Universe in Flames 3: Destination Oblivion (30 page)

“That’s correct.”

“She is not to be
harmed, or I let her go this instant.”

“And let Sarah
die? I don’t think so. You’re terrible at bluffing, you know?”

Chase’s eyes
hardened and flashed amethyst briefly.

“Alright, she
won’t be harmed. What else do you want? I’m feeling particularly generous
today.”

“I bet you are,
and you can thank my friends for that. There’s no way we would have defeated
this beast without their help.”

“We would have if
you had used all your power.”

“I’m not so sure.
I think this battle was never a matter of power.”

“Power is
everything.”

“Obviously not,
but you’ll learn that lesson one day.”

“So that’s all?”

“No, there’s one
more thing. You have to free Sarah before you use Aphroditis for what’s next,
and you must promise us safe passage from wherever it is we’re going next.”

“Done and done.”

Chase was
surprised by how easily Argos had agreed to his terms. Something didn’t feel
right. But he had no choice but to let his fate unfold. He had already reached
the point of no return.

“Where do we go next?”

“Not too far. Let
me enter the coordinates into your ship’s computer.” Once that was done he
added, “You can jump whenever you want. I’ll be in your ready room.”

As Argos left,
Chase turned back to Aphroditis.

“Anything you
wanted to tell me?”

“It wouldn’t
change anything now. Just a word of advice.”

“I’m listening.”

“Forgive yourself
when the time comes, but promise me you won’t let the darkness win.”

“You have my
word, but I don’t like the sound of that.”

“What comes next
is unavoidable now.”

“What
is
coming next?”

“The beginning of
the end.”

*  
*   *

Chase joined his
friends in the mess hall.

“Hey, guys.”

“Chase,” said
Daniel, “come sit with us. You must be tired. Now is time to rest a little and
blow off some steam. We’ve jumped to hyperspace?”

“Yes, soon we’ll arrive
where Argos is holding Sarah. I’ve launched a drone to let the Alliance know
where we went, just in case they come after us.”

“I wouldn’t count
on that,” said Fillio. “Admiral Thassos isn’t as forgiving as Commodore
Saroudis. We’ve already lost our commissions with the Earth Alliance, I can
guarantee that.”

Chase didn’t like
the sound of that. “I’m sorry, guys. I didn’t want to get you in trouble for
helping me.”

“You didn’t want
our help,” reminded Ryonna. “We decided to come and we did it knowing full well
the consequences.”

“Perhaps there’s
a way to change the admiral’s mind, if I surrender myself and take all the
blame. I could tell her I forced you to do this. That way she could go easy on
the rest of you.”

“No way!”
objected Daniel. “We’ll face the music, whatever the consequences. Ryonna is
right, you made it clear you wanted to do this alone.”

“And yet without
your help I would have failed. I don’t know how I will ever repay you. Thank
you, every one of you.”

Chase sat next to
Keera. “You alright?”

“You have amazing
friends.”

“I’m glad to
count you amongst them, you know that?”

“That’s sweet.
What about Argos?”

“Keera, today is
not the day we get to cash your warrant, but it’s only a matter of time. Once
I’m sure Sarah is back home and safe, I’ll make sure Argos pays for all of
this. I’m certain I can beat him now.”

“Careful. He might
have been playing you all along.”

“What do you
mean? I beat him twice already. I think I can do it again.”

“Be that as it
may, something doesn’t add up. He might have an ace up his sleeve.”

“Thanks for the
advice. I’ll be careful.”

“When we return
to Earth, I suppose I should be on my way and resume my activities.”

“You’re welcome
to stay with us.”

“How will I make
a living? I don’t think Earth requires bounty hunters.”

“You won’t need
to make a living, and I’m sure we can find something for you to do that will require
your abilities.”

“I’ll think about
it. Thanks for the invitation.”

“Good. And you’re
welcome.” Chase rose. “Everyone listen.”

They all turned
their attention towards Chase.

“I’m not sure
what’s coming next, but I don’t trust Argos to keep his word. The minute we
have Sarah, we should be prepared for things to go wrong.”

“We’re kinda used
to that by now,” said Daniel.

“Right. Still, be
on your toes. I have a bad feeling.”

*  
*   *

Spiros had
received a summons from Gaia and went into the communications room. He dreaded each
new conversation. He took a deep breath and stepped onto the holo-platform.

