Universe in Flames 3: Destination Oblivion (7 page)

“Neat.”

“We’re not
supposed to stay around, though. Normally we go to Elysium.”

“Elysium?”

“What the humans
call heaven.”

“You’re shitting
me, right? Heaven exists?”

“Not the way
religions of Earth paint it. It’s just a specific plane of existence in the
universe that only a few beings can reach when their physical body dies.”

“Why didn’t you
go, then?”

“I wanted to see
you again, for one thing.”

“I’m glad to see
you too, and sorry as well.”

“Don’t be. It’s not
your fault. The moment Aphroditis broke the rules and contacted you, this was
always a highly probable future.”

“Still
. . .”

“Chase, you
really need to listen to me now.”

Chase exhaled in
frustration, but out of respect for his old mentor he nodded in agreement.

“Look, I
understand how you must feel. You think we told you to kill Sarah and your
unborn child, and no one should ever be put in that position.”

“You told me it
wasn’t you already.”

“Would you please
let me finish, Chase?”

“Alright. Go
ahead.”

“I have no idea
if contacting you was a good or a bad thing. I don’t have the gift of foresight
like my half-sister. And honestly, I don’t know if what she sees can be taken
at face value. But she sensed something in you. She sensed your purity of heart.
Until I met you and we trained, I didn’t think much of you. Most Furies were
just bloodthirsty creatures. They care not for others. All they want is
domination, chaos; and they don’t mind spilling the blood of billions in their
pursuit for power. Before they were defeated, they thought they were the only
race deserving to live and had no problem obliterating any other race standing in
their way. Their complete lack of empathy towards life was legendary. So many
races are gone today because of them. So, about ten thousand years ago, my
father and a few other older races decided to do something about it.”

“They killed all
the Furies.”

“I don’t think
so.”

“What do you mean,
you don’t think so?”

“Olympians don’t
like taking lives.”

“Uh-huh. Not
really in line with what you told me about yourself.”

“Alright, I’m
amongst the exceptions. We’re living beings with free will after all, and some
of us don’t respect all the rules.”

“That’s pretty
clear by now.”

“Chase,
understand I’m not the person I once was. I did terrible things. I plotted
wars, used the weaknesses and fears of one civilization to destroy another. I
was blinded; drunk on power, in fact.”

“You don’t have
to apologize to me. I wasn’t even born back then.”

“I’m
. . . I’m not so sure about that,
really.”

Chase’s
expression changed. “You’re not seriously entertaining the idea that I could be
tens of thousands of years old, right?”

 “Anything is
possible. Perhaps you were preserved. I don’t know. All I know is what I felt
battling you.”

“And that is?”

“An old soul, and
a power beyond anything I’ve ever met before.”

“Surely Argos as
well?”

“Yes, Argos also has
this power. But it’s as though your powers are opposite sides of the same coin.
He is a Fury alright: arrogant, scheming, drunk for power, but also scared.”

“Scared? You’re
shitting me. I can’t imagine my brother being scared of anything.”

“Then you’d be
wrong. I felt an intense fear when I fought him. Something running really deep,
so deep he might not even know it himself. I wouldn’t be surprised if, in fact,
it was that fear that subconsciously drives his actions.”

“If you’re asking
me to reason with him, you’ll be sorely disappointed, Ares.”

“I know. The hatred
between you probably can’t be fixed.”

“It can’t, and
his days are numbered. Now that he came here, I’m gonna track him down and
avenge Sarah’s, my child’s and my mentor’s deaths.”

“I understand,
but please let me explain further.”

“Very well.”

“So, Olympians
are not the killer types, and after realizing how wrong I was I
. . . Well, I left my people. In fact,
they more or less banished me. And I had centuries to reflect upon what I had
done. This happened before the Furies were defeated. I had nothing to do with
their downfall, so I cannot be sure. But I know my father, Zeus. While his
might and anger are legendary, I don’t see him killing an entire civilization.”

“What then? Where
are the Furies?”

“That’s just it,
Chase, I don’t know; but perhaps some are still around.”

“It wasn’t just
the Olympians who fought them, right?”

“No, in fact a
coalition of almost all the worlds living back then assembled their forces and
fought a war that lasted generations. But they were simply too powerful. Sometimes
a single Fury would arrive on a planet and destroy everything on his own.”

“That explains
some of my visions.”

“Exactly, Chase.
Furies are something else. They are powerful beyond reason. And they are
aligned with darkness, of that much I’m certain.”

“How do you
explain me, then?”

“The exception
that confirms the rule?”

“Are you telling
me or asking me?”

