a joking tone.

They all
smiled quietly.

“Hey,
let’s get some fun. You two are new. Let me show you a place.” Rew said in a
mysterious manner.

The
three left the living quarter and headed to the bottom of the carrier.

A
carrier was like a big city with everything a person on land could need. That
of course included facilities supporting daily life, such as a brothel. The
history of brothels on Human carriers and other vessels could date back to
UWII. During that war the financial situation of Human fleet was so bad that
they didn’t have enough money to pay enlists, officers and other personnel. As
a result, brothels were brought on board to serve as one form of payments.
After UWII, brothels were removed for a short period of time. However, it came
back under the request of serving men. Human defense department never
officially admitted there were brothels on any vessel. 

In order
to motivate serving men, different fleets even set up different access rules
for brothels. Basically, it depended on individual’s performance on the
battlefield. In Human Second fleet, if someone performed well on the
battlefield, the same value ticket would grant him a better looking girl.