Soon he was
projected into a virtual representation of Earth. The place was breathtaking. He
was standing near a lake with beautiful mountains in the background. The air
was pure, and there was no sign of civilization as far as the eye could see.

“Hello, Spiros.”

He turned around
and was surprised to see a woman. The most beautiful woman he had ever laid
eyes on, in fact. She wore a complex and detailed white lace robe, so fine and
thin it barely covered an incredibly sexy body. Her long, green-blue hair flowed
behind her at every step. She looked like the personification of nature
herself.

“Gaia?”

She nodded.

“You look
. . . stunning.”

“Thank you,” she
said, as a bird landed on her finger.

“What is it you
wanted to talk about?”

“I’ve thought
long and hard about our discussions. I have decided to trust your race. When I
first connected with the planet, the feelings of pain, loss and hatred
overwhelmed my matrix. But you gave me food for thought. I now see that the
Alliance has indeed made things better for this world, so it would be unfair of
me to repay your efforts with violence or hatred.”

Spiros was simply
blown away by this rather sudden change in the entity’s attitude.

“That’s good. Great
news, in fact.”

“I know you’re
probably looking for ways to eradicate me.”

“What makes you
think that?”

“Because that’s
what I would do in your place. I haven’t been the best of hosts, and I’ve threatened
your existence since our first interaction. It’s a natural reaction. I get it
now.”

“We would be more
than glad to live in harmony with you.”

“As a gesture of
good will I want to give you full access to the planetary shield. I’ve already
uploaded its controls to your systems. You have full access now.”

“It’s already
done?” Spiros was unable to hide his astonishment.

“Yes. I have also
relinquished access to the drones. You can reclaim them as well. I am confident
the shield will stop any more ships trying to destroy this planet and its
inhabitants, humans included.”

 Spiros was
stunned by all this. It was the last thing he expected. But if his long years
of life had taught him anything, it was not to take things at face value. So he
welcomed this change of pace and attitude from Gaia with reservations.

“And if it
doesn’t?”

“Then we’ll work
on other technological solutions to protect this world. Together.”

“Thank you. All
we want is peace. We also want to save lives, and that includes every inhabitant
of planet Earth. As well as any other planet in the universe.”

“I’m glad to hear
it. It confirms that I chose well in trusting in you.”

“If you don’t mind
me asking, do you really trust us?”

“All humankind?
Not yet. I do trust you though. The more I become acclimated to my new
feelings, the more they tell me you are a good man.”

He blushed. “I’m
honored. And I must say a little surprised by this change of attitude. But it’s
sure a welcome one.”

She smiled. “I am
always here if you need my help. I will gladly help you construct other
defensive systems if you need me to. Your inventions are great. You’re a
skilled inventor, and I think you may benefit from my help from time to time.”

“I would love
that, and I gladly accept your generous offer.”

“Very well, then
I guess there’s not much we need to talk about for now. You know where to find
me.”

“Absolutely. Thanks,
Gaia.”

She smiled and
vanished from the holo-projection, as did the rest of the landscape.

Spiros walked out
of the communications room confused. What the hell did that all mean? Was Gaia being
truthful? He knew full well they couldn’t take the chance. This could very well
be an elaborate smoke screen, an attempt to make them lower their guard. So he
would keep working on contingencies and making sure that, if necessary, they
could still remove the entity from the equation. But for the first time in days
he felt a large weight lift off his shoulders.

He decided to
share the good news with the admiral.

The
Iron Fire
arrived in the Telepylos system. There was no planet in sight, but the first
thing Chase noticed on the holo-screen was the behemoth-class Zarlack ship
waiting for them, appearing as a giant shadow in space with the system’s dual
stars shining behind it. Chase knew the
Iron Fire
wasn’t strong enough
to survive a battle with this class of ship. Even with its newer enhancements,
it was clearly outgunned. This meant they may have to run for their lives once
they got Sarah back.

Argos stepped from
Chase’s ready room and onto the bridge.

“Do you grow
these on trees?”

“What, my ships?
Let’s just say I made sure I had a sizeable armada before we went after the
Alliance.”

“Well, at least
you won’t be able to churn them out so fast.”

“If you’re
referring to the fall of my shipyard inside the Gatos Nebula, that was only one
of my shipyards. Granted, it’s the one I decided to share knowledge of with the
emperor, knowing full well one day I could use it to my advantage.”