“Chase, I don’t
know why you don’t have a blood thirst like the rest of your people. Perhaps
you are a hybrid. Perhaps I’ve looked at it all wrong, and the fact that you’re
so powerful doesn’t mean you must be a pure-blood Fury. Perhaps it’s that
distinction that makes you so powerful.”

“I have rage,
anger and fury in me. I just choose to control them.”

“I know, and I
thank you for it. But there’s something else in you. At first, when Aphroditis
told me you were the key I simply couldn’t feel it. You seemed too arrogant,
too sure of yourself; a little childish really.”

Chase smiled
ironically.

“No offense
intended.”

“None taken.”

“But you
constantly put your own life in service of others, ready to sacrifice it at a
moment’s notice. So I don’t know what the future holds, Chase. All I know—and
this is just a gut feeling—is that you have a role to play in what happens in
this universe. You matter.”

Chase released another
long breath of frustration.

“Does that bother
you that much?”

“I
. . . I’m done, Ares. I just want
to kill Argos and be done with all this. I’m not sure I want to keep living
once he’s dead.”

“You don’t truly believe
that. Your anger and thirst for revenge are what’s driving you right now, and
believe me, I understand. But no, deep within your soul, in your heart, I feel
this is not true.”

“I don’t feel
what you feel.”

“I know. Been there,
remember?”

Chase nodded.

“Look, Chase, I
sacrificed myself so my half sister would live. I have a request, a favor if
you wish, to ask of you.”

“Protect her?”

“Yes, please. She
fled when I asked her to. I think she went to Earth.”

“Of all the
places
. . .”

“I know. Too many
memories there. That’s why you left it in the first place.”

“Yeah
. . .”

“Please, Chase.
I’m sure Argos is after her. He made that very clear.”

“Look, if she’s
on Earth, or will be on Earth soon, that’s probably the safest place in the
universe right now.”

“I wouldn’t be so
sure.”

“What do you
mean?”

“She said in the
potential futures she saw
. . .
Well, if you left Earth, most of those futures didn’t end well, for Earth or anyone
else for that matter.”

“Here we go again
. . .”

“Look, Chase, I know
you hate all this. Prophesy, the future, fate.”

“You got that
straight!”

“Nevertheless, if
she sees chaos and death, I believe it might happen.”

“Not really my
problem anymore.”

“I know, but
please promise me you’ll protect her. That’s all I ask.”

Chase looked at
Ares’ golden energy form and pondered what was asked of him. He didn’t care
about anything but killing his brother now. The rest was background noise.

“Chase?”

“Alright, I’ll
look after her, but only because of the respect I have for you.”

“Fair enough. Thank
you, Chase.”

“You’re going to
Elysium now?”

“We’ll see. You might
still need my guidance in the coming days.”

“Guidance or
emotional blackmail?” The moment he said it he regretted it. “Sorry, Ares, that
was low.”

“It’s alright. I
understand how you must feel. Thank you for listening to me.”

“Sure. What
should I do with your body?”

“I didn’t think
about it really. If you don’t mind, I’d like you to commit it to the stars.”

“You want me to
space you?”

“My body, yes. From
the stars it came; to the stars it shall return.”

“Very well, consider
it done.”

“Thanks, Chase.”

“Anytime. See you
around then?”

“We shall see.”

The golden aura dissipated,
and soon Ares was gone.

On board the
Iron
Fire
, Daniel sat in the captain’s chair. Ryonna’s contacts had come through.
Apparently she had been right, and Chase had been seen fighting on the Ponos
One station. They were about to exit hyperspace on their way there when Ryonna
entered the bridge.

“Where’s
Tar’Lock?”

“He’s resting. He
didn’t get much sleep. Apparently a sound made by the hyperspace engine bothers
him and he’s been really restless.”

“What has changed
that he sleeps now?”

“I knocked him
unconscious.”

“You what?”

“Look, I like
Tar’Lock, but after two days without sleep he was driving me insane; plus we
need him alert, so it’s a win-win.”

“Hope you went
easy on him.”

She smiled. “Give
me some credit, will you?”

“Alright.” Daniel
was unable to restrain from chuckling.

“What so funny?”

“Nothing. I just
had a mental image of you knocking him out.”

“He could have
dodged. He is infinitely faster than any of us. I think he wanted it.”

“Alright,” said
Daniel, still grinning.

“Where are we?”

“We’ll be there
in less than an hour.”

“I hope Chase is
still there.

“You and me
both.”

“What if he
doesn’t want to come back?”

“We’ll make him.”

She laughed.

“What?”

“Do you really
think we can make him do anything against his will?”

“I guess not. We’ll
ask nicely, then.”

“Yeah, let’s do
that, and pray he is in a better mood than when last we saw him.”

“Worst comes to
worst you can try clocking him too,” said Daniel with a wink.

“I can try, but
I’d rather not.”

“Look at it this
way: if he wants to get his ass beaten, who better than you to do it.”

“I suppose
there’s some logic in what you say.”

*  
*   *

Argos sat on his
throne, pensive, when he heard the hiss of his pet snake from within the jar
next to him.

“Soon. I still
have work to do now,” said Argos towards the jar.

He brought a holo-display
to life and placed a call.

“Good day,
Master.”

“How’s the
subject?”

“Vitals are
strong. Nothing to report.”

“Have you made
the preparations I’ve requested?”

“Subject is ready
for transport.”

“Very well. Make
sure everything goes perfectly; I don’t have to tell you what would happen
otherwise. I’ve dispatched twenty warships to accompany you to your
destination.”

“Absolutely,
Master. Thy will be done.”

Argos terminated
the communication and flicked the video away. He then brought up a security
bulletin. It showed his picture on a warrant, and apparently he was worth thirty-five
million credits alive and forty million dead. That made him smile.

The Datalight
Thieves Corporation didn’t like the fact that once his engineer was done with
their help cracking the Olympian’s communications encryption, he’d had them
blown up. Argos despised DTs, so he’d never had any intention of letting them
live, whether they succeeded or failed at their task. As for the warrant, he
found it funny. As if there was any bounty hunter in the galaxy capable of
stopping him. In any case, it brought attention to him, and perhaps that’s what
he needed for the next part of his plan.

Now that his
brother Laiyos’ resolve had been destroyed beyond repair, he would be easier to
manipulate. Argos wished he didn’t need him, though. That last fight had been a
close call.

“I can’t believe
how strong he has become. I really need to tread carefully next time.”

Argos’ pride was
what had been wounded most during their last encounter. Not in a million years
did he imagine his brother would take the upper hand in that fight. It was
unexpected to say the least. Ares had obviously trained him well. His own fight
with Ares, however short and decisive it had been, clearly revealed a skilled
and trained warrior. Qualities he must have passed along to Laiyos. But there
was something else, something more, about Laiyos. Argos wondered what that was
and how he had missed it before.

But by now he had
no doubts that his brother would be spiraling down into oblivion. He had heard
of his fighting on Ponos One, and he had no doubts that his spirit was crushed.
It had been so simple to deceive him, though. But what had sealed the deal was
when he controlled Sarah’s mind, making her tell him to shoot her ship.

The irony was
that she had given him the idea. Her trapped consciousness had suggested it to
him so many times, to have her killed. That was the beauty in all this.

Now Argos needed
a plan to strike back at the Earth Alliance. They were increasingly becoming a more
powerful annoyance. Their new technologies were ahead of those of the Zarlack
fleet that had once given him a serious edge in battle.

But they seemed
to be growing their new alliance faster than he ever could have anticipated. At
least he had acquired some technology upgrades when he was controlling Sarah. Like
cloaking. It had proven difficult to cloak a warship, but adapting the tech to
the
Dark Star
proceeded without major issues. If his engineers could
find a way to cloak a warship, even for a minute, he could strike at Earth and
they wouldn’t even see him coming.

Argos knew he had
to make a statement, some sort of show of force, and the sooner the better. His
new shipyards were already churning out new ships and he still had more forces
at his disposal than the Alliance, even if that snakehead of an emperor joined
them.

That one I did
not see coming
, he admitted to himself.

But the Obsidian were
immaterial to his long-term plans, and the Alliance would soon be dealt with,
with the help of his brother no less. He couldn’t help but smile.

Soon all he had
worked towards in the last decade would come to fruition. It had been a long
and difficult path. All of that thanks to his dear brother. His reluctance to
help achieve their destinies more than a decade ago was why Argos had to do all
of this now. They had never seen eye to eye and probably never would.

But it mattered
not, as long as he could manipulate his brother into doing exactly what he
needed him to, and to hell with him afterwards. Laiyos was dead to him the
moment she died anyway.

Argos did not
like the veil of darkness this memory suddenly cast upon his train of thought,
so he lifted the jar and let the Kyrian snake bite him. As always, the effect of
the beast’s venom was almost immediate. And soon Argos did not think of her
anymore, that memory sinking back into the depth of his soul, where it
belonged.

*  
*   *

Chase returned
the F-147 to the cargo bay of the
Valken
.

As requested he
had spaced Ares body and observed as it floated in space for a moment, reflecting
on everything Ares had told him.