“So it was all
planned?”

“Most of it, yes.
You kind of forced me into this position when we parted ways.” He touched his facial
scar once more.

“I must have had
a darn good reason.”

“Yeah, you seemed
to think so at the time, that’s for sure.”

“What now?”

“Now you and
Aphroditis come aboard my ship. You have my word neither of you will be harmed.
And soon after you can go home with your precious Sarah.”

“You know very
well how little your word counts with me.”

“Come on,
brother, I’m in a good mood now. Don’t spoil the moment.”

Chase didn’t like
this at all, but a warm sensation permeated him now that he was about to be
reunited with Sarah.

“Let’s go, then.
The sooner I’m done with you the better. You’re starting to get on my nerves.”

*  
*   *

Chase and
Aphroditis arrived on the Zarlack ship via one of the
Iron Fire
’s
shuttle craft, while Argos took his
Dark Star
. They exited the shuttle
and soon Argos brought them to a room which looked familiar to Chase. He had seen
this room in his nightmares—Sarah’s nightmares as it happened—so many times
that a shiver ran down his spine when he stepped inside.

The tank holding
Sarah was there. She floated in the green liquid, eyes closed, with tubes
protruding from her arms, back, legs and thighs.

“Release her at
once!”

“Relax, brother,
that’s the plan. But first you want me to remove my insurance policy, don’t
you?”

Chase reached
with his mind and located the microscopic nanite-based bomb in her occipital artery.
Argos hadn’t been bluffing. He formed fists. “Do it now!”

Argos smirked and
went towards the nearest console next to the tank, still being guarded by two
Zarlacks.

“Tell your goons
to get the fuck away from her while you’re at it.”

They looked at
each other, confused.

“You heard the
man. You’re dismissed.”

They left the
room at once.

That’s when Chase
noticed a device he hadn’t seen in the nightmares. It looked ancient. It stood
on the other side of the room. It was made of a black alloy, but looked organic
somehow, asymmetric, and was clearly designed for a person to step into.

Argos keyed a few
commands and a robotic arm ending in a spike approached Sarah’s head. A red
laser flashed for half a second and penetrated her scalp. Chase immediately
reached with his mind again and couldn’t find the device anymore. That was it. Now
he had a choice to make. Was he going to relinquish Aphroditis to Argos’
custody or could he try and fight their way out of here?

“You forget I’m
very good at sensing thoughts, brother, and if you’re thinking you can bring me
down now, remember you’re not alone here. And while you could take me down, I
would destroy the
Iron Fire
in a flash, so ask yourself how much your
friends’ lives are worth to you before you do anything stupid.”

Chase’s rage bubbled
to the surface and the ship started to shake.

“Easy, Laiyos!
Calm the fuck down. NOW!”

Argos pressed
another set of commands and another robotic set of arms created thin, black
clothing, covering Sarah’s breasts and genitals. The tubes attached to Sarah then
all popped out in quick succession, creating bubbles in the tank. The green
liquid was flushed at a steady pace.

That was it. Soon
she would be in his arms.

“And don’t forget
you’re not powerful enough to kill me quickly, at least not before I kill both
Sarah and Aphroditis, which I could do with a single thought.”

The ship stopped
shaking.

“That’s better.”

“What guarantee
do I have you’re not gonna try to destroy the
Iron Fire
the minute we
leave here?”

“None whatsoever.
Just my word. But I haven’t lied to you all this time, and since you’ve helped
me accomplish something I’ve been trying to do for more than ten years, believe
me, I couldn’t care less about killing you now. I’m grateful for your help
today, so I suggest you take your prize and go before I change my mind.”

“I still want to
kill you.”

“And that’s your
prerogative, but we both know it will have to wait for another time.”

Chase’s face was clouded
with hate, but then he heard it. Sarah coughed and green liquid escaped her
mouth as she lay on her knees inside the tank. Chase used his mind to rip the
door from the tank and send it flying to the other side of the room.

“I could have
opened the door,” said Argos. “But never mind. It’s not like I need this unit
anymore.”

Chase approached Sarah
and took her into his arms. He used his healing power to influx some energy
into her, to help her wake up.

At first she
pushed him away and assumed a fighting stance, not sure what was happening.
Then she met his gaze. Tears formed in her eyes.

“Chase? Is that
you?”

“It’s me, sweetie.”

She then saw
Aphroditis and Argos.

“What’s going on?
What is happening? I’m confused. I have memories of doing horrible things on
Earth, and one where I was saying goodbye to you. I don’t know what’s real or
not anymore.”

Chase turned to
Argos with a look of disgust. “What is this? Why is she remembering the clone’s
memories?”

“Clone? What
clone?” she asked.

Argos turned to
her. “You were cloned. At first that wasn’t my intention but it took too long
to break you without hurting you seriously. The first time I brought you back
to life, I detected your unborn son. That’s when I decided to clone you.”

“So I am pregnant.
That too I remember, but why do I remember things my clone experienced?” She
was clearly terrified and still not sure she wasn’t having a nightmare.

“In case I needed
to clone another one of you. I thought it would be best that you have these
experiences, so I linked your consciousness.”

She turned to
Chase. “You’re working with him now? What is this? This is not making any
sense.”

“It’s a long
story. I’ll tell you later. We should go.”

“Not so fast. Our
deal isn’t concluded yet.”

“What is he talking
about, Chase? What deal?”

“Later. I will
explain everything, I promise.”

Sarah didn’t like
the sound of that, but she was too disoriented to push the issue for the time
being.

“What do you want
with Aphroditis?” asked Chase.

“Simple.” He took
the stone they had retrieved from the Titan and lifted it with his mind to a
carved part of the dark machine nearby. The machine came to life, purple and
red lights shining in towards its center. “All I need her to do is to step inside
this machine.”

“And then you’ll
let her go?”

“I wish it was
that simple. Unfortunately, she must stay in the machine.”

“For how long?”

“Pretty much
indefinitely.”

“What? No way!”

“Chase, you knew
full well you would sacrifice her when you agreed to come with me to fight the
Titan.”

Chase grew his
aura quickly. His eyes shone amethyst and the ship started to shake violently once
more.

“Easy, brother, I
can still kill your precious Sarah.”

“I won’t let you
use Aphroditis this way.”

Argos also grew
his aura and soon bright red flames engulfed his body.

Aphroditis
stepped between them.

“Stop it now,
both of you!”

“I can’t let him
imprison you in this thing.”

“Chase, I have
accepted this fate. Don’t ruin everything you’ve fought for. In your heart you
knew very well my life could be forfeit at the end of this particular journey.
Look on the bright side: at least I won’t die.”

A tear ran from his
eye. She was right, of course. He knew full well that working with Argos would have
dire consequences. In fact, he was almost blind to that part of the plan until it
became real just a moment ago. But in truth he knew that would happen.

She put her hand
on his shoulder. “Please calm down now. Let me make this choice, and I choose
to go inside this machine so you can be with Sarah and witness the birth of
your son.”

Tears formed and
flowed from both Chase’s and Sarah’s eyes.

“Just remember
your promise, Chase.”

He nodded. “I
promise. I will stop him and whatever comes next.”

Argos smirked and
shook his head. “Time’s up.”

Aphroditis took
Chase in her arms and embraced him tightly. “Goodbye, Chase, I’m counting on
you!”

He answered
telepathically. “I’m so sorry. I will find a way to get you out of this.”

She then released
her grasp and walked toward the machine. She turned back and smiled at Chase
and Sarah. Then she took a step backward and the machine did the rest. She
closed her eyes as red lightning grabbed her and sucked her inside the machine,
new black, organic-looking vines extending and locking her in. The device hummed
and more lights shone. When she opened her eyes again, they were devoid of life.
They were all white, with no pupils showing.

“Is she
suffering?”

“I couldn’t tell
you, but I don’t think so.”

Chase turn back
to Sarah, who was in shock from all she had witnessed in the past few minutes,
and took her hand. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Laiyos, wait!
You will want to see what happens next.”

“I’ve seen more
than I wanted to see today. So long, Argos. The next time our paths cross
. . .”

“I know, you’ll
kill me. Good luck with that.”

As Chase and
Sarah were about to leave the room, something happened outside the ship. It
caught Chase’s attention.

A translucent,
planet-sized sphere blurred the stars. It seemed to be half here and half
somewhere else. As more seconds passed, it became less blurry and materialized
progressively. After a minute, a full planet had appeared in view.

“What the hell is
this?” asked Chase.

“That, my dear
brother, is what you’ve helped me achieve today. Say hello to Erevos, our home
world.”

To be continued . . .