He really dreaded
returning to Earth. He worried all the memories of Sarah would rush back and
screw with his mind again. But even if he hated to admit it, he was mostly ashamed
facing his old comrades-in-arms, his friends. Even more so since he wasn’t
exactly proud of what he had done during his time away. How low he had sunk.

He shook the
thought away. There was no turning back. He had given Ares his word and he
would not break it because of how bad he felt about himself. He just hoped he
would find a clue to Argos’ whereabouts there. Because word or not, that was
still his mission, his only reason to live at the moment.

I will avenge
you both, Sarah and Chris
.

The pain in his
heart grew exponentially at the thought, and for a moment he wished he had some
more Kyrian snake venom. “Anything?” he asked, back in the cockpit where Keera
was waiting.

“I would have
told you if there was, but I think I saw something for a brief moment at the
very edge of our long-range sensors. I could swear I saw a fleet of some kind
for a second but then it was gone. Should we investigate?”

“We need to go to
Earth. Is it on the way?”

“It’s a little
detour but not far off.”

“How much of a
detour?”

“An hour
perhaps.”

“Alright, let’s
take a look first. Drop us there but not too close. I’ll take my cloaked ship
the rest of the way. How good is your ship’s stealth engine?”

“Top of the line.
I rarely get detected when I make stealth runs.”

“Rarely?”

“Well, no tech is
perfect.”

“Roger that.”

“I saw you send
. . . I take it that was Ares?”

“It was his
request.”

 “So he wasn’t
dead when you arrived? He died in front of you, I’m so, so—”

Chase cut her
off. “He was dead, alright.”

“You’re not
making sense.”

Chase smiled,
realizing how insane he must sound to others when he blurted out things like
that.

“What’s so
funny?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Nothing. I’m
sorry. He still lives in energy form, so we had a little chat.”

“Boy, my life
gets weirder and weirder since I met you.”

“Is that good or
bad?”

“Only time will
tell; for now, at the very least there’s no dull moment.”

“Right. Shall we
go?”

“Entering
hyperspace coordinates now.”

The
Valken
entered hyperspace and stars became lines in the canopy, the intense, bright
light accompanying the change of velocity from sub-light to FTL speeds.

Keera put her
hand on Chase’s shoulder. It startled him.

“Sorry, didn’t
mean to scare you there.”

“That’s alright. What
can I do for you?”

She looked at him
with compassion. “I just wanted to say sorry about your friend, or mentor or
. . .”

“He was my mentor,
but friend works too.”

“Sorry, Chase.”

“Thank you,
Keera.”

“Want to talk
about it while we get there?”

“Not really. Hope
that’s okay.”

“Sure, just know
you can talk to me if you need to.”

He smiled at her.
“Thanks, Keera.”

She smiled back.

Chase couldn’t
help thinking how sweet Keera was. This was out of character with the image he
had of bounty hunters.
It takes all kinds, I guess, no matter the job
.
There was no denying that her good nature and sweetness reminded him of Sarah.
It felt both good and excruciatingly painful at the same time.

He liked seeing
Sarah in her. That brought brief, happy memories to the surface; but almost
immediately it brought deep and painful scars too. Chase wondered how long it
would take for those scars to heal. He had no illusions. They would probably
never disappear fully, but he hoped eventually they’d become more bearable.

Then again he didn’t
care about living once Argos was dealt with; and it didn’t look as if the pain
in his soul would heal before then.

*  
*   *

Daniel was
surprised how easy it had been getting to Ponos One. They had encountered
Obsidian warships along the way but they had been nothing but polite, even
going as far as proposing to escort the
Iron Fire
to its destination.
Surely the emperor was behind all the pleasantries. He had entered negotiations
to join the Earth Alliance. A concept with which Daniel had serious issues.

Then again,
having fought the Obsidian for the last decade, how could he not? Sure, the emperor
had helped and provided information about Argos’ secret nebula shipyard—which
mostly proved useless. Daniel knew he couldn’t blame him for the trap. Having been
their prisoner on Earth all that time he couldn’t have known that Argos would wait
for them there, thanks to his hold on Sarah’s mind at the time.

Boy, that
whole situation had been seriously fucked. Argos really played us like fools.
And I fell for it as well.

Daniel chased the
troubling thoughts away. He didn’t like where they were leading. Blaming
himself did nobody any good, himself included. So he decided to keep drinking
his Vol’Ran beer at the bar while Ryonna went ahead and fished for more
information with Tar’Lock. It had been an hour, though, and he started
wondering what was up.

“Hey, stranger,
mind if I sit here?” said a beautiful, bright-pink-skinned humanoid that barely
wore anything.